For fans of JRPGs (that’s Japanese Role Playing Games if you don’t know your gaming acronyms) a familiar title is set to finally release on January 29, 2019. That title is Kingdom Hearts 3. After 13 years, numerous questions on whether it even exists, waiting to see if Square-Enix is still continuing to make the game, and years and years of waiting, it has all culminated to this moment. The moment that I can express with extreme relief and excitement; that we will finally see a proper sequel to the excellent Kingdom Hearts 2. To put this into perspective, I was only eight when I played the second entry in the franchise. I remember playing it in my granny’s upstairs guest bedroom on a dusty PS2 that my uncle lets me use while he was at work. Mind you I had no prior knowledge of the first game, nor did I know any of the Final Fantasy characters in the game whatsoever. Yet, I was totally blown away by how much fun the game was.
Why You Should Be Excited About Kingdom Hearts 3
The premise of Kingdom Hearts is that each of the worlds in Disney and Final Fantasy is connected in some way. I will skip over how or why this works because frankly, it requires a rather lengthy post that I am not prepared to write. In fact this is a common criticism of the games. Kingdom Hearts spans different game consoles; PS2, PSP, PS4, DS and 3DS all have a Kingdom Hearts game that affects the series’ lore. It is not an easy task to understand what is happening, why it is happening and why you should care about it. Luckily for us, Square-Enix has released a bundle of the first six games (Kingdom Hearts, Re:Coded, Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 2, Birth By Sleep and 358/2) to play through. Is it a bit of a slog? Yes. Will it be worth it? Absolutely. I have the utmost confidence that this game series will hold a special place in your heart nearly as much as it does in mine.
What makes the game so special is that Disney works very closely with Square-Enix to provide experiences in each of the Disney themed worlds. You can sing with Ariel in her level as a mermaid, you can play games with Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood, you can fight computer viruses in Tron’s world, and so much more. It is a childhood come to life for someone who grew up with these movies like me. You have no idea how stoked I was to play as a lion and run around with Simba in the Lion King world. Each of the Disney characters is straight out of the movie they were inspired by; you even fall in love with the new characters you meet that are original to the game.
The next entry will feature even more new characters as new movies in both the Disney brand and original to games are introduced. Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph and Pirates of the Caribbean have been confirmed for the game already and even more are to be expected in the future as the release draws closer. This game is something I have waited over a decade for and I cannot wait to play it as soon as possible. So if my personal experience has peaked your interest to try the franchise, then I suggest picking up the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 game bundle. So what do you think? Is this a series that interests you? Sound off in the comments. If you liked what you read, share it on social media, or contact me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.