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How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

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Published on November 16, 2012 @ 01:48 am
Written by Taylor
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We all have magical stories of how we encountered the Kingdom Hearts series. Mine occured some eight or nine years ago in a quaint little Best Buy. My father had taken me there to buy a new wireless controller for my Playstation 2. He'd seen it in a commercial and he was itching to try it out (not that he ever played my PS2, but hey, no questions asked if a free controller is involved). So we took the journey to the store and on the way I began my cunning plan of how to wrangle a game out of the trip. Enter Kingdom Hearts.

Eyeballing the rows of shiny games, I contemplated what game would become my new eternal play monkey, so to speak: I had sucked every bit of life out of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3…there was no going back to that. It was in serious need of a break. But then, what could fill the shoes? At the time, I was pretty ignorant about gaming. I mean, I played them, but I wasn’t as into them as I am now (I’m NOT a neckbeard…yet). So it was completely by chance when my eyes wandered to the Kingdom Hearts box sitting in the top right corner of the shelf. Was that Goofy? With a Mickey shield? Looking dark and edgy??? Oh my god, finally a game where Goofy got the recognition he deserved. Clearly he would be the main character, and that excited my mind beyond belief (I was a big Goofy fan as a child). Aww yeah, DISNEY.

So I grabbed it. My dad wasn’t planning on picking it up with the already-expensive controller, but I still knew no shame when I was ten, so I proceeded to throw a tantrum. Classy. But it worked. Ten minutes later, I was home with that sucker in my PlayStation 2. Goofy wasn’t the main character (though he probably should be), but what followed was a challenging, story-driven, and fun experience that helped to spawn the love for gaming that I now hold dear.

Let me clarify: I didn’t initially enjoy Kingdom Hearts. I thought Destiny Islands was boring and Traverse Town didn’t strike me as much better. I liked the gameplay, at least. I mean, it was pretty mindless, but the enemies and bosses could actually provide some challenge every now and then. Still, something was missing (aside from Goofy as the protag). And then the real game started. Suddenly, I was thrust into the worlds of Hercules, Tarzan, and Alice in Wonderland…and I loved it. Here I was taking part in the stories of some of my favorite childhood movies, actively influencing the direction the characters took. It was almost like I was actually there, and when you get to experience something like that, your childlike wonder kicks into overdrive, no matter what age you are.

I think that’s the real magic of Kingdom Hearts: the Disney aspect is nostalgic, but also dynamic enough for me not to feel like some 25 year-old manchild (or neckbeard) reliving his favorite cartoons. I mean...I'm not 25 yet so I don't know why the game would make me feel that way anyway, but the point is that it doesn't!  There’s a level of childhood wonder present in Kingdom Hearts that most other games can’t hope to present. And yet, as the game went on, I felt more and more of an appreciation for the KH-exclusive characters as well. Sora was an underdog who just wanted to save his friends. The Keyblade didn’t want him, but he made an active choice. And ironically, he was actually fighting against one of the very friends he wanted to save. It was easy to empathize and get caught up in the overarching story because it wasn't too convoluted for me to folllow.

But then again, that’s the brilliance of KH1. There’s just enough of a balance between Disney stories and the main story to keep one entertained without ever being flooded by one over the other. Yes, Sora is rescuing Kairi, but we also learn that the other Disney Princesses are in jeopardy. There’s a unique blend of both worlds that keeps me interested enough to maintain a connection to both halves of this oddly-combined universe without ever making me feel alienated from either half, and from a story-telling point of view, that's just absolutely brilliant.

So I beat Kingdom Hearts (between fits of rage at the final Riku fight) and was left thirsting for more of this series. Still, like I said before, I was incredibly ignorant to gaming. Why Google to see if there’s a sequel when you can use your reliable wit, right? Right. And so months passed before my friend Mark came over to my house with his GBA and asked if I’d ever played Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Um, Kingdom Hearts on the Game Boy? You can’t do that. You’re silly. Don’t be silly, Mark.

But there it was! And so the next day I rushed back to Best Buy and picked up Chain of Memories. And soon my same feelings of admiration for the first game were rejuvenated as I once again played as Sora throughout many Disney worlds. And hey, I could even play as Riku. Ignorant, little me didn’t focus much on the actual story (thank God), but he lived for the gameplay. Constantly adjusting decks to find the perfect combination, repeatedly restarting the device so that I could beat Riku Replica (I finally beat him while I was on the toilet...no shame), and rushing through Riku’s story as I pretended to cheer Mark on while sitting in the sidelines at his swim meets. Gamers don’t swim…stop being silly, Mark.

And so I managed to beat Chain of Memories…probably four times. It was my new eternal play monkey (sorry Budokai 3). And by that time, I was far less ignorant than I had been. Months before Kingdom Hearts II was released, I was already following it, debating on who this “BHK” was and how great the battle against 10,000 Heartless was going to be. Kingdom Hearts II released just about a week after my twelfth birthday, and I remember waiting in line on release day at Gamestop to pick up the game. I also convinced my mom to grab the Prima Strategy Guide (which was thoroughly abused over the next two years). I went home and played through all of Roxas’s introduction in one sitting, chewing on popcorn and receiving numerous papercuts from the rapid flipping of pages from my Prima. Roxas had two keyblades. That made him better (still not better than Goofy).

And over the next two months, my friend David and I (Mark was long lost to the world of competitive swimming) would spend every weekend together playing Kingdom Hearts II from 5 pm to 5 am. We would switch off every few hours, each reverting back to our own game file, watching the game take place twice in a row. And we didn’t complain. We spent hours freaking out at learning you could play as Mickey or creating the Ultima Keyblade. We replayed that game time and time again and I can definitely say that it is the reason for many fond memories throughout my middle school years.

The story was more convoluted and the gameplay seemed simpler with the new addition of the quick-time triangle events, but you could play in the world of Steamboat Willy. Your argument is invalid. The charm that was prevalent in earlier entries of the series was still readily apparent. I still cared about Sora as much as I cared about being a part of the Disney worlds. I liked the characters that were introduced (at the time), and I loved how much there was to do in the game, from the Underworld Tournament Cups to the discovery of every treasure chest. The charm of Kingdom Hearts II was that it was Kingdom Hearts except, at a first glance, much better in design. And I loved that. Also, STEAMBOAT WILLY.


I still remember seeing the hidden movie that later showed up again in Birth by Sleep. At the time, nobody knew what it was or who these characters would turn out to be, but everyone was excited. Heck, even Mickey was showing up again. By this point, I had joined Kingdom Hearts Insider and I was posting around the forums under the old username "Laxtory" (not my best idea).  I theorized with the community and I was every bit as excited as I was when Kingdom Hearts II was being released. And then somewhere on down the line, it all seemed to fall apart.

In the time it took for Birth by Sleep to be released, I grew up. I played a lot of games and I learned what it took to make a good one. I still loved the nostalgic feeling of playing around in Disney worlds, but after constantly visiting the world of Hercules time and time again, the magic started to fade. By the time Birth by Sleep came out, I had abandoned Kingdom Hearts. I had tried Days briefly (David actually bought it), but there was nothing that kept me interested. I started realizing that what had made me adore Kingdom Hearts was not as powerful as I had always believed.  Or maybe it was but over time it had just faded.  When you're so exposed to the same thing over and over again, it starts to get worn for you.  So as time went on, I learned to stop loving Kingdom Hearts.


This editorial is just the introduction to a three-part series in which I’ll explain what happened to turn a fan like me into a harsh critic of a series he once adored. The reasons are plentiful, and although I’ve never put them on paper, my mind has often gone back to the days of the late night gameplay of Kingdom Hearts II or the battles against Riku Replica on the toilet, and wondered what happened to my admiration. I don’t know if there’s any one reason that caused the estrangement between the two of us, but Kingdom Hearts and I will always have a history that will make me smile, even as I grimace whenever I pick up a game in the series.

What about you?  How'd you fall in love with the series, and what led you here?  Are you still an adamant fan or, like me, has your dedication wavered?  Share your story with us!

COMMENTS

+ Reply

Gexus

November 16, 2012 @ 02:42 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

Great article. I had similar views on the games like you (initially not liking KH1 as much as everyone else for example), but the main difference would be my fascination of the story. This is what's kept me going, following each and every KH title like a mad-man. The action-RPG gameplay also helps, since I feel so at ease playing these games (though playing with the hand-held games wasn't as comfortable for my hands).

iLeen

November 16, 2012 @ 02:57 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I'm easily pleased so I enjoyed KH when I first laid my eyes on it and still love it now.

I was first introduced on a Christmas day watching my cousin play KH. He was in the world of Nightmare Before Christmas, and what do I see? Simba! Simba in Nightmare Before Christmas! Now I had to buy a game that had Disney crossover.

It was my first RPG I played so I was fascinated just swimming around and jumping on trees. Imagine my joy being able to knock Heartless and people around with a giant key alongside Donald and Goofy. I was just as excited as you when I got to explore all the other Disney worlds (avid Disney fan here, so no surprise).

I'm actually the opposite when it came to BBS. At first, I was disappointed that Sora wasn't the main character, since I was so use to playing him as the KH protagonist, but then I came to love all the BBS characters and clarity BBS brings to the KH story. I didn't mind revisiting the same worlds over and over again (didn't LOVE it either), probably because I'm more enamored more by the storyline (pretty much what Gexus said) than actual gameplay (but I do love gameplay as well) or any other aspects of games.

JustSnilloc

November 16, 2012 @ 03:03 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

Very nice article! Personally I've always been fond of Kingdom Hearts's story, so with each new game I've always been excited. Though there was a period when I wasn't well informed about certain new games and I began calling them "spinoffs", lol. But as I got to know each game, I came to understand the stories within and as a result fell back in love. Nowadays I'm probably more in love with KH than I've ever been, there are just so many things left to the imaginations of the player that it's fun to think about :)

Wehrmacht

November 16, 2012 @ 03:04 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I joined around the time the news of KH2FM came to light.

I WAS a pretty adamant fan back then, but I noticed that as time passed by I visited the KH sections less and less, and my interest in the series just kept waning. People grow and their preferences in games change, I guess. I can definitely say that while I liked KH a lot at one point, the direction the series has been taking is I think a little questionable.

Nutari

November 16, 2012 @ 03:11 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

In all honesty I feel quite the same. Although, I would totally play KH2 again, one last time, if my ex girlfriend didn't still have it, and my copy of Shadow of the Colossus. I'm not getting them back ;(

For me, I was separated from KH when my love for it was at its prime. I moved, and so did my access to a PS2, my copy of KH1 was stolen and I never actually owned KH2. I finally borrowed a copy of KH1 beat it much quicker than I had expected, and decided I had had enough of KH. Until I heard about 1.5. I want the final installment so that way, I don't feel like I wasted hundreds of hours playing KH~ Between KH1, CoM, KH2, Days, BBS, and Coded. Hell, I have played every game to its climax. No wonder I am burned out.

WaveK89

November 16, 2012 @ 03:17 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

For me, it started with the commercial. Excited, but Disney, in other words, I thought it was a children's game. My bro picked up the game, and I was hooked since. I probably would have been more excited in the beginning if I had played any FF games before then. Still, I was so immersed into the main story and sub stories.

It wasn't until a Disney commerical, Disney 411 or whatever, did a review on CoM that I realized there was so much more to it. I played the crap out of that game, and soon I was lead to the internet to see theories and images for KHII. Much like Celtis in finding out who was the BHK. People trying to figure out who was a keyblade wielder and hoping that everyone wasn't getting one.

I'll have to admit, the my experience high for the series dropped after KHII. However, I was lead into the world of music and YouTube. Yes, I became a fan of watching music videos of Kingdom Hearts. (Even made some of my own though deleted them) I actually wasn't much for any music at the time, but watching those videos just changed my perspective in life. Of course, even the videos died down as the wait continued on. At least there was Re:CoM! Then there was Days, BBS, and Re:Coded. I liked each game, but the magic wasn't what it used to be.

At least, until KH3D came around and sparked some of that magic back. I do believe that browsing these forums has probably gave me more negative insight on the series than the positive, and I don't blame the community at all.

The feeling I have about the series is as if I was shown how the magic tricks were done at a stellar magic show. I still think the show was great, but I lose the sense of wonder.

SquarePhoenix

November 16, 2012 @ 03:36 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

Well, I had just turned ten years old and it was almost Christmas (2002). Around that time, Digimon Tamer was being played every Saturday morning. And that's when I started seeing ads for this 'Kingdom Hearts'. And somehow seeing that same ad over and over again, really drew me in.

Christmas Eve, Me, my Dad and my Brother go to Games Wizard to buy a new PS2 and my brother and I could choose a game each. My brother chose a Ridge Racer game and it's obvious what I chose.

So the next morning we open our presents (and I remember wining a bet or something with my brother) and Kingdom Hearts christened our new PS2. And having grown up with mostly Crash Bandicoot games, you can just imagine how mind-blowing the graphics were to me.
It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen!

Considering I had never played and RPG before, the experience was quite daunting.
I took nearly two years to complete KH1.

I don't know how many years ago this was, but I was on holiday in Japan and happened to spot Chain of Memories of the shelf. Shortly afterwards my brother bought a new GBA (Somewhere between 9000-10,000 Yen) and I bought CoM the next day. (5000 Yen)

At that time, I couldn’t read as much Japanese as I can now, which made me stop playing it.

-------------

Early 2004, I went to watch The Incredibles (first time) and while wandering a BigW, I spotted CoM and asked my Dad to buy it. I can still remember the price ($64, *gulp*) and now I kinda feel bad for him. Now I have 2 copies of CoM! :D
Even now I still can’t beat Replica in Reverse/Rebirth. D:

Two years of waiting (and a painful mouth ulcer) and KH2 is finally released.
It was a Thursday (Almost the school holidays) and I gave my brother the money to buy it for me.
Silly me gave him enough money for the American price, not the Australian price. :p
So my brother got my money back from my deposit and found a place that sold it cheaper than EB Games.

Over the years, Kingdom Hearts made me a Final Fantasy fan, I got better at RPG’s and the Coke Cola FF figurines my cousin gave us, finally had some meaning to me.

Something about KH2, I can’t explain why, but I really emotionally connected with Roxas and Co., and I felt I was apart of every moment with them. (I even did enough jobs, for the train ride, dammit!!!) And I still remember how sad I felt, leaving Roxas behind and playing again as Sora.

-------------

When Days was released, it was the first time I felt restricted in what “I” wanted to do.
As for BBS, this is one I anticipated for most and prior to it’s release, I spent months watching Disney movies relevant to this game, that even yelled at the PSP, “SAY YOU HAVE THE OTHER SLIPPER!!!”
Re: Coded, I had a lot of fun with it, even though it’s basically feels like KH1, although that’s probably the nostalgia talking.

Unfortunately, I can’t comment on 3D, as I don’t have the DS for it.

And lastly (if you’re still reading), despite how complex the story and lore of this universe is.
It’s very rare that I’m this engaged and in the end, all I can hope is that everything will make sense like a completed jigsaw puzzle. Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Jesus

November 16, 2012 @ 11:52 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I can see why your love for the series has faded, I I'll admit that KH is not the best series, and that the original game was probably the best one.

But I don't know, I'm always coming back to the game, always scouring the news for info. He'll I even joined a website dedicated to it. I feel like the main reason I keep playing though is because it's the first real game I've ever beaten not named Pokemon.

I'll probably still be liking KH even past my neckbeard years

iDrops

November 16, 2012 @ 12:52 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I first became interested in the series about ten years ago. My Dad used to own a video game shop, every now and again he'd bring home games for me and my sister to try and KH was one of them. I LOVED the game, even though I had no clue what FF was and I wasn't an avid fan of Disney. I didn't get really far into the game either, I was young and terrible at games, I couldn't find that GOD DAMN cloth on Destiny Islands... I was a bit stupid... C: Ever since then I've been hooked on the series, even when I forgot the series existed I still loved it~

Like every fan though, I did lose hope in the series. Last year I started to become one of those fans that thinks every non numbered game is a spin-off and I really wanted KH3. I thought that KH was loosing its direction. So I stopped playing the games because I was waiting for KH3... Then when 3D was released in Japan, I watched the ending and I fell in love with the series again. I really felt that game was almost as good as KH1. After that, I went back and finished all the KH games that I was too lazy to finish before, with the exception of Coded of course, I'm tooooo lazy to finish that.

Nutari

November 16, 2012 @ 01:11 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

iDrops
I first became interested in the series about ten years ago. My Dad used to own a video game shop, every now and again he'd bring home games for me and my sister to try and KH was one of them. I LOVED the game, even though I had no clue what FF was and I wasn't an avid fan of Disney. I didn't get really far into the game either, I was young and terrible at games, I couldn't find that GOD DAMN cloth on Destiny Islands... I was a bit stupid... C: Ever since then I've been hooked on the series, even when I forgot the series existed I still loved it~

Like every fan though, I did lose hope in the series. Last year I started to become one of those fans that thinks every non numbered game is a spin-off and I really wanted KH3. I thought that KH was loosing its direction. So I stopped playing the games because I was waiting for KH3... Then when 3D was released in Japan, I watched the ending and I fell in love with the series again. I really felt that game was almost as good as KH1. After that, I went back and finished all the KH games that I was too lazy to finish before, with the exception of Coded of course, I'm tooooo lazy to finish that.


I can assure you, Coded is not worth beating. It was decently fun but that's about it x)

Sorarocks93

November 16, 2012 @ 01:21 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

My KH story began one day in 2003 in a friends house. He had just bought his PS2 along with Kingdom Hearts. The moment I saw this game, I fell in love with it. Not to mention that seeing Squall (Leon) in Traverse Town helped because I was still playing my PS1 those days and my favorite game was FFVIII even thought I beat the game like a couple years ago for the first time. (Disc was scratched and my gaming life was ruined.)

Anyway a year later I bought a PS2 along with Sly 2. Everyday was like a Christmass even thought I had to go to school :P
Some months later I wanted to buy a new game. I really wanted to try Jack and Daxter 3. So off we go to the shop with my mom and while looking for Jak 3 my eyes fell upon 2 games which were side by side, like it was meant for them to be bought by me, and at half price too! So instead of getting 1 game, I got 2, Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X.

I remember playing both games everyday after that, although Kingdom Hearts was superior to X atleast in my opinion. Since I didn't knew what the internet was, I had never before seen the opening cinematic of KH (yes not even in my friend's house) and when I saw it, it was the best gaming day of my life.

A year later I saw in a magazine a picture of Sora in a tube, and the writing "Chain of Memories" below. I had no idea what that was so I basically thought it was Kingdom Hearts II.
2 Years later I saw Kingdom Hearts II in a store and that was the second best gaming day in my life. To this day, KHII is the only game that I have played without even looking at a trailer or even looking at someone else play. I was completely spoiler free when I got my hands on it.

Next thing I know my PS2 broke, and I bought a PC and found about the internet. That's when the world of KH opened up to me.
BBS? Days? Coded? Chain of Memories? What were those things? I knew I would never be able to buy all those different handhelds so I started watching walkthrough videos on Youtube. I watched them all along with DDD earlier this year. I know more about the story of KH than I know about the history of my country even though I only have watched the gameplay vids on Youtube.

Anyway around 2008 I completely lost faith in console gaming and I abondoned KH. That was ofcourse until 2011 when I bought my PS3 and regained all lost faith. Not to mention KH I.5 is coming out and the day it was announced was the third best gaming day in my life :D

Onwards now to the future of gaming with KH leading the way!

KH news are the best news!

DivineRose269

November 16, 2012 @ 04:30 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

Back in, what was it, 2007 or something, it was summer, I was in some gamestore in a town in the west of Sweden. My parents had promised me I could have a new game, wich one? I saw it there on a shelf, the game that combined famous Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters (not that I actually knew what FF was back then...) Kingdom Hearts. I remember reading an article in some magasine about KH2, my sense of logic told me to play the first game before the sequel.

When I got home, I was like ten back then so I was really happy everytime I got a new game. I started playing almost before I even opened the door. I remember loving running around on the beach on Destiny Islands, fighting Riku (losing 25 times), I also remember hating not being able to skip annoying cutscenes (my opinions back then... -.-) But when I tried to save, my memory card had broke!
I replayed from the beginning to Guard Armor and maybe another world at least 20 times before I got a new one. That night, I went to bed not knowing wich the next world was (Can you imagine the excitement?!) The rest of the game was among my best experiences ever.
I finally got to Hollow Bastion, I almost cried when Riku took the Kingdom Key, I got to the second Riku boss fight, was stuck there for almost a year, got really sick of that cutscene before the boss fight; "that girl has lost her heart, she cannot wake up".

Completing the first game is actually quite the blur for me, seriously, I can't remember anything about it. I remember beating it several times after that and feeling rather sad about it being over, but the first time, nope.

In 2009, I spoke to my friends about our favorite characters in Kingdom Hearts, someone said "mine is Roxas", I had to ask him who Roxas was, he said "he's in Kingdom Hearts 2", that idiot had gone and bought KH2 without playing the other two games because someone told him it was better. I started asking him about the game, the one detail I cared about was that I could skip cutscenes and only play the game. I bought it, that's exactly what I did, so my first time playing KH2 (without playing CoM), I wasn't all that confused about the story, I didn't care about the story.
I remember being stuck at Demyx for a long time enough to give up on me ever completing the game.
I started a new save file when I felt like replaying it,(and I watched the cutscenes) when I got to Demyx again I beat him without ever understanding why I couldn't beat him before. I continued, Goofy dies, 1,000 heartless battle, 2nd set of stories for the Disney worlds, TWTNW, epic final battle! Dafuc had I missed when I gave up on the game before?! I still couldn't understand exactly what was happening, I needed to replay it a couple of times more. But no matter how many times I replayed it, the beginning still didn't make any sense to me, but that wasn't really one of my main concerns at the time.
When I checked back on my old save file some time later, I saw why I couldn't beat Demyx before, I had like 30 unused AP boosts in stock -.- silly me...


Last year, I started searching for information regarding KH3, I wanted a sequel so bad, I found the DDD trailer, I didn't understand anything so I went into KingdomHeartsWikia.com to clear some things up, I discovered all the handheld games. I thought it was about time to play them if I was planning on playing KH3. I emulated CoM on my phone, emulated Re:coded and days on my computer. Watched walkthroughs of BBS and, when it was out, DDD on youtube. (Don't worry, I'm going to play all of them in the HD collection when I can afford a ps3 ;D)

Oracle Spockanort

November 16, 2012 @ 05:30 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

Aldrain
I can assure you, Coded is not worth beating. It was decently fun but that's about it x)


Maaaaan, Re:coded is my favorite KH game. Well, my guilty pleasure KH game that I love to pieces. I think it depends on how you connected to the story. Because I really enjoy how Data Sora and Journal Riku's friendship was portrayed in The game and the overall lighthearted story, I found a lot of joy while playing.

So yeah, I think it depends honestly. You might not have gotten a lot out of it but somebody else might.

Maddok3D

November 16, 2012 @ 05:44 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I can't remember how old I was when I first saw the commercial for the first Kingdom Hearts game on TV, I couldn't have been older than 8 or 9 years old, and I didn't think much of it at the time besides that Simple and Clean song sounded pretty cool.
I didn't have a PS2 so it's not like I was ever gonna get it anyway, I've always been a Nintendo kid. I had my Gamecube, I still love my Gamecube (though it belongs to my girlfriend now).
A few years later in 2005, my sister decides she wants a PS2 for Chrismas. Say what?! That doesn't have Mario OR Zelda on it!
She received her PS2 that Christmas, I was interested to see what sort of games this unfamiliar non-nintendo world involved. The game she got with it was Jak 3. She opens the case, the disc art... There was no disc art. It looked like a blank CD. Uh, sure, maybe PS2 games don't have disc art.
She puts the disc into her brand new PS2 and starts up the system.
This was a sealed Jak 3 case brand new from Walmart,
it contained a CD with 2 Avril Lavigne songs on it.

The next morning my mom took my sister to Walmart so that they could return the game, she came back with two games, neither of which were Jak 3. They were Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts.
My older sister didn't play her new games right away though, (I don't understand how she can resist it either) she was on the computer for a few hours first, talking to her friends online.
Of course, she's my teenage sister and I'm her little brother, and there's no way she'll just let me play HER new games before she does. After about an hour of begging she finally gives in, she tells me I can play Kingdom Hearts, but not Final Fantasy X she wants to play that one first.
Darn, I really wanted to play that one, I'd never played a Final Fantasy game before but I knew it was a big name series. I had watched funny flash parodies of it on good ol' Newgrounds. (Youtube wouldn't be around for few years)
Well whatever, I'll try this Kingdom Hearts game. Might have been a nice surprise though if I'd recognized those Tidus and Wakka guys on Destiny Island though the first time through.

I've always been drawn to JRPGs, maybe it's because I grew up watching so much anime, but the over the top characters and unbelievable stories have always been very endearing to me. They always have these dull, slow turn based battle systems though!
Not Kingdom Hearts, this is an ACTION RPG, full of platforming elements. Let me tell you, being a Nintendo kid I loved platforming.
I was pretty amazed, meeting all these Disney characters while playing as a spiky haired JRPG protagonist and I didn't have to stop and wait for my enemy to attack before I could take my turn. This game had its place quick-dry cemented among my favorites.

I remember renting Chain of Memories and not being able to put it down, and then finally owning a Kingdom Hearts game for myself when Kingdom Hearts 2 came out a week before my birthday. I loved them.
But going back to them with as much experience with games as I have now, they haven't stood the test of time brilliantly. I still enjoy them, maybe not so much the button-mashing festival that is KH2, but KH1 will always have a special place in my heart.
I still get excited every time a new Kingdom Hearts game comes out, and while the novelty of a portable Kingdom Hearts game thrilled me at the time, I really can't recommend 358/2 Days to anyone. It's by far one of the most dull games I've ever played. And Coded? A frustrating rehash of Kingdom Hearts 1 with these stupid blocks scattered all over the place, then it rehashes itself by making you go to the same areas again and again but with more stupid blocks all over the god damn place.
Birth By Sleep was a good game, I enjoyed the story and the battle system, but overall the experience seemed a little soulless to me.

Then Kingdom Hearts 3D was announced. Even though the last few games didn't leave a good lasting impression on me, I was excited for this one. This one looked like something fresh and new. Sora and Riku are back, the story is moving forward again, and they're pulling off all these crazy stunts, jumping off walls, grinding on rails, swinging around lamp posts! The World Ends With You characters?! You bet I'll be buying this on day one. This was the first game I ever pre ordered.
I wasn't disappointed with this one. Flowmotion may not have been as dynamic as I had hoped (jumping off walls, grinding on rails, swinging around lamp posts... and that was the very limited extent of it), but it was still a blast to play. I enjoyed the story and writing from start to finish. It was just as charming to me as the original was and the gameplay was a thousand times more fun. Because of Dream Drop Distance I can continue to anticipate each new Kingdom Hearts game with unwavering excitement.

Oh, and in the end I bought Jak 3 for myself, that's another one of my favorite games. :biggrin:

DivineRose269

November 16, 2012 @ 05:50 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

Master Spockanort
Maaaaan, Re:coded is my favorite KH game. Well, my guilty pleasure KH game that I love to pieces. I think it depends on how you connected to the story. Because I really enjoy how Data Sora and Journal Riku's friendship was portrayed in The game and the overall lighthearted story, I found a lot of joy while playing.

So yeah, I think it depends honestly. You might not have gotten a lot out of it but somebody else might.


I actually agree with you on that point, coded may not be so important to the overall plot, but contrary to what some people make it seem like, it's actually really fun :) (it may have something to do with the command deck, it's one of three games with that system, I haven't played the other two, I might just be in love with the system)

limit

November 16, 2012 @ 09:15 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

Kingdom Hearts was actually the first game I've ever played, and it brought me into the world of gaming. I was 6 and at my cousin's house, and I see KH1 sitting on the table, so my cousin lets me try it out. From that moment I became a fan of KH.

A year later I'm freaking out when a friend asks if I've played KH2, so after beating it at my cousin's house I'm just learning there was a GBA version. I never payed attention to story that much as a kid, so the fact that the trio in KHII were sleeping in pods didn't bother me at all.

After a while though, I just stopped caring about KH for some reason, I guess it just grew off me because I didn't hear about any of the other games (Oh, ignorant me...). I got back into the series in 2011 when another friend of mine told me about KH3D, and then I've been a fan again since.

Wow, 10 years of a great series, congratulations Kingdom Hearts!

Japanlover

November 16, 2012 @ 10:53 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I first saw Kingdom Hearts 4 years ago on Disney channel but I never payed much attention to it because I was in my Harry Potter fangirl phase. Then a year later I was on a youtube channel and looked at the person's favorites. I saw Kingdom Hearts 2 walkthrough videos and I was curious about the boy with spiky hair and Goofy standing next to him. I decided to watch Kingdom Hearts 1 walkthrough vids and skipped chain of memories and went to KH2. Bad Idea! I was so confused! So then after I was done watching the walkthroughs of KH2, I watched COM and it made sense to me.

But then I really wanted to play KH. Of course I didn't have a PS2 so I couldn't play it and I only had the xbox, you know the old one, and played HP and the POA game on it wishing for it to be KH. But then Christmas came and I received a PS2 with a copy of KH2. I was so happy and managed to finish it in a month. I then got KH1 for my b-day and wasn't able to get COM sadly. Heck I still don't have it! So I then got a DS two years ago and bought 358/2 days and a year later coded. I enjoyed both games. I then watch BBS on youtube because I didn't have a PSP. The gameplay was nice and loved the story. Then I saved up my money and got a 3DS in March this year and got KHDDD on the day it released. And I have to admit DDD was awesome!

I love KH. The plot, gameplay, and ALL the characters. This game also brought me and my friends together so I glad.

One Sky, One Destiny, One Fandom

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Aurablade77

November 17, 2012 @ 07:24 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

It was a looooooooooooooooooooooong time ago when I was in Florida visiting cousins. At a hotel where my family was staying, I went to a nearby Blockbuster(Yes, Blockbuster stores were still around, that is how long ago this was) to pick up some snacks and drinks. On the way to checkout, I figured I would pick up a magazine to read for my flight back home after the visit in Florida. Low and behold, I picked up the current issue of PlayStation The Official Magazine at that time. Inside, they had a feature on upcoming JRPGs. Kingdom Hearts had it's own page, and it had the first couple screenshots of the game and character renders of Sora, Riku, and Kairi. I immediately took notice of the game, and I read the article. The concept of Final Fantasy combined with Disney immediately striked my interest! I thought it was something that would NEVER happen. Ironically, I was in Florida, and I believe my family and my cousins also had a visit to Disney World in Orlando. Since that moment, I always itched for more info on Kingdom Hearts until it's release on September 17, 2002. I still have that issue of PlayStation Magazine, and every time I go to visit Florida I bring that magazine with me just for the nostalgia(Weird, right)?

Xbladewielder

November 17, 2012 @ 03:47 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

Kingdom hearts rules!don't really have a favorite, all are good

TrueRoxas527

November 17, 2012 @ 05:07 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I was introduced to Chain of Memories by a friend when i had never even heard of the KH series. She showed me the gameplay for a bit, and i was lost. I wanted to know the first game. And so she showed me KH1. She had never even beaten the game (because she's just a terrible gamer) and I helped her with getting through some simple puzzles and little tricks. She was amazed and so was I. I immediately went out and got the game, began playing it. Then replayed it, and replayed it, and replayed it, until I physically ran out of human energy to play. The game was entrancing, I did speed-runs, playthroughs, personal challenges, (killing KH1 Sephiroth on Expert at Level 71) and many more. On the third time through I finally found the Wonderland keyblade! That made my day.

I moved on to CoM as soon as I could get it, playing through. Once again i did the exact same thing as KH1, playthrough multiple times, set my own challenges, did speed-runs (unknowingly realizing this would prepare me for Re:Coded) and much more. Not going to lie, I hated the gameplay and hated how much effort it took into landing a simple three-hit combo on the foe as Sora. And the fact that i could do so little in one deck while still being able to survive with four different Cure cards...

After raging over Riku Replica, I finally beat the game, relaxing for a bit. Wait a minute... nope, Kingdom Hearts 2 just came out a week ago, I didn't even hear about it.
I got that for Christmas and then fell in love with that game. I play for gameplay and story and personally, i preferred the original storyline over the Disney stories which was probably why I enjoyed KH2 and BBS so much. KH2 is still by far my favourite game to play, but I wish it was tougher. (I had bugged to get Final mix to no success, realizing it was never going to happen)
Defeated Sephiroth at Level 47 on proud, then realized I need something fresh. And so the wait began for the new games Days and BbS.
Both were eagerly awaited for, Days let me down way too quickly, but BBS easily made up for that. For gameplay, I love BBS but still wish you could do more without having to modify decks. The story was amazing and I love how the new introduced characters were weaved into the already existing storyline to create perfect harmony alongside the other games.
Days was disappointing. I enjoyed playing as Roxas, but the quality just wasn't even remotely satisfactory, the battle system was iffy, the Level Up system was TORTURE (realizing you need the same amount of EXP to get the last level tile as you did combining all the experience you had just earned throughout the game) and Vexen's face made me burst out laughing for Days on end...haha
I was put into a lull. It was going to be awhile before the next game came out, then Re:Coded was announced and my hopes went up, then it was announced for DS and my hopes went down again. This time I did not let myself down, Coded was just as bad a game as I had expected it to be, i not worse. I felt like it wasn't Kingdom Hearts anymore, it was almost a waste of my time, and when finally getting to the end, i realized I was right. The whole story could have been condensed into literally three cutscenes and still would have made perfect sense.
Overall I was disappointed with that game.
3D came out now.
Its been a long while since I've ever actually played a KH game, and it was going to be a lot longer, I didn't have a 3DS. But I had YouTube, and so the search began for the perfect video playthroughs of the game. No stupid commentary, no skipping over stuff, I wanted to experience the game as if I was actually playing it.
SUCCESS! Found the videos, exactly what I needed. Some videos there weren't even cutscenes, i was just watching the character run around collecting treasure. I didn't care at all, i loved admiring the worlds and the effort put into them.
Finally got to the end and was very satisfied, I loved the story so much I watched the last half hour of videos again. Then i raged. Why? No not because of Axel's newfound powers, NO. The fact that after every awesome idea and beautifully crafted scripting, Sora and Co. decided they were going to have a tea party. A FREAKING. TEA. PARTY.
I stared at the screen for five minutes after the video was over trying to make sense of what I just saw.
No, don't try and make sense of it, your brain will only hurt.

And now here I am, not touching any games, waiting patiently for the new videos of Days to be released in 1.5, and long awaiting the release of KH3. I refuse to get sucked in to the series as of now, realizing that Coded and BbS I have not beaten 100%. Cuz to me 100% means all commands obtained, at least one of each, and all characters at Level 100. BbS is not friendly for that.

So that's my story. Not as compelling as the KH series, but still an exciting one all the same.

rac7d

November 17, 2012 @ 05:25 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

This an easy one, It was the sound and music from the commercial the drove me. It wasnt until 6 years later I could afford it but it was well worth the wait. It also helps that I;m a major fanboy for hayden

Chaser

November 18, 2012 @ 09:25 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

TrueRoxas527
The fact that after every awesome idea and beautifully crafted scripting, Sora and Co. decided they were going to have a tea party. A FREAKING. TEA. PARTY.

Reagan Rayden

November 18, 2012 @ 09:36 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

Dude, you know how I deal with pent up stress? Tea party.

I discovered Kingdom Hearts on a commercial while watching Disney's House of Mouse: House of Villains on VHS. The commercial got me hooked right away. The slogan "You'll never know who you'll run into next." was something that got me very excited.

alxnort

November 18, 2012 @ 12:25 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

First off, this was interesting to read. I always love hearing other peoples personal stories with games, and I think that a part of me has to agree with your statement on falling out of the Kingdom Hearts fandom.

I have seen it a lot with the kids in my generation, they love a game when they are young and then upon growing up they stop playing that game series, move on to another sires (or never come back to video games), and so that game lives on only in their memories. It can be sad moment sometimes.

For me personally, I love the KH series. Full on die-hard fan. But I have already spoken to my person feelings towards the games in the franchise.

Speaking for an analytic view though, KHI (or which ever game you started with) was a game that pulled in young fans with the Disney charm and older fans with the Final Fantasy characters added in. As kids (for those of us that started playing as children), I feel that we saw it as another game to preoccupy our time, something fun to do. At least for me that was the initial case. So when we grew up we moved on to other activities or series. I know for one point in my life I fell out of the fandom before becoming the fanatic I am today, although when I was younger I wasn't too obsessed with the series. I still liked it, the case was I moved on to other things before now.

The point I'm trying to make is that when you're older you're able to analyze a series better. I'm not going to post my personal opinions on each game and what they did well and horribly at, I think that's more of a personal discussion for another article. It's just that you just fell out of the series and didn't feel it spoke to you any more, at least that's the conclusion I came to.

Goldpanner

November 18, 2012 @ 01:44 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I think that it's more than that, alxnort. I know the naivety of pre-nostalgia is part of it, but I do believe that some games are better at encouraging imagination than others. Some games can generate a sense of depth to the world and characters, especially by leaving gaps for excited little minds to fill in. If done cleverly, it means every single player will experience the world slightly differently, and appeal to all sorts of different people.

I think kids games these days don't do this as well, I think they forget to disguise the railroading in a way that actually makes the world feel more mysterious, or to make the game constructs (eg. health, items, powers) feel like part of the universe etc...

(That said, I haven't seen that many kids games in the past two years or so. My littlest brother graduated from terrible Sonic games to terrible FPS -___-;)

saphexteni

November 18, 2012 @ 10:53 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I remember feeling SUPER excited when I saw the commercial for Kingdom Hearts for the first time- what caught my attention was the fact that there were DISNEY worlds in the game! DISNEY! And this was ten years ago, so I was probably about nine when the commercial came up? I grew up in the 90s watching those classic Disney Renaissance movies OVER and OVER and OVER again. I challenge you to name a Disney movie I haven't seen (well, there are a few I can name, but you get the point) or a classic Disney song I don't know or can't sing along to. And my trips to Disneyland every year didn't exactly help with my Disney-obsession, either.

So you can imagine how I felt when I saw DISNEY characters in an awesome looking game. Even as a kid, I loved to play video games- we owned a Play Station, a few Game Boy (colors and SP), my uncle gave us a Nintendo 64, and we had recently gotten a PS2. Favorite games included DBZ, Pokemon, Digimon, and other random games we would have, and my personal favorites were RPG/adventure games (though I didn't know what they were called, at the time). So this commercial pops up, and I get all excited- not to mention, Christmas was coming up soon. Though I'll tell you that I was never the type of girl to ask my parents for whatever I wanted.... but when Christmas came around, each of me and my three younger siblings received a PS2 game from my parents. I remember receiving Dark Cloud 2 (AWESOME game, still love playing it), my brother receiving Orphen, my youngest brother receiving Dragon Ball Z (Budokai 1), and my sister receiving Kingdom Hearts. xD You can imagine how partly jealous I was of her "getting" the game, but honestly, it was a mutual understanding that although the gifts were "given" to each of us, that we would end up sharing the games in the end.

So of course, as soon as got home from my aunt's house, my siblings and I wanted to try out Kingdom Hearts right away. You can imagine how disappointed we were that we wouldn't start off on Disney worlds right away- though honestly, we kind of expected that at the same time. What we weren't expecting, however, was to go through fighting these crazy and (at the time), very scary shadow creatures with yellow eyes. And YOU CAN'T EVEN FIGHT THEM. YOUR SWORD GOES RIGHT THROUGH THEM. OMG. WHAT TO DO?! Well, we all were kind of freaked out... and scared... it was dark, and we were young. Give us a break xD. So yes, we stopped the game there, and never touched it again just out of fear and partly uninterested, at the same time.

So, almost a year later (I think, though it was quite awhile), I look through all the video games we had, and pick this game up, show it to my brother, and was like: "Hey! Remember this game? It has Disney worlds in it... and it got scary, so we stopped. Want to give it another go?" (okay, not exactly like that, but the conversation basically went that way). So, we gave it another go. And we played. And played. And played. And played. I could NOT believe that I did not play this game back when we first got it- I kept asking myself why was I scared in the first place? And dude, was the game HARD. I actually have yet to beat it (the ONLY one I haven't beat... :( ) , though I saw through with my brother as he struggled, and FINALLY beat Ansem SoD, after hours of playing, allowing us to see the final scene. sigh

When KH, CoM came out, both my brother and I played it. Same with KHII. Though I have to admit that after beating KHII, my "obsession" for the franchise fell a bit, and I didn't really follow on KH news too much. Though I still loved the game itself and everything!

I found out about Re:CoM by chance, while just deciding to look it up randomly on the internet. Low and behold, its release date was probably within a couple weeks of when I suddenly decided to look it up. Feeling the urge, I preordered it (FIRST time I EVER preordered a game, too. But as I learn, it would not be my last :P ) and got it, and played it. Though beating it took longer than I expected, as it really was a repetitive game with its gameplay getting increasingly annoying...

It was 2009, I was a junior in high school, and I had finally met a person who shared my love for Kingdom Hearts. We became great friends quickly, and it was probably due to this (having a friend with similar interests) that really got me to get 358/2 Days. I was originally not sure if I should get it right away, considering I was a bit disappointed in not being able to be Sora, and I wasn't sure how truly interested I was in Roxas's story... boy, was I glad I got it (preordered, too). Many are disappointed in this installment, but I still loved it- the gameplay was entertaining, definitely better than that repetitive Re:CoM... and the storyline, though throughout wasn't too strong, did reach a very strong emotional point at the very end. This restarted my KH obsession all over again. I mean, this game basically told me that the game was not over. There was no happy ending yet- sure, Roxas and Namine sort of had one, but what about Axel and Xion? They had to get something, RIGHT?

Well, when BBS came out, I wanted this one SOOOOO bad. One problem: No PSP. T_T I tried to devise any possible methods of getting it- my first method was that I would borrow my friend's PSP whenever I could, and also try and get my local library to purchase it for loans. Uh, no... the library thing didn't work out. Well, okay then... guess I'll just have to buy the game myself, and borrow my friend's PSP. Sure, it's money, but I wanted to play it SOOO bad. And then, a miracle happened on my way home from school> My brother's friend, all of a sudden, mentioned his old PSP that he didn't want anymore. Of course, I jumped at the chance and asked him how much he would sell it for. He said $50, not expecting me to actually accept- he thought I was joking! But noooo I sure wasn't! In the end, he wanted piano lessons instead of $50, and I took that instead. As long as I got it, I was happy. ^_^

And then I bought BBS, and it was one of the best installments ever. Fell head over heels in love with Aqua as a character, and she is my #1 favorite character by far- no contest! I just saw so much of myself in her, and understood her at every single point of her journey. <3 <3 And then came Re:Coded, which I had to preorder as well (can't leave any game out of my collection if I can't help it, you get what I mean?) and then when KH 3D came out, I preordered the MoM edition, and beat the game in a month. Probably the fastest I've ever beaten ANY game. (I'm a slow player, and tend to take my time :P )

And here I am now. Still pretty obsessed with Kingdom Hearts... though KH has some times that have disappointed me, they haven't turned my love away from it, and I still love it. Possibly even more than when I first started. I'm a fan of complicated and convoluted plots, so I guess while many may not like the direction KH is taking, I love it, and will stick with it. Though I will have to admit that the time travel thing was a bit farfetched and out there... but whatever. It's in it, and it's not going away, and I've already accepted that and will still love the games for what it's worth. :D

(whew, that sure was long... thanks to whoever made it to the bottom and actually read through the entire thing. :P )

RuffPuff

November 18, 2012 @ 11:48 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I don't know why, but I find it kinda sad that you fell out of love with KH. :c

As for me, my brother randomly picked up KH1 at Target on his birthday; him and my mum went shopping and, like you Celtis, he got excited when he seen Goofy, lol.
He turned eight then and I'm not sure if he actually played through the game. I think he may have... I remember seeing him playing, but I got scared of the Shadows, lol.

Anyway, the game sat there at the back of our little TV cabinet (which I belive was the one that housed our abandoned games) gathering dust for maybe a year, give or take a few months. In those months we (me and my siblings) had played through all out little kiddie show tie-in games and went searching through that little cabinet for another game to play. We shoveled through the shovel-ware to find this cool looking game at the back, covered in dust. It looks pretty cool. The cover is all shimery and has Donald and Goofy on it; you know how kids like shiney things.

So we picked it up and put it into the PS2 and... Ohmahgod... IT'S AMAAAZING! We actually got really interested after watching the CGI start, and I'm not ashamed to say 7 year old me thought Riku was a girl in the scene.
And so we moved through the game until the battle with the Darkside (the first one where you have the sword/shield/staff) and I remember being scared again, but that doesn't matter, lol.

And so my sister, my brother (the one who owns the game) and seven year old me thinking I was helping played until the game had reached 100%. I actually didn't do anything except go through the story, in fact, I had no idea there is more than one Jungle Slider route until I played through the game completley by myself last January.

And then we started going on sites, like KHInsider. Back then on our dial-up connection this site would take (and I'm not exaggerating at all) half an hour to load one page, it was horrible. Since we didn't see much of the site we must have missed a lot of news because one day, which I remember being three months after finishing KH1 (I believe it may have taken many months for us to actually finish the game) me and my brother (who owns KH) went out with mum, and we ended up doing a trip to the news agent. Whilst mum was putting Lotto in I was looking at the (shiney) scratchies and my brother was over at the kids magazines. Then my brother came over and tapped me on the shoulder. "Jas, look at this..." and... OMFG, IS THAT NALA AND A LION SORA?! KINGDOM HEARTS II? WHAT IS THIS, I DON'T EVEN...
And so the wait began for Kingdom Hearts 2. I ended up getting CoM and finishing it the day after we started playing KH2, if I remember correctly. Me and my sister went halves in the game and she wouldn't wait for me to finish CoM. I do remember seeing CoM's ending cutscene before the "Thank Naminé" scene, though, so I wasn't very far behind. I actually had to ask my sister to do the second last CoM battle, aka the first Marluxia battle, and I still haven't been able to do it. *shame*
Also, on KH2's release day we went to EBGames with little flags made out of paper with KH2 art printed on them attached to bamboo skewers and already had the game and guide payed off; the guide was $30 if you pre-ordered with the game.

I still love Kingdom Hearts, it's the only game I've stuck to for so long... probably because it has gone on for more than ten years, but I really don't mind. Unlike many other "fans" I'm not in this for KH3, I'm in it for the wonderful story, and ten years of continuous KH is really part of the experience for me. One day, when KH3 has already been out for quite a few years, I'll be looking back at the waiting and thinking it was so long ago, so it is an experience and one I've never had with any other game before. So yeah, Kingdom Hearts is still very special to me. Though.. I have to say, my KH:3D experience was tainted a little bit by my brother. He rushed through the game as fast as possible and, considering I brought a 3DS to play the game, I couldn't let him finish before me so I rushed, too. I regret it now because I didn't get to take everything in... I may have to start that critical run over my other file soon...

Mr.E Nigma

November 22, 2012 @ 02:07 amOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

a friend made my play chain of memories on the GBA and from then on i was hooked, i freakin bought a ps2 to play kh 1 and 2.

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Sejexs

November 23, 2012 @ 11:27 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

So honestly Kingdom Hearts started for me around 2007, and mind you my first look into the series wasn't a video game! It was manga a graphic novel actually if you would say Kingdom Hearts 2 vol. 1. It reminded me a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh (which I watched relentlessly as a child) because of the fact that Roxas wasn't just Roxas, he was also the (at the time) mysterious Sora. I fell in love with it instantly. I mean Roxas had these powers, the almighty Keyblade, a mystery as well.I wanted more. I read the second volume and became angry when Roxas disappeared for this Sora character(his go-lucky attitude was annoying). Anyway after volume two the series was discontinued. I was Angry. I wanted more, heroes don't just "disappear"!!! He had to come back. At the time i only had a game-boy advance. i was a pretty poor kid. So i found a friend of mine who had chain of memories and I whooped that game silly. It angered me as well though. The organization and Roxas was all I cared for how could half of them in KH:COM die? Anyway afterwords I discovered the Kingdom Hearts wiki and did my research from there, Kingdom Hearts one seemed like a bore(I have to play as Sora the whole freaking Game!). Anyway so I set my sights on Kingdom Hearts 2. I needed that game! One day an uncle of mine gave us his PS2(He was tired of Video Games) and i had to get my hands on the game and i did, on several occasions. However they were all borrowed and had to be returned after i beat Roxas's part, because my parents only let me play on the weekends. Eventually Days came out. A game of just Roxas! and i'd gotten a DS for Christmas the previous year. The gameplay was mediocre but i could care less, Roxas and all the other Organization members were way too cool for me to care. And after that I was hooked I raised money and bought every game i could play in the series and have kept up with them ever since.

LordofBACONS

November 24, 2012 @ 03:45 pmOffline

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Re: How I Fell in Love with Kingdom Hearts (Even Though Goofy Wasn't the Main Character)

I joined the series when I was a little nine year old my brother showed me the game and we both thought it was intresting. So we got home and put it in and when Destiny Islands was corrupted by the Heartless well... we were stuck on that not smart enough to use the internet we waited a month for Christmas hoping for the strategey guide which I got. So we looked it up and we had no Idea what to do other than look for Riku. It took about 30 or so minutes when my brother saw him and by then we were scared of the shadows. We tried to use the ladder on the edge of the island to see it was broken. We finnaly got to Riku and then when (Skipping Ahead) we got to Hollow Bastion and we couldn't beat Riku the second tme we died so much we memorized the cutscene before the fight...

Me: "Goofy falls"
Brother: Donald gets slaped
Me: "Kairi is inside me"
Brother "you will never get Kairi's Heart"

It took us forever to beat him and when we did we were so happy. When we got to the end of the world and faced Ansem he second time (on Destiny Islands) I had to get my brother to beat and I beat the rest. After we had beat Kingdom Hearts 2, CoM, ReCoM, 358/2, Re-coded, BBS and finally DDD we had completed all the western KH games. I have gone back and completed KH 1 100% got the ultima weapon decided I hated Curtzura (what ever the boss is called) and the Phantom. and Last but not least beat Sephoroth I feel complete. My thoughts on the 1.5 HD remake is NOMURA YOU BETTER RELEASE THIS IN THE US IF NOT YOU WILL NOT GET AS MUCH MONEY AS JUST JAPAN SO Please release it over here. For KH 3 I pray you can play as Aqua she is Amazing:redface: and for BBS volume 2 I hope it comes to the US I will buy a vita just for that game if it doesn't well... I pray you can play as Aqua in KH3 :redface:

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