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is a series of Action Role-playing Game s developed and published by Square Enix (formerly Square ). It is the result of a collaboration between Square and Disney Interactive Studios , and is under the direction of Tetsuya Nomura , a longtime Square character designer. ''Kingdom Hearts'' is a Crossover of various Disney settings based in a Universe made specifically for the series. In addition, it has an all-star voice cast which included many of the Disney characters' original voice actors. Characters from Square Enix's '' Final Fantasy '' series also make appearances and interact with the player and Disney characters. The series centers around the main character Sora's search for his friends and his encounters with Disney and Final Fantasy characters on their worlds. The ''Kingdom Hearts'' series currently consists of four games across different video game platforms, though future titles are planned. Most of the games in the series have been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, though each installment has seen different levels of success. As of December 2006, the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series has shipped over ten million copies worldwide, with 2.0 million copies in PAL Region s, 3.0 million copies in Japan, and 5.6 million copies in North America.12 The video games have also been adapted into a Manga series as well as a novel series. OVERVIEW Disney and ''Final Fantasy'' characters As a collaboration between Disney and Square, ''Kingdom Hearts'' features a mixture of familiar Disney and ''Final Fantasy'' characters, as well as several new characters designed and created by Nomura. Though the series features some original locations unique to the ''Kingdom Hearts'' franchise, worlds from Disney films are heavily explored. Sora must visit these worlds and interact with popular Disney characters to protect them from enemies. Often, Sora's actions in these worlds follow closely to the storylines featured in their accompanying Disney films. In dialogue, Donald tells Sora not to interfere with the worlds too much, since it would cause problems.Donald: But we can’t. If we take him to another world, we would be... / '''Goofy:''' Muh... Mudd-- / Donald: Meddling! 3Kingdom Hearts manga, Volume 1. Page 99. Tokyopop. Moogle s, from Final Fantasy, are another common element in the games. They provide the player with a synthesis shop in order to create items for use in the game. Common gameplay elements The ''Kingdom Hearts'' series games contain elements from both action and role-playing games. The games are driven by a linear progression to the next story event, usually told in the form of a Cut Scene , though there are numerous Side Quests available that provide bonus benefits to the characters. The player is primarily in control of the primary protagonist of the series, Sora . Sora is usually accompanied by Donald Duck and Goofy , who are Non-playable Characters that aid Sora in battle. In the first and third game, their behavior could be altered to fit the player's needs. The games featured real-time combat that incorporates physical attacks, magic, and summonings; though each game handled battles differently. Gummi Ships are another common theme in the series, though they are only featured in the first and third installment. The Gummi Ships serve as the main mode of transportation between worlds in the games. The gameplay for the Gummi Ships sections are more akin to a Rail Shooter . Because it received negative criticism in the first game, it was redone in the third installment.4 All three games also feature a journal which is accessible from the main menu. The journal keeps track of information regarding the story, characters, enemies, and locations. In the game the journal is kept by Jiminy Cricket , who was appointed by Queen Minnie as the royal chronicler.Minnie: Oh, and to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you. / '''Jiminy:''' Over here! Cricket’s the name. Jiminy Cricket, at your service. 5 The games are influenced by their parent franchise, '' Final Fantasy '', and carries gameplay elements over into its own action-based, hack-and-slash system. Like many traditional role-playing games, ''Kingdom Hearts'' features an Experience Point system which determines character development. As enemies are defeated, the player gains experience which culminate in a "level-up", where the characters grow stronger and gain access to new Abilities .6 The amount of experience is shared with all party members and each character grows stronger as experience is gained. The game also features numerous Side Quests available that provide bonus benefits to the characters.7 Story The three main games in ''Kingdom Hearts'' series focus on the adventures of Sora and his search for his friends, Kairi and Riku. The first game shows how Sora is separated from his friends when their world is attacked by a group of corrupted hearts known as the Heartless. During the invasion, he obtains a special weapon known as a Keyblade. Soon after, Sora meets Donald Duck, the Disney Castle court magician, and Goofy, the Disney Castle captain of the royal guard.8 Donald and Goofy are searching for the "key" per instructions from King Mickey.King Mickey's Note: Donald, Sorry to rush off without sayin’ goodbye, but there’s big trouble brewin’. Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin’ out, one by one. And that means disaster can’t be far behind. I hate to leave you all but I’ve gotta go check into it. There’s someone with a “key”—the key to our survival. So I need you and Goofy to find him, and stick with him. Got it? We need that key or we’re doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon. He’ll point you in the right direction. P.S. Would ya apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks, pal. 9 The three band together and travel to different Disney themed worlds, sealing the hearts of the worlds to prevent more Heartless invasions. Along the way they encounter a group of Disney villains, led by Maleficent , that are controlling the Heartless.1011 The three eventually discover that a man named Ansem, is the true antagonist. Ansem's plan is to open the door to Kingdom Hearts. Sora, Donald, and Goofy kill Ansem, and seal the door with the help of Riku and King Mickey on the other side of the door. After sealing the door to Kingdom Hearts, the three begin searching for Riku and King Mickey.Donald: Well, now what do we do? / '''Sora:''' We’ve gotta find Riku and King Mickey. 12 They encounter a mysterious fortress called Castle Oblivion.13 Upon entering, they begin to lose their memories.'''Unknown:''' The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and ability you knew...though the forgetting does not end there. In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. That is the way of things in Castle Oblivion. 14 The three encounter a group of dark hooded villains referred to as the Organization. After defeating the members in the castle, Sora learns his memories have been manipulated by a girl controlled by the Organization named Naminé. To regain their memories, Naminé puts Sora, Donald, and Goofy to sleep for a year.Donald: We have to sleep in these to get our memories back? / '''Naminé:''' You'll be fine. It might take a little time, but I'll take care of you. / '''Goofy:''' But when we wake up, we won't remember you anymore... 15 While the three are ascending to the top floor of the castle, Riku and King Mickey arrive in the basement and began traveling to the top as well. Riku fights the darkness in his heart and resolves to accept it and the light.'''Ansem:''' You need the darkness. Submit! Bow to the darkness, and bow to me. / '''Riku:''' Not a...chance... / '''Ansem:''' Only darkness can help you now. 16 A year later, Sora, Donald, and Goofy awaken and continue their search for Riku and King Mickey. They learn of the Nobodies and Organization XIII, who control them. Afterwards, Maleficent is resurrected and joins with Pete to continue her quest for power. Sora once again travels to many Disney-themed worlds and resolves the troubles caused by Organization XIII, the , their home.Sora: W-We're back. / '''Kairi:''' You're home. 21 GAMES The three main games in the series were released in chronological order, with each new installment following the events of the previous installment. The one exception is the V CAST mobile game, which was developed independently of Square Enix's games. Main games '' Kingdom Hearts '' is the first game in the series, and was released in Japan on March 28 2002 for Sony PlayStation 2 .2223 ''Kingdom Hearts'' introduced most of main characters for the series and set up the plot framework involving hearts and Heartless . This was Nomura's first time in a directorial position. It also established the presence of previous Disney fiction, with character cameos from the ''Final Fantasy'' series. ''Kingdom Hearts'' was released in North America on September 17 2002 , and featured additional content that was not in the original Japanese version. It was later re-released exclusively in Japan as ''Kingdom Hearts Final Mix'' on December 26 2002 . ''Final Mix'' included the content from the North America version and additional enemies, Cutscenes , and weapons.24 The second mainstream game in the series is ''''' 2007 . Despite being numbered "two", ''''' 2007 .30 Kingdom Hearts (V CAST) A ''Kingdom Hearts'' game was developed exclusively for V CAST, Verizon Wireless 's broadband service, and was released on October 1 2004 in Japan and on February 4 , 2005 in the United States.31 It was one of the launch games for the VCAST services.32} The game, developed by Superscape and published by Disney Mobile with no involvement from Square Enix, features the original ''Kingdom Hearts'' The first Mission pack begins with the protagonist of the original Kingdom Hearts , Sora , shipwrecked on a seemingly uninhabited island, his friends Goofy and Donald missing. Sora must now find a way to escape the island, as well as reunite with Donald and Goofy. Reception towards the first playable mission pack was mixed. The game was criticized for its awkward controls and availability. The visual appeal was praised; GameSpot stated that Sora "is very detailed and well animated" and complimented the 3D environments.34 Future installments ''Kingdom Hearts II'' and ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+'' have unlockable teasers that show new characters in armor, named Terra, Aqua, and Ven.35 Tetsuya Nomura has stated that the characters are related to one or more characters already introduced in the ''Kingdom Hearts series''.36 He has also stated he has ideas for another installment. However, he did not state exactly what he would like to do with a new installment.37 The ''Kingdom Hearts'' team is postponing ''Kingdom Hearts'' projects to be able to work on '' Final Fantasy Versus XIII ''.38 In '' Famitsu '', Nomura stated that there are multiple ''Kingdom Hearts'' projects in the works, although what those projects consist of is not known.39 Nomura has referred to the new sequels as a whole new series and stated, "The next title won't just be ''Kingdom Hearts'' III. If it were III, we wouldn't call it a new series." He also hinted that this "new series" might involve the character Xehanort .40 The new game is described as a side story that will focus on other characters.41 The "new series" is set to be announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show .42 AUDIO Musical score The music of the video game series was primarily composed by Yoko Shimomura . Kaoru Wada works as the arranger for orchestral music in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, including orchestral renditions of the main vocal themes and the ending themes. Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack CD insert. Toshiba-Emi Limited. 2002. Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack CD insert. Toshiba-Emi Limited. 2006. The orchestral music was performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra . Soundtracks were released for the first and third installments following the release of their respective games. A compilation soundtrack was later released that included soundtracks for the entire series, including reworked tracks for the re-released ''Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories''.4344 While some Disney-based world themes are taken directly from their Disney film counterparts, most of them are given entirely original musical scores. In addition to each world having unique background music, each is given its own battle theme rather than a common music piece to cover all fights. Several of the Disney villains get themes based on the film they originated in, and the final boss of each game has several themes played in the various phases of those fights. The fights with Sephiroth feature Nobuo Uematsu 's One-Winged Angel from '' Final Fantasy VII ''. The main Theme Song s for the ''Kingdom Hearts'' games were written and performed by Japanese pop star, Utada Hikaru . The two main themes are Hikari , from ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Chain of Memories'',4546 and Passion , from ''Kingdom Hearts II''.47 Each song had an English counterpart, Simple And Clean and Sanctuary respectively, for the North American and European releases. Utada was the only singer Tetsuya Nomura had in mind for the first ''Kingdom Hearts'' theme song.48 This marked the first time Utada had produced a song for a video game. Both theme songs reached notable popularity in Japan. On weekly Oricon charts, Hikari hit #1 in 2002 and Passion hit #4 in 2005.4950 Voice cast The ''Kingdom Hearts'' games featured well-known voice actors for both the Japanese and English versions. The Japanese version featured Miyu Irino as Sora, Risa Uchida as Kairi, and Mamoru Miyano as Riku.5152 The third game introduced Kōki Uchiyama as Roxas, Iku Nakahara as Naminé, and Genzō Wakayama as DiZ.53 Other notable voice actors included Kōichi Yamadera , Hideo Ishikawa , Maaya Sakamoto , Takashi Aoyagi , Yū Shimaka and Shinichirō Miki . The English release of the ''Kingdom Hearts'' games featured an All-star voice cast which included many of the Disney characters' original voice actors. Wayne Allwine , Tony Anselmo , and Bill Farmer voiced Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy.54 Several high profile actors provided the voice acting of the main characters. The first game featured Haley Joel Osment as Sora, David Gallagher as Riku, and Hayden Panettiere as Kairi.55 The third game saw the return of the main character voice actors and added Jesse McCartney as Roxas, Brittany Snow as Naminé, and Christopher Lee as DiZ.56 Other notable actors included, Sean Astin , Steve Burton , Billy Zane , Will Friedle , Ming-Na , and James Woods . DEVELOPMENT The first ''Kingdom Hearts'' began development in February 2000 and was announced at E3 in May 2001.5758 It was directed by Tetsuya Nomura and produced by Shinji Hashimoto, who had conceived the idea for ''Kingdom Hearts'' when he met with a Disney executive in an elevator; Square and Disney had previously worked in the same building in Japan.59 While Nomura had done previous work in the ''Final Fantasy'' series as monster designer and graphic director, he did not gain widespread recognition until he was the lead character designer for ''Final Fantasy VII''. ''Kingdom Hearts'' marked his transition into a directional position. He also served as the game's character designer. Kazushige Nojima worked as the scenario writer and had been a scenario writer for Square since ''Final Fantasy VII'' until he left Square Enix in 2003. Originally the development focused more on the gameplay with a simple story to appeal to Disney's target age range. After ''Kingdom Hearts'' executive producer Hironobu Sakaguchi told Nomura that the game would be a failure if it did not aim for the same level as the ''Final Fantasy'' series, he began to develop the story further.60 Nomura placed an unlockable trailer in ''Kingdom Hearts'' in hopes that fans would want a sequel. He was unsure if fans would want a sequel and felt that if they did not, then it would be best to leave certain events in the first game unexplained.61 After ''Kingdom Hearts Final Mix'' was completed, plans for ''Kingdom Hearts II'' began.62 Nomura has stated that there were several obstacles to clear before development could begin on a sequel. One such obstacle was the development team's desire to showcase Mickey Mouse more; Mickey's inclusion in the first game was restricted to a very small role. Nomura had planned for the sequel to take place a year after the first. He had originally intended for the events of that year to be left unexplained. To bridge the gap between the two games, ''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'' was developed.63 Nomura was hesitant about releasing a game on the Game Boy Advance because he felt that the 3D graphics of the original game would not translate well into 2D. Nomura changed his position after hearing that children wanted to play ''Kingdom Hearts'' on the GBA.64 The two sequels were announced at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2003.65 Each game in the main series were also re-released in Japan with additional content and served as Canonical updates to the series.6667 The additional content foreshadowed later plot elements in the series. Normally the re-release had the term "Final Mix" added after the title, the one notable exception was ''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories''. It was re-released as ''Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories'' and released on the PlayStation 2 with 3D graphics, voice overs during some cutscenes, as well as additional game content.6869 RECEPTION The ''Kingdom Hearts'' series has been critically and commercially successful, though each installment has seen different levels of success. The three main games in the series all met with positive sales at the time of their releases. During the first two months of ''Kingdom Hearts'' The games have also received high ratings and positive comments among reviews. The three main games have scored a 36 out of 40 or higher from the Japanese game magazine Famitsu , known for its extremely harsh grading.798081 All four games have been praised for their visuals. The games have also won several awards. GameSpot commented that the concept of mixing the serious elements of ''Final Fantasy'' with the lighter elements of Disney seemed impossible, but was pulled off quite well. Because of that they awarded ''Kingdom Hearts'' "Best Crossover Since '' Capcom Vs. SNK ''" in their 2002 Best and Worst of the Year awards.82 IGN named ''Kingdom Hearts'' "Best Art Style/Direction" in their 2003 list of "Best Looking Games on PS2".83 G4TV awarded it "Best Story" at their 2003 G-Phoria awards show.84 Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded ''Kingdom Hearts II'' "Best Sequel" of 2006. It tied with '' Biohazard 4 '' as ''Famitsu's'' Game of the Year 2005.85 MERCHANDISE See Also: List of Kingdom Hearts media There are multiple versions of each of the main Kingdom Hearts games. They each had a release in Japan, North America, and the PAL Region . The were also re-released in Japan with new content. Both Square and Disney also released numerous types of merchandise before and after the release of the game. Merchandise ranged from toys and figurines to clothing items and jewelry.8687 Two of the games, ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Kingdom Hearts II'', had a soundtrack released around the same time as the video games.8889 These were followed by a nine CD complete set which featured both soundtracks and unreleased tracks.90 The video games have also been adapted into a manga and novel series. Like the ''Final Fantasy'' games, a series of released strategy guides for each game. For ''Kingdom Hearts II'', they released two versions, a standard version and a limited edition version. The limited edition was available in four different covers and included a copy of Jiminy's Journal along with 400 stickers.92 Manga A 2007 .9596 Novels A novel series has also been released. It is written by Tomoco Kanemaki and illustrated by Shiro Amano . Like the manga series, it is divided up into separate series based on the games. ''Kingdom Hearts'' is divided up into two volumes; "The First Door"97 and "Darkness Within".98 They are scheduled to be released in the USA in August 2007. ''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'' has currently been released only in Japan and is divided into three volumes. ''Kingdom Hearts II'' has also been released only in Japan and is divided into four volumes; "Roxas - Seven Days",99 "The Destruction of Hollow Bastion",100 "Tears of Nobody",101 and "Anthem-Meet Again/Axel Last Stand".102 REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS --- Please do not add any fansite links without first discussing it on the talk page. > |
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