Kingdom Hearts 2 is over five years old. Oh man.
So, it dawned on me today that Kingdom Hearts 2, a game that in my opinion is both magical and one of the best video games ever made, was released more than five years ago. March 28th 2006, A quarter of my life ago, I was 14. This, in my opinion, is amazing, scary, grand, and fucked up. Where did my teenage years go? I remember playing getting and playing Kingdom Hearts 2 for the first time like it was waiting. Hell, I remember what is was like *waiting* for Kingdom Hearts 2. Especially the last few months before it came out.
I didn’t get Kingdom Hearts when it first came out in 2002, because I didn’t get a PS2 until 2004. At that point, Kingdom Hearts was the game I wanted most (though I got FFX first, still the best FF game in my opinion). Which is a little weird. I’m was and am still not by any means, outside of Pixar, a Disney fan, and at that point I hadn’t had the chance to play any final fantasy game. Even now I consider myself a *huge* fan of the Kingdom hearts franchise but only a moderate fan of Final Fantasy games (played 9 of them, never beat any though). What I think made me want to play Kingdom Hearts was that I always saw the commercials for it, and I had remembered them. So, I finally got to play the game in december 2004. And I loved it. I loved the world of Kingdom Hearts, I loved the characters, I loved the story, and I loved the magical feel of it. At that moment in time, it was my favorite game.
A few months later, I became aware that a sequel was being made. I researched the hell out of it, read about so many theories and thoughts on various forums and sites, and checked several Kingdom Hearts news sites every day for new information. I went through every trailer 50 times at least. In the first couple months of 2006, it was all I was thinking about. I dreamed about playing Kingdom Hearts 2 three times before it came out (it was awesome), and was about the only thing I could talk about at that point. The game had already came out in japan, and I needed a taste of it but I didn’t want to spoil myself. So I watched the opening video, the menu video, and a little 16 second clip of Roxas skateboarding over and over. Oh, not to mention I listened to Passion repeatedly. Fond memories… Anywho. It was seeming to be exactly what I wanted it to be, which was lots of things but ultimately, magical and amazing. And it was.
I was on spring break from boarding school when Kingdom Hearts 2 came out, and I had 6 days to beat it. My dad didn’t want me to bring the ps2 i had at this point back to school with me as my previous one had been stolen when I was out on sick-leave. I beat it in three. From the second the game started, and I was Roxas running around in twilight town (which by the way, favourite character and world in the franchise. 358/2 Days is fantastic, by the way) I was hooked. I played that game 11 hours straight for three days in a row, and I loved every second of it. It was everything I ever wanted and more. Though looking back on it was easier than the previous game though all of it’s additions and improvements more than make up for it. While today I wouldn’t consider it my favourite game of all time, it’s still definitely up there and Kingdom Hearts, as a franchise, is one of two franchises I’ve played and beat every game in. I still love Kingdom Hearts very much, it’s very dear to my heart. Even though Birth By Sleep ended up being lame. (honestly, i enjoyed Re:Coded more)
My life wouldn’t be where it is today without it actually. I met a friend, who is one of my closest today, because we were both cosplaying Roxas and through him I met a bunch of other people who eventually came to be close friends. Wouldn’t have happened without Kingdom Hearts. My interest in gaming as a whole today, which is something I’ve put thousands of hours into, wouldn’t be to the extent where it is… I got to see Utada live last year, and a gigantic wave of emotion hit when the first few seconds of Passion/Sanctuary were played. I was so happy… While I may not act like your typical Kingdom Hearts fan, I’ve got the same devotion for it that the weeaboo masses do. I really do love it, especially Kingdom Hearts 2, it means so much to me.
Here’s to you Kingdom Hearts 2!
P.S. Kingdom Hearts Dreams Drop Distance looks awesome.
Reading this really made my day. Usually you write rants and reviews on things but this post made me genuinely smile. It’s good to find another KH fan that talks about the perks instead of how it sucks compared to the other games. I’m a little like this with the Metal Gear Solid series, I have played and beat every game to date and I’m currently playing the iPhone version. Keep the KH faith alive! Lol
Thank you!
I love MGS myself. Metal Gear Solid is one of my top 5 series (MGS 4 is , in my opinion, the most well made game ever) though I’ve only been able to get into the main console games (and peacewalker but my psp broke…). Excited as hell for rising.
I was so obsessed with this game that I even got KH2: Final Mix+ because I wanted to fight all the Org. XIII members, Roxas, & Terra. I felt like I wanted to play the complete game as it was meant to be played. I remember there was a huge rumor about the revision coming out to America, but it never happened.
I really want to play FM + to do all those battles… I really wish it had come out here. The first Final Mix wasn’t such a big deal, but FM+ was a huge expansion. I don’t know why it was never released.
I think it’s because the target audience was mostly kids to teens. Would they buy a re-release when compared to hardcore gamers?
I know they brought re:CoM to the U.S., but I guess Square Enix thought the demand wasn’t enough for the Final Mix version. Plus, International versions of Sq. Enix were traditionally never released outside of Japan…
It wouldnt have sold as much as the original, but i’d like to believe it would have turned a profit… I mean KH2 has sold 6 millionish alone. There’s a market for it.
Wow, reading this takes me back. I had a PS2 back when it first came out so I beat the game around in August 2003. Now get this: even though the ASAS and Deep Dive trailers were common knowledge, there was no official announcement for Kingdom Hearts 2. In fact I think there was a real doubt if there was going to be a sequel until an announcement in November 2003 made it official. Damn those were some good years. Thanks for posting this. It really made my day.