What Kingdom Hearts has done for Gaming

Few game developers can claim they have the artistic supremacy and narrative finesse when it comes to making a video game. However, Square Enix can; with games that continuously get positive reviews, from Tomb Raider to Hitman, Square Enix knows how to please Western gamers and give them a good time. Their true claim to fame, however, has been their Japanese Role Playing Game, or JRPG, sensation known as Final Fantasy. The origin company "Square" led the groundwork for the game, and after merging with the company "Enix", what formed was the "Square Enix" that has brought millions of fans games to enjoy - and one of their crowning achievements is the Kingdom Hearts series.

For those of you who don't know, Kingdom Hearts is the story of three young friends (Sora, Riku, and Kairi) who have their home invaded by monsters known as "Heartless". With his friends separated across different worlds, Sora travels through multiple worlds to find them -  the gimmick? These worlds all happen to be the settings of your favorite Disney films. From the ocean depths of The Little Mermaid's Atlantica to Aladdin's Agrabah, Sora visited everywhere and took down all his foes with his iconic weapon - the keyblade. The keyblade is a sword endowed with magical properties, able to deal out melee-style swings, or conjure up spells to punish those who would cause pain.

However, you can't save the universe without some help. Travelling throughout the worlds with Sora is familiar faces Donald Duck and Goofy! After running into Sora, Donald and Goofy reveal they're looking for a friend of their own - Mickey. Claiming that he was captured by dark forces, Donald and Goofy decide to travel along with Sora to rescue all their friends. Facing both the Heartless and familiar Disney villains, Sora, Donald, and Goofy manage to undertake the impossible and rescue thousands of lives, if it is even for only a moment.

However, the success of this franchise isn't the fact that you can have the Genie and Donald exchange some witty banter. No, that's merely the tool that Square Enix used to get people to buy the game. What keeps this franchise going is its stellar narrative and its fluent control scheme.

Narratively, Kingdom Hearts touches on some seriously deep stuff, considering it's tagging right alongside a character named "Goofy". There are lessons of friendship and a surprisingly intense commentary on people's personal conflicts with lightness and darkness. Strictly speaking, it is slightly reminiscent of a certain lightsaber-weilding warrior's own tale, but it nonetheless is executed expertly. The dialogue can be corny at times, but what sells it is the voice acting. The actors are sincere and full of emotion, even with the odd Japanese-translated dialogue.

Control-wise, the series has evolved tremendously. Both melee and magic moves are organized in a playlist-style in which a simple button press activates the power you want to use. At first, this system worked in a sense in which melee and magic were kept separate and you had to go through an extra listing to use them; however, after Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, all moves were placed onto one, short playlist, with shorter cooldown times, allowing you to move faster and attack more swiftly. The best part is you really feel every swipe you make, every shot you take, you really feel the attack; the force against the enemy, the swish of the keyblade, the strikes of the light, you really feel like you're wielding it yourself. This game has some of the best combat controls of any series, second only to the Batman: Arkham series...but that's a story for another day.

And at the end of the day, many people agree that Kingdom Hearts has done something really special for gaming. For the kids that picked it up, it taught them lessons about believing in yourself and trusting in your friends. For adult fans, it reminded them that not every video game has to have gore or horrific imagery to hold your attention or grab you by the heartstrings. For console companies, this series has literally helped to push consoles - whether it's the PlayStation 2 and the debut of the series, or Dream Drop Distance on the Nintendo 3DS...which, coincidentally, led me to purchase my own 3DS. After over 10 years, Kingdom Hearts has become a positive reminder of the capabilities of gaming, both play-wise and in storytelling. And with what's coming up, it's never been a better time to be a fan.