Kingdom Hearts is the lovechild between Square Enix and
Disney, with lots and lots of hair gel. It follows the adventures of a teen
named Sora, and those who are impacted by him. Sora, the wielder of a special
sword named a 'Keyblade,' travels from world to world to fight evil and right
wrongs while finding his friends he was separated from. These worlds often house
Disney characters, each world acting as universe for a film.
For instance, an Alice in
Wonderland
world has all the characters and settings from the classic animated
feature. A TRON
world looks glossy and futuristic while a Steamboat Willie
world turns all the characters pie-eyed and black and white. Sora travels from
world to world combating Heartless, tiny evil minions, and meeting Square Enix
and Disney characters along the way. They teach him important lessons about
friendship, loyalty and courage.
Copyright Disney / Square Enix. All rights reserved
Since 2005, fans of Kingdom Hearts have been eagerly awaiting the third part of
the Kingdom Hearts series but have had to settle for multiple reboots and side
stories. But finally, finally the third game will come out, after a full HD
remake of two Kingdom Hearts games, and a DS game, all using the updates
graphics power of the Playstation 3
While it may seem at first like a cash grab via reselling
the games, this new HD collection has had quite a lot of new material put into
it. Cutscenes have been remastered with newer character models, toned
Playstation music has been replaced with recordings of a live orchestra,
trophies (Rewards for accomplishing in-game tasks), and the controls and menus
for the game have been tightened for an easier gaming experience.
A shot from inside the booth during Jess
McCartney'srecording session. Copyright
Disney / Square Enix. All rights reserved
Not only that, but voice actors have come in to redub lines. As was evidenced
by Jesse McCartney's video (That had since been pulled by Square Enix) of him
recording battle grunts and cries.
The games to be remastered for this collection are Kingdom
Hearts: Final Mix
(A version of the original game only Japan got, with extra
enemies, extra cutscenes, and more), RE: Chain of Memories (A redo of Kingdom
Hearts: Chain of Memories
, a game for the Game Boy Advance), and Kingdom Hearts:
358/2 Days
(A DS game. This game will only have adjusted cutscenes, the game
itself will not be available to play.)
Copyright Disney / Square Enix. All rights reserved
Tetsuya Nomura, the creator of the franchise, suggests that Kingdom Hearts II
will be remastered in HD next. Which means we'll be waiting even longer for
Kingdom Hearts III.
If you happen to preorder the bundle, you will get an
exclusive Kingdom Hearts Artbook. This artbook will feature development
sketches, and tons of behind-the-scenes material including character models and
much, much more.
Copyright Disney / Square Enix. All rights reserved
Overall, ratings for this game have been good. Praising the
updated control schemes and new music. As a Kingdom Hearts fan, I'm not sure if
I would get it. While it's exciting that the US can finally see the Final Mix
material, and this will be the first time other countries outside of the US and
Japan will have access to RE: Chain of Memories, it feels like not enough was
added to warrant rebuying these games in a bundle.
With what Nomura mentioned about wanting to remaster Kingdom
Hearts 2, it's likely that there will be another bundle in our future. It's
been said that Kingdom Hearts III will come after this game, but if you're a
Kingdom Hearts fan, you've heard that far too often after many game releases.
The Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX
will be available September 10th, 2013.