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Hearts of Darkness: Sora, and the real heroes of ‘Kingdom Hearts’

Kingdom Hearts is a series whose plot is constantly in a state of conflict with itself. At the center of this conflict is a level of tonal inconsistency that is put into place by even choosing to merge the happy-go-lucky innocence of Disney with the moody and brooding, self-serious Final Fantasy franchise to begin with. The vast …

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‘Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep’ delivers new perspectives to an old world

Kingdom Hearts has a way of telling complex stories that produce more questions than answers. As such, Kingdom Hearts games tend to run long. With the minor exceptions of Chain of Memories and 358/2 Days, each of the games has managed to build a strong fan base that continues to pine for Kingdom Hearts 3 (Before I die Square Enix, that’s all I ask–before I die). The longest game to date is Birth by Sleep, which clocks in at a healthy 45 hours of gameplay that purely moves the plot forward. That does not include any time players might spend mucking about with meld commands, building command decks, playing mini-games, or fighting in the arena. Players are willing to invest so much time in Birth by Sleep because although Birth by Sleep failed to pick up where Kingdom Hearts 2 left off, it provided players with new game mechanics that improved gameplay tenfold, and it presented three unique perspectives on the events that lead to Kingdom Hearts.

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‘Kingdom Hearts’: Making the Impossible, Possible

Final Fantasy and Disney together in one universe. Logically, it sounds like a terrible idea. Yet Kingdom Hearts, an action role-playing game, has managed to harmoniously bring these two extremely different universes together, reaffirming the old saying “opposites attract.” In fact, Kingdom Hearts is six games strong, with a seventh in the works, has won several awards, and is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time.

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