Creator Letter: Kingdom Hearts Should Be Taken Seriously

Kingdom Hearts Should Be Taken Seriously

Level Story would not exist if I had never played Kingdom Hearts. You may find that statement to be hyperbolic, but allow me to explain. I didn’t play many games growing up outside of the popular Nintendo titles - Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Country, and Banjo-Kazooie. While these are all fantastic games in their own way, none of them feature narrative dense stories. As far as I was aware, games did not contain compelling stories the way the books I loved did. Games were games.

The most cinematic game I had played in my short life was Tony Hawk’s Underground, a game that doesn’t scream great narrative. It didn’t make me seek out more narrative games, even if it did surprise me with a story instead of just handing me a level to peruse.

Kingdom Hearts was different. From the moment I popped in the first game to get my fill of Disney magic, I was amazed by the realization that a video game could play on the screen like a movie. It awakened the potential in me to seek out narrative in spaces beyond books. I realized that good stories can exist in any space, as long as their allowed.

Whenever I tell people I play Kingdom Hearts, the almost universal reaction is laughter or a pretentious scuff. The story is convoluted and all over the place. How can anyone take Disney seriously? It is stupid. This comes from many who have never picked up a single game from the series in their lives or haven’t played enough to allow the game proper time to do its job. The important thing I want to get out there is this - Kingdom Hearts is not a bad series. Kingdom Hearts is not a bad story. This perhaps is my mission statement for this issue and future issues tackling other games in the series.

Now, let me be clear. Kingdom Hearts can’t escape criticism. It often invites it with its poor structure, retconning, and narrative padding. The games feature so many narrative problems that it can be overwhelming to talk about everything without tripping over yourself. I’m not even sure I was able to get all my thoughts on the pages of this issue. But that being said, there are good things happening. I hope I can uncover some of those things while still remaining critical of the things that don’t work as well.

A few things of note before you get into the issue proper. First, although the first game in the series is called Kingdom Hearts, it will be referred to as Kingdom Hearts 1 in an effort to make things less confusing when the series as a whole is referenced. It can be assumed that this issue is in reference to the Final Mix version of the game, the definitive version. Finally, this issue is focused on the first game only so no need to fear spoilers for future titles if you have not played. The games will be discussed in order of their release.

I love Kingdom Hearts 1 a lot. Though on the surface it shows its age in the somewhat slow gameplay and weird cut scene pacing, looking deeper only reveals much more depth and complexity...even if there is a hint of silliness to it all.