An End Written From the Beginning
When I begin a new game I tend to feel weak, powerless, and a little bit lost as I grapple with an unfamiliar control scheme and face battles that are […]
Sora, Donald, and Goofy: A Threefold Cord
One of the core themes of Kingdom Hearts is teamwork, and as Sora faces the darkness that threatens him, his friends, and his world he found support from an unexpected […]
From “Nobody” to “Somebody”: A Heart-Shaped Dilemma
The “Nobodies” that impede our progress in the Kingdom Hearts games are a truly tragic group of opponents… they are beings made up of a body and soul, but they […]
Sora: Under-Qualified but Uniquely Gifted
Sora was a very unlikely protagonist when we were introduced to him in the first Kingdom Hearts game… small, young, with no combat skills to speak of and barely able […]
Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
At multiple points in Kingdom Hearts we are given access to “guest characters” who can join our party and help us out for a while… but they don’t get to […]
Kingdom Hearts: A Lower Level of Difficulty
I tend to play most games on their default setting, but when my young daughter wanted to play Kingdom Hearts with me I dropped the difficulty level down to the […]
Limited Continues: One Life to Live
I am always deeply appreciative of any video game that allows me to “press continue” after my character meets their demise… even if it is for the hundredth time. I […]
Unskippable Cutscenes and Unwanted Waits
I have a love/hate relationship with cutscenes in video games… the first time I watch them, they typically provide meaningful exposition as well as a chance to catch my breath. […]
Waiting Between Answers: A Kingdom Hearts Conundrum
The Kingdom Hearts franchise launched over twenty years ago, and with only a few entries in the mainline series the wait between each has felt impossibly long. Sure, there have been […]
Kingdom Hearts 3: Unfair Expectations?
The tremendous success of the first two titles in the Kingdom Hearts series placed an even larger amount of pressure on Kingdom Hearts 3 to be one of the greatest […]
Finding God in Video Games 