Kingdom Hearts turns 17

This week seventeen years ago an epic gaming franchise was created between two seeming polar opposite companies. In 2002 Square Soft  known for its long play RPG titles and Disney Interactive, know for short arcade style games based on Disney charters created Kingdom Hearts. The game was a Final Fantasy- Disney mashup that forever changed the video game industry, created multiple spin offs and sequels and has sold millions of copies world wide. Kingdom Hearts is considered by many gaming publications to be one of the greatest video games of all time.

Kingdom Hearts was started by a chance meeting in an elevator between  Shinji Hashimoto of Square Soft and a Disney Interactive executive. The two companies originally liked the idea of working together but disagreed on who exactly the characters of a new game should be.  Disney wanted its own characters and Square Soft wanted original characters. In the end a combination of the two intellectual properties was reached that brought out the best in both. 

Kingdom Hearts was a brilliant combination of story telling and action adventure. Most of the games locations were set in the familiar worlds of Disney where the main protagonists Sora, Donald and Goofy fight the Darkness  and discover the meaning of Kingdom Hearts in a coming of age tale worthy of  both Disney  and Final Fantasy.

Kingdom Hearts has a total of ten original games with the final game Kingdom Hearts 3 released just this year. It is rare for a gaming franchise to enjoy such longevity, fan support and consistent production and creative direction in an industry that takes years and millions of dollars to produce a game. 

Kingdom Hearts wrapped up it saga  of the original characters with the Kingdom Hearts 3, but insists the story will continue with new characters and settings for future games. Until then we can only wait. Happy seventeenth birthday Kingdom hearts.