Kingdom Hearts Again x 2.5 Re: Mastered
Kingdom Hearts 1.5.2.5.01….
It seems that Square-Enix can’t get enough of it’s cash-cow, Kingdom Hearts. Square-Enix is releasing a PS3 port of Kingdom Hearts 1: Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts RE:Chain of Memories, and scenes from Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days all in High Definition. Both “re-mastered” versions will also have Trophies, for those PS3-playing, Trophy-hungry Kingdom Hearts lovers. Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix was a Japanese re-release that never hit North American shelves and featured a small bit of extra content such as bosses and a few scenes.
I have been a long-time fan of the Kingdom Hearts series. In fact, since day 1, I have been a lover of the franchise. Filled with over-zealous teenagers, overly dramatic cutscenes, corny one-liners, and amazing fighting systems unique among RPGs; this series has been close to my heart (whatever that is). But I can’t help but feel that Square-Enix is trying to ride out on one of its last good-selling series.
With the release of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, Re: Coded, and Dream Drop Distance; many people feel that the series has gone from a light-hearted trilogy about love and strength of heart, to a convoluted storyline involving body-transfers, time travel, and probably String Theory soon enough. Others feel that the remastered versions and additional games add to the story line’s depth and characters development.
What I’m seeing is a very dumbed down version of the fanboyish addendums posted on forums. While I eagerly await Kingdom Hearts 3 myself, I’m sure these remastered versions in between are a good way to sate the hunger of the masses.
On a side note, SE is rumored to have a browser-based online game featuring Kingdom Hearts and its “Disney” counterparts. While information is limited, I’m sure the idea will be a seller to most KH fans. We’ll just have to wait for the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2012 reports to what SE has in store for its loyal fans and if it will ever make it stateside.
P.S TGS is going on as I write this article.
