Kingdom Hearts

I’m a Disney fan. I won’t claim that I like everything Disney does, but I like a bunch of what they do. And one of my favorite things they did was with Square Enix. I’m talking about Kingdom Hearts of course. Specifically I’m talking about Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. If you ever want to play a love letter to Disney fans, Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 are for you! Lets take a trip down Disney memory lane. There is…

When it rains, it pours. Apparently Square Enix have realized there's a new Kingdom Hearts Remix coming out in the next few months, and that they ought to start advertising it. Our second trailer in less than a month, this one shows off some of the changes between the original, SD PS2 version of Kingdom Hearts 2 and the new HD PS3 outing. There's also a clip from Birth by Sleep.

Square Enix have been fairly quiet on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix. It was announced earlier this year that it'd be coming to the west, and it was forgotten about. Just before E3, the news gummi has taken to the skies and a new trailer has returned. We have to admit, it's looking pretty stunning.

Gilbert Gottfried, foul-mouthed comedian with a voice like a chainsaw that's not been well, might be best known to a certain generation as the voice of Iago the parrot in Disney's Aladdin. He not only voiced the character in the original feature length cartoon, but in the TV series, sequels and video game adaptations as well, including Kingdom Hearts. In a tweet today, Gottfried managed let the genie out of the lamp by revealing that he's currently doing voice work for the next Kingdom Hearts game.

You just know behind-the-scenes conversations must be odd when a major part of a company like Microsoft signs an online petition to bring the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 REmix HD Collection to 360. That's exactly what's happened. Phil Spencer took to Twitter today, replying to someone who linked him the Kingdom Hearts 360 petition we covered a few days ago, confirming that he signed it.

It's no secret that there were some Xbox 360-only owners desperate to play the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix collection that was released last year but, alas, their call for a port went ignored. There's a million reasons it might not have happened, but that hasn't stopped one plucky fan from starting a petition to change things, and it's a petition that's begun to pick up speed.

The Kingdom Hearts franchise, outside of the first two PS2 titles, is a rather hit and miss affair, storyline wise. There's a lot there that's fun to play and participate in, and then there are other parts that are there basically to show that the universe goes further than Disney. Coded was something different, not exactly important to the overall plot (not exactly in a way that warranted a full game, even a mobile game), but spin-off enough that it didn't matter. Re:Coded suffered (benefited?) from a similar problem, although that's about to change.

Disney and Final Fantasy characters fighting alongside each other, a story about hearts and key blades, real-time button mashing combat, and a main character with hair that defies gravity; Kingdom Hearts hit the industry with originality, bravery, and charm back in 2002. Fast-forward 11 years and we have a well made HD remastering of the original classic and its direct sequels.

Amazon have launched a pre-order page for Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMIX, announced earlier this morning. The collection, which contains Kingdom Hearts 2, Birth By Sleep and the cutscenes from ReCoded, will be out some time in 2014.

A fan has done what Square Enix didn't - taken the English lines from Kingdom Hearts 2, Birth By Sleep and Re:Coded and placed them into the trailer for Kingdom Hearts 2.5 ReMIX. It gives a much better glimpse of what we should be expecting when the second HD collection launches next year.