Like the Final Fantasy franchise, Kingdom Hearts has garnered a generational and lifelong fanbase that has been with the franchise through thick and thin. What drew so many to the franchise that may not be familiar with the JRPG genre was its bond to the Disney universe and its many characters. Through its story, players could fight alongside Mickey, Donald, and Goofy against classic villains like Maleficent, Gaston, and Hades. That said, while fun, the franchise's biggest point of contention was the story that formed around these characters.
As a narrative, Kingdom Hearts doesn't outwardly establish timeframes or even its place in the story. For example, while Kingdom Hearts Union X was released after the original game for smartphones, it's canonically the first in the franchise. Nevertheless, while its narrative may not be the most cohesive and has even driven off players who aren't used to its disjointed techniques, paying attention to key components shows how the franchise makes perfect sense.
Kingdom Hearts Has A Confusing History
While fun and incredibly entertaining, there's no denying that the history of Kingdom Hearts has been nothing short of confusing. At first, the concept of a lone hero with a keyblade fighting literal darkness to protect his friends and the world seemed simple enough. But for many, the idea of Nobodies, Unversed, and Kingdom Hearts as a place and the overall timeline of the franchise added a massive level of confusion. Of course, what made this even more difficult to grasp were the many sequels and prequels that were released on various consoles over decades, offering small pieces to the story. Plus, games that may have appeared inconsequential, like Birth By Sleep or 358/2 Days proved to be some of the most crucial to grasp a future entry like Kingdom Hearts III.
The key to understanding the simplicity of the larger Kingdom Hearts story could be found thanks to the cutscenes of certain games. In the case of the previously mentioned prequels, the cutscenes alone offered some fantastic looks at key characters like Roxas, Aqua, Axel, and Xion. It also gave a glimpse into the plight of Organization XIII, or the rise of Xehanort, all of which was crucial to the narrative but could be forgotten in hours of gameplay. In the end, the cutscenes played a massive role in proving the simplicity of its story—but it wasn't the only topic.
Kingdom Hearts Must Be Explored To Be Understood
Cutscenes are the most important role of all when it comes to getting a cohesive understanding of the Kingdom Hearts story. That said, they were merely the bricks to the story of Sora and his friends without any cement. To hold those bricks together, the cement came in the all too important secret reports that could be read in many of the games. While most players may not dive deeper into the lore of the franchise, they provide some of the best lore in the series. From Kingdom Hearts to Kingdom Hearts III, secret reports covered the studies of characters like Ansem and Xehanort. However, they also dove into the mindset of many members of Organization XIII, giving context to the otherwise mysterious characters.
One of the best reports for context answered the ongoing conundrum of what a Nobody "technically" was. In Secret Ansem Report 12, Ansem the Wise explained how Nobodies worked and how Naminé was different from Roxas. It also established why Roxas was in Twilight Town in the first place, setting up Kingdom Hearts II. With cutscenes and secret reports, the full tapestry of the Kingdom Hearts story is admittedly massive. That said, it's still a narrative that is much less intimidating to understand as a result. Like all great discoveries, there's work involved, but the secret reports and cutscenes through the Kingdom Hearts narrative prove the deceptively simple story told within. From the rise of Xehanort to Sora's sacrificial disappearance, everything would make perfect sense with these pieces in place and prove that anyone could follow the narrative.