The Nostalgic Power of Kingdom Hearts | Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Essay

In my ongoing celebration of Kingdom Hearts and its 20th Anniversary I wanted to talk about the series and its relationship with nostalgia. For many people nostalgia is what got them interested in the series in the first place, be it nostalgia for the Disney of their childhood and/or the Final Fantasy games they played in the past. It also factors greatly in the great money-making machine of Disney recycling their content in various ways from their direct-to-video releases of the 90s and aughts to the relatively new trend of remaking their animated classics in live-action. Kingdom Hearts exists at an interesting intersection of all these practices. So is Kingdom Hearts' use of nostalgia a good thing? A bad thing? Neutral? Let's talk about it. Happy 20th Anniversary, Kingdom Hearts!
Subscribe to FauxRetro and ring that bell to be ready for the next video! kzbin.info?sub...
FauxRetro is an online channel specializing in creating high-quality documentaries, video essays and reviews on video games and their related products. For media/press inquiries please reach out at [e-mail]. Don't forget to like the video, leave a comment, and subscribe for more!
Follow FauxRetro:
PATREON ---► patreon.com/fauxretro
TWITCH (18+) ---► twitch.tv/fauxretro​
TWITTER ---► fauxretro​
TIKTOK ---► tiktok.com/@fauxretro?lang=en​
TUMBLR ---► tumblr.com/fauxretro
Featured Games:
Kingdom Hearts, Square 2002
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Square Enix 2004
Kingdom Hearts II, Square Enix 2005
Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Square Enix 2007
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Square Enix 2010
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD, Square Enix 2017
Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage -, Square Enix 2017
Kingdom Hearts III, Square Enix 2019
Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind, Square Enix 2020
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, 2020
The Bouncer, Square 2000
Aladdin, Virgin Games USA 1993
Frozen: Olaf's Quest, GameMill Entertainment 2013
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, SCEA 1999
Paper Mario, Nintendo 2000
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, Universal Interactive 2002
Final Fantasy X, Square 2000
Final Fantasy VII, Square 1997
Final Fantasy VIII, Square 1999
Final Fantasy Tactics, Square 1997
Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix 2020
Kingdom Hearts IV, Square Enix TBA
Featured Music:
"Dearly Beloved" Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
"Sora" Kingdom Hearts
"Kairi" Kingdom Hearts
"The Silent Forest" Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
"Terra" Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
"Roxas" Kingdom Hearts II
"Dearly Beloved -Swing Version-" Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
"Traverse in Trance" Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
"Traverse Town" Kingdom Hearts
"Hand in Hand" Kingdom Hearts
"Hikari 光 (Simple and Clean) Orchestral Instrumental Version" Kingdom Hearts
Select Game Footage from 10minGameplay:
/ 10mingameplay1
The Nostalgic Power of Kingdom Hearts | Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Essay
#KingdomHearts #KH20th #gaming

[@FauxRetro]

Thank you for watching, I hope you enjoyed it! I've got one more video for KH's 20th anniversary planned for this year and it's going to be a BIG one! Now I'm wondering - what made Kingdom Hearts catch your eye in the first place? Was it the Disney factor? Square-Enix? Something else entirely? Let me know!

[@Mastergame5x]

Pretty sure my dad got it at the time, I watched him fall to cerebus a few times, then I took over.

[@TheDataRich]

Absolutely agree that the live action remakes are an attempt to capitalize on the nostalgia of these movies in a way that seems to almost diminish them

[@FauxRetro]

It'd be nice if they used that energy to make something new or twist the original in its based on like Maleficent, but when they're just beat-for-beat the same movie, what's the point?

[@FormalGibble]

My kingdom hearts story is kind of all over the place and way too long to type out but you can bet like many people here that it's one of those series I hold close to me.

[@OysterMilk]

14:40 okay, THIS. I’m so glad I’m not the only one who shared memory cards as a kid for hard fights

[@FauxRetro]

I know memory cards serve no practical purpose anymore, but I miss them

[@ProperBird]

The Bouncer is mentioned in any way shape or form, I cannot help but like the video. 😌 (no but seriously very good video) My brother came home with a PS2 and Kingdom Hearts one day, bought with our combined savings. I had to sell my N64 to afford it. I didn't even pick the game but I'm glad that's the one he chose. Also how dare you show the end of Kingdom Hearts 1, making me cry on a Friday night! 😭

[@FauxRetro]

*_THE BOUNCER._*

[@MrWarners14]

When I was a kid in primary school, I used what I call “Toxic Nostalgia”. That being my obsession with the 1990s and being cynical about the wide majority of early to mid noughts (2000s) media. I think once I eventually became more open-minded, I got out of the awful mindset that was prevalent in the early 2000s internet. Believe me, there are still plenty of things to dislike about the era but plenty of good came out of it too. The realisation I had was it’s not nostalgia that affects its quality. Sometimes, it just wasn’t very good. Now to me, I wasn’t an RPG guy as a 7 year old in 2002 so I ignored it for years. I didn’t even get into the series until I saw cutscenes years later and it looked so sad but powerful. I had played Final Fantasy 6 and Earthbound on my computer years ago in 2010 and they got me interested in RPGs. I loved them. Mother 3 came out in 2006 and it’s one of my all time favourites. Anyway, I got around to getting 2.5 on PS3 in 2014 because 1.5 wasn’t available. It ended up being the perfect choice as just like Roxas, I was playing blind and had no idea what to expect. The game ended up being incredible and I have very fond memories of just playing it on PS3 and later on PS4 so I could play KH1 (which I loved). My blind nostalgia as a kid pushed me away from potentially great stuff (which I later got to appreciate). I loved Disney stuff and still do but the games transcend nostalgia and just become…good. I don’t think the media failed us. We failed a lot of media by blindly following a memory of what we thought we knew. What was right in front of us. I’m grateful I discovered Kingdom Hearts. It got me to appreciate a wide variety of works and people. I won’t be blind to nostalgia. I’ll open my eyes to the future.

[@Hyskaris]

My sister is 7 years older than me and was always the one who led me into the things I grew up to love. She loved Disney in particular, and actually grew up to work at one of the big hotels in Florida's DisneyWorld just so she could stay close to the stuff she loved. And being her younger sibling, I always looked to her for things to enjoy. I wasn't outgoing, I was quite scared of other people and delving into new things. So when she came home one day with a used PS2 and a vanilla copy of KH1 and KH2, I couldn't help how enamored I was by what she was playing. I'd ask her if I could start my own game, and she said sure, as long as I didn't overwrite her save file. It set me on a path I've yet to get off of. It's been 15 years since then, and I've played every iteration of the games since then. I bought a Nintendo DS to play 358 and Re:Coded. I played 3D on a friend's 3DS. I found a used PSP to play BBS. I bought a copy of Re:Chain of Memories. And then, when I was turning 15 and my sister 22, we both pooled together our money to buy a PS4. And immediately, we bought the 1.5+2.5 Remix. I would sit down after school every day, replaying these beautiful games in their new HD graphics and better controls. I started up Critical mode playthroughs, something a younger me was too scared to do. I beat every single game and 100%'d them on the max difficulty (except MoM, im bad at rhythm games lol). I'm 21 now. Working a full time job with college on the side and a partner to share my excitement with. He was willing to sit down and watch me play all of the games *again* on their max difficulty. And every time I got excited, he said he was a little surprised to hear me so ecstatic. And eventually, he started to get that ecstatic too. He cried over 358, and you can bet he cried again during that scene in KH3. It was so interesting, to see my nostalgic feelings of excitement and compare them to his fresh excitement. It wasn't so different. And it just made me love the games more afterwards. It felt so special to me, knowing I could still love this batshit insane series. And I could even bring my partner into it because it truly was that enjoyable.

[@hadinasrallah8928]

Never was huge on the disney movies and i never beat a ff game (except xv) yet kingdom hearts holds such a special place in my heart even though i got into the games very late with the ps4 collection kingdom hearts 2 is easily in my top 3 favorite games of all time

[@captaindanverz3520]

When KH 1 came out I was a young FF and Disney fan, so the idea of Goofy talking to someone like Cloud blew my mind, and the trailer with Simple and Clean instantly got my attention. Since I've moved so many times and had to part with all old consoles and game discs, I'm mostly a nostalgia target for old games being remastered for PC, rather than having new titles with familiar faces.

[@FauxRetro]

Absolutely with you on older games getting remastered. Seeing so many games from my childhood make some kind of resurgence is always a treat!

[@DIRECTEDBYH]

the music makes you sad, bc you remember how easy times were as a child

[@Roxbian]

3:23 Shield Moment. Bless.

[@FauxRetro]

Honestly I can't help but choose it every time I replay KH1

[@Roxbian]

You and me both 🥰, its kinda special to me because I chose it on my first ever playthrough. I just loved the colours.

[@willwin92]

I kinda feel called out by the first 5 minutes watching this video since its the first thing I saw after coming home from watching a 30th anniversary showing of The Nightmare Before Christmas

[@notMachine]

an amazing video! the switch from nostalgia for disney characters in kh1 to nostalgia for the kh characters when kh3 came out was definitely an interesting realization when it finally came out.

[@user-nh7tu4vu3x]

Super well put together points. Stumbled upon this, but man do I agree with it all. I still remember my PS2 disk being scratches and causing the game to crash during the last cutscene, which brought a whole different type of tears to my 9 year old self lol 😣

[@Fabletown]

Best KZbin Trilogy EVER!

[@FauxRetro]

Gonna be a tetralogy come next month!

[@AKA_Tari]

Finally getting around to watching these. Too much dilly dally shilly shally! My top 3 most nostalgic moments from KH1: "What do you know you big palooka?" "Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness..." *Doors creak open spewing out ghastly gaseous darkness* and you think to yourself "Ah hell, here we go again!" SEPHIROTH!

[@michaelbrent1536]

Kingdom hearts will always be a part of my childhood. It’s up there with the legend of Zelda and Super Mario! I also like the crossover between square Enix and Disney, something I Never thought possible when I was a kid! I was so happy to see sora finally in super smash brothers something that I wanted for a very long time because he’s a crossover character!

[@crystalpeaches7825]

i started with days and had no idea what the game was about so when i saw aladdin and jasmine the first time i was SUPER surprised lol

[@coffeecomicsnerd7181]

What caught my eye for Kh? Its art style and I remember when I first saw it. I remember I was in a best buy, it was maybe... 2009/ almost 2010, and I had just had a birthday. Id gotten my DSI, and I was bored of this Garfield game I had on the system. I wanted something new, and was looking for that thing that would hook me. An employee helped point out two titles, Scribblenauts and Kingdom hearts 358/2 days, it was new on the market by a year or two. So it wasn't fresh. But it was Newer. Thus started my journey into Kingdom hearts on the PS2, I fell in love w/ Roxas, Sora, Riku, and the whole world that was Kingdom hearts. I absolutely adore the series and can't wait to see where KH4 goes in the coming years. 💙 also, brilliant Vid as always, Faux, your passion shows and your hard work has much applause from me! Bravo 🎉🤘

[@FauxRetro]

Thank you!

[@EpicBossJazz]

This is such a great video!! Really nailed that nostalgia feeling perfectly hell, just hearing that dearly beloved right at the beginning of the video just sent me on a trip heh. It really reminded me of how much of a chokehold kh has me in lmao (in a good way ofc). My mum got kh1 for us on the ps2 because of the disney elements (oh I know she did not ever imagine the impact it would have on young and old me LOL) and now it's become something way more than that as you so eloquently put it. I too am super excited for the next phase of this wild ride!!

[@filmotter]

Not the pile of Pinocchio shit shot. Amazing. 😂😂

[@FauxRetro]

Couldn't talk about live-action Pinocchio without it

[@damnamazin]

Its simply the best video about the nostalgic power of KH, so many memories unlocked in such a creative way!

[@FauxRetro]

Thank you!

[@Mastergame5x]

20 years! Stop making me feel old lmao I remember a year or two back doing a rerun of KH1 on Proud Mode and wondering to myself how I ever beat Ansem at 8 years old lol Its so wild to have the Nostalgia for Disney, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts now almost 20 years on...

[@FauxRetro]

I still haven't fully processed that its been 20 years myself!

[@janoneal9721]

Loved this! The nostalgia was something I hadn’t thought about. Thanks for your insight!

[@FauxRetro]

Thank you for watching!

[@peep3208]

when does familiarity become nostalgia? i picked out KH1 in 2002 as a 5 year old, because characters of movies i had been watching were in it. but calling my familiarity with the little mermaid nostalgia, which i watched for the first time maybe a year earlier, doesnt fit too well id say that disney worked hard to make their movies timeless classics, so that any child at any time period could be introduced to them as if they were new. i think this timelessness is why KH worked. it definitely appealed to slightly older players with the nostalgia of watched the lion king on release as a kid or the nostalgia of playing ff7. but i think KH is still to an extent designed with children in mind, to sell a general 'disney magic' experience to a younger audience (with KH1 at least). over time this has resulted in a really diverse fanbase which really makes KH special

[@FauxRetro]

A lot of excellent points! Nostalgia is relative for sure. And you're absolutely right with Kingdom Hearts tapping into that "timeless magic" of Disney.

[@BlueEye096]

Oh yeah new FauxRetro KH video inject that stuff into my veins. Everything about this video is spot on. I too as a kid was initially dazzled by KH1 cause of the Disney imagery, I had no idea who the FF characters were but I eventually did and came to love them to giving these games another layer of love and nostalgia, and now 20 years on my goodness that first game is always such an nostalgia overload from the Disney worlds to all the original KH stuff itself, same with KH2. I still remember being 6 and running around Destiny Islands looking for all those items Kairi needed, remember being scared of the Secret Place cause Billy Zane's deep voice unnerved me, Darkside being just the absolutely most terrifying video game boss I had ever encountered as a child. God damn I love Kingdom Hearts.

[@ChiliFarmer]

great work Faux!

[@FauxRetro]

Thank you!

[@lucariomew365]

I'm honestly not sure what caught my eye with KH. I just remember one day seeing it on a Disney Channel commercial (not the one you usually play on Twitch) that seems lost to time now.

[@FauxRetro]

Was it Disney Secret Lab, maybe? I remember seeing that for KH1 and later Chain of Memories as well in '04.

[@lucariomew365]

@@FauxRetro No, i finally saw the Disney labs one on KZbin after Years of searching. The one I'm thinking of is similar, but features 2 other kids talking about how "cool it is" to see all the Disney characters together. The reason I specifically remember it is because that was the same year The Proud Family premiered. There's a few of KH2 commercials, TV spots, and interviews missing too. I know Mike and Sally (Alison Stone) from Mike's Super Short show also did a thing on it, but it's not counted as part of the Mike super short show episodes which makes it really annoying to find. But they interviewed Haley Joel in it which is the first time I even seen him. He was rocking longer hair that every teen in the 2000s had, and my friend was like, oh he's the guy from the 6th sense. There's also a Disney411 TV spot that's missing.

[@KHGuides]

Excellent video, Faux! You perfectly highlighted one of the major creative elements of the franchise that drew me in, and I think you're spot-on with your thoughts regarding non-WDAS sequels and the pitfalls of recent live-action remakes.

[@FauxRetro]

The poop shot from Pinocchio sums it up

[@mompou_]

kingdom hearts x the comment: the algorithm

[@FauxRetro]

so true

[@yodizzle]

Bravo, bravo!!!

[@curabletoxin]

Nostalgia built upon Nostalgia. Sounds like a bad game built only on good memories, but in the end, its a beautiful game made stronger by greater memories. Also wasn't there a horrible cloud port too😏

[@FauxRetro]

Kingdom Hearts? On the cloud? Likely story.