The story of the Kingdom Hearts series is a little complicated. It seems that franchise co-director Tai Yasue understands this. In a recent review with Polygon, Yasue stated that one of the most important parts of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix is to help refresh players on the game’s story.
Re-learning the series
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix is the second Kingdom Hearts compilation, following last year’s Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix. The 2.5 Remix will include Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Final Mix, and the cut scenes from Kingdom Hearts Re:coded. This is the first time that both of the Final Mix editions will release outside of Japan.
Yasue said that the collection works to both recruit new players into the franchise, as well as prepare veteran players for the series’ next big game, Kingdom Hearts 3. He states:
“I think it’s really accessible for the younger generation, [but] story-wise, it’s a bit complex. By having 1.5 and 2.5, I think it will be easier to play Kingdom Hearts 3 and understand that story. We wanted the players to experience that in HD and relearn it and re-experience it.”
Kingdom Hearts 2 originally released on the PlayStation 2 in 2005. Birth By Sleep, which functioned as the franchise’s origin story, saw release in 2010 for the PSP. To get a deep understanding of Kingdom Hearts 3, players will need to know the connections between the titles in the series. As the series has been out over a long time, some can forget bits of the story.
“As a developer myself, you start to forget what happened. There are so many [games]. In a way, it’s a learning experience for us too.”
I myself also see this as a way to catch up on the story of Kingdom Hearts.
It has been awhile since I have played a couple of the entries in Kingdom Hearts, so it will be nice to have a way to remember the story of the franchise. Kingdom Hearts does not have a simple story, so it will be nice to have a reminder all of the events and plotlines.
I also see this as a chance to finally be able to play the Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts 2 and Birth By Sleep. They were never released outside of Japan, and I always wanted to experience the extra content contained in those editions. Now I finally have the chance to experience those moments for the first time.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix will release for the PlayStation 3 on December 2 in North America, and in Europe on December 5. Kingdom Hearts 3 will arrive on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 sometime in the future.
