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Kingdom Hearts (universe): Difference between revisions
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The origins of ''Kingdom Hearts'' can be traced back to conversations between [[Square Enix|Squaresoft]] executive Shinji Hashimoto and {{uv|Final Fantasy}} series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi in the late 1990s. The developer was in a financially unstable position at the time and needed a blockbuster success to save them from going bankrupt. The two bemoaned about Square needing a game like ''[[Mario (universe)|Super Mario 64]]'', but realizing only a company like [[Disney]] has characters that could rival the popularity of [[Mario]]. ''Final Fantasy'' character designer Tetsuya Nomura overheard these conversations and volunteered to create this project. By a stroke of luck, Square and Disney of Japan shared an office building at the time. Hashimoto would have a chance encounter with a Disney executive in an elevator which allowed him to pitch the concept of using Disney properties in this game, which was eventually approved in 2000. | The origins of ''Kingdom Hearts'' can be traced back to conversations between [[Square Enix|Squaresoft]] executive Shinji Hashimoto and {{uv|Final Fantasy}} series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi in the late 1990s. The developer was in a financially unstable position at the time and needed a blockbuster success to save them from going bankrupt. The two bemoaned about Square needing a game like ''[[Mario (universe)|Super Mario 64]]'', but realizing only a company like [[Disney]] has characters that could rival the popularity of [[Mario]]. ''Final Fantasy'' character designer Tetsuya Nomura overheard these conversations and volunteered to create this project. By a stroke of luck, Square and Disney of Japan shared an office building at the time. Hashimoto would have a chance encounter with a Disney executive in an elevator which allowed him to pitch the concept of using Disney properties in this game, which was eventually approved in 2000. | ||
It was eventually decided that the game would be a crossover title with Disney and ''Final Fantasy'' characters interacting with original characters, however contention arose when settling on the game's premise and direction. The lead protagonist was undecided between the two companies, with Disney wanting {{iw|wikipedia|Donald Duck}} and Square wanting {{iw|wikipedia|Mickey Mouse}}, so Nomura created an original character, [[Sora]], to serve as the protagonist instead. Disney approved the concept on the condition that all original characters, settings, and assets would be fully owned by them. The storyline and narrative would be helmed by Nomura, marking his debut as a director and lead writer, and it was originally planned to be a simple narrative meant to appeal to Disney's core audience. However, after a meeting with Sakaguchi, Nomura elevated the storyline to better appeal to ''Final Fantasy'' fans. The game eventually morphed into ''Kingdom Hearts'', which released for the PlayStation 2 on March 28, 2002. | It was eventually decided that the game would be a crossover title with Disney and ''Final Fantasy'' characters interacting with original characters, however contention arose when settling on the game's premise and direction. The lead protagonist was undecided between the two companies, with Disney wanting {{iw|wikipedia|Donald Duck}} and Square wanting {{iw|wikipedia|Mickey Mouse}}, so Nomura created an original character, [[Sora]], to serve as the protagonist instead, combining Disney's character design aspects with his own. Disney approved the concept on the condition that all original characters, settings, and assets would be fully owned by them. The storyline and narrative would be helmed by Nomura, marking his debut as a director and lead writer, and it was originally planned to be a simple narrative meant to appeal to Disney's core audience. However, after a meeting with Sakaguchi, Nomura elevated the storyline to better appeal to ''Final Fantasy'' fans. The game eventually morphed into ''Kingdom Hearts'', which released for the PlayStation 2 on March 28, 2002. | ||
The game was a critical and financial success both in Japan and internationally, eventually becoming the tenth best-selling game on the system. The release outside of Japan is notable for having content that was not in the initial release due to time constraints. The game received a Director's Cut re-released in Japan with this new content along with more content made specifically for this version, titled ''Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix''. This started a trend of games getting the Final Mix treatment, with most of them being exclusive to Japan for years. Due to the success of the first game’s sales, the real time aerial action RPG battle system of ''Kingdom Hearts'' became the main basis for some modern ''Final Fantasy'' games, particularly the arena fighting game spin-off series ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'', and ''Final Fantasy XV''. Similar aerial combat scenes are also shown in the animated spin-off follow up movie to ''Final Fantasy VII'', ''Advent Children''. | The game was a critical and financial success both in Japan and internationally, eventually becoming the tenth best-selling game on the system. The release outside of Japan is notable for having content that was not in the initial release due to time constraints. The game received a Director's Cut re-released in Japan with this new content along with more content made specifically for this version, titled ''Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix''. This started a trend of games getting the Final Mix treatment, with most of them being exclusive to Japan for years. Due to the success of the first game’s sales, the real time aerial action RPG battle system of ''Kingdom Hearts'' became the main basis for some modern ''Final Fantasy'' games, particularly the arena fighting game spin-off series ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'', and ''Final Fantasy XV''. Similar aerial combat scenes are also shown in the animated spin-off follow up movie to ''Final Fantasy VII'', ''Advent Children''. | ||