Kingdom Hearts finally on its way
Kingdom Hearts, for those who don't know, is the surprisingly successful action-role playing series that is the result of Square-Enix's Final Fantasy series crossed with Disney characters and stories. The games have their own original story line and lead characters, including protagonist Sora, which are intertwined with the heavy handed helping of Disney and Final Fantasy. The series has sold more than 10 million units worldwide to date.
Re: Chain of Memories for the
Playstation 2 is actually a port of
the second title in the series,
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of
Memories. As Square-Enix put it in
their press release, “Kingdom
Hearts Re: Chain of Memories is
the essential piece that bridges the
gap between Kingdom Hearts and
Kingdom Hearts II. Originally
released in 2004 for Game Boy Advance [in 2D], this full 3D rendition
on the PlayStation 2 has
never been released in North
America - this is an entry in the
Kingdom Hearts saga that fans of
the series can't miss!”
What drove fans crazy was that
in the special edition re-release of
Kingdom Hearts II in Japan,
dubbed Kingdom Hearts II: Final
Mix +, Square Enix included Re:
Chain of Memories completely
remade in 3D for the Playstation 2,
complete with new cutscenes and
voice acting. Quite the bonus, and
thousands upon thousands of English speaking fans have been
clamouring for it ever since. Also
quite bizarre to be Japan only considering
half the content in the
game is Disney related.
Undoubtedly it is the cry of fans
that helped bring the title across the
Pacific, as typically Square-Enix
releases in North America are
roughly six months after their
Japanese debut. Re: Chain of
Memories being at a year-and-a half
now is a fair sign of a video
games company actually listening
to their fans in regards to an entire
game. What fans were not expecting
is to see the title released on its
own. Most rumors surrounding the
title have been in regards to the
Japanese special edition of
Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix +
making it to North American
shores.
Critics of Square-Enix have long
accused the company of not catering
to fans, but instead, of milking
their wallets. Re: Chain of
Memories is among a large change
in Square-Enix's business plan
since Squaresoft initially merged
with Enix in 2003. Since then,
many titles have been developed,
ported or remade with fan demand
presumably in mind. The largest of
the efforts, the Compilation of
Final Fantasy VII has not straddled
the debate well as the overall quality
of the titles, said to be developed
for fans, more or less did not
deliver on hopes of something on
par with the original Final Fantasy
VII.