The Kingdom Hearts Retrospective
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ค. 2024
- An unprecedented collaboration. A first-time game director. And completely uncharted territory for one of the world's biggest entertainment conglomerates. This is a close look at 2002's Kingdom Hearts, including the game's conception, development, corporate red tape, director Tetsuya Nomura's meetings with the Walt Disney Company, and the creative decisions made for this landmark title.
Bsky: bsky.app/profile/drubie.bsky....
Twitter: / lorddrubie
Patreon: / andrewbluett
K012's Twitter: / varal_ys
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
1:54 - Part 1: Disney & Nomura
12:00 - Part 2: Skepticism
20:42 - Patreon
20:53 - Part 3: Kingdom Hearts
25:17 - Sora & The Ties That Bind Us
30:50 - Gameplay & Level Design
50:25 - Presentation & Adapting Disney
1:00:57 - Final Fantasy Characters
1:14:01 - Music
1:22:05 - "My Friends Are My Power"
1:27:55 - Riku
1:32:36 - Ansem, Seeker of Darkness
1:36:12 - The Confrontation & Saving Kairi
1:42:50 - The Heart of Darkness
1:53:51 - Personal Thoughts
1:55:20 - Part 4: Final Mix
2:07:19 - Part 5: Beyond Expectations
2:10:28 - Epilogue & To Be Continued...
Sources:
1. biturl.top/UJnmy2
2. “Kingdom Hearts - Behind the Scenes, Part 1.” PlayStation Underground. Demo Disc 60. Sep 2002.
3. biturl.top/3umMfq
4. Pisha, Nicolette Lucinda. “Anime in America, Disney in Japan: The Global Exchange of Popular Media Visualized Through Disney’s ‘Stitch’.” College of William and Mary, Jan 2010.
5. biturl.top/amiAza
6. biturl.top/ZriMNb
7. Parkin, Simon. “The Never-ending Story.” EDGE. Jan 2018.
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13. biturl.top/jYZZfy
14. biturl.top/jmYZz2
15. biturl.top/A3qENj
16. biturl.top/IbuAN3
17. biturl.top/a6RZr2
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21. biturl.top/yiU73y
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23. biturl.top/Frmyia
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25. biturl.top/eMFb6z
26. biturl.top/Jb6Nni
27. biturl.top/VJzIBz
28. biturl.top/IFJ3Ef
29. biturl.top/EnIjEf
30. biturl.top/yeYJFf
31. biturl.top/qEFj63
32. biturl.top/umyyiq
33. biturl.top/bqEv2a
34. biturl.top/yMrMFn
35. “Character Team Interview.” Kingdom Hearts Ultimania - Revised Edition. Square Enix. 2004. p. 109-110.
36. “Map & Event Team Interview.” Kingdom Hearts Ultimania - Revised Edition. 2004. p. 313-314.
37. biturl.top/qANBJj
38. biturl.top/bu6zAv
39. biturl.top/MnmeMf
40. biturl.top/Ybeqei
41. biturl.top/ErQVBv
42. biturl.top/3qU3Ej
43. biturl.top/Jbqqmi
44. biturl.top/Z7jmYr
45. sites.google.com/site/gamedat...
46. web.archive.org/web/200209032...
47. biturl.top/YvEzma
48. biturl.top/nYVreq
49. biturl.top/qaUzam
50. biturl.top/yiEzMb
51. biturl.top/zYNBFv
52. biturl.top/BFjYZv
53. biturl.top/Bn2aUn
54. biturl.top/biiqua
55. biturl.top/eIRNR3
56. biturl.top/MfaMRz
57. biturl.top/rEZZRv
58. biturl.top/MBze2i
59. biturl.top/ZFBrqq
60. biturl.top/AFrIBf
61. biturl.top/Zr2u6b - เกม
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 62 | คู่เอก "มงคลแก้ว vs อีที"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/q7QuSUtUN94/mqdefault.jpg)
Bro really pitched a chainsaw weapon for a disney IP, Legend!
and he did it in an elevator...
literally won the classic "elevator pitch"
This, quite literally, the most perfect form of content to have dropped mid work day on a slow Friday. Thanks for being a real one Andrew.
1:36:12
Honestly my favorite piece of foreshadowing for the Kairi reveal was one you didn't even mention, when Sora seals the keyhole in Deep Jungle, and Tarzan tries to say that our friends are in our hearts
Jane: Oh, now I've got it. Hee-hoo, hoo-hoo-hah means heart. Friends in our hearts...
Tarzan: Heart...
Sora: Oh, so that's what it meant.
Tarzan: Friends, same heart.
When you watch it in context, it's clear they're talking about a more abstract idea of being connected to friends by our hearts. But if you choose to interpret it literally, he's saying that our friends are in our hearts, which Kairi literally is in Sora's heart!
killed me that i didn't notice this until my like sixth time through
I've noticed it now lol
I've always liked to think that Tarzan straight up saw that Kairi was in his heart and tried to tell him.
Best kh 1 retrospective I’ve seen on TH-cam
This one and Tetramorre
It’s only a matter of time before Disney finally gives Nomura a Disney Legend Award. He deserves it for all he has done
Although I agree with the sentiment, I fear that Disney probably doesn't.
They seem to have been kinda dismissive about the property for much of its existence. It seems, to me at least, that they view Kingdom Hearts as some small, inconsequential spinoff, fully separate from the Disney canon.
I could be wrong, and I'd love to be, but that's the vibe I get.
With the way things are going for disney lately, they desperately need a hit after releasing so much crap. KH is still a very successful franchise that the public loves so they might want to capitalise on that.
But then again, its disney, bad decisions are their standart practise now.
@@alemirdiksonIf that were the case, KH3 wouldn’t have been so heavily advertised. I hope you aren’t forgetting that it was one of the most anticipated video games _of all time_
@@UniqueHandles it was heavily advertised, yes, but by Square Enix, not by Disney itself. In general Disney as a company tries very little to acknowledge the series.
@@francescomena8181 Kingdom Hearts had advertisements on Disney Channel fairly often IIRC
Kudos to you for diving into the background of the development team and the motivations for making KH. Especially liked the little known fact about Kairi being based on Utada. Also, props for using the PS2 version for footage. I haven’t seen these graphics in ages
Honestly if it wasn’t for Kingdom Hearts I never would have played Final Fantasy. I remember seeing character like Squall, Yuffie, and Cloud wondering who they were and luckily the games journal has the name of their respective games in each entry. My favorite reaction was seeing Sephiroth I still vividly remember it. I go into the fight wonder who the heck is this guy with the long flowing silver hair the wing and OMG HOW LONG IS THAT SWORD!!!! The next thing I know I’m dead in two hits from it those were good times.
Oof
but if you were a bit older and already a FF fan by the time KH came out and you saw that it would have given you cringe.
This game and it's sequel's holds a special place in my heart.
Only 30 minutes in but wow this is so deeply researched. When you said there would be a detour, I didn't expect this. Great stuff!
Best type of content these days
1:28:11 There's actually a bunch of lines you can read from the FF kids on Destiny Island if you refuse to spar with them, and a few of those are about Riku. Wakka in particular really hypes him up during day 1.
But there's a line from Tidus that I really wish wasn't so easy to miss: he straight up asks Sora if him and Riku are really friends, because he thinks it's hard to tell if they are or not sometimes. That means there's been trouble between the two for a while already.
I think it's likely Riku's grown a bit of an ego from being the oldest and strongest of the kids on Destiny Island, and that he really doesn't know how to handle Sora being able to keep up with him or even surpass him in any way.
I....never knew this...
God I NEED to play Kh1 again just for that voice line lmao
How do you trigger it?
@@viruschris3160 Just talk to them, and when they ask you if you want to fight them, refuse and then do it again to cycle through their lines.
Everyone's got 3 to 4 lines of text during both days. Kairi also has a few lines of text if you tell her you don't need her help finding stuff, though you have to do the Riku race first when on day 2.
Riku himself doesn't get any extra lines if you refuse to fight/race him multiple times, surprisingly enough.
@@ludward interesting never did that. No wonder it was so missable.
Definitely never knew that
Hi Andrew, fellow Andrew here! I've been following your channel since you started putting out your Final Fantasy retrospectives. I hold you responsible for getting me back in to the FF series and loving every second of it. I'm so grateful to have this retrospective done for the game that absolutely changed my life during my formative years. Embarrassingly, I would imagine myself as Sora falling from the sky and searching for Kairi in my bedroom! This video has reminded me about those times and I appreciate your feedback and retrospective on the Kingdom Hearts 1 game and I look forward to the rest of the series being done! So thanks!
I've been a KH fan for as long as the series has been a thing and watched TONS of KH1 reviews and retrospectives and I gotta say this may be one of the best I've watched, I absolutely love how much you discuss the history of the game developer insight and reasons for the choices they made for characters, worlds, designs and gameplay. Everybody knows the "Disney and Square employee met in an elevator and thus Kingdom Hearts was born" but I had never heard this story how they were far into development without actually having Disney's full blessing until the meeting with Eisner. I also absolutely love how Nomura was so bold and passionate about his ideas, no fear in presenting what he wanted to do, love that man.
You got a subscriber for life, definitely watching all your other videos in the future.
Your thoughts on how the emotional impact of characters and stories driving home the best stories, to me, rang so true.
I've found that treating characters as "real" as they can be has left me more and more in tune with writing and analysis than any cold read ever could. I feel more for the story because I empathize with fiction as I would a real person. It's why I can say I like melodrama. I like over the top moments that, when written out sound silly, but in the moment it hits different. I feel empathy is a dirty word anymore, but to me, empathy is the crux to what allows people to enjoy the world, and stories told therein.
KH was my childhood too! It was so formative for me. I loved its unabashed sweetness. I was disappointed by how complicated the story became in KH2 when it came out. I've come to accept it all for the whole that it was, but I think the relative simplicity of the original story and its core characters was better. It's contrary to a lot of people and I get why, 2 is also iconic and it plays way better, it's only really the immense amount of new lore that threw me off. Looking back at it all, I'm not sure I'm the happiest with where the story has gone since KH, but I'll always have the warm feelings that it gave me and I still enjoy revisiting the other entries as well.
Maaaaaaan that was a GREAT Christmas. My mom did her thing! I got vice city, my younger brother got Kingdom Hearts, and my youngest brother Pro Skater 4 for his bday a week before Christmas. We were in heaven 😂😂🙏🏾
I got my first PlayStation 2 that Christmas with The Simpsons Road Rage, Digimon Rumble Arena, and Spongebob Squarepants: Super Sponge. KH wasn't until 2007 for me, but it feels so long ago that it may as well have been 2002 lol
@@AndrewBluettDigimon rumble arena is the bomb! I will destroy anyone using Gatomon and patamon !
the middle child was the gay kid
@@j.2512 far from it. “I” only got vice city because I was the oldest. None of us really claimed the games as our own, we all played together. But I played KH more than anyone else.
@@eazybuxafew so you were the gay kid
I finally got to experience kingdom hearts for the first time and i gotta say it couldn't be better time to do it. At this day and age when everything seem to be going off the rails, entertainment seem to divide more than entertain its great to experience something as genuine as Kingdom Hearts. Great vid my guy, you earned a big sub with this one.
Thank you for talking about adjusting Donald and Goofys battle tactics in the menu. Im so so sick of the "dOnAlD nEVeR hEalS mE" memes when the option to adjust what they do in battle has always been right there
I got back around to loving the memes knowing I never really had a terrible time with it.
Amazing and underrated retrospective of Kingdom Hearts, its honestly a miracle that this game even released to shelves with how many statistical improbabilities were in its path, Tetsuya Nomura and his team had some ridiculous drive to get this game out. Forever my favorite video game franchise ever created. ❤
This was a fantastic retrospective. Excited for the next one!
this video mustve been a massive undertaking to put together. Thank you for your hard effort. KH1 will always be my favorite main entry in the series, and I too wept for the first time playing a video game during the final cutscene. This game was legit lifechanging for a young me. What a special project and a miracle that it even exists, at all!
So glad the algorithm pitched this to me. Love your channel so far
Just wanted to say how much I loved this video essay adjacent retrospective of one of my favorite games! A lot of these types of things in the past few years devolve into plot summary with a tiny bit of opinions mixed in, while this has a healthy balance of summary, thoughts, history, and analysis. Super excited for eventual KH2 and FF9-10 reviews if they happen!
Thank you! I, too, have grown tired of long-form videos which are largely structured around a complete recap of the story. I find them to be uninterested and restrictive by being beholden to the flow of the narrative, even when there are events which are hardly worth even a passing mention. I don't, for example, need to note how the story in each Disney world unfolds because the specific minutiae largely doesn't matter there when examining the whole.
No shade to those who do like that type of video, but I try to avoid it.
Seconding this sentiment
" devolve into plot summary with a tiny bit of opinions mixed in" HOLY SHIT THIS SO MUCH.
Babe wake up, Andrew Bluett just dropped another BANGER
1:23:41 I NEVER knew you could turn those bubbles solid! Mind blown (also amazing video, as always!)
I play this and KH2 every couple years and just found this out lmao
No Retrospective Series has Made it to KH3, and this will probably be the one that will finally do it.
KingK says hello
SuperButterBuns' For Beginners series would also like to say hi.
@@Animus_Altiadude i like butter buns and all but like she doesn’t often go super in depth with it it’s not a negative but just a fact
@@BIuesunshrike Eh, I personally put them somewhere between a review and retrospective.
Nobody really wants to see anything about 3
And you my friend have earned a subscription for an expertly crafted video and detailed analysis on the game that has helped shaped me into who I am today. Can’t wait to see what comes next.
Ive been recommended your videos in my feed but I haven't seen you cover a game I know that well. But now that you have and having watched this video you have handily earned my sub!! I'm ready for my 890th KH retrospective marathon!!!
This is, of every video game franchise EVER, my favorite. It genuinely means so much to me and it's been that way since I first played it as a child in 2010. So excited to start watching this, I've loved all of your previous videos and I know this one will be just as fantastic.
one of the best videos I've ever seen, can't wait to see more of this series! good job
Awesome video. I appreciate the quality content you bring to JRPG retrospectives table. Looking forward to the next one!
that was fantastic. thank you andrew!
Solid retrospective! Nice to see you upload again.
It’s amazing no matter how much times content creators overdue KH reviews I’m always gonna watch them 😂
Phenomenal work! Thank you for taking the time to make such a detailed video and taking me through my childhood again. I remember getting this for my 10th birthday in October 2002 and have been in love with the series ever since.
Kingdom Hearts is how I even got into Final Fantasy. This game is something special, it's insane what it accomplished in 2001/2002
Ya it was like elden ring but back in the day first real time action rpg I played and love.
I haven't finished watching yet- but commenting to say that I'm loving this so far!! It seems really well researched and I really appreciate your putting the citations in the video for us to reference. Thanks for the hard work!!
Always a pleasure to have you show up in the sub feed Drubie! Another fantastic video under your belt!
Loved this video man, bout to marathon your whole channel
This has been in my watch later for a while but I finally found time to sit down and watch through it all and I have to say, this is probably the best retrospective on this game I've personally seen. Cannot wait for more!
Amazing job You deserve sooo many views for how well researched and presented this was all done. Amazing job.
Thanks for everything you do. We really appreciate your hard work on these videos. I mean that was just amazing. Thank you so much!
Lets freaking go Andrew! Stoked to watch this one
Definitely subbed to see the rest of the series! Can't wait
A Simple and Clean retrospective, Andrew Bluett’s reviews are quickly becoming my Sanctuary.
My favourite series of all time. You did a great job! I was there to see kh1 release and have had to wait this long while for the third! And you were able to fit so much in this video :)
THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD RETROSPECTIVE UGHHHHHH SO IN DEPTH
Woah!! Thanks a lot for this video! I had collected and read the majority of Ansem's reports, but the way you summarized them really helped me understand the lore. How fascinating! 👀 nice retrospective
This video was so good thank you.
i really love your style of analysis and critique. the way you use the story beats to flow in and out of aspects of the game is really enrapturing! the history lesson the proceeds the analysis is always a highlight too, i considered myself pretty knowledgeable about kingdom hearts but i learnt a bunch of new stuff about its development today
Great video! Enjoyed the whole layout, info, and thoughts!
Another great video. Keep up the awesome work!
Awesome watch man! Can't wait for the next one!
Oh shoot I've been waiting for this one! Gotta make some time tonight to relax to watch it!
Well thought out, insightful and interesting. I am exciting for the follow ups.
Great video! Can't wait for your KH 2 retrospective!
Truly an excellent video. I like the in depth look you gave into how the idea of kingdom hearts got off the ground, and how it was developed as everyone in square soft and disney started warming to the idea and were figuring out how to make this work. I look forward to you making more videos on the other kingdom hearts games
This was so well researched, while also considering themes and intended messaging AND the actual experience of the game. First time I’ve ever seen an essay this good on my favorite game.
I didn't have a console of my own growing up but me and my friends in grade school were OBSESSED with Kingdom Hearts. We read through the guidebook at recess and pretend to be the characters. I went over to my friend's house to play it. I used to watch tons of Kingdom Hearts AMVs. Eventually I got to play it fully in my own (I think I was like 13 at that point).
It's been a staple part of my childhood, both KH 1 & 2. It's a comfort game. It's got a charm to it that's just undeniable.
The soundtrack is so good. I was so hooked on Simple and Clean and Sanctuary. Dearly Beloved is my morning alarm. It's just so serene, it's a great way to wake up.
Riku ended up being my favorite character 💙
This is an awesome and detailed analysis of the first game. I hope you eventually do all the games. You have me as a sub. Can't wait to catch up on your other videos. Great job, never give up, and keep up the passion dude!
Amazing video man!!
Please continue these retrospectives for the rest of the Kingdom Hearts games! I'd really love to see that!
Damn dude. This was superrrr thorough💯
Amazing video I loved how you cited each reference in the video, unlike other TH-camrs
One of the best KH vids I have seen, well done!
This was a fantastic video! Even as a longtime KH fan who grew up with the series, there was some development info I hadn’t heard or seen before. Hoping you’ll do more games from the series!
This was a fast sub. Amazing work.
Excellent work as usual!
My friend sent me the link to this and I’m so thankful he did, I can’t wait to see more!
Just found your channel through this video and I'm very impressed! Great script, "reading", sound, and video editing!
I hope you'll do the other KH games as well. Now to watch all your FF videos... 🤩
Great job! Subscribed!
Holy...one of my favorite essayists put out a KH video TWO WEEKS ago and I'm just now seeing it? How does that even happen but also I am feasting now thank you.
Amazing video!
Great video!
You really did a good job with this video man. I find that most KH retrospectives on TH-cam are insufferably cringey, I can't even finish a KingK video, but this was very tasteful. Subscribed and looking forward to watching your other work.
The way that I knew that Kingdom hearts was going to be something special is that the TV show X play, with Adam sessler and Morgan Webb, had both hosts actually agree for once that the game was enjoyable. Usually Adam historically did not like role-playing games, and this game was unique and interesting enough to him.
Need part 2 now please. I subscribed! 😅
Dearly Beloved is still on repeat in my brain all these years later
Man this is amazing
Great video once again Andrew! I really wish I could donate to your Patreon because I'm a huge fan of your work, but too broke atm. :C
Also, funny story on Lance Bass as Sephiroth, pretty sure he got the role because he was a huge FFVII fan. He was notable for mentioning this a lot of the time when he was in NSYNC, like so many magazines had that as a interview trivia on his "personal interests". He even mentioned his love for Sephiroth too lmao.
Dang, 22 years huh? Thanks for the video, I have such nostalgia for this series.
I am so glad you’re doing content on Kingdom Hearts. I’ve been playing the final fantasies along your retrospectives on them, and while i enjoy Final Fantasy overall it’s never connected with me on the same level as KH. it’s really something special.
You sir are an amazing storyteller! I got goosbumps during the Eisner section.
The end of the world felt like a fever dream. I was brawling at the ending as well. Still got goosebumps when u showed this scene again. really memorable game for sure. Can’t wait for the retrospective of the second one🎉
Basically this is the first videogame we all cried for the first time.
Great video!
Love the vid, can’t wait for the chain of memories sequel! 😎🔥🌹
AMAZING VIDEO! THANK YOU!
PS: the puns regarding CoM in the end... god damn, bro lmao
Can’t wait for your KH2 video!
youre the best dude
How does one upload a 2 hour video and not have captions?
Oh, yeah, but besides that, 10/10 video. Much more in-depth than other retrospectives I've seen.
Wonderful video. Liked and subscribed.
Damn this was amazing
Wow I just subscribed lately due to your Final Fantasy retrospective videos. Now Im watching KH retrospective which is also my favorite series.
This is a great video
Great video, man! I'm a younger fan compared to many. My first KH game was Dream Drop Distance on the 3DS when I was about 12 years old. I remember playing it and absolutely loving it. I especially remember how much I liked Sora because I thought I looked like him, with similar colored hair and eyes haha. I was born in 2003, and I turned 21 in February, but I still love KH and have played every game in the series. Despite its flaws and how convoluted the series narrative gets, it's a wild ride which I love a lot. I really enjoyed Kingdom Hearts 3 despite its ending, which I have some issues with, and I don't really know how to feel about KH 4. I will always love the series, especially the first game.
been watching on and off since release, finally just finished it lol. now on to your other videos!
Very well made video
This channel is so underated
15.4k subs is insulting for how incredible this video is.
Donald screaming sora come back sora always gets me
Oh my God! You Bluett again!