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Today marks 16 years of Kingdom Hearts!

{Before I get into my story, I'll just give you a description of this photo I took a while back. I was at a road trip to Chicago on a sunny day. It was so sunny, my wayfinder was able to shine so bright reflecting it's shape in the shadows. Then I took this shot and did some editing magic. Had a lot of fun doing this. If you are a fan, you might get the symbolism of this...hence the title}

A reminder to you all, I am huge fan of Kingdom Hearts since I first discovered it in 2004-2005. A story which I will tell you of.

I was 11 years old at the time. My family and I visited a friends house (more or less for either babysitting or just chatting). We were downstairs in their entertainment room. I've always had a thing for poking into people's things at the time. One being checking out a pile of games they had. In that pile was the one and only Kingdom Hearts 1. I've never seen a cover this beautiful, especially since it had Donald and Goofy of all things (when was the last time during the 2000s did we get a beautifully drawn cover starring Donald and Goofy featuring anime kids?). I don't remember if we immediately borrowed it from them or just decided to play the game from their home. Either way, as far as my memory goes, I've never forgotten what I saw and how I felt back then.

The moment the menu screen showed up and the song "Dearly Beloved" began to play, my feelings felt a mixed hybrid of good and strange. The menu art took me straight to what felt like the ocean shore gazing at the sunset. The music lifted me with it's simple beautiful melody (seriously, I've never heard music like this before). Then I saw the opening sequence of the game. Since first playing that game, that "Simple and Clean" remix still stuck with me. The visuals were also so breathtaking, I totally forgot that Disney properties were part of this game.

Then there was the tutorial. Picking a weapon of my choosing, fighting these creepy shadowy creatures, answering questions, walking on top of Disney princess themed stained glass podiums....it felt like I was in a dream....no literally it was a dream. Then there was I thought was one of the scariest creatures I have ever come across. Seriously, I was freaking out so much, I screamed at my friend for help (look at where I'm at now, it is the one of the easiest bosses in the series).

Destiny Islands makes me want to go to the beach. Like a Hawaiian beach of sorts with beautiful sunsets. It made me sad that I had to leave it at some point. However, visiting Traverse Town was also pretty fun. It felt like I was home there. When I finally got a chance to meet Donald and Goofy, it soon became a ride to remember. All the Disney worlds to visit, the story became interesting, the bosses at the time were difficult, the scene were unskippable, the whole shabang. Going to the final levels felt foreign and strange. At the end if it all, I was able to finish it (for who knows how long) and endure the bittersweet ending.

While the first game left an impression on me, Kingdom Hearts 2 was the game I truly grew up with. I remember the first time I heard of KH2 was walking in our local Walmart and came across one of their advertisements on KH2. I was so excited that there was a sequel. I remember looking up clips of KH2 for awhile before my mom decided to buy KH2 for us eventually. I was finally able to start playing Kingdom Hearts 2.

KH2 was definitely a good improvement from KH1. The gameplay was more fun and flashy. There were also a handful of new characters to meet and enjoy. The story became more complex and, dare I say, complicated to follow at times. However, I still personally enjoyed what they offered. I also loved the menu screen once again with KH2's take on "Dearly Beloved". Opening sequence was also outstanding. The prologue was also interesting to deal with. It was quite long, but it was emotional enough to connect with some characters during in the prologue. After that, it was smooth sailing. Exploring worlds, ealing with difficult is fights, learning about organization XIII, new heartless, the whole shabang. I've never forgotten my hard time fighting one of the hardest story bosses since my fight with the final boss in KH1. It was certainly a experience I'll never forget, for the whole game in that matter really.

For a long time, KH2 was the game I owned and played over and over from time to time growing up. I had a friend give us one of her two copies of KH1 and we proudly own one now. With that being said, they were the only KH games I played for a while. The rest were spread out to other consoles and the PS2 was the only big console we had.

That is until I went to Texas Comicon 2015. I was there to meet two of my favorite actors. During my stroll in the exhibit, I came across a shop that had a replica of the Keybalde. I decided to hold one at last, which takes me back to the days of playing Kingdom Hearts. Since then, I learned that there were collections of KH games in 2 discs. So, I bought a PS3 a few months later and got the games for Christmas. I finally played all the games they provided (including birth by sleep) throughout 2016. I was even able to keep up to date to 2.8, which had dream drop distances (which I never played) and new content that will lead to Kingdom Hearts 3.

I now own a PS4 which I played all the games in one console. Now here I am waiting for KH3 to make it to it's release THIS YEAR. It's hard to believe that almost over 10 years I've waited since KH2, this game will be in my hands very soon. I thank Square Enix for making this a special series for me and the fans.

I will end with saying, "May your heart be your guiding key."

----

My Wayfinder was made by blazerdesigns on Etsy www.etsy.com/shop/blazerdesign…

The wayfinder concept was originally done by Square Enix

Description

Today marks 16 years of Kingdom Hearts!

{Before I get into my story, I'll just give you a description of this photo I took a while back. I was at a road trip to Chicago on a sunny day. It was so sunny, my wayfinder was able to shine so bright reflecting it's shape in the shadows. Then I took this shot and did some editing magic. Had a lot of fun doing this. If you are a fan, you might get the symbolism of this...hence the title}

A reminder to you all, I am huge fan of Kingdom Hearts since I first discovered it in 2004-2005. A story which I will tell you of.

I was 11 years old at the time. My family and I visited a friends house (more or less for either babysitting or just chatting). We were downstairs in their entertainment room. I've always had a thing for poking into people's things at the time. One being checking out a pile of games they had. In that pile was the one and only Kingdom Hearts 1. I've never seen a cover this beautiful, especially since it had Donald and Goofy of all things (when was the last time during the 2000s did we get a beautifully drawn cover starring Donald and Goofy featuring anime kids?). I don't remember if we immediately borrowed it from them or just decided to play the game from their home. Either way, as far as my memory goes, I've never forgotten what I saw and how I felt back then.

The moment the menu screen showed up and the song "Dearly Beloved" began to play, my feelings felt a mixed hybrid of good and strange. The menu art took me straight to what felt like the ocean shore gazing at the sunset. The music lifted me with it's simple beautiful melody (seriously, I've never heard music like this before). Then I saw the opening sequence of the game. Since first playing that game, that "Simple and Clean" remix still stuck with me. The visuals were also so breathtaking, I totally forgot that Disney properties were part of this game.

Then there was the tutorial. Picking a weapon of my choosing, fighting these creepy shadowy creatures, answering questions, walking on top of Disney princess themed stained glass podiums....it felt like I was in a dream....no literally it was a dream. Then there was I thought was one of the scariest creatures I have ever come across. Seriously, I was freaking out so much, I screamed at my friend for help (look at where I'm at now, it is the one of the easiest bosses in the series).

Destiny Islands makes me want to go to the beach. Like a Hawaiian beach of sorts with beautiful sunsets. It made me sad that I had to leave it at some point. However, visiting Traverse Town was also pretty fun. It felt like I was home there. When I finally got a chance to meet Donald and Goofy, it soon became a ride to remember. All the Disney worlds to visit, the story became interesting, the bosses at the time were difficult, the scene were unskippable, the whole shabang. Going to the final levels felt foreign and strange. At the end if it all, I was able to finish it (for who knows how long) and endure the bittersweet ending.

While the first game left an impression on me, Kingdom Hearts 2 was the game I truly grew up with. I remember the first time I heard of KH2 was walking in our local Walmart and came across one of their advertisements on KH2. I was so excited that there was a sequel. I remember looking up clips of KH2 for awhile before my mom decided to buy KH2 for us eventually. I was finally able to start playing Kingdom Hearts 2.

KH2 was definitely a good improvement from KH1. The gameplay was more fun and flashy. There were also a handful of new characters to meet and enjoy. The story became more complex and, dare I say, complicated to follow at times. However, I still personally enjoyed what they offered. I also loved the menu screen once again with KH2's take on "Dearly Beloved". Opening sequence was also outstanding. The prologue was also interesting to deal with. It was quite long, but it was emotional enough to connect with some characters during in the prologue. After that, it was smooth sailing. Exploring worlds, ealing with difficult is fights, learning about organization XIII, new heartless, the whole shabang. I've never forgotten my hard time fighting one of the hardest story bosses since my fight with the final boss in KH1. It was certainly a experience I'll never forget, for the whole game in that matter really.

For a long time, KH2 was the game I owned and played over and over from time to time growing up. I had a friend give us one of her two copies of KH1 and we proudly own one now. With that being said, they were the only KH games I played for a while. The rest were spread out to other consoles and the PS2 was the only big console we had.

That is until I went to Texas Comicon 2015. I was there to meet two of my favorite actors. During my stroll in the exhibit, I came across a shop that had a replica of the Keybalde. I decided to hold one at last, which takes me back to the days of playing Kingdom Hearts. Since then, I learned that there were collections of KH games in 2 discs. So, I bought a PS3 a few months later and got the games for Christmas. I finally played all the games they provided (including birth by sleep) throughout 2016. I was even able to keep up to date to 2.8, which had dream drop distances (which I never played) and new content that will lead to Kingdom Hearts 3.

I now own a PS4 which I played all the games in one console. Now here I am waiting for KH3 to make it to it's release THIS YEAR. It's hard to believe that almost over 10 years I've waited since KH2, this game will be in my hands very soon. I thank Square Enix for making this a special series for me and the fans.

I will end with saying, "May your heart be your guiding key."

----

My Wayfinder was made by blazerdesigns on Etsy www.etsy.com/shop/blazerdesign…

The wayfinder concept was originally done by Square Enix