When I think back to all of the games I played growing up, and how much they influenced my life and what I thought about things, I keep coming back to my long days of playing the Kingdom Hearts series.
Kingdom Hearts was a kind of fairy tale of a game to me for the longest time. When the first game came out, I was still in elementary school, and nearly all of my friends at the lunch table were talking about how amazing it was. I kept hearing them talk about all the cool Final Fantasy characters and well known Disney characters fighting countless enemies and how the story was awesome, but I didn't have a PS2 back then. In fact, I was still stuck with my old N64, only able to play PS1 when I visited my grandmother (my uncle lived with her, and his son had the PS1. So when he wasn't there I would play it)
I didn't play a Kingdom Hearts game until years later when I was about 13. I tried asking my father to get it earlier than that when I had money, but he kept trying to convince me it was a game for little kids.
So my birthday that year, I saw a pile of presents on the living room chair when I got home, and in the middle were a few clearly DVD/PS2 game shaped gifts, of which I tried to save for last since if I did get KH, my excitement of it wouldn't overshadow everything else I had yet to open.
Sure enough, the first of the games I opened was Kingdom Hearts, and I played it endlessly that night and weekend.
Kingdom Hearts shaped a lot of how I felt at the time, being an angsty teenager lost emotionally somewhere between a world of bitter adults and hyperactive children. The story was cheesy as all hell, but it honestly did make me realize that everyone has a story to their life and that sometimes when people act rude and nasty, they don't always mean it and some kind of conflict leading up to that point.
The game made me teach myself to give everyone the benefit of the doubt before I instantly judged someone for their actions. Everyone has hardships to deal with.
When I got Kingdom Hearts 2, everything I thought I knew about video game sequels changed. This game was bigger, faster, and better in nearly every way. My best friend and I would talk about the game all the time, it's lore, characters, and even make up our own stories. We'd try "keyblade" battles with the stalks of bamboo we found near his house, often resulting in someone getting their hand smacked, but it was all in good fun.
And for better or worse, the series also influenced some of my story writing at the time. Not like fan fiction or anything, but just certain concepts adapted away from "hearts" into souls or something. Hard to say really, I never had the foresight to keep most of my old writing.
It was also a RPG so accessible to so many people, that it was easy to find friends who also played the game and knew what we were talking about. I had entire friendships form around this game, and stupidly enough, the games constantly reminded me to hold onto these friendships and treat each one specially.
Going back to the HD collection today just floods me with all these memories of hanging out with friends, how the game influenced me throughout school and teenage life. I replayed the games nearly every summer, whether I completed it again or not, and I just remember all the times I'd hang out with my best friend just before the sun started to glow orange while setting, and we'd go home and I'd play a few hours of Kingdom Hearts 2. I played other games too of course, the Final Fantasy games a close second in terms of childhood impact.
I get feelings of both warmth and sadness from playing these games again. And I apologize if this post was too long, but it felt nice to share and I was curious what games everyone else had that influenced their growing up in some way. Whether it got you through a tough time, or playing the game today simply reminds you of good times.
Kingdom Hearts was a kind of fairy tale of a game to me for the longest time. When the first game came out, I was still in elementary school, and nearly all of my friends at the lunch table were talking about how amazing it was. I kept hearing them talk about all the cool Final Fantasy characters and well known Disney characters fighting countless enemies and how the story was awesome, but I didn't have a PS2 back then. In fact, I was still stuck with my old N64, only able to play PS1 when I visited my grandmother (my uncle lived with her, and his son had the PS1. So when he wasn't there I would play it)
I didn't play a Kingdom Hearts game until years later when I was about 13. I tried asking my father to get it earlier than that when I had money, but he kept trying to convince me it was a game for little kids.
So my birthday that year, I saw a pile of presents on the living room chair when I got home, and in the middle were a few clearly DVD/PS2 game shaped gifts, of which I tried to save for last since if I did get KH, my excitement of it wouldn't overshadow everything else I had yet to open.
Sure enough, the first of the games I opened was Kingdom Hearts, and I played it endlessly that night and weekend.
Kingdom Hearts shaped a lot of how I felt at the time, being an angsty teenager lost emotionally somewhere between a world of bitter adults and hyperactive children. The story was cheesy as all hell, but it honestly did make me realize that everyone has a story to their life and that sometimes when people act rude and nasty, they don't always mean it and some kind of conflict leading up to that point.
The game made me teach myself to give everyone the benefit of the doubt before I instantly judged someone for their actions. Everyone has hardships to deal with.
When I got Kingdom Hearts 2, everything I thought I knew about video game sequels changed. This game was bigger, faster, and better in nearly every way. My best friend and I would talk about the game all the time, it's lore, characters, and even make up our own stories. We'd try "keyblade" battles with the stalks of bamboo we found near his house, often resulting in someone getting their hand smacked, but it was all in good fun.
And for better or worse, the series also influenced some of my story writing at the time. Not like fan fiction or anything, but just certain concepts adapted away from "hearts" into souls or something. Hard to say really, I never had the foresight to keep most of my old writing.
It was also a RPG so accessible to so many people, that it was easy to find friends who also played the game and knew what we were talking about. I had entire friendships form around this game, and stupidly enough, the games constantly reminded me to hold onto these friendships and treat each one specially.
Going back to the HD collection today just floods me with all these memories of hanging out with friends, how the game influenced me throughout school and teenage life. I replayed the games nearly every summer, whether I completed it again or not, and I just remember all the times I'd hang out with my best friend just before the sun started to glow orange while setting, and we'd go home and I'd play a few hours of Kingdom Hearts 2. I played other games too of course, the Final Fantasy games a close second in terms of childhood impact.
I get feelings of both warmth and sadness from playing these games again. And I apologize if this post was too long, but it felt nice to share and I was curious what games everyone else had that influenced their growing up in some way. Whether it got you through a tough time, or playing the game today simply reminds you of good times.
