People worry too much. So what if one lone editor on IGN has a bone to pick with KH? We are all on this site because we share a mutual appreciation for the game series. Despite story complexity, platform jumping, stale revisited worlds, and so on, the series can't be that much in a dark place. Square Enix is still pumping new ones out, and the masses are still buying them. Thus, demand will ensure more of them are to come. What do I think of the article? I think it is one person's opinion. That is all I make of it. Why make it into anything else? ​

I see a lot of bashing of the article, especially because of the part about the story being overyl complex and convoluted, but I don't really see many people backing up their claims. Would someone like to give a quick summary of Kingdom Hearts? A normal paragraph or something akin to that? I agree with the article on most all claims, it's not a shock that people around these parts are freaking out though.

1. Headline: "Kingdom Hearts Sucks" It only sucks if you (the person saying it) sucks.
2. Emo kids? I didn't find many characters (if any) that really fit that.
3. Spiky haired heroes? I actually like spiky hair, even though I personally don't spike mine.
4. Ok, so what? I like Disney either way. I loved it as a kid. I love it as a teenager (yes, technically still a kid :) and I find nothing wrong with it. And that's a reason I like KH, because it has DISNEY in it, and it's fairly true to DISNEY.
5. "Everybody hates the singing in Atlantica" Ok that wasn't actually a quote, but I don't mind it at all. First of all, for those of you that hate it so much, don't bother doing it. You can still finish the story without doing Atlantica. All you get are a few stickers (for us Final Mix players), a piece for Ultima Weapon, and a rather lame keyblade (the stats, not the keyblade itself). Personally, I liked it. It gave me a break from the intense gameplay (yet again, for us Final Mix players, as it's not as intense in the US version). I will point out though, they were too easy. More challenge would've been nice, but hey, it's my break from "intense gameplay."
6. "everything outside of the Disney worlds is poorly written." Oh, you mean the main KH plot? KH wouldn't exist if "everything outside of the Disney worlds is poorly written." It would've died off long ago. Why? Because, all of the Disney worlds are chapters in each book; each book being a game in the series. If you cut out the main plot in each book, you're left with these chapters that are...well, just Disney. Again, I like Disney, but I like everything else, too.
7. Sorry, I don't know much about Twilight, but I find nothing wrong with that dialogue it quoted.
8. "But worse than that, each new character gets somehow less relatable, more annoying, and further unable to hold an entire game." Oh, you mean expanding on their character, history, and personality? Oh, you don't like that? That's odd. Shame on you. Moving on...
9. "killing all the characters who were lame." I don't remember any lame characters...
10. " Don't bring back villains we thought were dead, or rather their heartless clone version, or whatever." Why not? They add a lot of the plot to the game. Take them out, and you're left with...no final bosses, no main villains.
11. "Don't introduce any more pouty effeminate male characters who turn out to just be Sora, or Sora's Nobody, or Sora's heart. Stop it. They can't all be Sora." Yes :O They can be. You're not the boss of KH!
12. "It's time to remember that there are other Square Enix games besides Final Fantasies VII through X." Well, if you'll remember, their was Seifer from KHVI. Although, I do agree. I'd like more characters from ALL of the games. Imagine with me, Garland (From FFI)plotting to take over the world with Maleficent and Pete? A world with the Emperor and his hard rule from FFII? Maybe the Onion Knight partnering up with Sora and friends? Or maybe a world devoted to FFIV? Bartz, another person to partner up with? Riding in some sweet mechanized armor from VI? Midgar from VII? Zell would make a nice addition to KH, from VIII. I'd REALLYREALLYREALLYREALLYREALLYREALLYREALLY like to see Zidane from IX. I'd like to see OLDER Tidus, with some Tidus aspects; such as the fact that he doesn't really exist. A mini-plot centering with him would be SWEET (just like there's mini-plots with all of the Disney worlds). And then Yuna and friends out to rescue him. And let's not forget Vann. And I can only tell you about Lightning from Dissidia...although I really don't like her at all, as she's rather mean and would make a better villain than a hero, from what I've seen.
13. The World Ends With You? That doesn't count as Final Fantasy! It has to have "Final Fantasy" in it's title to count. Otherwise, it's not really Final Fantasy.
14. I do agree, stop bringing in Agrabah. It's a boring desert. The first time through, it's kinda fun. The second time through, it still has some charm. But the third, fourth, and fifth times through gets kind of dull. (KH1, COM/Re:Com, Days, KH2, and Coded/Re:Coded) Now some other worlds would be great, like Monsters INC, Toy Story, or Robin Hood.
15. "The possibilities are vast, and there's no excuse for reusing any played out world like Wonderland." Seriously, I didn't even like that one the first time around, not to mention the second, third, and fourth times.
16. "It's become a cruel joke that fans of the series have to purchase a new console or handheld every time they want to play the newest Kingdom Hearts game." Yes, it has. I still have a PS2, I still buy for the PS2. In fact, only months ago did I purchase every Final Fantasy game (not including Dirge of Cerberus, Tactics, or XI, since I don't have a hard drive, a decent internet connection, or $$ to spend every month) for the PS1 and PS2. Guess what? There's a recurring theme here; PS1 and PS2. I can play all of them on my PS2 (although I chose to buy two PS1s to save my PS2s laser). But Kingdom Hearts? I can only play 3 out of almost 7 games. That's rather pathetic. The PS2 is the most selling console of all times, with I believe the biggest library of all times. It'd be nice if that library were a few Kingdom Hearts games bigger. Now, why would I want KH on a console with lame graphics? The GBA and the NDS were rather...lame...graphics. The PSP? Well I still don't like the idea that I had to pay $$$$$ for the PSP, and if BBS had come out for the PS2, I wouldn't have a PSP today. And now the 3DS? Give me a break! All I had was a PS2, and now a PSP. I don't want to buy ANOTHER console!
17. "Pick a normal name?" Well some of these names I like. Birth By Sleep, Chain of Memories, Re:Coded (yes, I think Re:Coded sounds better than Coded)? Like 'em. DDD sounds pretty cool too. But 358/2 Days? I'm not even sure if I'm pronouncing it right!
18. "Go to Kingdom Hearts Already" Well, I don't think you really can go to Kingdom Hearts. Unless, you lose your heart maybe and your heartless is slain with a Keyblade. Then it would be GameOver. Actually, that does happen if you lose, sorta.
19. " The series is ridiculous enough in concept..." Are you a total idiot, or just mentally ******ed? There's nothing wrong with the series (except the platform jumping...*shudders*). Some say it's shallow, but it's really in-depth, or we wouldn't be having this discussion about it being too complicated.
20. Whoever the idiot was that gave KH2 a rating of under 8.0, and gave BBS a rating of under 9.0....is my new mortal enemy.

EDIT: I may have left out the fact that the gameplay is totally awesome...which it is. To an extent, I like it more than some of the Final Fantasy games (excluding X, the most fun, and totally epic and super sweet story, game of all time).

Nope! Its just another example of the west trying to down any game made in Japan and completely label all JRPGs as "garbage" or "convoluted stories". KH does NOT have a difficult story if you actually pay attention to the game, find secret reports or "Ansem reports", and play each game (even though ReCoded and 358/2 days dont add much, they still are important entries). People want to blame their inabilities to play all the games (although we can all agree it's kinda ridiculous having a game on every console) on the developers and/story. The story is actually very simple if you actually play the games. The questions left unanswered are meant to leave you with suspense, something to get excited about while you wait for the next game (Nomura even confirmed this in an interview a LONG time ago) which answers most of the questions while introducing a few more.

Well, I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, IGN has had a history of being overly critical about the Kingdom Hearts series in their reviews. They appear to nit-pick every small detail and not focus on the good things about the game. They're not fans (at least not huge fans) of the series, so they share a different view than, let's say, an entire forum devoted to the Kingdom Hearts series. It's like a Christian reading something written by Richard Dawkins; they're not going to (and shouldn't) take it too seriously. I've learned to take their opinions with a heavy grain of salt.

Dont diss kh!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW I agree With V@nit@s:)

IGN is easily the worst gaming website on the internet. I stopped taking anything they say seriously a long time ago. I'm not even that much of a Kingdom Hearts fan anymore, so I wouldn't defend it. I just know how terrible IGN is, so I'm not even going to bother reading the article.

While Kingdom hearts story is not perfect it's not THAT bad right?

Everything has it's negatives, some people just see more than others.

I find the console switching annoying and yes, I prefer the earlier games but that doesn't mean it "sucks". I believe it may have room for improvements but what doesn't? I suppose all of us can be quite bias because we are part of a KH based forum so will disagree with the overall point of the article but so what, we are the fans and whether the game is good or not is more important to us than any other people who don't play it.

I can understand how they may thnik that the Disney worlds get boring but that is why they are adding new ones in and experimenting with different aspects of the game as an entirity. True you have to really concentrate and probably play the game a few times to understand but I quite like that, if it's straight forward then it does get boring quickly because you understand everything about it. I still enjoy the games and hopefully Dream drop distance will revive IGN's views.

Well my opinion is that Kingdom Hearts is getting confusing, but it doesn't change the fact that it still is a pretty interesting game. The mystery just make it be a little hard to understand, but when you understand it you can remember how much fun it was to figure it out.

Yes, it is still a great game.

I get what you mean. Those flashy battles are sometimes the focal point. But:
Naruto has a far more realistic ideal and political understanding than One Piece. And I wasn't talking about cultural references either. It's just that Kishimoto put a quite a bit more thought into that series than most other writers put into theirs, including Nomura (though Nomura does do a pretty good job). And while the character Shikamaru is portrayed as smart, that's, again, not what I was talking about. It doesn't have to do with the characters, but the ideals they're trying to push. If I were to make a comparrison, I'd say Naruto and Assassin's Creed are almost identical (though based in different backgrounds). It's about whether or not Carthaginian Peace is necessary in the world or not. Pein and Tobi fight for that - peace through either controlling the mind or peace through fear. So far in Naruto, it seems that yes, it is necessary. And the only way to have the illusion of unity between people is when they're all fighting a common enemy (the war vs. Tobi). So I'd have to say that, while Naruto seems to be pushing "Friendship and hard work overcome anything", it really isn't. Now, since Kishimoto will probably have to end the story on a happy note, it might end up being friendship-and-love-conquer-all, but if he stays in this realistic path he's on now, it wont.

And there are a few stereotypes in the series. About the same amount as in Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. But, I am always saddened when someone calls the Sasuke character a stereotype. He's absolutely not, as he's reacting like any true person would in his situation. It's kind of like how people hate on Hope so much in FFXIII, yet he's acting just like a kid would in his situation.

I know I don't really post here all that often but I do check it everyday.that being said, I think what IGN or anyone for that matter has to say about our favorite game really shouldn't concern us too much. Everyone has different tastes, likes and dislikes, and although iGN really shouldn't be so opinionated in their review of a game they have some valid points. KH has a bit of both complexity and simplicity. I mean anyone can pick up any of the games for hours of fun, sure they might not get whats going on but I think Nomura did a well enough job explaining the story if you play all the games and pay attention. Its just like everything else in life isn't it? If you like something or someone enough you are willing to overlook and compromise with the bad or inconveniences. In the end its a game just like the hundreds and thousands that came before it and the hundreds and thousands that will come after it. Those who like it will keep playing to the very end of the story and rough the journey and those who dont't will pick up another game and move on. To say a game sucks because of this though is a bit childish.

And if IGN can put in their two cents well here are mine: Kingdom Hearts is without a doubt a wonderful and magnificent game and its a shame that some people will never see it as such.

I honestly never felt that Kingdom Hearts was a location at all? It more seemed an amorphous concept. The heart of all worlds, is it not? There are doorways and passages to it, but it's not a place in the same sense that Destiny Islands or Radiant Garden is. I can see what you guys mean about the final fight with Xemnas, but I just thought those were the deeper chambers of The World that Never Was. Maybe I'm wrong though, haha.

The fight with Xemnas took place in the Realm of Nothing, it seems he was kind of "On the way" to Kingdom Hearts.

As far as the article goes, whoever wrote it is a moron and just gave me another reason to hate IGN, but the one thing I will agree with is that I hate the system jumping. Especially now because I'm no longer buying Sony products, I know I'm not going to be able to play all of the KH games that come out in the future (until they're emulatable). I really don't see what the problem is with multiplatform, especially now that basically all consoles/handhelds can handle what all the others can(What runs on a PS3 should run on an Xbox 360 and Wii U, and what runs on a Vita should run on a 3DS).

Why can't they just multiplat? There's literally no reason for it, 3D could easily run on a Vita (It wouldn't be 3D, of course, but still), and Days could have run on a PSP. BBS wouldn't have run on a DS so that one I can forgive, but all the rest are ridiculous.

If there were no console exclusive games, would we really have different consoles at all? There would eventually be no point in buying a PS3 over an Xbox (for example), aside from brand loyalty perhaps, because everyone is offering the same thing. It keeps the market competitive, but it also has the negative side effect of annoying the shit out of consumers and, essentially, killing off potential fanbases.

The problem I have is the decision to make games of the same series span across so many consoles without going multiplatform. You've already abandoned exclusivity, what's wrong with multiplatform? It would be different if each KH game that came out on handhelds was just supplemental, but other than Coded each of these games are really important to the story. They started the handhelds on the GBA and then went to teh DS, that's fine, that's progression. But then they put an extremely important title on the PSP out of nowhere. That was a title, by the way, which could easily have been on the PS2. Then they put a title on phones. Now the 3DS and Vita are both getting a title, it's ridiculous. If you're going to be multiplatform, be multiplatform. Don't alienate your fans like this.

Also, I was wrong about the fight with Xemnas being in the Realm of Nothing, that fight actually is in Kingdom Hearts, Xemnas was using his newfound power to shape the world to his will, that's why it kept changing. So yes, we've been to Kingdom Hearts.

Birth By Sleep Volume 2. Not confirmed, but extremely likely

Okay, I finally read through the article fully and found this little gem.

Really, that's one of your points of complaining? You're suppose to be writing a serious article and you pull that out of your asses?

I would also like to note that their complaints are just weak. What they don't seem to get is that this is a Japanese game that has been brought over to the United States. To me, it seems to hold an anime-like story structure, including the way they created the characters. It's just the way they do that over there.