Kingdom Hearts II Celebrates 15th Anniversary

It's been almost eighteen years since we first saw Square Enix drop Kingdom Hearts on our tables, and we're still just about getting our heads around the ever-expanding plotline. Although jokes aside — it's been a fantastic life for the franchise since its 2002 PlayStation 2 launch. With countless spin-offs on other consoles and a few movies to back the story, Kingdom Hearts has become a household name under Square Enix's enormous belt.

Showcasing Disney at its best, Kingdom Hearts draws back on a loveable roster of familiar faces and brings a heartwarming story to RPG fans and Disney lovers alike. And, today marks the fifteenth anniversary to the second major instalment to the jam-packed timeline. That's fifteen years since we had the pleasure of re-living through Mufasa's death all over again in The Lion King. So, you know — thanks for that, Square.

Of course, not every franchise has the ability to power through almost two decades and still produce fresh material. But with Disney backing the platform with every new release, it seems unlikely that Square Enix will ever run short of new material to dabble with. Even after several games, we've not really seen half of what Disney has in its library of cherished works. Kingdom Hearts II, however, proved to showcase some of the nineties favourites — hence why it is still seen as one of the greatest in the series to date.

With Disney backing the platform, it seems unlikely that there'll ever be a shortage of material.

Continuing the journey of Sora on a quest to banish the darkness from the connected worlds, Kingdom Hearts II steps deeper into the rabbit hole and opens up to a whole new spool of side-stories that never lack intrigue. And, thanks to Square Enix's thirst for captivating storylines and complex theories, Kingdom Hearts has gone on to become much more than a simple hack and slash Disney game. In fact, we can't even pinpoint a specific genre to the franchise these days — seeing as the most recent launch revealed a ryhthm game as opposed to an action one. Again — that's Square Enix and their iconic hunger for variety.

With Kingdom Hearts III being dropped last year and a whole new army of Disney and Pixar classics being conjured up, it's likely that we'll get to see a fourth major chapter soon, too. Plus, with an ending like the one Square Enix gave us, it would feel like an insult to make us ponder over the possibilities of a potential sequel. So, it seems likely that we'll be getting a teaser to a new instalment soon. Let's just hope it isn't another fourteen year gap like the last time, eh?

Here's to another fifteen years of Kingdom Hearts.