Lately, with all the exciting news surrounding Kingdom Hearts IV and the KH franchise at large, I've really been getting back into the series after my fandom for it sorta fell by the wayside for a few years, what with no major new content to draw me back in.
I've been watching a bunch of videos online and doing a lot of reading to help freshen me up and get me up to speed on the lore, which I now feel like I have a far better understanding of than before. I've also simply been consuming a ton of Kingdom Hearts content in anticipation of IV's release next year, as well as eyeing another release that's coming much sooner.
While Kingdom Hearts IV is far and away my most anticipated upcoming game, I'd say my next most anticipated release beyond that is actually the upcoming collection bringing the core series natively to a Nintendo platform for the first time ever. So, yes, my most anticipated game other than KHIV isn't the Ocarina of Time remake, nor Pokemon Winds and Waves, but a $75 collection of games I already own and have largely played before. Why is this?
Well, ever since I started getting into the Kingdom Hearts franchise in late 2017-early 2018, these games have been my most wanted third party ports to the Switch. I wasn't sure if something like III would've worked, though they probably could've made it work with enough effort, I totally would've settled for just a port of HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX.
So, when Sora was announced for Smash towards the end of 2021, I was super excited to learn they were finally doing it... only to later have the wind completely taken out of my sails when I learned that they would ALL be Cloud Versions, including 1.5 + 2.5, a collection of remastered PS2 and PSP games. That was inexcusable, and incredibly disappointing.
I've spent the past 5 years wondering what could've been and being salty about this decision, until finally, in this years June Nintendo Direct, Square redeemed themselves by announcing that they'd be bringing all those games over NATIVELY to Switch 2, as well as putting out 1.5 + 2.5 natively on Switch 1. Y'know, like they should've in the first place. Better late than never I suppose.
For me, this announcement would kind of get completely overshadowed by the stunning reemergence of Kingdom Hearts IV immediately afterwards, but with the D23 news from a few weeks ago really getting me excited about the series again, I've started more heavily eyeing this collection, realizing that I CANNOT wait to play these games again, or, in the case of Dream Drop Distance and A Fragmentary Passage, play them for the first time!
Having all these games on Switch 2 is going to be a dream come true, and once the collection does release, I fully intend on replaying I, II, and III again, plus CoM and BBS if I feel like it. But what I'm even more excited about is getting to experience the sides of the franchise I haven't yet.
I only acquired 2.8 on PS4 within the last few years, and I haven't gotten around to playing much of it at all. If I wanted to, I could go play it right now, or if I REALLY wanted to, I could play Dream Drop Distance on 3DS, as I do have a copy of the original version. But at this point, with the collection just over a month away, I'd prefer to wait, and play them on Switch 2, which is my main console.
But man, I can't lie, the wait is killing me, even if it's not a long one. I want to play/replay these games so badly, and there's certainly the risk that once the collection actually releases in early October, I won't be nearly as enthusiastic as I am right now, but I sincerely doubt that will happen. I expect to put a ton of time into this collection once it drops.
I intend to get a 'physical' copy of the collection as well, despite it being a Game Key-Card, simply because this is one of those series I really having like physical copies of. Plus, I really, really like the boxart and want to have that on my shelf. I'm almost certainly going to need to buy a bigger Micro SD Express card for it, as I believe the eShop lists the file size at well over 100GB, but that would be the case regardless of the format I choose.
All of that to say, I haven't been this enthusiastic and excited about Kingdom Hearts in years, and I cannot wait to dive into the collection once it drops in October, both to reexperience games I love, and have brand new experiences in a series I adore!
