Top 5 Worlds I Want in KINGDOM HEARTS 3
If you want my opinion (which clearly you do, since you’re reading this article), Kingdom Hearts is an amazing game series! A heartfelt adventure that shows friendship is the strongest magic there is. What do you want from me?! I’m a sucker for sappy Disney stories! This past month I’ve been picking up and playing the HD Remixes of the games on PS3. I just finished playing the ever-loving crap out of Kingdom Hearts 2.5 and cannot wait for the third, non-spinoff installment of the series to come out shiny and new for my PS4. But that got me thinking, where do I want to fly my definitely-not-phallus-shaped Gummi ship to in the sequel? Who do I want to team up with and take down Heartless side-by-side with? So here is my list of the top 5 worlds I hope they add in Kingdom Hearts 3! (I specifically went with worlds we haven’t gotten to see in the series yet. Otherwise this whole list would just be Tron… I loves me some Tron.)
Number 5: Sugar Rush [Wreck-It Ralph]
Wreck-It Ralph would be a tough story to tie-in with KH, as it carries a lot of licenses from several different companies. And Nintendo and Sony are notorious for not getting along very well. But the kart-racer world of Sugar Rush would be AMAZING to see in the series. Imagining palling around a super bright and colorful candy world with Ralph and Vanellope sounds like a grand ol’ time! Not to mention the possibility of pulling Alan Tudyk in to reprise his role as King Candy for the main villain of the world would be righteous! Or using a Summon Charm to call Fix-It Felix into battle? Yeah, I’d be totally cool with that. Frankly, I think the whimsical feeling of this world would fit right alongside Sora and his buddies.
Number 4: Rapunzel’s Kingdom [Tangled]
Tangled was a fun romp of a cartoon! The characters were quirky and lovable. Sprinkle in the fact that Kingdom Hearts loves throwing as many princesses into their story as possible, Rapunzel would be a great addition, as she’s not afraid to kick a little ass herself. But apart from all that, I just want to fight side-by-side with Flynn Rider, maybe even get a cool Keyblade that looks like a frying pan or something. The action in the movie was fun and funny, and I think that would translate very well into the world of KH, because while it is a game that sometimes makes the mistake of being a little too overly dramatic, you are still partying with Donald Duck and Goofy most of the time. so silliness is a must have.
Number 3: San Fransokyo [Big Hero 6]
In a recent interview, Tetsuya Nomura told fans that ALL of Disney’s intellectual properties were available to him. So that means Marvel is in the pile of goodies too. And Big Hero 6 is one of the things on that list that I think would be wonderful to add to the game! Watching the film, all I could think was, “Man, I really want to hang out in San Fransokyo!” But let’s face it, movie tie-in games are sacks of crap. They’re given way too short of production time and pumped out to make a quick buck off kids that don’t know a terrible game when it’s right in front of them. But Square Enix doesn’t have that problem. They’ll postpone games for years in order to fine tune them. So if we are going to get a living, breathing, fun-to-explore version of this alternate San Francisco/Tokyo hybrid, it will probably be through games like Kingdom Hearts. Not to mention, who doesn’t want to fight baddies with the help of Baymax and the rest of the Big Hero 6?!
Number 2: Asgard [The Avengers]
Out of all the possibilities of bringing Marvel Studio’s heavy hitters into the world of Kingdom Hearts, why would I pick Asgard? Well, let me tell you GeekTyrants, it's because I believe it would be the most fitting setting. I have discussed this in great length with a few of my fellow nerds here at GeekTyrant, and we have collectively come to an agreement that the whimsical, fantasy-based world of Asgard would fit into the series well. (My close second was Knowhere from Guardians of the Galaxy, as the cosmic side of Marvel would also play nicely with Sora’s adventures.) Much debate surfaced on the interwebs as to whether getting Marvel chocolate mixed up in my Kingdom Hearts peanut butter is a good idea. I say it is a “Marvelous” idea! True, if they looked like realistic renderings of people like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, then that would be unsettling. Square Enix did that with Pirates of the Caribbean in KH2 and dove headlong into the uncanny valley. But if it were in an art style more similar to the animated Avengers Assemble series, or even Disney’s own wildly successful toy seller, Disney Infinity? Well I think that’d mesh quite perfectly! And I would go nuts for a Stark Industries Keyblade. Or perhaps one modeled after Mjölnir! At the end of the day, would you really be that upset by Goofy, Donald, and the Hulk bashing skulls side-by-side? Be honest now, you would be grinning from ear-to-friggin’-ear the whole time!
Number 1: Atlantis [Atlantis: The Lost Empire]
The oft-overlooked Atlantis: The Lost Empire is easily one of the most visually unique cartoons Disney has made. The bright, vibrant blues and greens are incredibly appealing to the eyes, and the weird, super unique sci-fi elements to the movie were super cool as a kid. So naturally, taking all that and dumping it into Kingdom Hearts would be fantastic. In fact, go ahead and take out anything they already have planned for another god awful Little Mermaid level and replace it with this! Not to mention the unique Heartless and Nobodies that would be available to this art style would be almost more fun to look at than to beat mercilessly with your Keyblade! If Atlantis made its way into a Kingdom Hearts game, I would be one happy camper. And hey, what is Michael J. Fox up to these days anyways? He can take a couple months to record some lines for a video game. Why not?! (Or just get the guy who did the Back to the Future games. Next best thing to ol’ McFly himself.)
So there you have it, the five worlds I would love to see Square Enix put into the next Kingdom Hearts release. I know it is already in development, so I’m sure a lot of these newer choices don’t stand a chance. But even if I could get some cool summon characters from some of these worlds, I’d be totally golden. What worlds do you hope they put into the next major release? Tell me in the comments below, and chances are I’ll probably get into a discussion with you about them!