Furthermore, the games play with the collective memory of the franchise. It forges the vital connections that form the series’ core relationships. In Kingdom Hearts, memory is a metaphysical force. New beings are formed through the combination of memory and matter. Series protagonist Sora has forgotten himself and split into multiple selves, each defined by different aspects of his memories, several times. Even beyond the marketing pitch, the games concern themselves with memory lost, broken, and eventually regained. It’s a nostalgia machine, with a spiky haired, shonen engine. You play through reimaginings of Hercules or Frozen or Sleeping Beauty.
From day one, it offered the possibility of revisiting classic Disney worlds as an anime self insert.