Books that Feel Like Kingdom Hearts
I love the themes, messages, story, and characters of the video games Kingdom Hearts. It was like the first game I ever played so it has a special place in my heart and when I went through a hard time at a later age in my life, I came back to the series and found comfort a resonance with the story, especially the start of the second game.
A character named Roxas is trying to enjoy his summer vacation when weird stuff starts happening in his town and these monsters seem to be targeting him, and he has these wild hallucinations. He ends up finding out his whole life is a lie, he is only the shadow of someone else, a hero who has to be awakened to save the worlds. He is a pawn in a story much bigger than he is, and loses everything and sacrifices his “life” to awaken this hero.
The hero is trying to save all the worlds from darkness, and the whole series has themes of a fight between light and dark, people trying to resist the darkness inside of them, the idea of finding out the true nature of what a “heart” is, identity, dreams, courage, friendship, etc. I know a lot of stories at their core are about light vs darkness, but Kingdom Hearts does it in a way that is very on the nose, but also metaphorical and surreal. Like the literal enemies in the games are called Heartless, which are manifestations of the darkness within people’s hearts that try to consume other people’s hearts, or the Nobody’s, who are the shell that remains of a person with a strong will who loses their heart to darkness. The Nobody’s are shadows of their former selves, and want to be whole so they try to seize the heart of all worlds (Kingdom Hearts) for themselves to achieve this goal.
The games are also known for their quotes
“No matter how impossible things seem, a powerful enough dream will always be enough to light the darkness”
"'I found out I was a Nobody–that I was incomplete. Just like the rest of them, I came into the world without a heart. Would it have made a difference? If I had a heart…would that make me somebody?"
“All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came. You see, darkness is the heart's true essence."
"There's More To A Heart Than Just Anger Or Hate. It's Full Of All Kinds Of Feelings. Don't You Remember?" -The main hero to the main villain who is a Nobody
I may have gotten some details wrong because I haven’t played all the games yet but I put a description and some photos to give a vibe to those who may not know the games to give something of a similar vibe.
by Last_Straw9