As you guys may have heard, Kingdom Hearts III has finally shown it’s face and has been announced for PS4 and Xbox One. If you are anything like me you may have cried, gotten cold chills, happy danced, screamed, or all of the above. It’s been seven years of waiting for even just a tiny morsel or glimpse of our next main installment. While the various hand held games that have been released were great in their own right, it’s time for a next-gen version of our beloved game. You know, the game that brought us the distinctive mix of Final Fantasy and Disney, engaging game play, and a story that hooked you within the first ten minutes? Yeah, that game. So in honor of Kingdom Hearts III, here is a list of the top 5 Kingdom Hearts worlds!
Neverland:
One of the best parts about Neverland is that you finally get the ability to fly, which opens up all kinds of secrets and chances for new items in almost every other world, not to mention that it makes running around other worlds way less tedious while collecting items or dalmatians you may have missed. It is used and expanded on in almost every single Kingdom Hearts edition in one way or another, be it in the form of dreams or as a full blown playable world. Another great option is the battle with The Phantom, which is easily one of the harder baddies in Kingdom Hearts I and leaves you feeling genuinely accomplished once you defeat him. Featuring pirate ships, islands, and tons of great enemies, and a little faerie dust to boot, Neverland easily earns a place on the list.
Halloween Town:
Another world used in most of the Kingdom Hearts Series is Halloween Town. A creeptastic world to play through, Halloween Town has some of the spookiest alternate costumes and the key blade, Pumpkinhead, is one of the most useful key-blades in Kingdom Hearts I, having the ability to strike more critical blows than others, as well as a long range reach. It’s also looks pretty wicked! This town is one of the most popular worlds in the series, and the fan base was one of the main reasons they continued to bring it back time and time again.
Space Paranoids/The Grid:
Considering the relationship between these two worlds are so closely related, let’s consider this one a world with a little bonus. Both The Grid from Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and Space Paranoids from Kingdom Hearts II are based from the movie Tron. These worlds give us a chance to really explore the interworkings of Ansem’s (and later Xehonart’s) computer system in Hollow Bastion and it brings a fresh look at a really cool alternative to where The Grid and the Tron universe came from. Being the first worlds based off of a live action Disney movie, they earn their place together by offering a unique look and sci-fi experience in a game mostly dominated by animation based worlds, and gives us the opportunity to play around on The Grid, which, let’s face it, is pretty freaking awesome.
Hollow Bastion:
This tremendous castle is a world completely exclusive to the Kingdom Hearts universe. Originally the Radiant Garden, this world is the home to most Final Fantasy based characters, as well as our main girl Kairi and Ansem the Wise. This world gives us some great puzzle challenges, such as The Waterway, and it is also one of the most revealing levels in terms of storylines and offers some of the tougher Heartless battles. It’s level of importance to the story and our main characters is without a doubt what makes it one of the best worlds in the Kingdom Hearts Series.
Traverse Town:
Ah, Traverse Town. Home to all those whose worlds were destroyed and provides a somewhat safe haven for our travellers. This world has five districts to explore, and provides plenty to do throughout the games, especially Kingdom Hearts I. Plenty of shops and secrets, Traverse Town could practically be a mini game on its own. With access to the 100 Acre Woods, tons of mini challenges (hello dalmations!) and the best stores around, Traverse Town is hours of fantastic exploring and easily one of the greats.
With the excitement building for Kingdom Hearts III, maybe it’s time to bust out the old games and relive some of these brilliant worlds mentioned as well as the numerous other worlds we all love. In the mean time, we can all debate and speculate over which new worlds we can play through next. Leave us some of your predictions in the comments below, and happy guessing!
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Written by Guest Contributor: Novblue