Square Enix will allow Steam users to play Kingdom Hearts: theverge.com

With the news that the series would be available on Steam on June 13th, Square Enix has rendered this decision meaningless. An entirely new audio of Hikaru Utada’s “Simple and Clean” was included in the first Kingdom Hearts trailer, which was published in an attempt to both commemorate and possibly unsettle the generation of adults—including myself—for whom the original clip was a life-changing moment.

Buyers of the Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind DLC will also receive a unique keyblade called “Dead of Night,” which has a sleek Steam Logo blue and grey appearance. Every one of the three games is a collection of several KH games from various console generations and platforms.

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Square Enix will let Kingdom Hearts

The unexpected release of Kingdom Hearts on Steam is not all that shocking. Steam is the next best option, as the games have previously been accessible on PC through the Epic Games Store for a few years. There’s also the announcement that Square Enix intends to expand the platforms on which its games are available. The Kingdom Hearts series has been primarily available on PlayStation consoles and handheld games for almost 20 years, with the exception of two lesser games that were briefly released on the Nintendo DS. Kingdom Hearts didn’t arrive on Xbox until 2020, and Nintendo only provided a terrible cloud version of the games in 2022.

The fact that these titles were released one week before Summer Game Fest and that Geoff Keighley’s post on the game hinted that Kingdom Hearts IV would be included is another factor. It seems like a smart move to introduce a fresh group of players to the series just before disclosing further details about the next release.

The fact that the games are not packed in chronological order, despite the Steam trailer listing them that way, is quite hilarious. To play the game as the trailer describes, you must first play Kingdom HD 2.8’s Back Cover (as it’s a movie rather than a game), then switch to Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 to play Birth by Sleep, and finally return to KH2.8 to play Birth by Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage. Easy, huh?

Kingdom Hearts

Speaking of simplicity, it was brought to tears by Hikaru Utada’s rendition of “Simple and Clean.” One of those teens who liked Japanese pop, Japanese rock, and visual kei—a Japanese take on glam metal—but wasn’t the biggest Disney fan. It felt like a sixteen-year-old girl hearing that fresh interpretation of a well-loved song, but in a positive manner. This thing, which gave rise to the feelings that brought me to my current career, had matured with me, but not to the point that it is no longer recognizable to the person.

For more information, please visit https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/21/24161661/kingdom-hearts-steam-release-date-trailer