When I was in middle school I played Kingdom Hearts for the first time. I happened to play it at an old friends house and she had a ps2 (PlayStation 2 for those of you who don’t know what that is) and I fell in love with the game immediately. I wanted to go back to her house all the time and play and play and play until I completed the game. The animation at the time was amazing and I loved the story line. The characters were so uplifting and I wanted to be them. It became an obsession and I remember when I found the game in a video store. It was a few years later and I found it in the bargain box. I bought it without a second thought. I had wanted to own the game right after I played some of it at my friend’s house but at the time it was too expensive for me to buy. 

I remember being in the Suburban and having a portable DVD player. It was tiny but it was just enough to keep me entertained. I literally had taken the whole PlayStation, set it up and played the game for eight hours straight with my headphones on and my focus soully on playing and taking in every word, syllable, and cut scene. I wanted to know all the details of every character and I wanted to see all the little extra things the game had to offer. I felt like I was being transported to the world and the entire eight hours made it seem like I had spent my entire life there. I felt like I was literally in their virtual world and seeing everything with my own eyes. I wanted to be the main character (Sora) so bad. I wanted his adventure, his happiness, his trust, his kindness, and even a little bit of his wit. I wanted it all and I felt like my life was empty once I had beaten the game. I thought they made one and one only. Beating the game was like ending a chapter to my life. 

Then I discovered that there were several more games and they all had similar stories that tied to the very first Kingdom Hearts game. The second one was also on the Ps2 console and I bought the game at a bargain price and finished it in a single night. Almost sixteen hours of gameplay. I was glued to the couch and it only got better since it was played on the big screen. The world became mine and I feel deeper and deeper. As more games came out over the years I began to buy the consoles just for the Kingdom Hearts games. I wanted to play them and see how the story progressed. My dad thought it was silly and maybe it is, after all its just a video game but for me it was a lesson and it was an adventure. 

Sora may be a made up character and it may seem silly to learn something from a video game but here is what Sora "taught" me. 

There is light and darkness in the world. Light will always beat dark but to do that you need to be kind, you need expand, you need to be you and not stray from that path. You have to be real with yourself and with others and by doing that you then attract people who want to be your friends and will stick with you no matter what comes your way. Expanding and seeing new world’s means that you grow and learn. Not everyone is born with a pure heart and not everyone stays on the right path but all it takes is a kind person to turn them around. You can’t be closed off to the world, you need to be open and see things the way they are and go from there. You can’t have everything and sometimes you may lose people along the way but as long as you keep your heart open and you treat everyone how you want to be treated then it will all work out in the end and just maybe you can save somebody as well. 

It may be just a video game to some people but to me it was my childhood. I even have a tattoo of it on my leg and it inspires me. For however long I play the game, I am in the world and I am a part of it. It has taught me so much over the years and I look forward to what is to come as they continue to make the games. I’m a Kingdom Hearts fan and I am forever grateful for them being in existence.