News ► KINGDOM HEARTS II Featured in Boss Fight Books: Season 3

[Sign]

How often do you find yourself browsing the local book store or library and just happening to come across a book about video games? Not very, I imagine. They were always quite rare, albeit becoming less and less so as the years go by. You'd flip through the book, scouring its pages for any small mention or random screenshot of your favorite title. Those who do find something are filled with glee by the acknowledgment, while those that don't are left confused and disappointed by the lack thereof.

For Kingdom Hearts fans, it's hard to not feel as though we belong in the latter category. It's not exaclty a secret that few publications exist for this beloved franchise, but it's about time for that to change!

Let us introduce you to Boss Fight Books, a Kickstarter project created by Gabe Durham in 2013 that exists to share in-depth analyses and personal recollections of classic games. With 12 successful books under their belt, Boss Fight Books is looking to release 5 more! Included in their third set of releases will be Super Mario Bros. 3, Katamari Damacy, Soft & Cuddly, Mega Man 3, and KINGDOM HEARTS II!

Back Boss Fight Books: Season 3 on Kickstarter by May 25th, 2016 to receive digital and physical copies of the books of your choice! Copies are limited, so make sure you don't miss out on this opportunity!

Kingdom Hearts II by Alexa Ray Corriea

Light and darkness. Heroes and villains. Final Fantasy epics and... Donald Duck? The Kingdom Hearts series has always walked a fine line between masterfully executed crossover and nonsensical fan mashup, but Square-Enix and Disney's inter-company franchise remains beloved throughout numerous sequels, prequels, and remixes. Despite the outlandish premise and convoluted lore, what lies at the heart of Kingdom Hearts is more than familiar to fans of Final Fantasy and Disney alike—friendship.

For games critic and JRPG superfan Alexa Ray Corriea, no game in the series better exemplifies friendship than Kingdom Hearts II. Corriea's close reading of protagonist Sora's struggles and triumphs, his friendship with rival Riku, and his dark journey into oblivion illuminates how the unlikely universe of Kingdom Hearts authentically portrays human relationships better than any solo Final Fantasy or Disney game ever could. Just as Kingdom Hearts II is greater than the sum of its parts, Corriea's exploration of the game's themes and emotional depths reveals how much each of us is stronger for the people who surround us.

Alexa Ray Corriea has been writing about video games professionally since 2011. As a high schooler she began her study of Japanese language and culture after a fateful encounter with some un-subtitled game footage on the internet, and has focused primarily on writing and analyzing Japanese games (and especially role-playing games) ever since. Her work has appeared online on G4, Polygon, and GameSpot.

 

 

[Deleted member]

I kickstarted this. KHII is one of my least favourite games in the series so I'm curious if this book will help change my mind. It's so rare for the KH series to receive game criticism so I'm interested to see what the book will be like.

 

[BlackOsprey]

I'll definitely pick this up if I get the chance. Nothing better than reading some good ol' analysis of something that I love.

 

[MrFranklin95]

Kingdom Hearts II still remains my favorite KH game. I'm looking forward to a good read.

 

[Lonbilly]

I wonder if this is gonna be KH2 or KH2FM. I'm sure it would say FM if it was, but still. KH2 vanilla is my second least favorite game, but FM really did change a lot of it for the better and it is in my top 2 of the series. Plus KH2 has even more bosses that are more strategic and skill based so I hope it's FM being critiqued.

 

[Rydgea]

Always good for the series to get some published literature in English. Like some others, KHII is one of the titles that resonated with me the LEAST, though having replayed it a year ago I can see how the themes of friendship might be interesting to examine. The relationships start to evolve a bit more from the KHI core.

 

[WhinyAcademic]

Cool!

KH2 was really terrific when I first played it, it's still kinda fun, even if it doesn't hold up nearly as well today. Great to see SOME general public love for a game that's not the first game!

 

[VanitasRemnant]

KH 2 is and has always been my favorite KH game so to see it gaining such a spotlight makes me really happy.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

This was a really well-written, engaging, and fair writing, I'd say. And now I'm looking forward to what the rest of it all will say!

I'll have to pick this up, because I've always been hungry for books that talk about KH: whether it was Nomura interviews in the Disney Adventures Magazine (before they stopped making that), gaming magazines, that one weird mention KH got in the Vacations from Hell novel in Cassandra Clare's story... you name it

Though I'm a bit sad that it's about KHII, because I think that game's overhyped and one of the worst in the series now; though I can see why they'd choose it: it's most people's favorite and the last time KH was truly relevant.

But anyway, this is most definitely giving me happy nostalgic feelings through and through and I couldn't be more thankful for it^_^

Edit: And because of this post (http://kh-info-block.tumblr.com/post/137375610351/a-little-off-topic-but-what-were-your-thoughts-on#notes) on Tumblr, I do now think some of the relationship development they tried to do in II was interesting. I just wish it was a bit more clear-cut and thoroughly done, though.

 

[Chuuya]

I'll definitely get this book when I get the chance. Though I have Kingdom Hearts books, I would get this book in a heartbeat. It gives me something to read and enjoy reading it. I love reading so this book will be perfect!