10 Video Game Franchises That Keep Making The Same Mistake
9. The Painfully Convoluted Storytelling - Kingdom Hearts
As fun as Kingdom Hearts is, you won't find a video game franchise with more convoluted storytelling or wilfully obtuse lore.
The hit Disney-themed RPG series boasts charming characters, gorgeous worlds, addictive combat, and... a dense, anime-aping hodgepodge of overwrought, expository plotting that's practically impenetrable for all but the most committed fans.
The battle between light and dark may be the spine of Kingdom Hearts' story, but the series as a whole is so bogged down in overly verbose proper noun nonsense that, for casual players it's actually pretty damn dull to drink in.
It's enough of a mess to somehow make Metal Gear Solid's story seem positively easy-to-follow, and while the die-hards will insist it's really not that much of a chore to understand, it's a classic case of a creator mistaking convolution for complexity.
There are certainly times where Kingdom Hearts achieves a charm offensive of absurdity, but too often the story feels like it's a time-wasting encroachment upon the first-rate gameplay.
Jim Sterling made a rather persuasive video detailing just how utterly incoherent Kingdom Hearts' narrative is: