Disney, and the art style. I just hate how it looks so kiddish, and all the characters annoy the hell out of me. I stopped playing the first game 10 hours in back when it first came out and I can't even remember most of what I played - my brain purposefully tried to forget. 
 
I'm excited for Versus XIII because it looks like it has a better combat system and gets rid of the hateful art from Kingdom Hearts.

The games were good, but I was sorta lost with the story, and the card battles in Chain of memories were so bad.

I like Kingdom Hearts because, even though I haven't played it yet, the first game's theme song and all those cutscenes make for great music videos on youtube.

Why I like the games

I am amazed at Disney for allowing a multi part continuing story (it is not something that you usually see from Disney) & that Disney allowed Birth by Sleep to be a downer storyline (yeah it will be fixed in future installments but if you take it as is, it is a downer storyline). In short the series is does ambitious things story wise for Disney.

Gameplay wise you have to give Kingdom Hearts credit for trying to make a faster paced RPG that isn't very slow & boring like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. Also, by the time you reach the end of those games you feel like a complete badass because you have so many ways of dealing death to your enemies. Also like how they can being different twist to the battle system like the cards in Chain of Memories or commands in Birth by Sleep.

Issues I have had

Despite being a fan of the series, if I had to ever review any of the games, the max I would ever give it is a 4 out of 5. No matter how good I thought any of those games being, I could never give it a perfect score because giving it that would be me saying, "everybody should play this game" & simply by the nature of it being a Disney game &/or Square Enix game I could never see it being right for everyone.

Also, not been a fan of the 2 DS games. Birth by Sleep on the PSP was the best the series has had so far, but 358/2 Days limited your arsenal too much for my taste & felt artificially lengthened too much. Re:Coded was the worst game in the series the game was a 2ND RE-HASH OF Kingdom Hearts 1 & its attempts being mysterious with its storyline failed horribly. Plus, gameplay wise didn't really all the different kinds of gameplay in there (2D Side Scroller, Forced Shooter, Turn-Based RPG), it just tried to do too much.

The Future

That said I am looking forward to the 3DS game. it looks like they are going in a cool direction. Though there are some things that look weird about it. Like this pet system. But overall excited for it. Also, hoping to see some past games get re-released in HD.

Another reason I like the franchise, it gives me a chance to ask my friend very confusing questions that sometimes he's not even sure what the answer is.

Stupid story that includes wimpy kids.

@KaosAngel said:

@RockmanBionics said:

" Apparently, according to BBS, the ability to wield a Keyblade has to be given to you. Terra, one of the Keyblade users from BSS, gave Riku the ability when he was a kid. The reason Sora can use it is probably because he has Ventus heart inside him (which is also apparently why Roxas looks like Ventus).

This is totally a case of retconning so don't be surprised that it's completely different from the idea of how the Keyblade worked in KH1.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Alternatively, Riku can wield it 'cause Terra let him hold his thing, and Sora can use it 'cause he has a part of Ventus inside him.

"

....I hope to fucking god Nomura read a few books between making KH2 and Versus XIII. This shit is ridiculous. How do the KH fans keep up with this? How do the side stories even affect the plot?

Mostly the side stories just fill in gaps in the storyline. BBS, 1, & 2 are the essential ones to play. CoM is really good too, if interested. 358/2 Days is alright, but not amazing & Re:Coded is a piece of shit & pointless.

Though be fair. Kingdom Hearts isn't the only series with a complicated storyline. Metal Gear &/or Resident Evil anyone?

I've wondered this myself for a long time. B/c I truly love these games, but I can't stand anime besides MGS, but I just simply enjoy it. I think the gameplay is simple but fun and constantly rewards you, you can over level a ton which I wish more games would let you do, the graphical style really makes it look timeless, and I and can't help but turn to mush from it's cheesy sentimental elements.

I honestly don't know what it is, but since I played KH1 when it came out when I was 10 it just hit all the right spots. I never really watched Disney movies as a kid and never played Final Fantasy at the time so this was a great intro to those things for me, and I didn't have any protective instincts for these properties. For example my first time seeing Cloud was in KH so I always assumed he was emo and sort of lame, but after playing FF7 I realized they changed his character, so if I played FF7 first I probably would have been annoyed by the changes.

KH is my ultimate guilty pleasure, I have no idea why I love it, and I'm not sure I could argue why in a compelling way, but it simply makes me happy, and that's all the explanation I need to give.