It’s an exciting time to be aKingdom Heartsfan, as series fanatics are celebrating the series' 20th anniversary. After all these years, the game franchise is extremely popular, and fans eagerly await any new arrivals.While thefuture of theKingdom Heartsfranchiseis a bit of a question mark at this moment, the series has had no shortage of merchandise and tie-ins with other games recently. While Sora joiningSmash Bros. Ultimatewas a really big deal, players who are less interested in combat but might want to carry around their ownKingdom Heartscharacters in a virtual buddy form will soon be able to do so.RELATED:Kingdom Hearts Dark Road Final Update DelayedVirtual pet Tamagotchiare now getting aKingdom Heartstwist in celebration of the game’s anniversary. Tamagotchi, for anyone not in the know, are handheld electronic toys that originally premiered in the 1990s. The general premise of original Tamagotchi is that players receive an egg which hatches into a baby Tamagotchi, and can then be raised through its life into varying branches of development. Of course, withKingdom Heartsbeing the theme for these, the system is a little different.
TheKingdom HeartsTamagotchi come in two different variants; a light mode version and a dark mode version. Like with prior Tamagotchi anime and game tie-ins, players will be able to raise a variety of different characters fromKingdom Hearts. Everyone fromiconic protagonist Sorato Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Aqua will be available, with twenty characters in all currently teased. At the moment, the company is also deciding on two additional Heartless characters that will be selected based on fan votes.
TheKingdom HeartsTamagotchi will be quite affordable at $20 a piece, and Premium Bandai is currently taking pre-orders through May 5. They’re set to release in October of this year. However, there currently isn’t a way for fans to order the Tamagotchi directly via the English website. It’s likely that a translated version will be produced later, but barring an announcement to that extent, fans will have to either import the item or buy it from a reseller further down the road.
While Tamagotchi isn’t as well known asKingdom Heartsthese days, it was massive in its heyday, with tens of millions of units having sold over the years. Its lasting impact can’t be denied, either, with prior collaborations from recent history including Tamagotchi reproduced on sneakers, and evenCall of Duty: Modern Warfarereferencing Tamagotchiback in 2019. Pairing Tamagotchi andKingdom Heartsis likely to delight fans who grew up with both.
MORE:Kingdom Hearts 4: It May Be Finally Time for Sora to Grow Up
