215: Kingdom Hearts (with Leah Haydu)
From Tales from the Backlog by Dave Jackson
May 20, 2026 · 2h 32m
About this episode
Dave Jackson and guest Leah Haydu discuss the intricacies of Kingdom Hearts, including its story, gameplay, and connections to Disney and Final Fantasy.
Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog Join Dave and special guest Leah Haydu (Cane and Rinse, Character Issues) as they discuss Kingdom Hearts (Square Enix, 2001). Leah is a longtime fan and Dave just played for the first time, and that led to a great conversation about the infamous story, the Disney and Final Fantasy tie-ins, the action-RPG combat, and the simplicity at the "heart" of it all. Listen in for more, and as always, no spoilers for a while. Guest info: Leah Haydu (she/her) Check out Character Issues https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-character-issues-podcast/id1530881747 Check out Cane and Rinse https://caneandrinse.com/ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:29 Introductions 4:02 Our Histories with Kingdom Hearts 9:50 Top-Level Thoughts 19:24 Story Setup and Disney Stuff 33:10 Final Fantasy Stuff 35:16 Understanding Kingdom Hearts 43:25 The "Heart" of the Story 51:11 More Music Talk 58:16 Gummi Ship 1:02:32 Combat 1:23:45 Some Gameplay Criticisms 1:30:26 Who Should Play? 1:34:00 Character Issues & Cane and Rinse Podcasts 1:40:24 Spoiler Wall & Patron Thank-Yous 1:42:08…
People in this episode
Host: Dave Jackson
Guest: Leah Haydu
Topics covered
- Kingdom Hearts
- Disney
- Final Fantasy
- action-RPG
- gameplay
- story
Keywords
- Kingdom Hearts
- Disney
- Final Fantasy
- action-RPG
- gameplay
- story
- Yoko Shimomura
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Cane and Rinse, Character Issues, Square Enix
Products: Kingdom Hearts
More episodes of Tales from the Backlog
- 218: Fire Emblem: Three Houses (with Claire - Date With Us) · June 10, 2026 · 2h 54m
- 217: Many Nights a Whisper (with Flora Merigold) · June 3, 2026 · 2h 36m
- 216: Isles of Sea and Sky (with Jesse Guarascia) · May 27, 2026 · 1h 44m
- 214: Cairn (with Rachel Watts) · May 13, 2026 · 2h 42m
- 213: Hitman 3 & Freelancer Mode (with Scott Danielson) · May 6, 2026 · 3h 10m
- 212: The Séance of Blake Manor (with Brian Edwards - Cane and Rinse, Character Issues) · April 29, 2026 · 2h 14m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Tales from the Backlog podcast page.