KH Birth By Sleep's 15th Anniversary!
- AfroCloud
- Jan 14
- 3 min read
Nomura drops a celebratory yet insightful message on the 15th Anniversary!
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is 15 years old! I can’t believe it! It seems like yesterday I was playing this game during my breaks between college classes. Birth By Sleep is my favorite Kingdom Hearts side game besides Chain of Memories and its remake: Recom.
In case you don’t know what Birth By Sleep is. The side game serves as the prequel to KH for the Xehanort Saga. The three protagonists are Terra, Venus, and Aqua. These three aspiring Keybalde wielders wish to fulfill their dreams of becoming Keyblade Masters. Unfortunately, dark forces are looming and an unknown evil is executing their dark ambitions.
To celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Birth By Sleep. Series creator, Tetsuya Nomura, posted a message congratulating the game's 15th anniversary. That’s not all. Nomura also drops some lore gems and a teaser on Birth By Sleep, KH, and the future of the series.
Crossroads
Crossroads is a prominent theme in Kingdom Hearts. And they usually feature at the end of important KH titles. They are introduced in the form of secret movies after the credits roll. Nomura reveals that he was inspired by the American folklore of Crossroads. Particularly, what it gained by following one path of a crossroad. And what is lost when you don't travel down the other path.
The most significant role that crossroads is divergence in what is gained or lost. The first crossroads appears at the end of the first KH. Sora happens upon a crossroad where he is greeted by a hooded man in a black coat. Sora follows the black coat to Castle Oblivion where he loses his memories but gains new ones as he explores the castle.
Crossroads appears in a secret movie for the end of KH2 where we see three armored characters meet at a crossroad beset by keyblades. The three armored characters are waiting for someone. And the person they are waiting for approaches them.
This is what Nomura refers to the most regarding crossroads in Birth By Sleep. It later turns out in Birth By Sleep that the three characters are Terra, Ventus, and Aqua in the Keyblade Graveyard. And they are waiting to confront Master Xehanort, the main antagonist of Birth By Sleep. Master Xehanort was the central antagonist in the Xehanort saga.
The Lost Masters
During the ending of the secret movie, a slew of keywords appear throughout the scene. One of them is the Lost Masters. And this term is extremely important for the future of Kingdom Hearts. It’s so important that Nomura ends the 15th Anniversary message with a teaser that there is more to the story of the Lost Masters. But it is a story that he will tell for another time.
Why are the Lost Masters important?! The Lost Masters is the title and focus of the next major story arc for KH. The title was revealed during the announcement trailer of Kingdom Hearts 4.
Also, all of the masters except for Ava have returned. Luxu brings them back. This was revealed in KH3’s ending after the credits. However, they are brought back to the same crossroad in Keyblade Graveyard.
Guessing by Nomura’s theme of crossroads, it is likely that Luxu, the Lost Masters, or both had to pay a price to be brought back from wherever they were previously. The Masters’ whereabouts were unknown after the first Keyblade War.
A Sign of Things to Come?
Before Nomura’s 15th Anniversary message, we have had not much news regarding Missing Link or KH4. Missing Link has been delayed via an update by the official KH Twitter for Missing Link. KH4, however, we have gotten absolutely no news on it.
But, we all hope this is the year that Missing Link launches this year as it is vital to KH’s newest story arc.
With FF XVI and FFVII Rebirth out of the spotlight, this is a prime time for Square Enix to start marketing for KH4. More importantly, tell us more about the game because we are inching to find out more about it. Hopefully, Birth By Sleep’s 15th Anniversary message is the catalyst for KH to kick it back into high gear.
Comments