Games to Watch – Kingdom Hearts: The Interstitial War

Team: Carrion Comfort Studios (@comfortcarrion on Twitter), Gehenna Gaming (@gehennagaming on Twitter)
System: Interstitial – Our Hearts Intertwined (based on Powered by the Apocalypse)
Gamemaster: NoblemanNick (@noblemannick on Twitter)
Format: Livestreamed via Twitch, VoDs available on Twitch and YouTube
Time: Evey Friday at 7:30 PM Eastern
Cat Content: Occasional Cameos

I will have to admit that, upon first seeing an advertisement for Kingdom Hearts: The Interstitial War, I was skeptical. Kingdom Hearts and I have something of a long and complicated history, particularly when it comes to fanfiction. But very quickly The Interstitial War was presented to me in a way that made me actively interested in where it will, eventually, go. Though it has the technical glitches, the hiccoughs, and the rough edges common to low budget productions, they don’t detract from the game at hand – instead they lend the series a certain type of charm and, most importantly, heart.

And if there’s anything a Kingdom Hearts game needs, it’s heart.

In what appears to be an alternate version – or perhaps the future? – of the Kingdom Hearts franchise’s universe, four Guardians of Light awaken from the darkness of their destroyed worlds to fulfill the prophecy of the battle between Light and Darkness. Like the series itself, the characters presented here are drawn from Square Enix and Disney properties – some more obscure or loosely connected than others. This choice by the players and the game master here opens up a much larger variety of content to see inside the game (including a really obscure Disney franchise I had forgotten even existed) that’s the key to keeping a game based on a well-known franchise from feeling stale.

At this point, only three episodes have aired – but thus far it’s been a headfirst dive into the story with the Powered by the Apocalypse system that backs Interstitial providing plenty of chances to develop the players’ interpretations of the characters they’re portraying and introduce the game master’s unique take on some villains you might be familiar with.

Everything I’ve seen so far, having watched the full three episodes, has me fully recommending this series – especially if you’re a fan of Kingdom Hearts or have ever wanted to see Interstitial in action. The series is off to a promising start and I can only hope to see the story continue and expand.

You can catch new episodes airing on Carrion Comfort’s Twitch channel on Fridays. Older episodes can be found on the channel’s Videos section or on Carrion Comfort’s YouTube channel; I’ve linked to each of the episodes currently available on YouTube below.

As a note: I was really hoping to get this up early enough on Friday to be able to give my recommendation before Episode 3 aired – but while finishing up Episode 2, I discovered Episode 3 aired a day earlier this week and so decided to hold off on posting this until after I’d taken the time to watch it. I now feel even better with my recommendation having seen the conclusion of the first arc – and the brief musical number in the middle of Episode 3.

Episode List

Episode 1: Light from the Past
The heroes awaken and are set on their mission by a master…

Episode 2: Witches, Warlocks, and Ghouls Oh My!
The four guardians face their first challenge and come face to face with the challenge facing this new world…

Episode 3: Friends of the Other Side
The four Guardians rush to save their new friends from shadowy threats…