(Editor’s Note: For the purposes of brevity and clarity, some letters have been lightly edited. Names have been removed. There are minor Kingdom Hearts spoilers, but nothing from Kingdom Hearts III.)

But putting it into words is difficult. The franchise is more about making the players FEEL something, so I'll put it like this. Kingdom Hearts is special to me because when I play it, I forget what depression is.

I spent a long time trying to write a long essay going into the details about what this franchise means to me but I couldn't word it right. I tried going on about how earnest the game is, how it takes itself seriously, even at its most absurd. Or how it feels like a modern fairy tale, full to the brim with magic and adventure and good vs evil.

I'm probably like most of the hundreds of people you've received emails from. Kingdom Hearts means a lot to me, it was one of the first video games I bought with my own money, and I was immediately in love with its worlds and its story.

I played every game that came out (yes, including Coded) and devoured every piece of lore and rumor I could find. I went to college and maintained a life but KH was always there, always burning in the back of my mind.

And then...life happened. In September of 2014 I had a case of pneumonia, which normally would have been no big deal, just take some antibiotics, and be fine. However, my case developed into ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). My mom found me, barely breathing, lips blue in my bed. I was rushed to a hospital and placed into a medically induced coma. For two months, it was touch and go. I died on three separate occasions. I should not be writing this to you right now, but here I am. How does this relate back to KH?

When I finally was woken up, I was run through all sorts of neurological tests. I was expected to have brain damage (I don't.). After the tests, they finally brought a large laminated poster with the alphabet on it so I could ask questions by pointing at letters (I still had a breathing tube in at this point). In a drug addled state, I spelled out, in all capital letters:

"DID KINGDOM HEARTS 3 COME OUT YET?" and then fell back asleep.

5 years later, I'm ok. The only lasting damage is that my vocal chords are permanently fucked up from being intubated for so long.