Unlike the other Kingdom Hearts episode’s connections to mental health, which were notably more subtle, the thread here was unmistakable. Aqua was actually stuck in darkness, which is how I, and I know others, often refer to depression.

Of course, I wasn’t disappointed, Kingdom Hearts created a world of its own (see what I did there?) and gives ‘good vs evil’ another dimension by layering it atop the ‘dark vs light’ battle. I started the game ready to give up, but was reminded that there are others fighting just as I am, and that helps me continue wanting to keep pushing through.