Kingdom Hearts is a series consisting of a ton of games which can be pretty confusing for players who are new to it. Even players who are familiar with the series get confused sometimes about the correct order to play the games.
Not knowing where to start and what game to play first in a series containing more than 15 titles can be overwhelming for you. There’s a chronological and a correct order to play the games and there’s a release order to play the games.
If you’re looking for the correct order to play the Kingdom Hearts series, regardless of being a new player or a veteran player, then brace yourself as you’re about to embark on a long journey through the series.
1. The Chronological Order to Play the Kingdom Hearts Series:
The chronological order to play Kingdom Hearts series is a good way to go about the whole series. It depicts all the major moments that occurred during the Kingdom Heart games, along with the Keyblade War which plays a key role in the future games.
It is worth noting that multiple games in the series have been renamed as well as released on other platforms too and most of these games tell an identical story. Hence, some games have a different title but is essentially the same game which is why these games will be grouped together in the list. This is the list you need to follow in order to play the games in a chronological order.
- Kingdom Hearts X / X Back Cover / Unchained X / Union X
- Kingdom Hearts Dark Road
- Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep / Final Mix
- Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep 0.2: A Fragmentary Passage
- Kingdom Hearts / Final Mix
- Kingdom Hearts Chain of memories / Re: Chain of Memories
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
- Kingdom Hearts 2 / Final Mix
- Kingdom Hearts Coded / Re: Coded
- Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
- Kingdom Hearts 3
- Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMind DLC
- Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
The games which have been grouped together tell the exact same story or a near identical one. Putting them as seperate games would confuse the players even more.
2. The Release Order to Play the Kingdom Hearts Series:
If you want to completely understand the story for the Kingdom Hearts series, then I suggest you play the games in its release order.
Some of the games might be hard to get access to as they were released on old hardware such as the GameBoy Advance exclusive Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories or Kingdom Hearts Union X whose online servers were shut down, making it unplayable. Remakes aren’t included either as they are essentially the same game with better graphics.
Here’s the list for the Kingdom Hearts series if you want to play it in release order:
- Kingdom Hearts (2002) (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (2002) (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories (2004) (GameBoy Advance)
- Kingdom Hearts 2 (2005) (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix (2005) (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (2007) (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Coded (2008) (Mobile)
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009) (Nintendo DS)
- Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep (2010) (PSP)
- Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix (2010) (PSP)
- Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded (2010) (Nintendo DS)
- Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (2012) (Nintendo 3DS)
- Kingdom Hearts X (2013) (Internet Browser)
- Kingdom Hearts Unchained X / Union X (2015 / renamed in 2017) (Mobile)
- Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep 0.2: A Fragmentary Passage (2017) (PS4)
- Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover (2017) (PS4)
- Kingdom Hearts 3 (2019) (Xbox One / PS4)
- Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMind DLC (2020) (Xbox One / PS4)
- Kingdom Hearts Dark Road (2020) (Mobile)
- Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (2020) (Xbox One / PS4 / Switch)
The release order will give you the complete story for the Kingdom Hearts series so you don’t miss out anything important related to the story.
3. Square Enix’s Order to Play the Kingdom Hearts Series:
As per Square Enix, there is no ‘correct’ starting point for the Kingdom Hearts series. According to them, it is entirely upto the players to decide which Kingdom Hearts game they want to play first.
Even though Square Enix states that players can start off their Kingdom Hearts journey with whichever game they want, they suggested an order to play which could be followed by players new to the series. Here’s the order suggested by Square Enix:
- Kingdom Hearts FINAL MIX
- Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (HD Remastered Cinematics)
- Kingdom Hearts II FINAL MIX
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep FINAL MIX
- Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded (HD Remastered Cinematics
- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-
- Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover (movie)
- Kingdom Hearts Union χ [Cross] (view story in theatre)
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind DLC
- Kingdom Hearts Union χ [Cross] Dark Road
- Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
Among these orders, you can choose to start with any of them. You can even embark on the journey on your own by deciding the first Kingdom Hearts game based on the one you want to play the most. That may not be the first game in the series chronologically or by release order, but rest assured you’ll be in for a treat regardless of the game you choose as your first Kingdom Hearts outing.
4. Does Kingdom Hearts All-in-One include every game?
The Kingdom Hearts All-in-One Package includes every Kingdom Hearts game including Kingdom Hearts 3. However, the bundle does not include the Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind DLC. You’ll have to buy the DLC separately as it is not included in the bundle.
The Kingdom Hearts All-in-One Package also includes Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, which comes with a few games and a movie:
- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep – a fragmentary passage
- Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover (movie)
5. Is Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 ReMIX a remake?
Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 ReMIX is a collection of six Kingdom Heart games which have been upgraded to PS4 in one HD Mix. The six games which are included in this package are:
- Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
- Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
- Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix
- Kingdom Hearts Re:coded.
Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 doesn’t equal to Kingdom Hearts 4. The title means that it is a combination of two previous collections which are Kingdom Hearts 1.5 ReMix and Kingdom Hearts 2.5 ReMix.
6. Should you skip Kingdom Hearts 1?
Kingdom Hearts 1 can get pretty frustrating to play due to its outdated graphics, clunky combat, and confusing environment which makes you go in circles around the map trying to find something. However, the future games do draw a lot from Kingdom Hearts 1.
What you can do is watch a playthrough of the entire Kingdom Hearts 1 game. This would keep you updated on the entire Kingdom Hearts lore from the beginning as well as prevent your frustration in playing the game.
7. About Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square Enix employee.
Kingdom Hearts is a crossover of various Disney properties based in an original fictional universe. The series centers on the main character, Sora, and his journey and experiences with various Disney and Pixar characters, as well as some from Square Enix properties, such as Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You and Einhänder, in addition to original characters and locations created specifically for the series. The primary plotline of the series sees the protagonists clash against the multiple incarnations of Xehanort, the primary antagonist.
No Comments on An Easy Guide to Playing the Kingdom Hearts Series in Order