The Disney and Square Enix collaboration series Kingdom Hearts is coming to Steam on June 13th. With eight games and a movie, you may be wondering where and how to start playing the series. Or maybe you’re getting ready to replay the games and want a refresher on the Kingdom Hearts timeline. I’ve got you covered.
Spanning over 20 years, Kingdom Hearts has been a mainstay for Final Fantasy and Disney fans. With original releases exclusive to consoles such as PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 4, Kingdom Hearts had previously been a huge commitment for gamers. However, with the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue in the mid 2010s, players gained that ability to access most KH content all on one platform. And for the first time, players who use Steam, a PC gaming marketplace, will be able to own these two collections of Kingdom Hearts games and Kingdom Hearts 3 + re:mind DLC.
If this is your first time jumping into the world of Sora, Riku, and Kairi, I highly recommend tackling the games in release order. The series was not launched in chronological order, providing huge mysteries and reveals throughout the hundreds of hours of gameplay. Luckily, the two HD re-release packs make that incredibly easy. Starting with Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, the pack includes content from five different Kingdom Hearts games including Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (HD cutscenes only), Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (HD cutscenes only). If you are playing by release, that is the correct order to experience. Jumping into Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, players should start with Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD, followed by Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover (movie), and finish the pack out with Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A fragmentary passage –. All of this preps you to jump into Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind.
Spoiler Warning Ahead
If you are interested in playing the series in chronological order or you are looking for a quick timeline of events before playing/replaying the series, keep reading below.
- Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover – In this prequel film, we are introduced to the origins of the keyblade and the seven protectors of light. In an end of the world prophecy, we see five individuals form unions in a desperate attempt to protect Daybreak Town from inevitable destruction. Four of these unions begin to fight amongst each other in a last ditch effort to stop the prophecy. The fifth, a group of keyblade wielders known as the Dandelions, goes into hiding.
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix – Decades into the future, we meet a trio of keyblade masters in training. In the Land of Departure, Aqua, Ventus, and Terra are mentored by their two masters Eraqus and Xehanort. Aqua and Terra, being older than Ventus, compete in the Mark of Mastery exam to become Keyblade Masters. Aqua succeeds in her test while Terra, distracted by darkness, fails. In a rage-filled exit, Terra leaves his world to prove he is capable of becoming a Keyblade Master. Aqua and Ventus both follow after him separately. In what turns out to be a master plan by Xehanort, Eraqus is murdered, Terra is taken over by the darkness, Ventus is separated from his heart, and Aqua is left alone. Ventus’ heart finds its home within Sora and Aqua turns the Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion, an intricate chamber to protect Ventus’ body until his heart can return.
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep-A fragmentary passage – Aqua has set out in the Realm of Darkness to search for Terra. Time does not move in the Realm of Darkness. After meeting up with King Mickey, Aqua and the King help Sora close the door to darkness in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.
- Kingdom Hearts Final Mix – Ten years after the events of Birth by Sleep Final Mix, we meet Sora, Riku, and Kairi for the first time. The trio lives a carefree life on Destiny Islands, but desire to see worlds beyond their own. When their world is swallowed by darkness, the trio is separated. With his homeworld infested by heartless creatures that are born when someone has their heart separated from their body, Sora is chosen by the keyblade, a powerful weapon that frees the hearts locked within the enemies. With King Mickey currently on a secret mission to the Realm of Darkness, Donald and Goofy are desperate to reunite with their friend. Meeting Sora in Traverse Town, a world for those who have lost their own to darkness, the three bond in their search for their friends, protecting the worlds they visit along the way. Kairi, one of the 7 Princesses of light, is captured by Disney villains and Ansem in an attempt to open an incredibly powerful door to darkness. Riku, who has been manipulated by these foes, falls prey to the darkness himself. After Sora defeats Riku, he frees Kairi’s heart that is stored inside of him. Sora, Donald, and Goofy will defeat Ansem and close the door to darkness, returning everyone to their home worlds. Sora will continue his quest to protect the worlds with Donald and Goofy.
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days – Our first introduction to Organization XIII, we meet Roxas. Roxas, who looks nearly identical to Ventus, is involved with the Organization, a group of nobodies working to summon Kingdom Hearts in an attempt to become whole beings. When a person is separated from their heart two beings are created; a heartless and a nobody. While a heartless is a lost heart, a nobody is the leftover soul and body. Some strong-willed people maintain their physical form and sense of self when separated from their heart. In the story, Roxas will struggle with his friendship with Axel and a mysterious 14th member known as Xion. Roxas and Xion struggle for power as we see the two cannot co-exist physically. Roxas turns out to be Sora’s nobody created when he turned himself into a heartless in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. Roxas’ appearance comes from the fact that Ventus’ heart was being protected inside of Sora. Xion is a replica nobody created with Sora’s memories that he lost during the events of Re:Chain of Memories. As Xion is leaching the life from Roxas, he will have to defeat her to maintain his existence. Riku, who still hasn’t returned to his original form after being overcome by the darkness, sets out to eliminate Roxas so Sora can wake from his coma.
- Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories – Directly after the events of KHFM, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are led to Castle Oblivion. Sora and the gang enter in an attempt to find Riku and King Mickey, but find members of Organization XIII who trap the three in the maze. As they progress through the castle, their memories are manipulated and erased. Sora slowly starts to forget Kairi, and is replaced with a girl named Naminé. She ends up being Kairi’s nobody who is kept prisoner by the organization. After defeating the organization, Sora goes into a deep sleep to restore his memories with the help of Naminé and Master Yen Sid.
- Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix – Beginning from the perspective of Roxas, we start in Twilight Town. Roxas, not having any memory of Organization XIII is met with his three new friends Haynor, Pence, and Olette. The three spend their last days of summer together debunking rumors of the town, playing games, and fighting in competitions. In what turns out to be a simulation of the real Twilight Town, Roxas was being protected so that his memories and self would return to Sora. Sora wakes up in Twilight Town and is warned by Naminé and Yen Sid of the nobodies and their threat to the worlds and Kingdom Hearts. Sora, Donald, and Goofy reunite with old pals to return to their mission to protect the worlds and find Riku and King Mickey. After being taunted by the surviving members of the organization, Sora is forced to combat the group as they attempt to open Kingdom Hearts to make themselves whole. Sora learns that Ansem was an imposter, and the real Ansem was actually a scientist and not a seeker of darkness. Ansem from KHFM was actually Xehanort’s heartless via his possession of Terra. Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, is the nobody created with that heartless. After the trio finds themselves in The World That Never Was, they reunite with Riku and Kairi and defeat Xemnas, protecting Kingdom Hearts once again.
- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD – After reuniting, Sora and Riku are tasked with completing the Mark of Mastery exam to become keyblade masters and defeat Xehanort. With them heading to the Realm of Sleep to master the power of waking, Riku and Sora work together to wake the 7 sleeping worlds. However, dreams are not always what they seem as the Organization is infiltrating those worlds. After waking all of the worlds, Sora gets lost fighting a young Xemnas in this dream world. Riku, on the other hand, passes his exam becoming a Keyblade Master.
- Kingdom Hearts III+Remind – After losing his powers in the Realm of Sleep, Sora is determined to save all of the friends that had gone missing before and during his journey with the keyblade. Traveling to different Disney worlds in search of answers on how to bring back his friends who are either lost or forgotten, Sora, Donald, and Goofy attempt to unite all of these powerful allies to fight a growing threat from Organization XIII. After reviving everyone, Sora and his pals must fight all of Xehanort’s alter egos in an attempt to stop him from restarting the entire universe with Kingdom Hearts. After Xehanort kills Kairi, Sora defeats Xehanort. Sora then travels to the Realm of Sleep to save her, getting lost in another universe in the process.
- The Kingdom Hearts series can be added to your wishlist on Steam here.
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