Before you read any of this, just keep in mind that I've been quarantined and working from home since March, and I've had a lot of time on my hands. Thank you.
I never played the "Kingdom Hearts" video games when I was younger. My siblings played "Kingdom Hearts 2" on our Playstation 2, but I just never got around to it, I guess. When it was announced that "Kingdom Hearts 3" would be released for Playstation 4 in 2019, I got jealous. I have a vague familiarity with some of the "Final Fantasy" games from which sprung the very popular Disney spin-off, but I knew that just jumping into the third game without playing any of the other games wouldn't make a lot of sense.
I did some research - probably by Googling something along the lines of "Best order to play 'Kingdom Hearts' games" - and that's when I came to find out that there were way more than three "Kingdom Hearts" games. In fact, there were like eight or nine games, in total. I had no idea, and flippantly assumed that most of those games were probably an easy payday for Disney and Square Enix. I assumed that only "1," "2" and "3" would have been essential to the storyline. Boy, was I wrong? Let me explain.
Kingdom Hearts I
Flash forward to Quarantined America in March 2020. A year had passed. "Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far" sat on the shelf, collecting dust. I have a co-worker named Chris. He's a hardcore gamer. He often alerts me of good deals on video games. I'm a sucker for good deals. Chris, having played KH1 around the same time as me, knew that I had some dormant interest in the series, and let me know that "Kingdom Hearts 3" was on sale at Best Buy for $9. That's a good deal that I just couldn't pass up. I bought the newest game, knowing that I wouldn't be able to play it immediately, and it soon joined its companion game on the shelf, collecting its fair share of dust and staring at me each time I sat on my couch, wondering when - if - I would ever actually take it out of the plastic and bust that case open.
I think the game sat there in the plastic for a couple weeks after it came in the mail. One day, I felt adventurous and I actually unwrapped it. I still wasn't ready to play it, of course, but it made me feel less like I'd flushed a $10 bill down the toilet, so that was nice.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
After consulting with Google several times more, I decided that, if I was truly ever going to play "Kingdom Hearts 3," I would need to play most of the other games, too. Some, I was relieved to find out, were actually just old video games that were condensed into cinematic movies, so you didn't even have to play them at all. That was nice. After debating whether to jump straight to "Kingdom Hearts 2," skipping a couple other "minor" games in between, I decided to play the next game, chronologically, that came after KH1 - a "card game" called "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories," which was originally released in 2004 for Game Boy Advance. I didn't know what "card game" meant, but it didn't sound hard nor time-consuming, so I gave it a shot.
Graphically, I felt like "Chain of Memories" was a small step up from KH1, so that put me at ease almost immediately. Hypothetically, if I played all the games in chronological order, they should continually get better, right? Right off the bat, I realized that "Chain of Memories" was not going to be a game of solitaire or "Pokemon: The Card Game," like I assumed it would be. It was an actual, three-dimensional game, in which Sora's memories had been extracted from him by an ominous, looming villain. The game consisted of Sora running around most of the same Disney-themed worlds he visited in KH1 to collect the memories that were lost. Upon completing the game, you could also, optionally, do a similar story arc with Sora's semi-evil friend, Riku, which I also completed. The "card game" aspect didn't make much sense to me until maybe about five hours in (sadly). The strategy of the game revolved around gathering, essentially, playing cards that represented different attack types and strength values, then using your "deck" to defeat opponents. By progressing in the game, you obtained more powerful cards, including allies like Genie, Simba or Dumbo, and could defeat more dastardly villains. Believe me, once I truly understood how that system worked, Sora and I were BALLIN'! I had that method down, stacking similar cards on top of each other to create nearly unbeatable combo attacks, and I was flying through that game. I really had fun with it. Riku's version of the game was a little different; a pre-determined deck was provided, depending on which world you were in, and everything else played out pretty similarly. After beating the game with Sora on the hardest difficulty, I just played with Riku on "Beginner" and didn't ever break a sweat with it. That was good enough for me. I reclaimed all the memories, was introduced to a young girl named Namine that was, basically, a puppet used by the villains to take away Sora's memories, and checked that game off the list, three weeks later. Surprisingly, it ended up as one of my favorite "Kingdom Hearts" games of the entire series.
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
After "Chain of Memories," I spent three hours of my life watching a cinematic video called "Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days." To this day, I don't really understand what "358/2" means, other than, I think, the movie spanned 358 days in the life of a boy named Roxas, who looks nearly identical to Sora. The whole movie focuses on Roxas's life (in a parallel universe from Sora) with his friends, Axel and Xion (pronounced "She-own"). They have been recruited by Organization XIII - the baddies behind everything that has happened to our poor protagonist so far. To be honest, this movie was rather boring and I mostly just had it on as background noise, but it does explain to us the origins of Roxas and Xion, particuarly, and indicates that the kids in this world have a very unhealthy obsession with popsicles. In the end, "358/2 Days" introduces us to some important characters and gives us a little bit of insight into the nefarious plans of Organization XIII (i.e., they're using memories to create human-like beings to fight against the light and take possession of Kingdom Hearts), but it's not something I'd go back and watch again.
Kingdom Hearts II
Ten calendar days after "Chain of Memories" came the game that gave me my first-ever exposure to this series, "Kingdom Hearts 2." As I mentioned, I had briefly seen my siblings play this on our PS2 way back in the day (it originally came out in 2005), but I never sat down to watch them or anything like that. More than anything, because of this game, I knew that "Kingdom Hearts" existed, nothing more. KH2 picked up right where "Chain of Memories" left off, with Sora just having regained his memories. He is antagonized by the mysterious, hooded members of Organization XIII and, in particular, Roxas, who it is explained is Sora's "Nobody" - a shell of a human that has been synthesized from Sora's memories to look and act like him, and most especially, to be able to wield the series' iconic "keyblade." Sora and his long-term companions, Donald and Goofy, battle against the Organization and a slew of Disney-inspired bosses to ultimately square off against a man named Xemnas - the "Nobody" form of an ancient teacher named Ansem the Wise (long story - don't worry about it). Upon defeating Xemnas and purportedly restoring order to their world, Sora's friend Kairi opens a secret message in a bottle that teases the next game.
Overall, KH2 was a much better game than KH1, though not quite as fun as "Chain of Memories." I beat the story in about eight days, which meant that I was more willing to hunker down and plow through the often-convoluted storyline, and I was intrigued enough to keep playing, so that's a good sign. Most intriguing of all was a next-gen cinematic video that played at the end of the credits, showing an armored figure in a valley of ancient keyblades. On-screen text spoke of the "Keyblade War" and hinted at a long-gone era of keyblade wielders. It showed an old man, who I knew to be the Big Bad of the entire series, Xehanort. This thing looked awesome. Bring on the Keyblade War!
Kingdom Hearts - Re:coded
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
Next came "Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep" - the installment foreshadowed at the end of KH2. This was the one game I skipped. I didn't play it. It sounded like it was going to be a pretty big time commitment, and I just wanted to get along with the story. I watched two YouTube recaps of it and felt like I had a decent understanding of its affect on the plot. The story followed three characters from what I assumed was a couple centuries before Sora's time (it turned out to only have been 10 years, I guess) named Terra (left), Ventus (center, looking suspiciously like Sora and Roxas) and Aqua (right). They were three student who were training to become Keyblade Masters. They ended up running into Xehanort, who later became Xemnas and a bunch of other versions of himself (long story - don't worry about it). Ventus sacrificed himself, Terra was lost, and Aqua got trapped in the Realm of Darkness. Eh. Whatever. I didn't think much more of it at the time.
(Now, after beating "Kingdom Hearts 3," I kind of wish I would have played it because these three characters play a decent-sized role toward the end of the game that probably would have meant more to me if I hadn't skipped their game.)
Moving on.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD
"Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD." What a weird name for the game. Still not sure I totally understand it. I also considered skipping this game, as well, but ended up playing it, and I'm glad that I did. There were a couple gimmicks to this game. First, you played as Sora and Riku, jointly, and after an indeterminate amount of time, you'd fall asleep (or something), and the other character would "drop" back into the game. It was strange and occasionally inconvenient. Again here, I'm still not totally sure that I understood the purpose of it or the strategy behind it. Secondly, Sora got pets. Yes, like, Pokemon/Tamagotchi-style pets. Incredibly strange. But you could play with them and pet them and take pictures of them and let them fight with you... and, shockingly, it was actually probably my favorite part of the game. There were maybe 30 different pets that you could synthesize and choose from; I think I really only ended up working with, like 8-10 of them, and really only stuck with the same three for each of the boys. The game also introduced a new type of fighting called "Flowmotion," which let you do weird things like jump off of walls and spin on light posts and stuff. It seemed weird at first, but the more I used it, the more I liked it, and this combat technique stuck around for KH3, as well, so I'm glad I learned it ahead of time.
"Dream Drop Distance" was nice because it branched out to a few new worlds from Disney properties, including "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and Mickey's "Three Musketeers." I loved that Frollo finally said, "And he shall smite the wicked, and plunge them into the fiery pit!!" (Quite possibly the best quote in the entire franchise.) The plot of the game was that these worlds had been invaded by monsters called "Dream Eaters." Sora and Riku's job was to travel around and clear them out. I probably spent more time taking care of my pets than worrying about the actual plot. In conclusion, DDD gave us fluffy characters, Flowmotion fighting and some fun worlds. I enjoyed it quite a bit and finished the campaign in a little over a week.
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 - Birth By Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage
"Kingdom Hearts 0.2 - Birth By Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage" was next on the list. This game is monumental and will always have a place in my heart because it marks the first time in the "Kingdom Hearts" series that we were blessed with next-gen gameplay. We'd been falsely advertised next-gen graphics at the end of KH2, but then "Birth By Sleep" went back to the old school PS2-quality visuals for the actual game. "Fragmentary Passage" looked absolutely gorgeous, from start to finish - especially after having spent weeks and weeks playing games that looked like they were 15 years old (they were 15 years old).
"Fragmentary Passage" tells the story of Aqua, who was trapped in the Realm of Darkness for 10 years, following the events of "Birth By Sleep." Essentially, this was my introduction to the character. It introduced a new combat technique called "Shotlock," which would also be a major aspect of KH3, so, again, glad that I learned how to use it beforehand. It features some of the toughest boss fights of the entire series (looking at you, Phantom Aqua!) and provided one of the most unique (mini) levels - the Seven Dwarves' Mine. It was a pretty cool game. What's more, I beat the game a total of three times (including once on the hardest difficulty) and got 100% completion, which felt like I had won the Nobel Peace Prize or something. It was truly an accomplishment for an OCD freak like me. Thankfully, that process wasn't as bad as it sounds; the game was only about three hours long, from start to finish, so beating it three times only took me about three days, which, in "Quarantine Time," is basically nothing.
Kingdom Hearts: Back Cover
Finally, there was only one more obstacle between myself and the promised land known as "Kingdom Hearts 3," and that was an hour-long cinematic film called "Kingdom Hearts: Back Cover." This was a weird one - one that might be worth re-visiting, following the events of KH3. If I thought that "Birth By Sleep" took place forever ago, this must have been in another lifetime. The story follows a masked group of keyblade wielders, under the tutelage of a hooded figure, not unlike the members of Organization XIII. The long and short of it is that they were all given instructions to hide and/or protect a mysterious black box that allegedly contains a book of prophecies that would eventually come to pass. There were also some aspects of the story that were distantly linked to the keyblade that would ultimately be in possession of Xehanort. One final aspect of this story that would prove important is the fact that there is a whole city of young keyblade wielders like Sora out there. That didn't mean much to me at the time, but it certainly would later on, during one climactic part of KH3.
Kingdom Hearts III
At long last! I had finally arrived at "Kingdom Hearts 3," after playing every game except for "Birth By Sleep" and watching every cinematic movie. It was great to finally get to see Sora, Donald and Goofy in next-gen graphics, after slogging through two decades' worth of games where Sora looked like he was wearing Bugles on his head. I felt fully prepared, as far as the plot lines were concerned, for the final chapter. Quite honestly - and this manifested itself immediately in KH3 - I don't know how you could possibly understand 90% of what was going on, unless you'd played or studied up hardcore on all of the preceding games. "Kingdom Hearts 3" was the culmination of 17 years of storytelling, and they found a way to mix in ingredients from, practically, every other game. One of my favorite benefits of having played nearly everything else was that I feel like KH3 took the best parts of all of the other games and included them, from Flowmotion all the way down to the pets. Yep, you can link to the "Dream Drop Distance" animals while fighting in KH3, and it warmed my little soul when I got access to it.
"Kingdom Hearts 3" brought with it a brand new slate of Disney worlds to play in - and they were some of the best levels in the entire franchise. The game starts by returning to Olympus and its surrounding, Herculean areas, but then jettisons off to such exotic locales as Monstropolis, the Kingdom of Corona, Arendelle, San Fransokyo and the Toy Box from "Toy Story." Surprisingly, the world I was most looking forward to (Corona, from "Tangled") ended up being one of my least favorite locations, and the Caribbean (an improved version of the Pirates-inspired land from previous games) was (by far) my favorite. I mean, the Caribbean wasn't quite "Assassin's Creed: Black Flag," but it was close. It was that much fun. The "Toy Story" and "Big Hero 6" arcs were also a lot of fun - so fun that my wife wanted to stay in the room and watch me play.
Speaking of my wife, her favorite feature of KH3 was the new camera mode that allowed Sora to search for "Hidden Mickeys" (known as "Lucky Emblems") in each world. There were even a few times that I let her take over for me so she could hunt the Easter eggs down. It's always nice to come across video games that my wife not only approves of but also wants to participate in.
The biggest drawback about "Kingdom Hearts 3" - and the whole series, to be frank - is that there are an astounding number of cut scenes (extended cinematic portions where you don't physically control anything that happens). There is a lot of "story" in this series, and KH3 was no exception. I'd occasionally go hour-long stretches between save points, so this was not a game that I could just sit down and play here and there for half an hour at a time. No, if you're going to play KH3, you've got to set aside two hours each time, and you better not start playing at 10 at night, lest you be up until the wee hours of the morning.
All of my favorite characters from the "Kingdom Hearts" saga were back, including old pals like Jiminy Cricket, Ansem the Wise, the now-ex-Organization member Axel, Namine, Roxas and his Twilight Town buddies. Aqua, Ventus and Terra from "Birth By Sleep" also play an important role down the stretch, and Riku and Kairi are along for the ride, too. Other Disney characters come by to help, including Stitch, Wreck-it Ralph, Simba and others, and famous Disneyland attractions like Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters and California Adventure's Grizzly Rapids make appearances, too! It's all pretty cool, and a lot of fun. My experience playing through the rest of the series allowed me to skip most of the combat tutorials (for Shotlock, Flowmotion, etc.) and jump right into the action. One brand new feature allows Sora to cook with Remy ("Little Chef") from "Ratatouille," a movie I hadn't previously seen, but my wife encouraged me to get on Disney+ and watch it to better understand the significance of whipping up cuisine in my video game.
Difficulty-wise, "Kingdom Hearts 3" was a walk in the park, compared to KH1 and "Fragmentary Passage." I only died, I think, twice during the entire game, thanks partially to the "Kupo Coin" that automatically revives Sora if he ever runs out of health. (For anyone interested in playing KH3, the Kupo Coin is a must-have, the second it is available.)
Ultimately - and this should come as no surprise - Sora and his friends end up going head-to-head with the new and improved Organization, which is now basically creating horcruxes of Master Xehanort. It's both terrifying and confusing. Yes, the plot remains roughly as muddled and convoluted as it always has been, but if you've come this far, you're in for the long haul. After a series of globetrotting excursions, the final showdown takes place, and it's a grand spectacle fitting of the long journey it took to get there. Upon completion of the "playing" portion of the game, I was treated, unsurprisingly, to around half an hour of cut scenes, credits and post-credits scenes. If what I understood is correct, "Kingdom Hearts 3" is definitely not the end of the franchise. Oh yes, it seems as if a sequel could be on the horizon... And when that sequel comes, am I in? Oh. I'm in. "May my heart be my guiding key," baby!!
After beating the main story in KH3, I went back to clean up the rest of the Playstation "trophy" achievements - basically, just going around and getting 100% completion on collectible items, beating those dang "Gummi Ship" missions and stuff like that. This took me a few additional hours, but I finally beat all of the goals and obtained the elusive "Platinum" trophy, signaling that I had done everything that there was to do in the game. As a bit of an OCD completionist, this felt like a monumental accomplishment, considering how far I had come since KH1.
After beating the main story in KH3, I went back to clean up the rest of the Playstation "trophy" achievements - basically, just going around and getting 100% completion on collectible items, beating those dang "Gummi Ship" missions and stuff like that. This took me a few additional hours, but I finally beat all of the goals and obtained the elusive "Platinum" trophy, signaling that I had done everything that there was to do in the game. As a bit of an OCD completionist, this felt like a monumental accomplishment, considering how far I had come since KH1.
To summarize all of this, the one question I'm sure many people might ask is whether playing through (almost) all of the old games worth it, before playing "Kingdom Hearts 3"? My answer, most assuredly, is yes. These games were sometimes weird, frequently confusing and often cheesy as heck, but I truly did enjoy them, for the most part. Much of the plot was confusing as all get out (mostly in KH1, admittedly), and I'm positive that a ton of the "lore" of the series went way over my head, but I really loved "Kingdom Hearts 3," and was not disappointed by it in the slightest. After all that build-up, it very easily could have resulted in a catastrophic waste of time, but I definitely think the time I put into trying to understand as much of this series as I could totally paid off in the end. As I finished KH3, I thought that it could very easily have been one of my top five favorite video games of all time.
I've sometimes felt sad, as silly as it sounds, when a TV series or movie franchise that I love comes to an end because it feels like you're saying goodbye to the characters you've grown to love, and it feels a bit that way with "Kingdom Hearts" here. It took a lot of effort and desire to blow through those games, and now that it's over, I kind of miss it. That's the sign of some time well spent, if you ask me.
Anyway, those are my incredibly long-winded thoughts about my experience playing "Kingdom Hearts." If you read this far, bless you. Bless you. If you've played any of these games, I'd love to chat with you about your thoughts. If you've considered playing these games but haven't gotten around to it yet, I'm sorry for all of the spoilers you just read, and I'd be happy to answer any of your questions! Feel free to comment below, find me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter (here and here).
Until next time,
May your heart be your guiding key!
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