I remember it was 2006 and Kingdom Hearts II had just come out. I got the game for my birthday and I was hooked to it the moment I started it in my PlayStation 2. Ever since then, I’ve been addicted to the series and it is definitely among my favorite games of all time.
With Kingdom Hearts IV releasing soon (we don’t know how soon since Tetsuya Nomura won’t reveal much about the game), I thought it would be a great idea to reminisce about some of the best Kingdom Hearts titles. So sit back as I take you to a trip down memory lane!
Kingdom Hearts
Though Kingdom Hearts II was the first game that I played, the first version of Kingdom Hearts was actually the one that started it all. It introduces us to the story of Sora, a happy-go-lucky boy who lives on Destiny Islands with his best friends, Kairi and Riku.
The three of them dream of leaving the islands and exploring all other worlds out there. Just as they are about to depart on their raft, the island gets engulfed in darkness: Kairi gets left behind on the island, Riku disappears into the darkness and Sora is displaced from the island too!
Sora then reaches a new world called Traverse Town and there he meets Donald and Goofy (who are looking for King Mickey) and thus the three of them begin their journey of searching for their lost friends!
Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
After the events of Kingdom Hearts, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are still on the search for Riku and King Mickey. During their journey, they come across a peculiar castle called Castle Oblivion. As they head inside the castle, they realize that they are losing their memories (events of the first game) while progressing through the floors of the castle.
What makes this game fun is that once you are done with Sora’s part of the story, you get to play Riku’s version (Sora and Riku have no idea that they are in the same castle!). Kingdom Hearts is complicated like that, but once you play the series, it eventually starts making sense.
Even though this game had mixed reviews because of the “card-based battle system” once you get the hang of it, the game is actually pretty interesting. Another thing that I found amazing about the game is that it was initially released on the Nintendo Gameboy as Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. It was then ported to the PlayStation 2 as Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories and then finally remastered onto the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
Kingdom Hearts II
As I mentioned earlier, this is the first Kingdom Hearts game that I played and even today, it is still my favorite of all the games. The story, the mechanics, everything about it is just flawless!
Kingdom Hearts II takes place a year after the events of Re:Chain of Memories, after Sora has had all his memories restored. Sora, Donald, and Goofy pick up where they left off and continue on their search for Riku, King Mickey, and Kairi.
Sora also comes across Organization XIII again (though he first faced some of them in Re:Chain of Memories but he doesn’t know that since he lost his memories, remember?). So this time, the Organization XIII just seems new to Sora. Sora goes to most of the worlds he visited in Kingdom Hearts along with a few new ones too.
Plus, we were also introduced to Sora’s “Drive Forms” in this game too. Drive forms are basically different forms that Sora changes with the help of his friends and these forms aid in a lot of battles. In my opinion, this game had the best final boss fight!
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
According to the release order, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep was released in 2010, 4 years after the release of Kingdom Hearts II. However, chronologically the events of the game take place 10 years before the events of the first game.
This game is my second favorite after Kingdom Hearts II since you get to play the story of three friends, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. It was also the first game to properly set up the Xehanort Saga, with Xehanort being the main antagonist in the series.
One thing that sets Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep apart from the other versions is its dark storyline. This was the first game to actually show a tragic end to all three of the characters as they are separated from each other in the worst possible ways.
A Little Extra Tip
If you wish to play all 4 of these games in one HD collection, then you can get the Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 HD ReMIX. However, if you wish to play all Kingdom Hearts games in one place, then you should consider getting the Kingdom Hearts All-in-One Package.
You can find both of these HD collections on the PlayStation Store but you need a fast and reliable internet to download them since both have pretty hefty download files. Speaking of which, I found one of the Xfinity Internet plans pretty helpful in downloading all versions of the Kingdom Hearts! Plus, it was also best suited to my budget. Now I have all my games downloaded on my console as quickly as possible!
