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Kingdom Hearts surprised everyone when it debuted in 2002 as a brand-new action RPG series that took an original story and meshed it with both Disney and Final Fantasy. That first adventure as Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they traveled through classic Disney worlds is still memorable today, but many people have fallen off over the years with numerous releases and spin-offs. Knowing the best order to play the series can help overcome what can sometimes be a somewhat confusing story.
There are a few different ways you can choose to play through the Kingdom Hearts series. Not every single game is necessary for you to actually play through, as some are better off looking up on YouTube for the relevant cutscenes and moving along.
Kingdom Hearts can be viewed almost like Star Wars with how some say that starting with the original trilogy is best, while others say to start with the prequels. We believe that is it more important to experience the story as first intended by the developers, which tends to stay in release order. There are also some along the way that can be skipped or relegated to watching cutscenes only, which we will go into more detail about below.
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Kingdom Hearts - 2002
Platforms:PS2, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
The one that started it all back on PlayStation 2, introducing us to Sora, Riku, and Kairi for the first time along with a cast of mostly familiar characters from Disney and Final Fantasy. Some games take place before this chronologically, but those make little sense without the context of this game and a number of others first. As you would expect, this game is accessible on modern platforms through the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 collection.
(Optional) Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain Of Memories - Original: 2004 | Remake: 2008
Platforms: Game Boy Advance (Original version), PS2, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Chain of Memories was originally released for the Game Boy Advance between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. It was eventually ported to PlayStation 2 with a full remake that made it much more accessible to play as part of the ongoing collections over the years.
Some people may just want to skip this one for its card-based gameplay. It definitely takes some getting used to, then there’s the fact that all the worlds except for Castle Oblivion are retreads of the first game. However, the story elements of this game make it useful to the overall story and characterization of people like Riku and the Organization XIII members.
At the very least, watch the cutscenes on YouTube, so you aren’t going into the second game blind. Like the first game, this one is also available through the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 collection.
Kingdom Hearts II - 2006
Kingdom Hearts II starts by putting you in control of the new character Roxas for the opening segments of the game. While the next entry, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, technically takes place before this, you’ll be incredibly confused playing through that game without seeing the story of Roxas and Organization XIII in Kingdom Hearts II.
There are plenty more worlds to explore here as Sora, Donald, and Goofy as well, with some considering this the best game in the entire series for its mastering of the combat system introduced in the first game with Sora’s new battle forms and the addition of fan-favorite characters like Roxas. As a mainline entry, this is not one to skip and is easily playable through the Kingdom Hearts 2.5 collection.
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(Cinematics Only) Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days - 2009
Platforms:DS, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
358/2 Days was originally released for the Nintendo DS back in 2009 as a prequel to Kingdom Hearts. It follows Roxas' journey in Organization XIII from his creation until the events at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II. While you can technically play this before Kingdom Hearts II, playing it afterwards allows you to appreciate the characters much more Weirdly, rather than port the game to consoles, Square Enix instead just took the cutscenes and made 358/2 Days into a cinematic experience with text sequences to push forward the story and put it on the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 collection.
Your best bet here is to just watch the version provided in the collection, but the original game does have its merits with the unique panel-based combat system that fans may want to check out at some point as well. Either way, the story here is quite important with its backstory on the Organization and the introduction of Xion.
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep - 2010
Platforms:PSP, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
358/2 Days may have been a prequel set just before II, but Birth By Sleep goes way back to the early days of Xehanort, who goes on to become the main antagonist of the saga. Players get to play as Ventus, Terra, and Aqua here in a story that is split across the three characters while also intersecting at key points.
As it only came out on PSP originally, a lot of people skipped this one waiting for the next “mainline” entry, whereas plot-wise this pretty muchisa mainline entry! The Star Wars argument is strongest here(ironic, given Mark Hamilll voices a major character here)as some people say this should be the first game that people play since it’s the first game in the Kingdom Hearts chronology and helps set up much of what happens later with the torch being passed to characters like Sora, Riku, and Kairi. However, those moments really don’t mean anything if you don’t play the other games first. Thankfully, this game was brought to consoles in the Kingdom Hearts 2.5 collection, which is very important as one of the most vital entries in the series.
(Skip) Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded - 2022
This is the first definite ‘skip’ of the series as there is really not much at all to gain from this one. Originally a mobile game titled Coded, it was later ported to the Nintendo DS as Re:Coded, but it was basically a replaying of the worlds from the first game by a digital version of Sora in a datascape while Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket are keeping watch. There is very little story here that matters, though the Kingdom Hearts 2.5 collection does have a cutscenes-only version of the game included like 1.5 did with 358/2 Days. For this game, really all you need to do is look up the secret ending that helps set up the next game if you want.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance - 2012
Platforms:3DS, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Yet another handheld spin-off, many people wrote this game off from the get-go when it was released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2012, but Dream Drop Distance falls in the same category as Birth By Sleep in just how important it is. In fact, you really could have considered it to be Kingdom Hearts III when it felt like III was never going to actually come out. That is because the game follows Sora and Riku in what are mostly brand-new worlds, while continuing the story after Kingdom Hearts II as Xehanort is building his army for the impending war. Making things even better was the console port through the Kingdom Hearts 2.8 collection, which is the definitive way to play the game today.
(Optional) Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover - 2017
Platforms:PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
This one-hour cinematic is one that I almost left off of the list since it’s very much separated from the rest of the main story of the Xehanort saga, but it does still set up some things that come into play in Kingdom Hearts III onwards. It’s a special one-hour cinematic included in Kingdom Hearts 2.8 that takes place during the events of Kingdom Hearts χ that focuses around the Foretellers.
For this reason, we included it as an ‘optional’ for those that want to have more of an idea about characters like the Master of Masters, who make an appearance in III. In fact, this will probably become much more important in the next saga that will continue in the announced Kingdom Hearts IV.
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Kingdom Hearts 0.8: Birth By Sleep - 2017
Following the release of Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance in 2012, there were no new releases in the series outside of the HD remasters for years until the release of 0.8: Birth By Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage in 2017, as part of the Kingdom Hearts 2.8 collection.
This is a short follow-up to Birth By Sleep that lets you play as Aqua within the Realm of Darkness across a few worlds. What made this special at the time was that it essentially served as a tech demo for Kingdom Hearts III by allowing players to experience that engine for the first time a couple of years ahead of the game’s release. This actually serves as something of a prologue to Kingdom Hearts III, which is why it’s worth playing to see what is going on with Aqua in the lead-up to III.
It also ends with some cutscenes featuring Sora and company too, but they are included in Kingdom Hearts III proper for those that missed out.
Kingdom Hearts III - 2019
The game that everyone had been waiting for finally arrived in 2019 after years and years of waiting. As you can tell from this article though, jumping straight from II to III isn’t the best way to go about things.
As this game is the conclusion of the Xehanort saga, it is the culmination of many of the plots from the previous games, while also leaving room for new ones to unfold You should also play the Re Mind DLC, which bridges the story with that of subsequent entries.
(Optional) Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory - 2023
The only full game to come after Kingdom Hearts III has been the rhythm-based Melody of Memory, focused around Kairi. The game itself has some major story elements that push the post-Kingdom Hearts III story forward, but is mostly just a rhythm game otherwise.
If you’re a fan of the Kingdom Hearts soundtracks however, then this is a great way to experience them. If you don’t like rhythm games and are just in for the story though, just head to YouTube for the cutscenes.
Platforms:Mobile Devices
Trying to keep up with the Kingdom Hearts χ games across their weird platforms and rebrandings isn’t easy, and the story is by no means essential.
Kingdom Hearts χ and its subsequent versions take place the furthest back of any games in the franchise, going all the way to before the Keyblade War discussed in the other games. The browser-based Kingdom Hearts χ is not available to play anymore at all and was somewhat replaced by the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ which was later rebranded as Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]. The events of the original are mostly recapped in this newer release, but not quite everything is there.
The Xehanort backstory-focused game Dark Road was later added as part of Union χ[Cross], which is the only part of the game you can still actually play. The Union χ[Cross] part of it is limited to a Theater Mode for the cutscenes only at this point. You are probably better off going to YouTube and finding some good retrospectives for what happens in these games, or just watch the cutscenes in the Theater Mode. Hopefully, one day we’ll see this story brought to modern platforms in a different form, but for now it remains inaccessible.
Kingdom Hearts’s story may get a little too convoluted at times for some people, but that can largely be fixed by playing all of the games in the right order. Be ready to dive into the magical world of Kingdom hearts, where your heart should be your guiding key.
