The Best Kingdom Hearts Games, Ranked
8. Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded
Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded is a bit of a strange title, technically being a remastered mobile game put on the Nintendo DS. It takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts II, following Jiminy Cricket, King Mickey, Donald and Goofy as they make their way into a digitized version of Jiminy’s journal.
The player character is an artificially intelligent version of Sora who has to make their way through digital versions of the worlds visiting in the first Kingdom Hearts, solving puzzles and battling enemies along the way.
The problem with Re:Coded is that the story doesn’t really go anywhere, and feels like it serves no purpose in the scope of the Kingdom Hearts series. The gameplay has some interesting puzzles, and the graphics are quite good for a DS game. However, Re:Coded feels like a side game that doesn’t really seem incredibly relevant to the series.
The Best Kingdom Hearts Games, Ranked
7. Kingdom Hearts Union X[cross]
Kingdom Hearts Union X [cross] is the earliest game we’ve seen in the Kingdom Hearts series chronologically, taking place long before the main games and right before the legendary Keyblade War. There’s a surprising amount of story packed in about the universe and lore for a free to play mobile game. You create and customize your own Keyblade wielder, join a team, and then set out on your adventure through missions.
There are a number of story missions along with the optional content, special events and things of the like. Each mission takes you to a map, made up of one or more areas and populated with groups of enemies. Running into an enemy takes you to battle where you use different medals to initiate attacks, similar to Chain of Memories’ card system.
Union X[cross] has a lot to offer with hours upon hours of gameplay, both story mission and not. The good news is you can play for quite a while without your stamina bar depleting too much that you have to wait to play, as the game is generous with its systems.
The Best Kingdom Hearts Games, Ranked
6. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Chain of Memories functions as the missing piece of the Kingdom Hearts story, set in between the first and the second games. In it, Sora and his friends venture to Castle Oblivion, a place that causes them to lose their memories.
Sora must travel through the different floors of the castle in search of his friends, which are all built out of his memories of the first game. Chain of Memories also introduced us to the villainous Organization XIII, and you even take down a few of its members in the game.
Chain of Memories first appeared on the Game Boy Advance (later getting a PS2 remake), and its gameplay was a huge deviation from the first game.
It featured a card-based action system, where players built a deck and used different cards to perform actions in combat. There was also a surprise for fans after they beat the game as Sora, as another section of the story opened up, this time having you play as Riku.
The Best Kingdom Hearts Games, Ranked
5. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Roxas is a character whose backstory wasn’t fully delved into when he was introduced in Kingdom Hearts II, outside of his connection to Sora. 358/2 focuses on his time as a member of Organization XIII, and his friendship with another member Axel, as well as a mysterious new character named Xion, who hadn’t appeared in any of the other games.
The game took on the structure of missions that Roxas undertakes, along with the other members of Organization XIII. You’re able to bring one other member along with you on missions, and the game even featured a multiplayer mode where up to four players can play together as different members of the organization.
358/2 had a surprisingly deep story with some emotional moments, and included some much-needed information and story on Roxas and the other members of Organization XIII. The cutscenes of the game were remastered and put together for Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix.
The Best Kingdom Hearts Games, Ranked
4. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Dream Drop Distance is the most recent Kingdom Hearts game we’ve seen (with the exception of the HD remaster, of course). The 3DS title picks up right after Kingdom Hearts II, with Sora and Riku taking their Mark of Mastery exams, where they have to protect parallel worlds in preparation for the return of Master Xehanort.
You have the ability to play as both Sora and Riku, switching back and forth between the two as each’s “Drop” gauge depletes. The two characters generally visit the same worlds, although sometimes in different orders and at different times.
Traverse Town from the first game makes a return and introduces characters from Square Enix’s The World Ends With You to the series.
The combat of Dream Drop Distance is the most over the top and action packed we’ve seen yet. A new monster capturing system lets you recruit “Dream Eaters,” to act as party members in battle, and new combat options have your character flying and flipping all over the place.
There are also some neat hints at the end of the game as to what we might see from the story going into Kingdom Hearts III. A remastered version of Dream Drop Distance was included with the 2.8 collection.
The Best Kingdom Hearts Games, Ranked
3. Kingdom Hearts
The first Kingdom Hearts was an absolutely crazy idea combining beloved Disney series with the Final Fantasy franchise, and somehow it worked incredibly well. A young boy named Sora from the Destiny Islands discovers a mysterious weapon called the Keyblade, and finds out he’s become its chosen wielder. After meeting Donald and Goofy, he sets out on a quest to restore the paths between separated planets.
The story told a fascinating tale about a war between the forces of light and darkness, that had you fighting creatures that steal people’s hearts called Heartless. Along the way you ran into tons of different characters from both Disney and Final Fantasy.
Somehow, this combination worked to create a magical experience, that had that same level of heart we’re used to from Disney properties.
A fast-paced action combat system separated the game from its Final Fantasy counterpart, and Kingdom Hearts launched one of the most successful role-playing series of all time.
The Best Kingdom Hearts Games, Ranked
2. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
Birth By Sleep opened up the door to a whole new chapter of the Kingdom Hearts story, introducing three vital new characters to the plot and revealing the events that set up the original games. Ventus, Terra and Aqua are all Keyblade wielders training under Master Eraqus, to become masters themselves.
Another Keyblade master by the name of Xehanort, hatches a plan to convert Terra and the others to darkness, with the help of his apprentice Vanitas.
The gameplay of Birth By Sleep is the closest to Kingdom Hearts II that we’ve seen since it released, with players controlling one of the three characters. The story has three different scenarios that piece the plot together as players follow each of the three heroes on their journey. Some huge story revelations and hints as to where Kingdom Hearts III will go are dropped in Birth By Sleep.
At the same time, the game introduces new Disney worlds like Lilo and Stitch and Snow White, while also putting in new Final Fantasy characters like VII’s Zack Fair. It was an exciting turn in the series, with a fast and fun combat system, and some interesting new main characters.
The Best Kingdom Hearts Games, Ranked
1. Kingdom Hearts 2
Kingdom Hearts II is a sequel that improved upon the first game in nearly every way, introducing tons of new characters and worlds along the way. It also introduced the concept of a “Nobody,” the empty husk of a person left behind after they’re turned into a Heartless.
The game starts out focusing on a new character named Roxas, living a normal life in Twilight Town. Things quickly start turning strange, however, and you shortly find out that Roxas is actually Sora’s Nobody and has been living in a simulation. Before too long though, the focus switches back to Sora, Donald and Goofy.
Kingdom Hearts II kicked things up a notch in every way. The gameplay was a vast improvement over the first game, fixing a lot of the camera issues and making battle feel even faster and fluid. Menu commands were streamlined, Sora gained new abilities like his Drive Forms, and quick button presses were implemented to do various things in battle.
Organization XIII also functioned as an imposing and memorable set of villains for the game. Kingdom Hearts II took what the first game did and ran with it, adding on tons of new content, and making it the best game in the series.
We have plenty of other Kingdom Hearts related content for you to check out, a ranking of the best worlds in the series, or five crazy theories on the identity of the Master of Masters. We even have a convincing argument on why Kingdom Hearts is basically just Star Wars, based on some striking similarities.
You can even take a quiz to see which Kingdom Hearts Keyblade wielder you are.
Published: Sep 12, 2016 02:25 pm