Kingdom Hearts Spin-off Games Ranked by Necessity
1. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Only slightly beating out Birth by Sleep due to the sheer mass of integral plot points packed into it, Dream Drop Distance is hands down the most important spin-off of the bunch.
Directly preceding Kingdom Hearts 3 and offering up several key twists and plot points needed to understand what’s happening in the plot’s final act, it covers an almost absurd amount in its brief runtime.
It explains how Xehanort came to the present, his interest in Sora, how the universe’s lore ties into everything and even why the plot of the third mainline game even needs to happen.
As a result of this cram-packed narrative, it’s easy to get lost in everything thrown at you all at once, especially near the end, with some plot points potentially going right over your head as a result.
And yet, if you want to understand Kingdom Hearts’ plot completely, you need to play this game, no ifs ands or buts. Even after you play it, you’ll probably need to play it again or watch a recap to make sure you didn’t miss something.
Hopefully, this makes it easier to catch up in time for Kingdom Hearts 3. If you’re still struggling to understand the whole, convoluted plot, check out our full series story summary for all of the integral plot points.
You can also take a look at our ranking of the entire series, or the best Kingdom Hearts worlds.
