Some recommend chronological order. Some recommend release order. What's best?
I try to thoroughly examine what games you should definitely play in order, what games don't matter so much, and where to place the outliers. A few spoilers, hidden with highlights.
This is a guide for anyone who wants to play kh: someone who hasn't played any, someone who played a game or two and wants to play the whole experience, someone who wants to replay the series before khiii, literally anything.
This is a loose guide, designed to give you as much info as possible before you draw your own conclusions. I'm not an expert of course, but I'm getting there ;P
The first draft of this took me like 2 hours or so to write up XD let's make it profesh
Note, this is NOT an explanations of the timeline of KH. I'll link one or two here in a bit.
CoM = Chain of Memories (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
KHII = Kingdom Hearts II (2) (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
358/2 or Days = 358/2 Days (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
BBS = Birth by Sleep (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
Coded = Re:Coded (wiki, keyhole /2, khwiki /2)
KHI.5 + II.5 contains above^ (wiki /2, keyhole, khwiki)
KH2.8 contains belowV (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
DDD = Dream Drop Distance (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
0.2 = 0.2 Birth by Sleep: a Fragmentary Passage (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
XBC = χ (Chi, X) Back Cover (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
~
χ = KH χ or Unchained χ (wiki, keyhole /2, khwiki /2)
KHUx = Union x (cross) (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
KHIII = Kingdom Hearts III (3) (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
Using Japanese release dates.
Note: I don't know much about χ and khux, but those aren't too consequential to the overall thing.
Came out after KHII.
Play before Coded and DDD.
Gives context to KHII but it came out after so definitely not something you need done before khii, but I'd recommend it or else you'll hate Roxas lol.
References things that happen in CoM, but not too spoilerifically i think?
BBS: Takes place 10 years before KHI.
Came out after Days.
Play before DDD and 0.2, probably before Coded.
Doesn't really affect Sora's Story until dream drop so it doesn't much matter when you play it, although Sora does show up in it.
Coded: Takes place sometime after KHII, before the Secret Ending, and before DDD.
It was originally a JPN-exclusive phone game that came out episodically from 2008 to 2010; starting 6 months before the release of Days and ending almost 2 weeks after the release of bbs. It was ported for the DS 8 months later.
Play after KHI, CoM, Days, and probably BBS.
Only affects the overall story by telling Mickey (and having him tell Sora and co.) about some stuff that happened in Days and BBS, and sort of setting up the secondary goals for KHIII.
Mentions a lot of the stuff that happens in KHI and CoM, alludes to Days, and briefly mentions BBS.
0.2: Most of the game takes place before and during KHI, after bbs, but technically the game is Mickey telling a story, taking place after DDD. Came out after DDD.
Play after BBS, and probably DDD. I don't think you'd have a problem playing it before DDD, but the beginning and end scenes do mention a few DDD things, and the Secret Ending super does.
XBC: Takes place before BBS, during χ. Came out after DDD.
Watch literally whenever, but do watch it because Gula is the best and I love h
χ: Takes place before anything, during XBC. Came out after DDD, before 2.8.
I don't even think this is technically available anymore? I have no idea about χ stuff sorry. Basically it's what's happening during XBC from a union member's perspective.
KHUx: Takes place after χ and XBC, before everything else. Came out after 2.8.
Play whenever. It's still being released and (I'm pretty sure they said this) won't be finished before khiii. It references XBC but it doesn't matter really, nothing spoilers as far as I'm concerned.
~~
Chronological Order
Here's my favorite graphic; although I can't find the source page it seems to be from reddit user /u/Farelsien.
It's real good. It doesn't include the χ games or 2.8 but I think you get the drift.
WHAT THE HECK
LOOK AT THIS IT'S SO GOOD IT HAS SO MUCH INFO.. . LOOK:
https://wiki2.org/en/Kingdom_Hearts#/media/File:Map_Kingdom_Hearts_Storyline_Basis.png
you have to go to the page it has a key with it with the story and stuff. it's beautiful
and also hilarious. after reading it through here's some points of interest:
"Terra has become the new Xehanort but has lost its memory following a confrontation with Aqua"
"Sora sacrifices herself"
"In an unspecified moment, Topolino meets Aqua in the Dark Realm"
"Sora, Donald and Pippo will have to sleep so that the process takes place."
"after a few days, Roxas falls asleep"
"Riku manages to climb the dungeons and allies with DiZ to learn to better control her nature of being halfway between Light and Darkness, helping and protecting while Namine and Sora's recovery process together with Baby mouse"
"Roxas wants to avenge Xion by eliminating Xemnas for manipulating her friend and causing her to be destroyed"
"the virtual Twilight scene"
"Il Crillo discovers a mysterious phrase on the Grillario"
"on his journey in the Digital Grill"
"Kairi goes to train together with Lea da Merlino"
"[Sora] is sent by Yen Sid on a journey to recover the power she lost due to Xehanort"
The chronological order is basically:
Release Order
The "Final Mixes" are simply versions of the games (KHI, KHII, BBS) with some extra features.
KHFM:
Also, let's not omit re:Chain of Memories and re:Coded
The "re:" games are complete remakes, changing not the story but the delivery. entirely.
Re:CoM:
The
These are remastered cutscenes from the DS games, included in the 1.5 and 2.5 remixes. They are nice because the games they are from are relatively tedious and repetitive in their gameplay. Days is tedious because it's played out in the form of Missions, which are generally one of like 5 things, some of which are just obnoxious. Coded is tedious because it's another rehash of KHI, however, the mechanics are good.
The Movies are conveniently separated into cutscenes so you can just watch one scene if you want, however, there is no way to rewind, fast forward, or skip. They (Days and XBC at least, I assume Coded is the same) have their own Journals which can be viewed from the Title Screen. Days' is a copy of the Journal from the game, as well as having a list of characters in the style of Jiminy's Journal, while XBC only has a Characters list. Aaand now I'm secondguessing whether xbc really does have one. I'll verify that.
XBC is technically a Cutscene Collection, but it is not remastered cutscenes from a game. It is separated into scenes like the rest though, and it has a Characters screen accessible from the Main Menu.
I haven't watched the re:coded one yet, but what I've seen looks great!! Days tho...
ok straight talk: i loved the Days movie. but also it SUCKED.
It contains some remastered music, and it's hd!! Your only other option to consume this game is DS graphics which are cru mmy...
However. The HD, fully voiced cutscenes are interspersed between still images with text describing events of missions which they couldn't be bothered to animate and voice. Much of the memorable, funny dialogue and actions are cut out (for instance, Roxas trying to show axel that he can fly in Neverland, "Roxas that's a stick", and like 99.999% of Axel's good lines), as well as some IMPORTANT PLOT STUFF. I REPEAT, THEY CUT OUT THAT PART WHERE THEY TRICKED ROXAS AND XION INTO FIGHTING TO THE DEATH AND THEY WOULD'VE TOO IF AXEL HADN'T JUMPED IN BETWEEN THEM. And they cut out Roxas That's a Stick which I think we can all agree is a crime.
And the voice-acting isn't even very good. There's a couple of good lines, but overall it sounds like they grabbed Quinton Flynn off the Subway, made him stay up for 2 days straight and then told him the world would explode in 2019, and then made him read all his lines. Xion's lines are weird too a lot of the time, but Axel is the most glaring example. . . I think the only time he sounded fine was when he said "you're early".
If you can get past the monotonous or repetitive or tedious missions and the horrendous graphics (someone a few feet away from the camera often loses all facial detail but a black dot for eyes), I HIGHLY recommend playing the DS version to get the full impact of the story. Please. You don't have to 100% it (i don't think even I'm going to, but i'm tr y i ng) but playing the story on beginner . .. its so good sorry im upset
If you just want to get the basics, the movie is fine, but really it loses a lot of impact that you get from the DS game. Or read the manga! The manga is great too, it does some things better even than the game. it does a few things worse, too, but I have my own take-some-leave-some conglomerate story of Days in my head.
The boss battle scene they made for I.5+II.5 tho is KILLER and you Must See It im ahalgnr emotional.
what the HECK it's 12:57 am!!!!!! hhh i have to go to sleep
I try to thoroughly examine what games you should definitely play in order, what games don't matter so much, and where to place the outliers. A few spoilers, hidden with highlights.
This is a guide for anyone who wants to play kh: someone who hasn't played any, someone who played a game or two and wants to play the whole experience, someone who wants to replay the series before khiii, literally anything.
This is a loose guide, designed to give you as much info as possible before you draw your own conclusions. I'm not an expert of course, but I'm getting there ;P
The first draft of this took me like 2 hours or so to write up XD let's make it profesh
Note, this is NOT an explanations of the timeline of KH. I'll link one or two here in a bit.
OK, abbreviations:
KHI = Kingdom Hearts, the first game (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)CoM = Chain of Memories (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
KHII = Kingdom Hearts II (2) (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
358/2 or Days = 358/2 Days (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
BBS = Birth by Sleep (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
Coded = Re:Coded (wiki, keyhole /2, khwiki /2)
KHI.5 + II.5 contains above^ (wiki /2, keyhole, khwiki)
KH2.8 contains belowV (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
DDD = Dream Drop Distance (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
0.2 = 0.2 Birth by Sleep: a Fragmentary Passage (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
XBC = χ (Chi, X) Back Cover (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
~
χ = KH χ or Unchained χ (wiki, keyhole /2, khwiki /2)
KHUx = Union x (cross) (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
KHIII = Kingdom Hearts III (3) (wiki, keyhole, khwiki)
Using Japanese release dates.
Note: I don't know much about χ and khux, but those aren't too consequential to the overall thing.
Here we go:
Sora's story (play in order for sure):
KHI -> CoM -> KHII -> DDD ~> KHIII?The rest:
Days: Takes place immediately after KHI, through CoM, right up to the beginning of KHII.Came out after KHII.
Play before Coded and DDD.
Gives context to KHII but it came out after so definitely not something you need done before khii, but I'd recommend it or else you'll hate Roxas lol.
References things that happen in CoM, but not too spoilerifically i think?
BBS: Takes place 10 years before KHI.
Came out after Days.
Play before DDD and 0.2, probably before Coded.
Doesn't really affect Sora's Story until dream drop so it doesn't much matter when you play it, although Sora does show up in it.
Coded: Takes place sometime after KHII, before the Secret Ending, and before DDD.
It was originally a JPN-exclusive phone game that came out episodically from 2008 to 2010; starting 6 months before the release of Days and ending almost 2 weeks after the release of bbs. It was ported for the DS 8 months later.
Play after KHI, CoM, Days, and probably BBS.
Only affects the overall story by telling Mickey (and having him tell Sora and co.) about some stuff that happened in Days and BBS, and sort of setting up the secondary goals for KHIII.
Mentions a lot of the stuff that happens in KHI and CoM, alludes to Days, and briefly mentions BBS.
0.2: Most of the game takes place before and during KHI, after bbs, but technically the game is Mickey telling a story, taking place after DDD. Came out after DDD.
Play after BBS, and probably DDD. I don't think you'd have a problem playing it before DDD, but the beginning and end scenes do mention a few DDD things, and the Secret Ending super does.
XBC: Takes place before BBS, during χ. Came out after DDD.
Watch literally whenever, but do watch it because Gula is the best and I love h
χ: Takes place before anything, during XBC. Came out after DDD, before 2.8.
I don't even think this is technically available anymore? I have no idea about χ stuff sorry. Basically it's what's happening during XBC from a union member's perspective.
KHUx: Takes place after χ and XBC, before everything else. Came out after 2.8.
Play whenever. It's still being released and (I'm pretty sure they said this) won't be finished before khiii. It references XBC but it doesn't matter really, nothing spoilers as far as I'm concerned.
~~
Chronological Order
Here's my favorite graphic; although I can't find the source page it seems to be from reddit user /u/Farelsien.
 |
| https://gameandcomic.com/2014/02/04/an-explanation-of-the-order-of-kingdom-hearts/ |
WHAT THE HECK
LOOK AT THIS IT'S SO GOOD IT HAS SO MUCH INFO.. . LOOK:
https://wiki2.org/en/Kingdom_Hearts#/media/File:Map_Kingdom_Hearts_Storyline_Basis.png
you have to go to the page it has a key with it with the story and stuff. it's beautiful
and also hilarious. after reading it through here's some points of interest:
"Terra has become the new Xehanort but has lost its memory following a confrontation with Aqua"
"Sora sacrifices herself"
"In an unspecified moment, Topolino meets Aqua in the Dark Realm"
"Sora, Donald and Pippo will have to sleep so that the process takes place."
"after a few days, Roxas falls asleep"
"Riku manages to climb the dungeons and allies with DiZ to learn to better control her nature of being halfway between Light and Darkness, helping and protecting while Namine and Sora's recovery process together with Baby mouse"
"Roxas wants to avenge Xion by eliminating Xemnas for manipulating her friend and causing her to be destroyed"
"the virtual Twilight scene"
"Il Crillo discovers a mysterious phrase on the Grillario"
"on his journey in the Digital Grill"
"Kairi goes to train together with Lea da Merlino"
"[Sora] is sent by Yen Sid on a journey to recover the power she lost due to Xehanort"
The chronological order is basically:
- KHX and XBC
- KHUx
- BBS
- KH
- CoM
- Days
- KHII
- Coded
- DDD
- 0.2
- KHIII
Release Order
 |
| https://wiki2.org/en/Kingdom_Hearts |
| 2002 | Kingdom Hearts |
| 2003 | |
| 2004 | Chain of Memories |
| 2005 | Kingdom Hearts II |
| 2006 | |
| 2007 | Re:Chain of Memories |
| 2008 | Coded |
| 2009 | 358/2 Days |
| 2010 | Birth by Sleep |
| Re:coded | |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | Dream Drop Distance |
| 2013 | 1.5 Remix |
| χ | |
| 2014 | 2.5 Remix |
| 2015 | Unchained χ |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue |
| 1.5 + 2.5 Remix | |
| 2018 | Kingdom Hearts III |
What's Final Mix???
dO NOt worryyyyThe "Final Mixes" are simply versions of the games (KHI, KHII, BBS) with some extra features.
KHFM:
- New title screen artwork
- Recolored Heartless
- 11 new Heartless
- 2 new weapons per main character (Sora, Donald, and Goofy)
- 11 new abilities (honestly worth it just for leaf bracer)
- 15 new accessories
- A few new cutscenes, no new dialogue. One cutscene uses recycled dialogue.
- 1 new secret boss, 3 secret bosses originally included only in the NA release.
- Bug fixes (thank goodness)
- Notably, missable red trinity fixed
- Camera fully movable
- Skip cutscene option
- Gummi ship missions
- Proud mode
- 3 new Ansem reports
- Some new music
- New secret ending
- Critical mode
- Limit form
- dodge roll
- Puzzle pieces (i have no idea)
- 12 new Heartless
- Some recolored Heartless
- Organization XIII data battles
- Mushroom XIII
- Secret boss -- Lingering Will
- Roxas-Sora fight at the end game is playable
- A few new cutscenes
- New area -- Cavern of Remembrance
- (aka your growth abilities are WORTH something)
- Christmas town functions as a separate world almost with new costumes and music
- New weapons and accessories (sorry this one doesn't separate them so i can't count easily)
- looks like 10 weapons? not sure
- Max drive gauge increased to nine
- Bug fixes
- And I think reorchestrated music, right?
- New secret ending
- Sora gets a crown :D
- Critical mode
- Recolored Unversed
- Sticker album
- New command style -- Rhythm Mixer
- New commands
- Including aerial recovery
- New command board -- Skull Board
- New d-Link -- Pete
- New rumble racing track -- Castle Circuit
- New Ice Cream Beat song -- Destiny Islands (ok i give this a pass even though it's icb, this was the best one in the mini game)
- 3 new Mirage Arena battles -- Light's Lesson, Monster of the Sea, and Peering into the Darkness
- Secret Episode
- new enemies
- new boss
- new music
- rly great
- I havent gotten there yet :o
- 2 new weapons
- Some new Music
Also, let's not omit re:Chain of Memories and re:Coded
The "re:" games are complete remakes, changing not the story but the delivery. entirely.
Re:CoM:
- THREE DIMENSIONAL
- FULLY VOICED, RENDERED CUTSCENES
- Unknown boss is IN THE INTRO
- A few cutscenes and timings slightly altered
- Vexen's death
- Riku-Zexion fight playable
- Journal tracks minigame scores
- New friend card -- Pluto (thank you)
- 3 new map cards -- Bottomless Darkness, Roulette Room, and Random Joker
- 6 removed sleights, 9 new sleights (pluss lucky bounty sleights from Pluto cards)
- HIGH JUMP, GLIDE, AND SUPERGLIDE?!?!?!? I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT
- COOL PROPS AND INTERACTIVE OBJECTS IN THE FIELD WHICH I AM ALL ABOUT
- Next story room indicated by pulsing light on map
- No quick save
- Journal entries on map cards
- Theater mode
- Various bug fixes/mechanical alterations
- Halloween Town variations added!
- Enemy health bars resemble KHII bars rather than KHI
- Some musical changes
- Axel gets censored at least 2 times
- Some new weapons and stuff
literally so much less painful than the gba ver. EXCEPT FOR the fact that I can't jump on the pedestals between floors. that's a crime. Seriously though, unless you wanna admire the graphics on the gba version, play re:CoM.
- Not episodic
- Adjustable difficulty settings
- you know what this is the only one you'll play don't even worry abt it
The movies HD Cutscene Collections
These are remastered cutscenes from the DS games, included in the 1.5 and 2.5 remixes. They are nice because the games they are from are relatively tedious and repetitive in their gameplay. Days is tedious because it's played out in the form of Missions, which are generally one of like 5 things, some of which are just obnoxious. Coded is tedious because it's another rehash of KHI, however, the mechanics are good.The Movies are conveniently separated into cutscenes so you can just watch one scene if you want, however, there is no way to rewind, fast forward, or skip. They (Days and XBC at least, I assume Coded is the same) have their own Journals which can be viewed from the Title Screen. Days' is a copy of the Journal from the game, as well as having a list of characters in the style of Jiminy's Journal, while XBC only has a Characters list. Aaand now I'm secondguessing whether xbc really does have one. I'll verify that.
XBC is technically a Cutscene Collection, but it is not remastered cutscenes from a game. It is separated into scenes like the rest though, and it has a Characters screen accessible from the Main Menu.
I haven't watched the re:coded one yet, but what I've seen looks great!! Days tho...
Days:
It's 2:50:00 long. That's like 2 or 3 movies worth.ok straight talk: i loved the Days movie. but also it SUCKED.
It contains some remastered music, and it's hd!! Your only other option to consume this game is DS graphics which are cru mmy...
However. The HD, fully voiced cutscenes are interspersed between still images with text describing events of missions which they couldn't be bothered to animate and voice. Much of the memorable, funny dialogue and actions are cut out (for instance, Roxas trying to show axel that he can fly in Neverland, "Roxas that's a stick", and like 99.999% of Axel's good lines), as well as some IMPORTANT PLOT STUFF. I REPEAT, THEY CUT OUT THAT PART WHERE THEY TRICKED ROXAS AND XION INTO FIGHTING TO THE DEATH AND THEY WOULD'VE TOO IF AXEL HADN'T JUMPED IN BETWEEN THEM. And they cut out Roxas That's a Stick which I think we can all agree is a crime.
And the voice-acting isn't even very good. There's a couple of good lines, but overall it sounds like they grabbed Quinton Flynn off the Subway, made him stay up for 2 days straight and then told him the world would explode in 2019, and then made him read all his lines. Xion's lines are weird too a lot of the time, but Axel is the most glaring example. . . I think the only time he sounded fine was when he said "you're early".
If you can get past the monotonous or repetitive or tedious missions and the horrendous graphics (someone a few feet away from the camera often loses all facial detail but a black dot for eyes), I HIGHLY recommend playing the DS version to get the full impact of the story. Please. You don't have to 100% it (i don't think even I'm going to, but i'm tr y i ng) but playing the story on beginner . .. its so good sorry im upset
If you just want to get the basics, the movie is fine, but really it loses a lot of impact that you get from the DS game. Or read the manga! The manga is great too, it does some things better even than the game. it does a few things worse, too, but I have my own take-some-leave-some conglomerate story of Days in my head.
The boss battle scene they made for I.5+II.5 tho is KILLER and you Must See It im ahalgnr emotional.
what the HECK it's 12:57 am!!!!!! hhh i have to go to sleep
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