This year the Kingdom Hearts brand celebrates its 20th anniversary, and it’s a great occasion to celebrate both the developers and the Disney Heroes adventure fan community. On the occasion of the recent announcement of Kingdom Hearts IV, we decided to take a look at the entire series.
During these two decades, the team at Square Enix and Disney has prepared a wealth of great stories for us, that touched our hearts and souls, and provided us with absolutely wonderful experiences. The twentieth birthday is a great opportunity to recap the entire history of the cult series and think about which version of it is the absolute best – which of course would be a tough choice, since almost every one of them is wonderful in many ways. ready? Now we will start!
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS)
We start our list in an unusual way, due to a kind of spin-off to the series, which takes place between Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III. In this adventure, as players, we’ve seen Sora and Riku prepare for the exam under the leadership of Yen Sid, eagerly awaiting Xehanort’s return. One of the most interesting mechanics here was to collect the so-called Dream Eaters and use them as our allies in combat. For the Nintendo 3DS, this title seemed pretty decent – unfortunately, everything had some remnants from the time of work on Final Fantasy Versus XIII (then FF XV), which Tetsuya Nomura was working on at the time.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)
Next, we have another installment in the series, redirected by Tetsuye Nomura and originally released exclusively for the Nintendo console. This time we played here as Roxas, a member of Organization XIII, following his daily life in that organization and seeing how it affects its development. The title was originally supposed to be a little different – a different gameplay was planned and a Pinocchio-inspired world was cut out. In the end, the whole thing has to be some sort of touchscreen functionality on the Nintendo DS, so that the entire game can be played without using the console’s touchscreen. Unfortunately, this did not save the game from imminent death, because its remake was reduced to only a few hours of the movie. Interestingly enough, it was the first installment of the series to include a multiplayer mode.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA)
After the premiere of the first Kingdom Hearts, Tetsuya Nomura was looking for ideas for a good sequel, but he wanted to do it wisely and in a great way explaining why Sora would lose all his skills gained in the original which we wouldn’t use in both games, with the difference, though, that he was This game is meant to be released only on Game Boy Advance. Nomura initially rejected this idea because he felt the Kingdom Hearts game mode would work poorly in a 2D environment. However, he changed his mind when he found out that mainly kids want to play KH on their Game Boys. The Memories series then got a good remake of PS2 on the original KH Engine.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (NS, PS4, XONE, PC)
We’re already ditching the sad fate of the world and God-forgotten Nintendo Pocket classics and going back to the present day. Having finally seen Kingdom Hearts III 12 years later, Square Enix decided to follow up on the hit and launch another brand show, but this time based on the idea behind the Theatrhythm series – the project was initially turned down by Nomura, who did so I see no point in Serving your fans is a kind of rhythmic monster. In the end, Square pressed, and the group went on and the title turned out really well, with over 140 songs available that sounded like a dream come true.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (NS, PS4, XONE, PC)
In general, I wanted to avoid pressing an assembly in today’s menu, because the text could also end with “Buy Kingdom Hearts: All-in-One and you’ll be happy.” , but that’s not the point. However, the unique assembly that is the version cannot be deleted 2.8 Introduction to the last chapter. why? Well, for two important reasons – first, we find Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – a fragmented arcade, brand-new title that takes place after the events of the original Birth by Sleep, told from an Aqua’s perspective. In addition, it is the only package in which we can find a movie synopsis of the well-known plot from Kingdom Hearts χ, the mobile epic that is an introduction to the entire world of Kingdom Hearts. For dessert, Square Enix also adds a Dream Drop Distance remaster.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (PSP)
After finishing work on Kingdom Hearts II, and before developing Kingdom Hearts III, Tetsuya Nomura spent an interesting period of fascination with all mobile devices, obsessed with crossing its borders, thus bringing us the best possible mobile versions of Kingdom Hearts brand. The best production at the time was “birth by sleep” by far. 10 years before the events of the first Kingdom Heart, the prequel to the series gives us a unique opportunity to play as Terra, Aqua and Ventus, who are searching for the missing Master Xehanort.
Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind (NS, PS4, XONE, PC)
The great ending to the epic trilogy had to be sealed, but unfortunately, despite the enormity of the work on this title, a certain lack of finishing touches appears on the part of Tetsuya Nomura himself, who unfortunately did not have time to work on Kingdom Hearts III as long as he wanted, because he was responsible for the fate of Final Fantasy VII Remake. Splitting his time into two such huge projects, both of which appeared as directors, was a very difficult task. However, KH III with the addition of Re Mind is a great ending to the Xehanort-centric saga.
Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
The brand’s first edition remains one of the best to this day, but unfortunately it had to make way for its successor. It’s true that in 2002 there was nothing as crazy, creative and animated as Kingdom Hearts (or maybe just FFX), which is why the title won the love of millions of gamers from all over the world. The chance to play as Donald, Goofy, meet Mickey Mouse in a new role, or the chance to meet the heroes of the Final Fantasy series aroused tremendous feelings among all PlayStation 2 owners. At that time, it was perhaps one of the most important “exes” that Sony offered itself.
Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
However, despite the genius that emanated from One, the Two are the best Kingdom Hearts ever. why? It was just the perfect complement. We got more of all of this for what we’ve loved before, i.e. a great story, up to 20 guest appearances from the Final Fantasy brand, new characters and Disney worlds, plus super cool music traditionally written by Yoko Shimomura.
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