Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX - & Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue were on sale for a good price and now seems like a good time to start up a new lengthy RPG series to help pass the time, so I decided to get both. Never played a single KH game outside maybe 10 minutes of the demo for 3.
So KH fans on Era, where should I start and what is worth playing in the first place? I would assume Kingdom Hearts Final Mix would be the place to start but I've heard it's better to start with 2 for people new to the series.
I don't know if any of them are really worth playing but if you're gonna play them and try to get into the series, play them all. That is why they are a series.
Why buy it if you wont play it all? It is worth it.
Edit: Why would you start with 2.....what. Also if you play 2 first, you wont probably enjoy the first game or ReCOM's gameplay as much since KH2 is gameplay wise much better.
Thats like saying you will play Mass Effect 2 first before playing Mass Effect 1.
Get the All-In-One Package on PSN for $30. I did. It has all the games except for Dream drop. Play everything in there except for Re: Chain of Memories and 354/2 days.
I beat 2.5 a little while ago. Once I beat Royal I might play Birth By Sleep, but I might not. Still, I have to work my way up to III because I tried a little of it last year and I couldn't keep up with the story only having played 1 and 2 back in the dizzle.
If you're interested in experiencing the entire story, you have to play them all, in order of release.
2 Final Mix is the peak of the series and is (in my opinion) the tightest and best combat ever in an ARPG.
The story is worth experiencing, it's ridiculous but fun. It's the Metal Gear Solid of RPGs.
They're not numbered, but the "side" games are very important to the plot. Basically you're gonna have to consume everything in the collection if you want to understand what's going on. Though I recommend just watching the CoM cutscenes because that game sucks.
EDIT: And release order. Always, always, always release order.
Huge fan here! Hope you enjoy the series, it means a lot to me, and I hope you can find things to enjoy about it!
The best possible advice you can get about playing these games is to just play in release order. The Movies in the collections are arranged weird because of the original collections these are a part of, so for 1.5 and 2.5, DON'T watch the movies until AFTER you play all four games in a row
Pace yourself and let yourself drop the games for a bit before coming back, these are all fun, but any series is significantly less fun when it's all you play for a month or more time.
If you really wanna skip games, I would play just KH 1 and 2, and read a synopsis for Chain of Memories, since the first is a classic, old feeling but unique action-rpg adventure, and the second is arguably one of the best Action Rpg's Ever Made. CoM is a Passover game, but it's a fun change of pace if you aren't squeamish about Card Based Combat.
After that, BBS is a fun adventure, but has steps forward and backward in a lot of ways, so if you aren't feeling it, watch a synopsis.
I hope this can help you get started! We had somebody else do a whole thread chronicling their journey through the games, so if you are feeling like talking about your experiences, make a thread about it and have fun!
At the end of the day, KH isn't for everyone, but it can be very compelling and meaningful if it clicks with you. It's very much a series where you think with your heart First, and your brain Second, so enjoy it and try not to take it too seriously... until the story gets crazy!
If your free time approaches unlimited then just play them all on the normal difficulty, except KH2 and KH3 on Critical.
Birth By Sleep is a tedious game imo and the gameplay itself is not great. It's better to just watch the cutscenes for this one along with footage of the boss battles (which are in the videos linked above). But some people really like BBS so it can go either way playing it vs. watching it.
Why buy it if you wont play it all? It is worth it.
Edit: Why would you start with 2.....what. Also if you play 2 first, you wont probably enjoy the first game or ReCOM's gameplay as much since KH2 is gameplay wise much better.
Thats like saying you will play Mass Effect 2 first before playing Mass Effect 1.
Get the All-In-One Package on PSN for $30. I did. It has all the games except for Dream drop. Play everything in there except for Re: Chain of Memories and 354/2 days.
I beat 2.5 a little while ago. Once I beat Royal I might play Birth By Sleep, but I might not. Still, I have to work my way up to III because I tried a little of it last year and I couldn't keep up with the story only having played 1 and 2 back in the dizzle.
Don't listen to folks that say it is too complicated. Take the story one game at a time. KH1 is about 3 friends trying to get back together and getting caught up in a certain manipulation from dark forces/beings. And the disney villains working together is badass. KH Chain of Memories is the story immediately after. It's "effects' or contributions, if you will, to KH are further shown in 358/2. KH2 begins right after that. This does not spoil anything at all. The story is interesting. The combat is fun and simple. Bosses can be hard (especially on harder difficulties). There are slight platforming elements and the camera work can be a bit shakey at times in narrow areas but the games are awesome. My favorites series next to Final Fantasy.
If your free time approaches unlimited then just play them all on the normal difficulty, except KH2 and KH3 on Critical.
Birth By Sleep is a tedious game imo and the gameplay itself is not great. It's better to just watch the cutscenes for this one along with footage of the boss battles (which are in the videos linked above).
This... sorta, I disagree on KH:BbS though, I'd say play through at least the Terra campaign and watch the rest if you want to, but once it's fine, the repetitiveness comes from multiple playthroughs. Back cover will probably make no sense without a tad more context, but if you get that far in, by then we can answer lingering doubts(?)
Huge fan here! Hope you enjoy the series, it means a lot to me, and I hope you can find things to enjoy about it!
The best possible advice you can get about playing these games is to just play in release order. The Movies in the collections are arranged weird because of the original collections these are a part of, so for 1.5 and 2.5, DON'T watch the movies until AFTER you play all four games in a row
Pace yourself and let yourself drop the games for a bit before coming back, these are all fun, but any series is significantly less fun when it's all you play for a month or more time.
If you really wanna skip games, I would play just KH 1 and 2, and read a synopsis for Chain of Memories, since the first is a classic, old feeling but unique action-rpg adventure, and the second is arguably one of the best Action Rpg's Ever Made. CoM is a Passover game, but it's a fun change of pace if you aren't squeamish about Card Based Combat.
After that, BBS is a fun adventure, but has steps forward and backward in a lot of ways, so if you aren't feeling it, watch a synopsis.
I hope this can help you get started! We had somebody else do a whole thread chronicling their journey through the games, so if you are feeling like talking about your experiences, make a thread about it and have fun!
At the end of the day, KH isn't for everyone, but it can be very compelling and meaningful if it clicks with you. It's very much a series where you think with your heart First, and your brain Second, so enjoy it and try not to take it too seriously... until the story gets crazy!
Don't listen to folks that say it is too complicated. Take the story one game at a time. KH1 is about 3 friends trying to get back together and getting caught up in a certain manipulation from dark forces/beings. And the disney villains working together is badass. KH Chain of Memories is the story immediately after. It's "effects' or contributions, if you will, to KH are further shown in 358/2. KH2 begins right after that. This does not spoil anything at all. The story is interesting. The combat is fun and simple. Bosses can be hard (especially on harder difficulties). There are slight platforming elements and the camera work can be a bit shakey at times in narrow areas but the games are awesome. My favorites series next to Final Fantasy.
If your free time approaches unlimited then just play them all on the normal difficulty, except KH2 and KH3 on Critical.
Birth By Sleep is a tedious game imo and the gameplay itself is not great. It's better to just watch the cutscenes for this one along with footage of the boss battles (which are in the videos linked above). But some people really like BBS so it can go either way playing it vs. watching it.
This... sorta, I disagree on KH:BbS though, I'd say play through at least the Terra campaign and watch the rest if you want to, but once it's fine, the repetitiveness comes from multiple playthroughs.
I will agree with this since a lot of my complaints with BBS stem from the repetition in the three campaigns. Playing just one of the campaigns and doing cutscenes for the others is viable especially since nowadays most people would get BBS anyway just by virtue of buying KH1 and KH2 in the HD collections.
I just never found the combat in BBS that great especially coming off of KH2, since they mentioned combat being an important factor I figured BBS would be a decent pass.
Kingdom Hearts 1.5:
- Play Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
- Watch Re: Chain of Memories's cutscenes on YouTube or read a synopsis somewhere
- Watch 358/2 Days in-game
Kingdom Hearts 2.5:
- Play Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix
- Play Birth by Sleep: Final Mix
- Watch Re: coded in-game
Kingdom Hearts 2.8:
- Play Dream Drop Distance HD
- Play Birth by Sleep 0.2
- Watch Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover in-game
And then play Kingdom Hearts III. Basically, take all the HD collections as they're presented with the exception of watching, rather than playing, Re: Chain of Memories. To say that one's a slog at best would be putting it very, very kindly.
I would still call them crazy and I hate DMC2 so much yet despite that fact I played DMC2 on PS2, PS3 and about to start on DMC2 on PS4 this weekend and will play it again on Steam when I buy the HD collection on there in the future.
There's no point in playing the KH series if you are gonna skip out on one of them.
There's a reason why they decided to make 358/2 Days and Re:Coded as movies instead of actual games because those two games were actually the least favorable ones in the series.
KH1, KH2, KHBBS and KHReCOM are all great additions. DDD is also good though havent played the PS4 version yet.
I played KH1 on PS2 (3times), PS3 and PS4
I played KH Chain of Memories on GBA (2 times), PS2, PS3 and PS4
I played KH2 on PS2 (3 times), PS3 and PS4
I played KHBBS on PSP, PS3, and will start on PS4 soon
I played KH 358/2 Days on DS (2 times - with the last run about a month ago), watched the PS3 movie and the PS4 movie.
I played KH ReCoded on DS and watched the movie on PS3 (will be playing it again on DS soon and will watch the PS4 movie soon again)
I played KH DDD on 3DS and plan to play it on PS4 soon
Aside from KH ReCoded - all of them are worth playing if not for the story but for each game's own progression, game play style, etc.
Play all 6 games and watch all 3 movies - it is worth it.
Tips/ideas for each game that i've gathered upon years of replays and enjoying the games since KH1s launch..
KH1 - Those triangle commands in the remasters can be "exploited" during certain bosses to achieve easier victories (Strike Raid, cough). Also, don't be afraid to use items. If you can have a lot of elixers during the super boss battle (It would be helpful for healing lol). The ultima weapon hunt is fun. If you need to use a guide for locations of materials, so be it.
KH Chain of Memories - In my opinion, the card system sucks for me. I just can't enjoy that gameplay. And the environments feel like oddly cut up sections of KH1 worlds with lower budget somehow (It was a GBA game first of course). I will always say to watch the cutscene movie on youtube. The story about Riku especially in it is cool, and it introduces the future enemies in a way.
KH 358 / 2 - The movie is included in the remasters. Just understand thatthe characters in it and events that happen are a direct result of an experience in KH1 with the main character alongside events that happened in KH Chain of Mem. This is a direct aftermath.
KH2 - The best KH game ever as far as combat. Everyone will say the same. So responsive and fun. Don't let folks make you hate the intro. If you enjoy the characters, you can really appreciate it (and its length). The worlds are even better. Super bosses are fun. Some are extremely challenging. Extremely. Some are easy :P. If you want to plan ahead abit. There is a mechanic in the game that allows the main character to change
Appearence, Dual wield keyblades, and special abilities/powers
. If you would like to plan ahead a bit, there are ways to efficiently train these forms and to maximize the potential and exploration abilities of the main character. Having these forms completed will allow for other optional opportunities and challenges to be overcome (including post game achievables). They are fun in combat. Summons can be useful too, don't forget about them :P And again, if you need a guide for materials locations for that fun Ultima weapon hunt, no worry. Overall, if you need to grind and level up a bit to beat a boss, so be it.
KH Birth By Sleep - As mentioned above, it is a tedious game and has you playing 3 different characters with the story overlapping. However, in my experience. Some youtube cutscene videos have wrong orders of cutscenes and events. If you can take the challenge (perhaps on easy mode). It can be a fun game. The grind is actually, kind of satisfying or addicting in a weird kind of way. There are ways to get OverPowered spells and moves depending on the combination of attributes/things you are grinding. (Like most KH games, Magnet + Thunder/ara/aga/ are very useful and blocking/reflect too). The story is awesome and a prequel to KH1 that expands greatly on "the conflict" (not to spoil characters or anything).
KH Dream Drop Distance - I would attempt to play it because it takes the worlds and kind of makes them bigger. It feels like a good evolution on exploration over what KH1 and 2 did. The combat can feel tedious with the monster mechanics but it is manageable. It was a fun game to explore and see the story from. I mention exploration a lot in these paragraphs because I feel that there is a certain appeal in roaming these disney worlds and interacting with the characters. As well as fighting in them. This evolution of worlds and exploration is a key ingredient to KH. It is what makes KH3 amazing as the latest entry. It gives further revelations introduced in KH2 and Birth By Sleep. (((((EDIT: There is also a mechanic that has you changing characters here too. Don't worry or overthink this mechanic. There is no wrong or right time to change. This is not a time challenge.
KH Back Cover Movie - This is the film that describes the legendary event that has been referred to within the KH series. An event known as the keyblade war. This film is very necessary for the future and is included on the 2.8 package. KH 0.2 - A prologue to KH3 that gives you some opportunity to get used to the blend in walking/fighting feel of KH2 and KH Birth By Sleep as far as responsiveness and visuals. I would for sure play this after the movie personally.
KH3 - Try Proud mode. "You might be surprised". It is a fun game and takes exploration to the max. I love it. Just enjoy this game and its bosses and combat and exploration. It is a grand epic.
I wouldn't recommend starting with 2.5 for the good combat, it takes a good four hours before you start upgrading abilities proper and pretty much focuses on a mystery that you'll have no context for.
Tips/ideas for each game that i've gathered upon years of replays and enjoying the games since KH1s launch..
KH1 - Those triangle commands in the remasters can be "exploited" during certain bosses to achieve easier victories (Strike Raid, cough). Also, don't be afraid to use items. If you can have a lot of elixers during the super boss battle (It would be helpful for healing lol). The ultima weapon hunt is fun. If you need to use a guide for locations of materials, so be it.
KH Chain of Memories - In my opinion, the card system sucks for me. I just can't enjoy that gameplay. And the environments feel like oddly cut up sections of KH1 worlds with lower budget somehow (It was a GBA game first of course). I will always say to watch the cutscene movie on youtube. The story about Riku especially in it is cool, and it introduces the future enemies in a way.
KH 358 / 2 - The movie is included in the remasters. Just understand thatthe characters in it and events that happen are a direct result of an experience in KH1 with the main character alongside events that happened in KH Chain of Mem. This is a direct aftermath.
KH2 - The best KH game ever as far as combat. Everyone will say the same. So responsive and fun. Don't let folks make you hate the intro. If you enjoy the characters, you can really appreciate it (and its length). The worlds are even better. Super bosses are fun. Some are extremely challenging. Extremely. Some are easy :P. If you want to plan ahead abit. There is a mechanic in the game that allows the main character to change
Appearence, Dual wield keyblades, and special abilities/powers
. If you would like to plan ahead a bit, there are ways to efficiently train these forms and to maximize the potential and exploration abilities of the main character. Having these forms completed will allow for other optional opportunities and challenges to be overcome (including post game achievables). They are fun in combat. Summons can be useful too, don't forget about them :P And again, if you need a guide for materials locations for that fun Ultima weapon hunt, no worry. Overall, if you need to grind and level up a bit to beat a boss, so be it.
KH Birth By Sleep - As mentioned above, it is a tedious game and has you playing 3 different characters with the story overlapping. However, in my experience. Some youtube cutscene videos have wrong orders of cutscenes and events. If you can take the challenge (perhaps on easy mode). It can be a fun game. The grind is actually, kind of satisfying or addicting in a weird kind of way. There are ways to get OverPowered spells and moves depending on the combination of attributes/things you are grinding. (Like most KH games, Magnet + Thunder/ara/aga/ are very useful and blocking/reflect too). The story is awesome and a prequel to KH1 that expands greatly on "the conflict" (not to spoil characters or anything).
KH Dream Drop Distance - I would attempt to play it because it takes the worlds and kind of makes them bigger. It feels like a good evolution on exploration over what KH1 and 2 did. The combat can feel tedious with the monster mechanics but it is manageable. It was a fun game to explore and see the story from. I mention exploration a lot in these paragraphs because I feel that there is a certain appeal in roaming these disney worlds and interacting with the characters. As well as fighting in them. This evolution of worlds and exploration is a key ingredient to KH. It is what makes KH3 amazing as the latest entry. It gives further revelations introduced in KH2 and Birth By Sleep.
KH Back Cover Movie - This is the film that describes the legendary event that has been referred to within the KH series. An event known as the keyblade war. This film is very necessary for the future and is included on the 2.8 package. KH 0.2 - A prologue to KH3 that gives you some opportunity to get used to the blend in walking/fighting feel of KH2 and KH Birth By Sleep as far as responsiveness and visuals. I would for sure play this after the movie personally.
KH3 - Try Proud mode. "You might be surprised". It is a fun game and takes exploration to the max. I love it. Just enjoy this game and its bosses and combat and exploration. It is a grand epic.
Tips/ideas for each game that i've gathered upon years of replays and enjoying the games since KH1s launch..
KH1 - Those triangle commands in the remasters can be "exploited" during certain bosses to achieve easier victories (Strike Raid, cough). Also, don't be afraid to use items. If you can have a lot of elixers during the super boss battle (It would be helpful for healing lol). The ultima weapon hunt is fun. If you need to use a guide for locations of materials, so be it.
KH Chain of Memories - In my opinion, the card system sucks for me. I just can't enjoy that gameplay. And the environments feel like oddly cut up sections of KH1 worlds with lower budget somehow (It was a GBA game first of course). I will always say to watch the cutscene movie on youtube. The story about Riku especially in it is cool, and it introduces the future enemies in a way.
KH 358 / 2 - The movie is included in the remasters. Just understand thatthe characters in it and events that happen are a direct result of an experience in KH1 with the main character alongside events that happened in KH Chain of Mem. This is a direct aftermath.
KH2 - The best KH game ever as far as combat. Everyone will say the same. So responsive and fun. Don't let folks make you hate the intro. If you enjoy the characters, you can really appreciate it (and its length). The worlds are even better. Super bosses are fun. Some are extremely challenging. Extremely. Some are easy :P. If you want to plan ahead abit. There is a mechanic in the game that allows the main character to change
Appearence, Dual wield keyblades, and special abilities/powers
. If you would like to plan ahead a bit, there are ways to efficiently train these forms and to maximize the potential and exploration abilities of the main character. Having these forms completed will allow for other optional opportunities and challenges to be overcome (including post game achievables). They are fun in combat. Summons can be useful too, don't forget about them :P And again, if you need a guide for materials locations for that fun Ultima weapon hunt, no worry. Overall, if you need to grind and level up a bit to beat a boss, so be it.
KH Birth By Sleep - As mentioned above, it is a tedious game and has you playing 3 different characters with the story overlapping. However, in my experience. Some youtube cutscene videos have wrong orders of cutscenes and events. If you can take the challenge (perhaps on easy mode). It can be a fun game. The grind is actually, kind of satisfying or addicting in a weird kind of way. There are ways to get OverPowered spells and moves depending on the combination of attributes/things you are grinding. (Like most KH games, Magnet + Thunder/ara/aga/ are very useful and blocking/reflect too). The story is awesome and a prequel to KH1 that expands greatly on "the conflict" (not to spoil characters or anything).
KH Dream Drop Distance - I would attempt to play it because it takes the worlds and kind of makes them bigger. It feels like a good evolution on exploration over what KH1 and 2 did. The combat can feel tedious with the monster mechanics but it is manageable. It was a fun game to explore and see the story from. I mention exploration a lot in these paragraphs because I feel that there is a certain appeal in roaming these disney worlds and interacting with the characters. As well as fighting in them. This evolution of worlds and exploration is a key ingredient to KH. It is what makes KH3 amazing as the latest entry. It gives further revelations introduced in KH2 and Birth By Sleep.
KH Back Cover Movie - This is the film that describes the legendary event that has been referred to within the KH series. An event known as the keyblade war. This film is very necessary for the future and is included on the 2.8 package. KH 0.2 - A prologue to KH3 that gives you some opportunity to get used to the blend in walking/fighting feel of KH2 and KH Birth By Sleep as far as responsiveness and visuals. I would for sure play this after the movie personally.
KH3 - Try Proud mode. "You might be surprised". It is a fun game and takes exploration to the max. I love it. Just enjoy this game and its bosses and combat and exploration. It is a grand epic.
Kingdom Hearts 1.5:
- Play Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
- Watch Re: Chain of Memories's cutscenes on YouTube or read a synopsis somewhere
- Watch 358/2 Days in-game
Kingdom Hearts 2.5:
- Play Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix
- Play Birth by Sleep: Final Mix
- Watch Re: coded in-game
Kingdom Hearts 2.8:
- Play Dream Drop Distance HD
- Play Birth by Sleep 0.2
- Watch Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover in-game
And then play Kingdom Hearts III. Basically, take all the HD collections as they're presented with the exception of watching, rather than playing, Re: Chain of Memories. To say that one's a slog at best would be putting it very, very kindly.
This is the best route, though I would say you can skip around in Re:Coded and 358 to scenes only specifically featuring non-Disney stuff ( though maybe they already cut that stuff in the collections?). Could also see playing only one character in BBS sufficing and then watching the finale.
Just play 1, 2 and 3. And watch the other games while doing something else or read the key points. Also, play another short game in between 1, 2 and 3.
I'm about halfway through 2 right now, picked em all up in the Xbox sale. The first one I couldn't stomach on ps2, and while I finished it here and got over my hangups with the awful feeling controls, it was still never a GOOD game. 2 is just lightyears fucking beyond, it feels so so good. It's hard to believe the improvement, I'm glad I stuck it out. Even the fucking gummy ship is fun enough in 2.
