And why wouldn't he? It's not like Square Enix would expect series fans to play a flippin' handheld game in order to be able to comprehend the events of their big-budget sequel on the PS2!Įxcept that is exactly what Square Enix would expect, which is aggravating and hilarious and I completely love them for it. You know, early on in the game, that Sora is going to forget everything that happens in Castle Oblivion when the game concludes. The plot, which sees Sora enter the mysterious Castle Oblivion and slowly give up his memories in order to uncover its secrets, totally telegraphs a return to the status quo at the game's conclusion. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004): I've always loved Chain of Memories simply because I admire its gall: Only the second KH game ever released (on a different system, no less-the Game Boy Advance), Chain of Memories gives every indication that it is going to be a completely inessential side-story. It's far from an essential addition to the franchise, but there are much worse ways to waste time tapping away at your phone.Ĥ of 8 5. There's an energy system, but it's not oppressive. You can dress your little keyblade wielder in adorable costumes, and the 2D environments look lovely (even if they get exhaustively re-used). There's a rock-paper-scissors system that governs attack types and enemy weaknesses, and because you almost always get to go first in battle, the game becomes about strategizing how best to use your attacks so that you can finish off enemies before they have a chance to strike. Kingdom Hearts Unchained ? (2015): Unchained ? is the only mobile game in the series, a remake of a Japan-only browser game from a couple years back, and it's not half bad! It's pretty slight, and its attempts at story content are better off ignored, but it's a charming little turn-based game that sees you collecting "medals" that feature characters from throughout the series to use as attacks.
There's a reason that the HD collections only included the cutscenes from this one, and you shouldn't even watch those, unless you're looking to throw three hours of your life into a digital abyss, never to be reclaimed.Ģ of 8 7.
The plot, which involves Jiminy Cricket's journal being digitized and corrupted, necessitating a rescue from a digital version of Sora, is the videogame equivalent of a bad bottle episode in a TV series. Awkward controls, an over-reliance on platforming puzzles, and an uninspired character progression system make it a pretty unpleasant experience. Trying to cram a 3D action game onto the Nintendo DS is an awkward affair, and despite a few interesting bosses, Re:coded has too many stumbles to be worth playing. The first attempt at this, Chain of Memories, does some interesting things, as we'll see in a moment, but Re:coded is just stale. It is, essentially, the second time that the series attempts to remix the events of the first Kingdom Hearts, using the same worlds, characters, and enemies to tell a new story. Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded (2010): Re:coded is a Nintendo DS remake of a game subtitled Coded (get it?) that was released in Japan for mobile phones. Without further ado, here are all eight Kingdom Hearts titles, ranked from worst to best.ġ of 8 8. With the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue this week, it seems like a good time to go back and look at the series in aggregate. If you’re hating on Mickey Mouse, you had better sit down with a cup of tea and think about your life choices. The games have, for lack of a better word, heart. The Kingdom Hearts games are often chided for their arcane lore (though they make about twice as much sense as Metal Gear) and their curious subtitles (fair enough), but they’re almost always a kinetic joy to play, and their stories of teenage friendships torn apart by sundered worlds still resonate. This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the original Kingdom Hearts, the game that stirred your Disney childhood and your Final Fantasy adolescence into a cartoony cocktail that almost certainly shouldn’t have worked but somehow went down miraculously smooth.