When you think about legendary video game franchises. There are those that are known for their characters, those that are known for their gameplay, and those that are known for their story. But then, there are those that are just so beloved it’s hard to describe why. The Kingdom Hearts franchise is one of them. The union of Square Enix and Disney that made a game so good, it was hard to believe that it was that good. And for 15+ years, players have played and loved those games.
But, that doesn’t mean it’s been the most straightforward series. In fact, Kingdom Hearts is without a doubt one of the most convoluted franchises ever made. Not because it was meant to be that, but rather, the franchise tried to “fill in the gaps” with its story, and that created prequels, side stories, offshoots, and more. So when we found Redditor Elfdemon’s list of how the series was released (chronologically) and then in what ordered it should be played (story wise), it all came back to us how right we were about the convoluted nature of the series.
Don’t get us wrong, the series is still epic, but you can’t help but laugh at not just the games that came out, but the names and how they “added” to the series.
It started out harmless enough. The first game came on PS2, and it was great! Then, they made Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance, and it served as both sequel to the original, and prequel to Kingdom Hearts II, which was the next game in the series. After that? Yeah, it went off the rails, as you’ll see on the list.
Thankfully, things seem to be coming to a head, as Kingdom Hearts III is (hopefully) coming next year. After that? Well, we wouldn’t know what to guess.