The Kingdom Hearts series has evolved significantly from what it once was: a fairly standard JRPG with the unique distinction of featuring a cast composed of Disney and Final Fantasy characters, which makes any attempt to rank its games from worst to best a difficult task. What began as a childhood romp alongside iconic faces like Donald Duck and Cloud Strife has increasingly come into its own identity, featuring a convoluted narrative with a cast largely consisting of original characters. As a result, it can be difficult for even invested fans of the series to keep track of its various storylines and facets.

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There have been eleven mainline, or at least closer-to-canon-timeline Kingdom Hearts games released since the series started in 2002, spanning many platforms, including the Nintendo Switch, PC, and even mobile devices. Each one builds upon the existing lore of the franchise, branching out to explore new characters or revisit previous events from a different perspective. Although the numbered Kingdom Hearts titles are often considered the most significant, each one carries in some way over to the next game.

It’s currently unclear when exactly the next Kingdom Hearts game could be coming out, though there have been quite a few hints as to its possible story content. There’s also been a significant number of rumors and speculation, with some fans even predicting that the FF7 remake could tie into Kingdom Hearts 4. From what’s been revealed so far, it at least seems as though The World Ends With You will have some connection to the narrative, which could mean Square Enix is poised to make the Kingdom Hearts series into more of a crossover with its other game franchises.

#11: Kingdom Hearts Unchained X / Dark Road

Kingdom Hearts X initially launched in 2013 as a web browser exclusive game, eventually moving to mobile devices in late 2015 and early 2016. The game is notorious for its microtransactions, gacha system, and repetitive gameplay. Although it does contain important story information for the series as a whole, each narrative update is spaced in between hours’ worth of grinding. Kingdom Hearts Unchained X officially closed in May 2021, but not before an additional spinoff, Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, was added to its launcher.

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#10: Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth By Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage

Introduced with the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, this game served as a prologue of sorts for Kingdom Hearts III, delving into Aqua’s backstory from Birth by Sleep in a short gameplay experience that only lasts 2 to 3 hours. It also tested some of the visual and gameplay elements that would later be introduced in Kingdom Hearts III. Its relevance to the overall story is minimal, however, and its short playtime makes Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage more worth watching than playing.

#9: Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory

The most recent Kingdom Hearts game, Melody of Memory, came out in late 2020 to help bridge the gap between Kingdom Hearts III and the next major numbered title. Unfortunately, it has minimal plot elements, largely serving as a rhythm game with only brief cutscenes depicting the story of Kairi diving into her dreams to help locate the missing Sora. There was also some criticism from fans after Melody of Memory‘s ending, which effectively shelved the series’ primary female protagonist heading into the next game.

#8: Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded

Re:Coded is one of the least narratively important games in the Kingdom Hearts series, so much so that only its cutscenes were remastered in the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix as opposed to the full game. Its story involves a data version of Sora reliving the series’ past adventures, and as a result, it can largely be seen as a retread of the first game. Its gameplay is worth noting, though, if only because of how unique it is and how effectively it utilizes the command deck featured in Birth by Sleep.

#7: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Also included as a remastered series of cutscenes is Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, which takes place between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II and introduces essential story content relating to a few of the game’s secondary protagonists. Although its place on the timeline is much more relevant than Re:Coded, its gameplay is significantly more repetitive than other mainline entries in the series.

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#6: Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain Of Memories

Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories branches out significantly from the rest of the franchise in terms of gameplay, featuring strategic card battles instead of the button-mashing that’s more typical for Kingdom Hearts. Not everyone enjoyed the change, though, and aside from introducing a few returning characters such as Naminé, the larger story of Re:Chain of Memories can be mostly skipped over. It primarily revisits the worlds and events of the first game, and Sora forgets about the experience entirely ahead of Kingdom Hearts 2.

#5: KH3D: Dream Drop Distance

First released in 2012 and remastered later in 2017, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance introduces storylines and gameplay that would eventually become mainstay parts of the series, such as time travel aspects and creatures known as Dream Eaters. The smooth and versatile combat of Flowmotion and the inclusion of The World Ends with You both seem as though they’ll be important moving into Kingdom Hearts 4 and other future titles, as well, making Dream Drop Distance an essential part of the Kingdom Hearts timeline.

#4: Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep

Birth by Sleep sets itself up as both a prologue to the events of Kingdom Hearts and an entirely separate story entity, following three new characters instead of focusing on Sora. Although there are a few familiar faces in the game – Mickey Mouse plays a fairly large role in its events – for the most part, it stands on its own, introducing new story elements and gameplay features similar to what Dream Drop Distance accomplished later on down the line. Additional game modes and challenges add more playability to Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, as well.

#3: Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom Hearts III is one of the more recent games in the series, and the first proper numbered title to release since Kingdom Hearts II. Although it technically served as the ending to the current story saga of the series, Kingdom Hearts III left many theories and loose ends for the franchise to continue moving forward. It also combined gameplay from several other titles to make an engaging and customizable experience.

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#2: Kingdom Hearts

Although many aspects of the original Kingdom Hearts‘ gameplay are now outdated given it was initially released almost twenty years ago, its straightforward premise and expansive cast of crossover characters arguably best exemplifies what the series set out to do in the first place: encapsulate childhood nostalgia in an accessible and charming way.

#1: Kingdom Hearts II

Kingdom Hearts II built further upon what the first game did best, providing fans with more playtime, characters, and complicated story elements while still maintaining the spirit of the crossover that made Kingdom Hearts unique in the first place. It’s one of the strongest Kingdom Hearts games both gameplay and story-wise, and set the standard for many of the series games that came out after it.

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About The Author


Ky Shinkle
(526 Articles Published)

Ky Shinkle is a Senior Gaming Features Writer for Screen Rant as well as an overall avid gamer and writer. Her prior experience is primarily that of a narrative designer for video games, although her writing has covered all formats from screenplays and novels to stage scripts. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, when she isn’t writing she works on digital media projects and other types of fiction writing. Ky currently works out of Ohio and enjoys spending her free time either playing RPGs or running with her dog.

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