Post by omega on Oct 10, 2018 10:01:23 GMT
January next year Square Enix are releasing the next highly anticipated game in their Kingdom Hearts series, Kingdom Hearts 3 for PS4 and X-Box One. The series started out as a sort of meeting of Disney and Final Fantasy (an original Square Enix property), but the Final Fantasy elements started lessening in favour of the original and Disney characters, worlds and plots. The storyline has notoriously gotten complicated, but if you like to unravel complicated it's rewarding.
The plot of each game involves travelling through worlds based on Disney films like Aladdin, Hercules, Peter Pan, Tron etc and interacting with characters from the movies, while using the Keyblade to fight the external dark forces (Unversed, Heartless, Dream Eaters depending on the game) that are interfering with events in that world. Combat is hack and slash, with customisable attacks, magic and healing. Chain of Memories has a unique gameplay in that it's a card based combat system. It takes some getting used to.
There have already been many games released despite the third numbered game being the next one, and apart from the mobile app game they've been released as part of three HD compilations on PS3 and PS4 (the first two were joined for the PS4 release), and these compilations are being joined into a single release at the end of October, title The Story So Far.
1.5:
- Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories (GBA, remade for PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS, read as 358 Days over 2 and this an HD remastered cinematic of the story)
2.5:
- Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix (PSP)
- Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (DS, HD remastered cinematics)
2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (named because KH3 is the final game in the Dark Seeker storyline)
- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD (3DS)
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage (extra final chapter after Birth by Sleep)
- Kingdom Hearts χ (Greek chi symbol) Back Cover (HD cinematic showing part of the mobile game)
The timeline does get complicated, but here's what I've got:
The mobile game, takes place an indeterminate amount of time before the main series and depicts the Keyblade War (Player character)
Birth by Seep (Play as Terra, Ventus and Aqua in parallel storylines, takes place ten years prior to KH1)
Kingdom Hearts (Play as Sora)
- Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage (play as Aqua, takes place same time as KH1)
358/2 Days (Play as Roxas, takes places over a single year starting from the end of KH1)
- Chain of Memories takes place during this time (play as Sora)
Kingdom Hearts 2 (play as Sora, Roxas in the prologue which picks up from the end of 358/2 Days)
Re:coded (play as a digital Sora)
Dream Drop Distance (play as Sora and Riku in parallel storylines)
If you haven't played and want to, this Story So Far collection is a great relatively low cost way of doing so. Even if you want to beat up some of the Disney villains who scared you, like Chernabog, it's loads of fun. The good levels far outnumber the annoying (the worst ones involve rhythm games) and exploring the various worlds is a great aspect. Birth by Sleep allows you to explore Neverland for example, and in Dream Drop Distance you can traverse Tron Legacy's Grid or the Paris of Hunchback of Notre Dame.
The plot of each game involves travelling through worlds based on Disney films like Aladdin, Hercules, Peter Pan, Tron etc and interacting with characters from the movies, while using the Keyblade to fight the external dark forces (Unversed, Heartless, Dream Eaters depending on the game) that are interfering with events in that world. Combat is hack and slash, with customisable attacks, magic and healing. Chain of Memories has a unique gameplay in that it's a card based combat system. It takes some getting used to.
There have already been many games released despite the third numbered game being the next one, and apart from the mobile app game they've been released as part of three HD compilations on PS3 and PS4 (the first two were joined for the PS4 release), and these compilations are being joined into a single release at the end of October, title The Story So Far.
1.5:
- Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories (GBA, remade for PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS, read as 358 Days over 2 and this an HD remastered cinematic of the story)
2.5:
- Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix (PSP)
- Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (DS, HD remastered cinematics)
2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (named because KH3 is the final game in the Dark Seeker storyline)
- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD (3DS)
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage (extra final chapter after Birth by Sleep)
- Kingdom Hearts χ (Greek chi symbol) Back Cover (HD cinematic showing part of the mobile game)
The timeline does get complicated, but here's what I've got:
The mobile game, takes place an indeterminate amount of time before the main series and depicts the Keyblade War (Player character)
Birth by Seep (Play as Terra, Ventus and Aqua in parallel storylines, takes place ten years prior to KH1)
Kingdom Hearts (Play as Sora)
- Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage (play as Aqua, takes place same time as KH1)
358/2 Days (Play as Roxas, takes places over a single year starting from the end of KH1)
- Chain of Memories takes place during this time (play as Sora)
Kingdom Hearts 2 (play as Sora, Roxas in the prologue which picks up from the end of 358/2 Days)
Re:coded (play as a digital Sora)
Dream Drop Distance (play as Sora and Riku in parallel storylines)
If you haven't played and want to, this Story So Far collection is a great relatively low cost way of doing so. Even if you want to beat up some of the Disney villains who scared you, like Chernabog, it's loads of fun. The good levels far outnumber the annoying (the worst ones involve rhythm games) and exploring the various worlds is a great aspect. Birth by Sleep allows you to explore Neverland for example, and in Dream Drop Distance you can traverse Tron Legacy's Grid or the Paris of Hunchback of Notre Dame.
