Guide to Playing Kingdom Hearts Games in Chronological Order

Square Enix and Disney unveiled Kingdom Hearts 4 during the 2022 Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary event, showcasing Sora’s new journey following his solo adventure after Kingdom Hearts 3. Updates on the sequel have been scarce, but recent screenshots confirm its ongoing development.

To satisfy fans awaiting Kingdom Hearts 4, Square Enix released most of the Kingdom Hearts series on Steam on June 13, 2024, including Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind DLC, and Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece, a bundle previously available on Nintendo Switch via cloud streaming in 2021.

While anticipating further news or a release date for Kingdom Hearts 4, here’s a guide to playing the Kingdom Hearts games in chronological order. Despite the series’ complex narrative, this list clarifies the Kingdom Hearts universe’s history, Sora’s role as the Keyblade’s chosen hero, and Master Xehanort’s persistent quest to engulf the world in darkness, central to the Dark Seeker Saga.

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How to play in chronological orderHow to play by release date

How Many Kingdom Hearts Games Exist?

The Kingdom Hearts franchise comprises 13 titles across platforms like PSP and Game Boy Advance. A new mainline title was announced in April 2022.

Which Kingdom Hearts Game Should You Start With?

For newcomers, Kingdom Hearts 2 is the ideal starting point. Playing as Roxas early on, you’ll see flashbacks of key moments from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, catching you up on the story and Sora’s connection to Roxas. The gameplay is more streamlined than the original, with optional Gummi Ship missions when revisiting worlds.

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How to Play Kingdom Hearts Games in Chronological Order

Kingdom Hearts χ / Unchained χ / Union χ

This section covers Kingdom Hearts χ [chi], initially a Japan-only PC title, later rebranded as Unchained χ and Union χ [Cross] for global mobile players over its eight-year run. The χ symbolizes the χ-blade, a powerful weapon formed by two Keyblades in an “X” shape, capable of unlocking Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts Union χ takes place centuries before the main series, leading to the Keyblade War. You play as a new Keyblade wielder in the 2D Daybreak Town, joining one of five factions vying for dominance over limited light. Union χ follows Unchained χ in an alternate data world where players relive past events to forget the Keyblade War. The game ended in May 2021, but its cutscenes are available online. If gacha games aren’t your preference, watch the cinematic Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, included in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.

Kingdom Hearts Dark Road

Kingdom Hearts Dark Road explores Master Xehanort’s origins, set 70 years before Birth by Sleep. A young Xehanort leaves Destiny Islands for Scala ad Caelum, training under Master Eraqus to become a Keyblade wielder. Tasked by Master Odin to find the Lost Masters, Xehanort’s journey shapes him into the Seeker of Darkness.

Using the same 2D graphics as Kingdom Hearts χ, Dark Road’s visuals are modest, but its story is vital to the series. Though the game is no longer playable, its cutscenes are available on YouTube.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Set a decade before Kingdom Hearts, Birth by Sleep follows Ventus, Terra, and Aqua, Keyblade Apprentices under Master Eraqus in the Land of Departure. After Aqua passes her Mark of Mastery exam and Terra fails due to his uncontrolled darkness, the trio embarks on separate quests to locate the missing Master Xehanort and battle the Unversed, creatures spawned by Xehanort’s apprentice, Vanitas.

The game reveals Sora’s origins, as Ventus’ heart is mended with a fragment of Sora’s, while Xehanort creates Vanitas from Ventus’ extracted darkness, deeming him unfit to forge the χ-blade and targeting Terra instead. It also explains how Sora and Riku wield Keyblades, with Terra passing the power to Riku and Aqua sensing their ties to Ventus and Terra.

Read our review of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep — A Fragmentary Passage

Included in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, A Fragmentary Passage serves as an epilogue to Birth by Sleep and a prologue to Kingdom Hearts 3, with events following Dream Drop Distance. King Mickey recounts to Riku, Kairi, and Master Yen Sid how he met Aqua in the Realm of Darkness.

After saving Terra from the Realm of Darkness, Aqua wanders there for a decade, battling Heartless in dark versions of Castle of Dreams, Dwarf Woodlands, and Enchanted Dominion. She confronts apparitions of Ventus and Terra and saves Terra’s heart. Mickey, using Aqua’s lost Wayfinder, finds her after fighting another Demon Tower, then heads to Destiny Islands to help Sora and Riku seal Kingdom Hearts’ door, leaving Aqua in the Realm of Darkness.

Kingdom Hearts

In the series’ debut, Sora, alongside Donald and Goofy, searches for Riku and Kairi after the Heartless destroy Destiny Islands. Traveling via Gummi Ship, Sora visits Disney and Final Fantasy worlds, sealing Keyholes to protect them from Heartless. Meanwhile, Maleficent and Disney villains seek the seven Princesses of Heart to unlock Kingdom Hearts, enlisting Riku.

At Hollow Bastion, Sora discovers Kairi’s heart resides in him after Destiny Islands’ fall. Riku, possessed by Ansem, serves Maleficent’s plan to open Kingdom Hearts. Kairi, a Princess of Heart, regains her heart when Sora sacrifices himself, becoming a Heartless. Kairi restores Sora, who then defeats Ansem and seals Kingdom Hearts with Riku and Mickey’s aid.

Read our review of Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Searching for Riku and Mickey, Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter Castle Oblivion, losing memories upon arrival. Marluxia, an Organization XIII member and the castle’s lord, informs them that deeper exploration erases more memories but reveals new ones. Using “world cards” based on Sora’s memories, they encounter memory-based characters and battle Organization members Axel, Larxene, and Vexen. Meanwhile, Riku navigates the castle’s basement, resisting Ansem’s influence and fighting Lexaeus and Zexion.

Despite criticism of its card-based combat, Chain of Memories introduces Naminé, who manipulates Sora’s memories under Marluxia’s orders, replacing Kairi’s with her own. Sora defeats Marluxia, and Naminé places him and his companions in pods to restore their lost memories.

Read our review of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days

Set during Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days follows Roxas, Sora’s Nobody, born when Sora became a Heartless. As Organization XIII’s 13th member, Roxas bonds with Axel and Xion, the 14th member. Xion is revealed as an artificial replica of Sora’s memories of Kairi, created to summon Kingdom Hearts and delay Sora’s memory restoration.

Roxas defects from Organization XIII to find himself and Xion, who merges with him to become whole, halting Sora’s awakening. Roxas defeats Xion, who dissolves, returning Sora’s memories. The game honors Wayne Allwine, Mickey Mouse’s voice actor, who passed away shortly before its 2009 Japan release.

Read our review of Kingdom Hearts 358/2.

Kingdom Hearts 2

Starting in Twilight Town, Roxas enjoys a memory-less summer with Hayner, Pence, and Olette, unaware of his Organization XIII past or Axel. After merging with Sora, who awakens after a year, Sora, Donald, and Goofy battle Heartless and explore new worlds to stop Organization XIII from creating another Kingdom Hearts.

The story reveals that the defeated Ansem was Xehanort’s Heartless, Xemnas is his Nobody, and the real Ansem, Ansem the Wise, studied hearts before his exile. Roxas and Naminé are confirmed as Sora and Kairi’s Nobodies, respectively.

Read our review of Kingdom Hearts 2.

Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded

Originally an episodic mobile game, Re:coded follows King Mickey and a digital Sora repairing Jiminy Cricket’s corrupted journal, which chronicles Sora’s adventures. They battle bugs resembling Heartless and decipher a cryptic message: “Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it.”

Released in Japan from June 2009 to January 2010, Coded was later repackaged as Re:coded for Nintendo DS to reach global fans.

Read our review of Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

To counter Master Xehanort’s return, Master Yen Sid tests Sora and Riku in a Mark of Mastery exam, sending them back in time to unlock keyholes in seven sleeping worlds. Using Flowmotion and Spirit Dream Eaters, they battle Nightmare Dream Eaters. Young Xehanort traps Sora in The World That Never Was, where Riku, acting as a Dream Eater, saves him. Master Xehanort plans to use Sora as his 13th vessel to forge the χ-blade, but Mickey, Lea, and Riku thwart him. Riku passes the exam, while Sora fails, losing the power of waking.

Read our Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance review.

Kingdom Hearts 3

Concluding the Dark Seeker Saga, Sora seeks the power of waking and gathers the seven guardians of light to confront Organization XIII and Master Xehanort, who aims to forge the χ-blade and balance light and darkness. Kairi trains as a Keyblade wielder with Lea, while Riku and Mickey search for missing wielders.

Developed over 13 years, Kingdom Hearts 3, released in 2019, remains the series’ best-selling title.

Read our review of Kingdom Hearts 3.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory

A rhythm game, Melody of Memory features Sora and other Keyblade wielders battling enemies to the series’ music. Set in Radiant Garden’s lab, Kairi narrates the series’ events.

Kingdom Hearts Games in Release Order

Kingdom Hearts - September 17, 2002 (PS2)Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - December 7, 2004 (Game Boy Advance)Kingdom Hearts 2 - March 28, 2006 (PS2)Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days - September 29, 2009 (Nintendo DS)Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep - September 7, 2010 (PSP)Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded - January 11, 2011 (Nintendo DS)Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance - July 31, 2012 (Nintendo 3DS)Kingdom Hearts Union χ [Cross] - April 7, 2016 (Android, iOS)Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix - March 28, 2017 (PS4)Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue - January 24, 2017 (PS4)Kingdom Hearts 3 - January 29, 2019 (PS4, XBO, PC)Kingdom Hearts Dark Road - June 22, 2020 (Android, iOS)Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory - November 13, 2020 (PS4, XBO, Nintendo Switch, PC)

What's Next for Kingdom Hearts?

Announced in 2022, Kingdom Hearts 4 remains without a release window, with Square Enix sharing little since its reveal. Recent screenshots suggest progress, hinting at a potential launch on the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2.

Kingdom Hearts 4 Screenshots May 2025

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