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Your first KINGDOM HEARTS

You do not have to learn all of it before you begin. It connects up a little at a time, starting from one game.

No spoilers on this page

It begins as a search for friends who were separated, and widens into a story about memory, promises and what gets passed on. However many titles there are, you only pick one to start. This page tells you what to play next and why — without spoilers.

Read more on the three orders →

The three-game route

Quick route

All eighteen is, honestly, a lot. There is another way through: play three, and fill the gaps between them with the official recap videos.

The titles this skips contain time that exists nowhere else. This route is here so that 'you have to do all of it first' does not stop you starting — not to say those games are not worth playing. You can always come back for them.

Which games each episode covers is described differently by different sources. Episode 2 being Chain of Memories is agreed on; past that, watching them straight through in order is the reliable approach.

  1. STEP 1Play

    KINGDOM HEARTS

    Not skippable. It is the one place where the series' premises are laid out as a journey rather than as explanation.

    Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix Launch TrailerPlayStation
  2. STEP 2Watch instead

    Covers: Chain of Memories

    KH2's opening assumes you have been through this. Even if you are not going to play it, skipping it entirely makes the second game start out of nowhere. Episode 2 is this stretch.

    Playing connects to YouTube.Watch on YouTube
  3. STEP 3Play

    KINGDOM HEARTS II

    The central relationships are all in place by the end of it. It closes the first arc and makes everything after it easier.

    【KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 2.5 ReMIX-】FINAL TRAILERスクウェア・エニックス
  4. STEP 4Watch instead

    Covers: 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, Dream Drop Distance and the rest

    The stretch to fill in before KH3. Go in without it and most of the people who turn up in its final act are strangers. Watch these three in order.

    Playing connects to YouTube.Watch on YouTube
    Playing connects to YouTube.Watch on YouTube
    Playing connects to YouTube.Watch on YouTube
  5. STEP 5Play

    KINGDOM HEARTS III

    Everything stacked up since the first game is paid off here.

    KINGDOM HEARTS III – Final Battle Trailer (Closed Captions)KINGDOM HEARTS

Next up

KINGDOM HEARTS

An island boy sets out after his world disappears. It begins as a story about looking for the friends he lost.

Why it sits here: The ideas the series runs on are delivered as a journey rather than an explanation. No prior knowledge needed.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix Launch TrailerPlayStation

The start of the recommended route.

Balances first-time surprise against comprehension. Includes our editorial judgement.

Dates are the first Japanese release. A full date is shown only where we could verify one; otherwise the year. Play times are rough main-story estimates and vary a lot with how you play.

Chapter 1

The first door

3 titles

A journey that starts on an island and widens across worlds. This is where the series' vocabulary and its central relationships are established — and it works as a complete story on its own.

  1. 01

    KINGDOM HEARTS

    An island boy sets out after his world disappears. It begins as a story about looking for the friends he lost.

    First release
    2002-03-28
    Platform
    PlayStation 2
    Approx.
    25–30 hours
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game / Film

    Why it sits here

    The ideas the series runs on are delivered as a journey rather than an explanation. No prior knowledge needed.

    Disney / Pixar films featured

    • Alice in Wonderland
    • Hercules
    • Tarzan
    • Aladdin
    • Pinocchio
    • The Little Mermaid
    • The Nightmare Before Christmas
    • Peter Pan
    • Winnie the Pooh
  2. 02

    Chain of Memories

    Immediately after the first game. In a certain castle, memory grows less reliable the deeper you go. Combat is card-based.

    First release
    2004
    Platform
    Game Boy Advance
    Approx.
    15–20 hours
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game / Film
  3. 03

    KINGDOM HEARTS II

    The direct sequel, some time later. It opens on an unfamiliar town and an unfamiliar boy's ordinary week.

    First release
    2005
    Platform
    PlayStation 2
    Approx.
    30–35 hours
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game / Film
Chapter 2

Behind the memories

3 titles

The time the first chapter did not show you. The same events seen from someone else's side, which changes what they meant.

  1. 04

    358/2 Days

    358 days in the life of someone inside a certain organisation. The quiet time between missions is what the game is really about.

    First release
    2009-05-30
    Platform
    Nintendo DS
    Approx.
    20–25 hours (about 3 hours as a film)
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game / Film
  2. 05

    Birth by Sleep

    Set well before the first game. Three young people leave home for their own reasons, and you play all three stories.

    First release
    2010-01-09
    Platform
    PSP
    Approx.
    35–40 hours (all three stories)
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game / Film
  3. 06

    coded / Re:coded

    An investigation into the journal that recorded the first game. Short, and easy to approach.

    First release
    2010-10-07
    Platform
    Nintendo DS (Re:coded)
    Approx.
    15–20 hours
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game / Film
Chapter 3

Toward the origin

5 titles

Where the series turns its attention to a much older past, and the questions it had been holding come to the surface. Includes titles whose service has ended.

  1. 07

    Dream Drop Distance

    Two protagonists take an examination, each in a different place. The setting is a set of sleeping worlds.

    First release
    2012-03-29
    Platform
    Nintendo 3DS
    Approx.
    25–30 hours
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game / Film
  2. 08

    χ[chi]

    Set in a far older era, and the source of much of the vocabulary the modern games use.

    First release
    2013
    Platform
    Browser
    Approx.
    about 10 hours to watch
    All titles
    Shut down — catch up by video or summary
    Film
  3. 09

    Unchained χ

    A retelling of χ's story, so you can follow this era even if you never played the original.

    First release
    2015
    Platform
    Mobile
    Approx.
    about 10 hours to watch
    All titles
    Shut down — catch up by video or summary
    Film
  4. 10

    Union χ[Cross]

    The continuation of the origin arc. Told over a long period, and it moves sharply in its later stretch.

    First release
    2016–2021
    Platform
    Mobile
    Approx.
    20+ hours to watch
    All titles
    Shut down — official offline theatre
    Official theatre / Film
  5. 11

    χ Back Cover

    The same era from the point of view of a different set of people. About an hour of film.

    First release
    2017
    Platform
    Film (in HD 2.8)
    Approx.
    about 1 hour (film)
    All titles
    Watchable
    Film
Chapter 4

The reckoning

3 titles

The separate threads converge. The conflict that began in the first chapter reaches a resolution here.

  1. 12

    0.2 Birth by Sleep

    Short, but it shows where a long-absent character actually is. The run-up to the final arc.

    First release
    2017
    Platform
    PlayStation 4 (in HD 2.8)
    Approx.
    3–4 hours
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game / Film
  2. 13

    KINGDOM HEARTS III

    The main entry that resolves the long-running conflict, still structured as a tour of Disney worlds like the first game.

    First release
    2019
    Platform
    PlayStation 4 / Xbox One
    Approx.
    30–35 hours
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game
  3. 14

    Re Mind

    Additional episodes for KH3, revisiting its final stretch from another angle.

    First release
    2020
    Platform
    DLC
    Approx.
    5–8 hours
    All titles
    Playable today
    DLC
Chapter 5

The next door

3 titles

After one long story ends. What is here points at the era coming next.

  1. 15

    Melody of Memory

    A rhythm game built on the series' music — with a story scene at the end that matters.

    First release
    2020
    Platform
    PlayStation 4 / Nintendo Switch / Xbox One
    Approx.
    15–20 hours
    All titles
    Playable today
    Game
  2. 16

    Dark Road

    Follows a particular character's younger years — the beginning of things the modern games have only referred to.

    First release
    2020–2022
    Platform
    Mobile (within Union χ)
    Approx.
    about 10 hours to watch
    All titles
    Shut down — official offline theatre
    Official theatre / Film
  3. 17

    KINGDOM HEARTS IV

    Announced as the opening of the next arc, set in a place unlike anywhere the series has been.

    First release
    2027年後半（予定）
    Platform
    PS5 / Xbox Series X|S / Switch 2 / PC
    Approx.
    Not announced
    All titles
    Not released
    Game

From the editor

Trying to take all of it at once is, honestly, a lot. Play the first game, and if the world grabs you, pick the next one then. This order is arranged to leave you time to get attached to the characters rather than to gather information quickly.

— asano

About the titles you can no longer play

Some of these have been shut down. That is not a dead end. The stories remain followable through the official offline theatre, film versions and summaries — and this site counts those the same as finishing the game. Withholding information because something is no longer purchasable is not protection, just inconvenience.

Not on the recommended route

  • Missing-Link — Development cancelled in 2025. Official announcements only.