One of the most challenging aspects of getting into the Kingdom Hearts series can be figuring out which game to start on. The timeline is notoriously confusing, and with so many re-releases it's sometimes hard to keep track of what goes where. Is it best to go chronologically, or in order of release date? What are the benefits and drawbacks to starting at a certain point of the franchise?
Although there have only been three numbered Kingdom Hearts games released, there are over a dozen repackaged versions, spin-offs, and mobile games, almost all of which play an essential role in the ongoing story of the franchise. The series has come to span a number of consoles, most recently including PC and the Nintendo Switch, and various prequels have come out to more fully flesh out the timeline before the start of Kingdom Hearts 1.
Because of that, it might be tempting to start the series in chronological order, playing through the recently finished mobile app Kingdom Hearts Union X, which takes place in the distant past, rather than going in order of release date. However, the best place to begin is right at Kingdom Hearts 1 - rereleased in 2013 as Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix - in order to discover the story as it was originally intended. It makes the series' gradual revelations and surprises feel all the more rewarding.
The story of Kingdom Hearts has become increasingly noted for its convoluted twists and turns, and it seems as though every addition to the series has only served to make it harder to keep track of. To that end, it's better to begin where the lore was least complex. The original Kingdom Hearts game is a fairly straightforward story about Sora and his quest to find his friends Riku and Kairi. It introduces both Disney and Final Fantasy characters who would become Kingdom Hearts staples throughout the rest of the series and sets up important foundational lore such as the purpose of the Keyblade and where the Heartless come from. Most future titles, even those set in the past, rely on at least a basic understanding of this knowledge to make sense. Many of the events showcased in prequel games like Birth by Sleep won't seem significant without first having played the original titles.
All in all, the best way to play through the Kingdom Hearts series is to start at Kingdom Hearts 1, followed by Chain of Memories and 358/2 Days. Both of the latter games serve to fill in the year-long gap between KH1 and KH2. After Kingdom Hearts 2, players should move onto Re:Coded, which sets up some of the characters that will then be introduced and explored in Birth by Sleep. After that, Dream Drop Distance should be followed by Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth By Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage. The latter is a short gameplay experience that helps catch Kingdom Hearts fans up on what Aqua was doing during the majority of the series' timeline. Lastly, Kingdom Hearts 3 and the recently released Melody of Memory help to fully round out the story of Sora and his fight against the darkness.
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