Kingdom Hearts is now almost two decades old. It feels like just yesterday where we played it on PS2 back in 2002. It was a magical time for Square and Disney and has garnered a following that is unfathomable. Does it appeal to everyone? Absolutely not. It hasn’t crossed into the mainstream as much as something like Call of Duty has.
People look at it from afar and snub their nose at it, which is easy to understand. We admit that we too had reservations of Square joining up with Disney for an RPG, but here we are some nine games later, deeply in love. How do these games compare to each other? Well, let’s see what data Metacritic has uncovered.
9 Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (66)
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded started out as a Japanese exclusive phone game, which isn’t inherently bad as we will make clear later. However, as this was the third attempt at repacking the first shame with a new skin, well, color us not impressed. Among all nine of these games this is an easy one to skip. The “new” story bits that are here aren’t really necessary. And if one is desperately curious, the movie in the HD collections do a nice job of retelling it.
8 Kingdom Hearts: Unchained χ (70)
This started out as a Japanese exclusive as well, but this time for browsers. Eventually it morphed into a phone game. Is it amazing? No, it’s a typical time sink sort of RPG. That said it is the superior mobile spinoff and does have some good mechanical and story bits. It just takes a long time to get there. As it is free we do recommend checking it out for the diehard fans who missed it up until now.
7 Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (75)
Dream Drop Distance is a lot better than what critics give it credit for. It’s not Kingdom Hearts III and is yet another half step, but it does so many things right. The parkouresque system at plays allows Sora and Riku to ricochet off of poles and walls to inflict critical damage. It’s powerful and looks cool. The game is no Pokémon, but the monster assisting party members were cute. Best of all it tackles some Disney movies not yet seen on consoles like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a highly underrated classic.
6 Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (75)
Now here is a game that is perhaps ranked too high. The idea of creating a spinoff starring Organization XIII as sort of a Monster Hunter like co-op game is rad. However, the story is boring, goes nowhere, and is accompanied by tedious fetch quests thanks to the controls being converted poorly for the DS hardware. The camera is especially nauseating. We don’t want this game remade, but we would be into Square Enix attempting another multiplayer scenario in this same vein. We just want it on consoles.
5 Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (76)
Chain of Memories had a lot going against it. It was a half sequel that mostly retold the same story, at least in the Disney worlds, and removed the simple action combat and complicated it with a card game. While these admittedly aren't great ideas, it does enough new to justify its existence plus it was a nice way for Nintendo players to get familiarized with the franchise.
The cards made the combat less fun and made the doorway puzzles frustrating beyond belief, but after a while it started to become tolerable. The best part about it is the beautiful pixel graphics and keen animations. Even though the PS2 game adds some quality of life things like voices, we still prefer the original.
4 Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (82)
Those other spinoffs were mere distractions for what fans really wanted: Kingdom Hearts III. Even though it doesn’t bare a number in the title, this is without a doubt a console worthy prequel. It gets away from Sora and fills in blanks about this universe’s past in a meaningful way. Sure it convoluted some stuff, but what Kingdom Hearts game doesn’t? It was ignored as a PSP game due to the hardware’s lack of sales numbers in the West, but rest assured this game is awesome and deserves more recognition. At least critics seemed to like it.
3 Kingdom Hearts III (83)
Kingdom Hearts III is out and we still can’t believe it. Even though most of the previous spinoffs were good, they weren’t a numbered sequel. It took thirteen years, but at long last it arrived last year and turned out to be exactly what fans wanted in both good and bad ways. It almost felt like a PS2 game reimagined for PS4 and Xbox One. That is to say some of the storytelling was off and the gameplay loops, while tweaked, were almost the same. It also didn’t really conclude as one would hope after waiting so long. It has problems, but darn it, we can’t help but love it.
2 Kingdom Hearts (85)
It was honestly hard to imagine the original game being any good at all. Square and Disney partnering up didn’t sound like it would work, but somehow the two companies produced the gaming equivalent of peanut butter and jelly.
What really made the sandwich especially tasty was the charm and willingness to be goofy while still providing a hardcore RPG one would expect from Square. It started a cult following and there’s no stopping it now.
1 Kingdom Hearts II (87)
The first game was big, but it’s hard to put into words just how hyped Kingdom Hearts II was. Besides the slow start with Roxas, it was the right way to make a true sequel fixing almost every complaint from the first. It had more fantastical worlds, the camerawork was better, there was more to do, the Final Fantasy gang played a bigger role, and the list goes on. The first game is special for starting a phenomenon, but we agree with this aggregate score as this is easily the best game in the series overall.