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What's the proper order for playing the Kingdom Hearts games?



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LeClefLame

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Before KHIII is released I'll be playing the HD remix versions for the first time (except for 358/2 Days, Coded, and X). I want to play the games in an order that'll make sense on a story level the way it was structured.

For ex: you can't play Birth by Sleep first because the ending takes place at the end of KHII of the three of them reading Mickey's letter which was sent to them in coded.

Kingdom Hearts
Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts II
358/2 Days
Birth by Sleep
Re:coded
X (Unchained/Union)
Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts III


What do you guys think of this and what order do you guys play the games?
 
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Chaser

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Swap 358/2 Days with Kingdom Hearts 2, and swap Re:coded and Birth by Sleep around and that’s the intended play order.

Also play 0.2 after Dream Drop Distance.
 

Grono

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Agreeing with Chaser here. The games were not planned this far in advance, so release order is by far the most cohesive and effective way to tell the story. Here's another reason why:

- Doing chronological order makes it so random characters make cameos that are nonsensical until many games later
- Doing days before two makes Roxas' plight somewhat boring and confuses his character that was established in II. In Kingdom Hearts II, it's somewhat of a mystery who Roxas is and how he got here, but if you play Days beforehand it makes the whole opening of II a slog. At least I think so.
- Re:Coded is bad to put before Birth by Sleep since the story literally references TAV at the end of it and expects you to know who they are and why they're important.
- 0.2 is very recent and should be played after DDD since it's the latest story being told chronologically. It should also be played after watching Back Cover, since it makes references to the story of Back Cover (however slight).

I would say you should try and skip Coded, but Data has appeared in every Kingdom Hearts title since Coded and would be a really weird element to skip since KHIII will actually have bug blox and possibly data Riku.

Lastly, watch the Back Cover movie whenever. Maybe watch it while playing Union x [Cross]? I don't know.

Here's the final recommended order:

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

Kingdom Hearts II

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance

Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -a Fragmentary Passage
OR
Kingdom Hearts Union X [Cross]

Kingdom Hearts III

Hope this helps!
 

DarkosOverlord

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Oh, so this question gets asked here too.

Release order, always.
Unless it's not your first time, in which case sometimes can be cool to switch it up. Like, I took part in a KH games marathon done in chronological order (a whopping 28 hours that was), and it was kinda neat seeing all of it happening in succession.

But considering playing for 28 hours straight is hardly everyone's approach, go release order.
 

LeClefLame

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Swap 358/2 Days with Kingdom Hearts 2, and swap Re:coded and Birth by Sleep around and that’s the intended play order.

Also play 0.2 after Dream Drop Distance.

Agreeing with Chaser here. The games were not planned this far in advance, so release order is by far the most cohesive and effective way to tell the story. Here's another reason why:

- Doing chronological order makes it so random characters make cameos that are nonsensical until many games later
- Doing days before two makes Roxas' plight somewhat boring and confuses his character that was established in II. In Kingdom Hearts II, it's somewhat of a mystery who Roxas is and how he got here, but if you play Days beforehand it makes the whole opening of II a slog. At least I think so.
- Re:Coded is bad to put before Birth by Sleep since the story literally references TAV at the end of it and expects you to know who they are and why they're important.
- 0.2 is very recent and should be played after DDD since it's the latest story being told chronologically. It should also be played after watching Back Cover, since it makes references to the story of Back Cover (however slight).

I would say you should try and skip Coded, but Data has appeared in every Kingdom Hearts title since Coded and would be a really weird element to skip since KHIII will actually have bug blox and possibly data Riku.

Lastly, watch the Back Cover movie whenever. Maybe watch it while playing Union x [Cross]? I don't know.

Here's the final recommended order:

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

Kingdom Hearts II

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance

Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -a Fragmentary Passage
OR
Kingdom Hearts Union X [Cross]

Kingdom Hearts III

Hope this helps!

I chose coded before Birth by Sleep because before re:coded it was released as a Japan-exclusive cell phone game released between 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep in 8 parts. Then Re:coded was released in the US way after Birth by Sleep.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_Coded
 
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Grono

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I chose coded before Birth by Sleep because before re:coded it was released as a Japan-exclusive cell phone game released between 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep in 8 parts. Then Re:coded was released in the US way after Birth by Sleep.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_Coded

Yeah, that's true, but Re:Coded DOES mention BbS. That's the issue: it's not like Chain of Memories where it's a remake that's generally the same game with updated graphics and an engine change. It's a full-on revamp of a phone game that's incorporated into the story, so it relies on BbS at the end in a way that would make it nonsensical to a first-timer.

Don't get me wrong, you can play it before BbS if you've played through the games. It would just make less sense for a beginner to play it first, and I usually structure my KH marathons around a re-experiencing of the entire series from the perspective as a newcomer, not as someone who already knows what's going to happen.
 

Antifa Lockhart

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You're forgetting that Coded wasn't released in its entirety before BBS, it was episodic and was released throughout the year. So, technically, you should do re:coded until Castle Oblivion, then take a break to do BBS, and THEN do the last part of re:coded if you HAVE to do that.
 

LeClefLame

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Agreeing with Chaser here. The games were not planned this far in advance, so release order is by far the most cohesive and effective way to tell the story. Here's another reason why:

- Doing chronological order makes it so random characters make cameos that are nonsensical until many games later
- Doing days before two makes Roxas' plight somewhat boring and confuses his character that was established in II. In Kingdom Hearts II, it's somewhat of a mystery who Roxas is and how he got here, but if you play Days beforehand it makes the whole opening of II a slog. At least I think so.
- Re:Coded is bad to put before Birth by Sleep since the story literally references TAV at the end of it and expects you to know who they are and why they're important.
- 0.2 is very recent and should be played after DDD since it's the latest story being told chronologically. It should also be played after watching Back Cover, since it makes references to the story of Back Cover (however slight).

I would say you should try and skip Coded, but Data has appeared in every Kingdom Hearts title since Coded and would be a really weird element to skip since KHIII will actually have bug blox and possibly data Riku.

Lastly, watch the Back Cover movie whenever. Maybe watch it while playing Union x [Cross]? I don't know.

Here's the final recommended order:

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

Kingdom Hearts II

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance

Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -a Fragmentary Passage
OR
Kingdom Hearts Union X [Cross]

Kingdom Hearts III

Hope this helps!

Last order with new additions that were left out.
Kingdom Hearts
Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts II
358/2 Days
Birth by Sleep
Re:coded
Dream Drop Distance
X[chi]
X Back Cover
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts Union X
 

LeClefLame

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Agreeing with Chaser here. The games were not planned this far in advance, so release order is by far the most cohesive and effective way to tell the story. Here's another reason why:

- Doing chronological order makes it so random characters make cameos that are nonsensical until many games later
- Doing days before two makes Roxas' plight somewhat boring and confuses his character that was established in II. In Kingdom Hearts II, it's somewhat of a mystery who Roxas is and how he got here, but if you play Days beforehand it makes the whole opening of II a slog. At least I think so.
- Re:Coded is bad to put before Birth by Sleep since the story literally references TAV at the end of it and expects you to know who they are and why they're important.
- 0.2 is very recent and should be played after DDD since it's the latest story being told chronologically. It should also be played after watching Back Cover, since it makes references to the story of Back Cover (however slight).

I would say you should try and skip Coded, but Data has appeared in every Kingdom Hearts title since Coded and would be a really weird element to skip since KHIII will actually have bug blox and possibly data Riku.

Lastly, watch the Back Cover movie whenever. Maybe watch it while playing Union x [Cross]? I don't know.

Here's the final recommended order:

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

Kingdom Hearts II

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance

Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -a Fragmentary Passage
OR
Kingdom Hearts Union X [Cross]

Kingdom Hearts III


Hope this helps!

Last order with two new titles missing from the list
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts X[chi]/Unchained X/Union X [Cross]
Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover
Kingdom Hearts III
 
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kaseykockroach

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Kingdom Hearts....watch Chain of Memories' cutscenes as it's at least an interesting story...play KH2 while skipping a lot of the cringe-inducing cutscenes...and play Aqua in BBS.
That's about all you need. :p
 

Grono

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Last order with two new titles missing from the list
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts 2
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts X[chi]
Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts Unchained/Union X [Cross]
Kingdom Hearts III

Dude, you can't play X [Chi] anymore. Plus, it's pm summed up in Unchained X. I just wouldn't personally list it, but maybe you have a different opinion :D
 

Absent

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Also if you can, try(key word) try to play all the games. Only if you're financially able, I say this because a lot of fans will try to persuade you to ignore or watch the games instead of playing them.

I did that mistake and missed out on a lot of fun and enjoyable moments. For all you know, your favorite might be one of the DS ones.
 

Grono

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Also if you can, try(key word) try to play all the games. Only if you're financially able, I say this because a lot of fans will try to persuade you to ignore or watch the games instead of playing them.

I did that mistake and missed out on a lot of fun and enjoyable moments. For all you know, your favorite might be one of the DS ones.

Coded's actually pretty fun on the DS. Days on the DS can eat my hat, though.
 

Absent

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I have very strong opinions on all the games, but I don't want to subconsciously influence a newcomer.
 

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