Once upon a time it was simple. Kingdom Hearts was about a boy with a keyblade, a girl with a heart, and a universe of Disney folk who needed saving from darkness. Things were good. Things made sense. And then came the sequels and things got ... let's just say ... complicated.

Don't get us wrong. We love Kingdom Hearts. In fact, we think Kingdom Hearts II is one of the greatest games every made. But as anyone who's tried to follow Square Enix's epic over the years can attest, keeping track of Sora's story is akin to watching random episodes of Lost. In reverse. With wingding subtitles.

Some of you may have no problem keeping track of Kingdom Hearts. Congratulations, you win at life. For everyone else, here's a rundown of everything you need to know for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance...

Meet Sora, champion of the Disneyverse and Kingdom Hearts' plucky young lead. When we first meet Sora, he's chumming with friends on Destiny Island, blissfully unaware of the strange lands and dark evils that lie beyond its shores. He's also having lucid dreams about shadow monsters, stained glass princesses, and a keyblade that possesses the ability to thwart darkness and unlock the "keyholes" between kingdoms.

Of course, this is all foreshadowing for the events to come, but let's not rush ahead...

Another native of Destiny Island, Riku is the Ying to Sora's Yang, the Luigi to Sora's Mario, or whatever best friend cliche you fancy. Like Sora, Riku yearns for the day when he can build a raft and set sail for greater adventures, but is content to kick around the beach and enjoy a life with zero responsibilities. Although Sora and Riku's relationship becomes complicated in a hurry, the friendship they share serves as the emotional punch behind many of Kingdom Hearts' twists and turns.

...in a "let's hold hands and giggle" kind of way. As the third member of Sora's original posse, Kairi represents the closest thing to a romantic interest for Sora in Kingdom Hearts. As her story goes, Kairi washed up on Destiny Island during a meteor shower many moons ago, and was adopted by the town's mayor. At the beginning of Kingdom Hearts, she has no memory of her life before meeting Riku and Sora which, according to video game law, means she is absolutely critical to the plot and has more than a few juicy secrets to share.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi's idyllic lives are forever changed when a dark storm touches down on Destiny Island, leaving a host of creatures called the Heartless in its wake. In the ensuing chaos, Riku succumbs to the darkness, Sora finds his keyblade, and Kairi enters a door to parts unknown – but not before forming a mysterious connection with Sora. It's this inciting incident, and the resulting destruction of Destiny Island, that kicks Sora into hero mode and sends him headlong down a "Corridor of Darkness" in search of his friends.

Who and what the Heartless are remain a question mark until later in Kingdom Hearts, but for the purpose of easing you in gently, it's best to cover these guys up front. Basically, the Heartless – whom Sora first encounters during his Dive to the Heart in Kingdom Hearts' opening scene - are living representation of the darkness within a person's heart. They are the monster that is born when a heart turns foul, and the main 'grunt' enemy type Sora faces in his travels throughout the Disney worlds. Heartless can take the form of their former host or appear as a something else entirely; either way, they are poison to the universe, not to mention terrible party guests.

Traverse Town is the first location Sora visits on his quest for Kairi, and the main hub in the original Kingdom Hearts. It is a Victorian-era city comprised of fragments and refugees from worlds that have been lost to Heartless invasions. Here, both Disney and Final Fantasy characters coexist under a permanent nighttime sky, while moogles hock their wares to tourists, Disney B-listers offer advice to travellers, and Final Fantasy alumni like Leon, Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie provide guidance to Sora.

It's also in Traverse Town where Sora first crosses paths with his two most fearsome allies...

Think you know Goofy and Donald Duck? Think again, friendo. In Kingdom Hearts, Disney's beloved characters are kick-ass cartoon warriors; Goofy being the powerful Captain of the Royal Guard and Donald Duck the devastating Royal Court Magician (with a hilarious speech impediment, no less). When Sora first bumps into the anthropomorphic duo in Traverse Town, they are on the hunt for their missing king and a key that could help protect countless worlds from the Heartless scourge. Recognizing that Sora's keyblade may be that key, Goofy and Donald team up to save the kingdom as a threesome.

That king we alluded to? It's Mickey Mouse (shocking, we know). Yup, Disney's pride and joy is also the Grand Poobah of Disney Castle, one of the reigning worlds in the Kingdom Hearts universe. He's also a card-carrying Keyblade Master and the chosen keyblade wielder for the Kingdom of Darkness. What can we say? Being born into the Mouse family has its perks.

When King Mickey isn't throwing parades or tending to Queen Minnie, he's hopping through worlds looking for a solution to the Heartless dilemma. His quest takes him to the Realm of Darkness itself where he bumps into Riku, who's soul has been separated from his body by a dark entity. While Mickey hangs in the background until the very end of Kingdom Hearts, his influence and actions are felt throughout the game.

Orbiting King Mickey's domain are worlds inspired by popular Disney properties. Agrabah, for instance, is the home of Aladdin and Genie; Halloween Town serves as the resting place for Jack Skellington's crew; the Deep Jungle is where Tarzan and Jane get up to monkey business; and the Olympus Coliseum is where Hercules struts his stuff. Each world was born of a single fragment from a larger world that was once torn apart in a great Keyblade War (more on that later). They also contain the allies, powers, and knowledge needed to stop the Heartless and reunite Sora, Goofy, and Donald with their respective friends.

Not all worlds along Sora's journey are painted with the Disney brush. Some, like Traverse Town and Twilight Town (which you'll visit later), exist solely as locations in the Kingdom Hearts realm. Hollow Bastion (formerly Radiant Garden), for instance, is an original location that serves as the headquarters for one of Kingdom Hearts' main villains. It also plays a significant role in the Kingdom Hearts mythos, but to say anything more would be spoiling the juicy bits (which we'll do in just a few more slides).

Within each world rests a keyhole leading to the planet's heart. These keyholes can be locked with keyblades, thereby protecting them from unsavory characters like the Heartless who have a taste for worldly hearts. Thankfully, there exists keyblade wielders like Sora, who are equipped to handle the task of locking worlds, and this is exactly what you'll be doing for 68% of the game. Maybe 70%. Let's say 72% to be safe.

They may be dismal role models for young girls, but the seven Princesses of Heart play a crucial role in Kingdom Hearts. Created by fragments of light from a long-ago conflict, the princesses contain special 'hearts' that, when combined, open the final keyhole in Hollow Bastion that leads to the almighty Kingdom Hearts. The Princesses also posses the ingredients to forge the Keyblade of People's Hearts; a weapon used to unlock the hearts of those it pierces. Naturally, these attributes make the Disney Princesses a valuable commodities for evil doers, and as Sora's gang soon learns, they are being kidnapped to further more than a few dark agendas.

The Princesses of Heart include Cinderella (Cinderella), Alice (Alice in Wonderland), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Jasmine (Aladdin), Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and one more 'unknown'. Who could it be?!

Who would want to besmirch the lovely maidens of Kingdom Hearts? Why, Maleficent, of course – the mean ole witch of Sleeping Beauty, and the current resident of Hollow Bastion. During his search for Kairi, Sora learns Maleficent is the big bad behind the Disney Princesses' kidnappings, and that she is collecting them in a bid to rule the universe. It's also revealed that Maleficent is the one responsible for corrupting Riku against his friends, thereby opening his mind and body to the influence of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.

Maleficent does most of her scheming in the first Kingdom Hearts, but returns to stick her nose in Sora's business throughout the series.

Forget Maleficent. At the – ahem – heart of all Sora's conflicts in the first Kingdom Hearts chapter is Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. He is Maleficent's boss, Riku's possessor, and the mastermind behind the Heartless invasion. Notice the "Seeker of Darkness" designation? That's important, because as Sora's crew finds out down the road, there are multiple Ansems running amok, and they all trace back to Ansem the Wise, the former king of Radiant Garden (now Hollow Bastion) who's experiments with darkness may or may not have led to the whole Heartless apocalypse in the first place.

We'll get to all that in good time. Right now, all you need to know is that an entity going by the name of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness was once hellbent on uniting the Princesses' hearts to forge the Keyblade of People's Hearts and open a path to Kingdom Hearts.

Surprised? No? Whatever. Near the end of Kingdom Hearts, Sora's team discovers Kairi's heart is the final ingredient in Maleficent and Ansem's evil cocktail of...uh...evil. It just so happens that when the Heartless invaded Destiny Island, Kairi's heart fused with Sora's ticker, and she's been hitching a ride with him ever since.

As you can expect, this puts our spiky haired hero in a rather compromising position...

So just what is Kingdom Hearts and why does everyone care? In as much a nutshell as we can cram it, Kingdom Hearts is a door to the hearts of every world, and a source of great power for whoever manages to crack it open. Naturally, this means everything with an evil streak and a pulse in the Disneyverse wants to control it. This includes Maleficent and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, who together seek out the Princesses of Heart to open the keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, but wind up falling one heart short.

Oh, have you guessed who that final Princess of Heart is? We'll give you a second...

In a desperate bid to save his Destiny Island cuddle buddy, Sora plunges the Keyblade of People's Hearts into his chest, freeing both his and Kairi's heart. The selfless act restores Kairi to her original form, but renders Sora a mindless, snivelling Heartless. Thankfully, he isn't in this state for long before Kairi wields her feel-good powers of light to bring Sora back to humanity, making him whole once more so that he can rally his allies for one final smackdown against Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone, Sora and Kairi's transformations bring four more characters into the mix. Chew on that while we wrap up Kingdom Hearts...

Following a spirited end-game battle with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness at The End of the World, the Heartless home base, Sora and his crew struggle to close Kingdom Hearts. They are successful, but their efforts wind up trapping Riku and King Mickey on the other side. The friends have little time to swap goodbye speeches before Kingdom Hearts seals shut and the team is separated once more.

Which brings us to the end of Kingdom Hearts. Well, not the end end, but the conclusion to the beginning chapter. And then, if you like your stories neatly tied up with zero retcons or strange tangents, this is as straightforward an ending as you're going to get.

According to Kingdom Hearts lore, when a heart is consumed by darkness it becomes a Heartless and the remaining bits become a Nobody. Generally speaking, Nobodies are morose beings who exist to bitch and moan about their lack of emotions and generally make life miserable for happy people. Some Nobodies possess enough will to maintain their human form, while others degenerate into monsters. Either way, being a Nobody blows.

Did you get all that? Good. You'll need to know the concept of Nobodies through and through, because nearly every character in Kingdom Hearts winds up having a nobody, and each play important roles in the sequels ahead. In fact, it's a gang of Nobodies that steps in after the events of Kingdom Hearts to really put Sora through his paces.

Organization XIII is a group of high-ranking Nobodies who aim to capture the hearts of Heartless to construct their own Kingdom Hearts for the purpose of gaining access to real hearts to become complete. By the way, did we mention this game is about hearts?

This organization of Nobodies is led by the enigmatic Xemnas, and can be easily identified by their long black robes, overwrought dialogue, and names with the letter “x”. Original Organization XIII members include Xemnas (the aforementioned leader), Marluxia, Xion, Axel, Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Larxene, Saix, Demyx, Luxord, and Roxas.

Organization XIII members get their odd names by jumbling up the letters of their original identities and adding an "x". For example, Xigbar is the Nobody of Braig. Apply that rule to Roxas and you'll see where this is going...

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Sora, Goofy and Donald are tricked into spending a night in Castle Oblivion, Organization XIII's secondary headquarters. Here, Xemnas plots to manipulate Sora into filling Kingdom Hearts with the hearts of Heartless, while Marluxia enlists the help of a witch named Naminé to rewrite Sora's memories and use him as a puppet to overthrow Xemnas.

Either way, it's bad news for Sora, who spends most of the game as a pawn for competing Organization XIII factions while slowly losing all memory of who he is and why he originally came to the castle.

Come on, you can't have seen that coming...

While climbing through Castle Oblivion, Sora learns the witch Naminé is actually Kairi's nobody, created when Sora ripped Kairi's heart from his own in the original Kingdom Hearts. This newly discovered connection motivates Naminé to turn her back on Marluxia and help Sora, Goofy, and Donald regain their original memories just in time for start of Kingdom Hearts II.

Organization XIII members come and go in Kingdom Hearts, but if there's anyone you need to know beyond Xemnas, Marluxia, Roxas, and Xion, it's Axel. Roxas and Xion we'll get to soon enough. As for Axel, he's one of the recurring characters in Castle Oblivion, who's alliances aren't altogether clear until Kingdom Hearts II. In Chain of Memories, he interacts with a character named Roxas as if they are long lost chums (they are) and acts as though he's got an axe to grind himself (he does). Suffice to say, he is a step above some of his more forgettable colleagues, and he has a somewhat shadowy connection to Sora.

After disappearing behind the Kingdom Hearts door, Riku resurfaces in the basement of Castle Oblivion. Dazed and confused, he ascends Castle Oblivion, thinning Organization XIII's ranks along the way and waging an internal war with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, who still has some hold on Riku from within.

During his stay at the Castle, Riku unravels more of Organization XIII's plot to control Kingdom Hearts, and eventually comes to Sora's aid. He also crosses paths with an Riku duplicate and an elusive figure named Christopher Lee, who also goes by the handle DiZ. Remember that name: DiZ.

With Marluxia and Axel thwarted, and Organization XIII reduced in numbers by Riku, Naminé agrees to undo the damage she's done to Sora's memory. There is, however, one catch; in order to restore Sora, Donald, and Goofy to their previous mind-states, she must break the “chain of memories” formed within Castle Oblivion, meaning Namine will be but a blip in the heroes' memories (for now). Sora and company agree to the terms and bid Naminé farewell before slipping off to la-la-land in memory pods.

See? We told you we'd get to Roxas. He's the Sora lookalike players control in the prelude to Kingdom Hearts II; a long, protracted sequence that finds players living out Roxas' summer vacation in the bustling land of Twilight Town. Things quickly turn sour when Nobodies begin invading Twilight Town, forcing Roxas to pick up his own keyblade and start swinging. Sound familiar? It should – that's because Roxas is Sora's Nobody, created when Sora turned himself into Heartless to save Kairi in the first Kingdom Hearts.

All is soon revealed when Roxas is led to an abandoned mansion where Naminé (Kairi's Nobody) and DiZ (still a mystery) convinces him he's been living a virtual life and his true purpose is to merge with Sora, who has been sleeping in the mansion ever since being shipped out of Castle Oblivion. Roxas agrees, and things go back to normal. Well, as normal as it gets in Kingdom Hearts; and even then, not for long...

As hinted in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Organization XIII is a group of Nobodies who banded together to fill up Kingdom Hearts with the hearts of Heartless, and feast on the purer hearts within. Though many in the organization kicked the bucket in Castle Oblivion, Xemnas and a select few survived to carry on their mission.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Organization XIII's plans kick into overdrive, motivating Sora, Donald, and Goofy to once again travel across multiple Disney worlds in hopes of stopping Organization XIII from achieving their goal and, once again, rescuing Kairi from certain doom.

Finally, we come to Xehanort – the true, honest-to-goodness villain of the Kingdom Hearts series. Remember Ansem, Seeker of Darkness from the first Kingdom Hearts? In Kingdom Hearts II, our heroes find out the baddie who possessed Riku was actually the Heartless of a man called Xehanort. As for Xemnas, leader of Organization XIII, that's Xehanort Nobody.

Which leads us to perhaps the most important question of all: Just who the crap is Xehanort, and where did he come from? Funny you should ask...

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, isn't just an awesome codename. It was adopted by a dude named Xehanort in homage to his former master, Ansem the Wise (aka that “sagely king” we referenced at the beginning of this guide), whom he served after forgetting all the rotten things he did in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (yeah, yeah, we'll get to that too).

The real Ansem, as the story goes, was king of Radiant Garden. He was a brilliant scientist who dedicated his research to protecting his people from darkness by studying the intricacies of the heart. In so doing, Ansem released the darkness within Xehanort, thus spurring his once loyal apprentice to remember his wicked roots and conspire with Ansem's other apprentices to create Nobodies and Heartless against Ansem's direct orders. This results in the creation of Xehanort's Heartless (Ansem, Seeker of Darkness) and Nobody (Xemnas), as well as Organization XIII's founding members. As a final “screw you” to their old master, Xehanort and the apprentices banished Ansem to the Realm of Darkness, where he grew increasingly irate and returned Twilight Town under a new, more badass identity. Speaking of which...

From Chain of Memories onward, Riku, Sora, and company continually run across an elusive figure named DiZ, who never fails to have the answers to everything. Really, it's annoying. In Kingdom Hearts II, however, DiZ reveals himself to be the new, wuss-free version of Ansem The Wise, who's time in darkness has made him more than a little bitter against Xehanort and his henchmen (hence the name DiZ - Darkness in Zero). It's DiZ's deep-seated hate for Heartless and Nobodies that continually puts him at odds with Roxas (Sora's Nobody) and other well-meaning Nobodies. This hate is tempered to a degree after watching Riku overcome his personal demons in Castle Oblivion, and after reconnecting his longtime friend King Mickey. Nevertheless, Ansem (formerly DiZ) always seems two seconds away from bitch-slapping anyone who isn't 100% human.

Yen Sid is a retired Keyblade Master who acts a wizened mentor to Sora's crew during Kingdom Hearts II. He is also the original mentor to Mickey Mouse, and was training keyblade masters during the time of Xehanort's first bid for world domination.

Castle Oblivion is so 2009. These days, The Castle That Never Was is where all the cool Nobodies hang out. First appearing in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, it is the chief headquarters for Organization XIII, and the centerpiece to the of The World that Never Was. Below this is the Dark City, which is sadly lacking in bald-headed aliens and mad scientists played by Keifer Sutherland.

With everyone's identities out in the open, Ansem, King Mickey, and their crew descend upon Xemnas at the World that Never Was in an effort to shut down Kingdom Hearts and stop the Nobodies from stuffing themselves with hearts. For his part, Ansem takes to halting Kingdom Hearts with a magical encoding machine, but soon finds it too powerful to control. The machine explodes, and Ansem is presumed dead. On a positive note, Xemnas bites the bullet, Organization XIII's plans for Kingdom Hearts are severely hampered, and Riku is cured of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness for good.

On a not-so-positive note, the explosion lets loose an army of Heartless onto the dark streets below. Oh well, what can you do?

There was a solid amount of time between Roxas' creation in Kingdom Hearts and his appearance in Kingdom Hearts II. 358/2 days, to be exact; a period of time that is chronicled in Kingdom Hearts: 382/2 for the DS. In it, Roxas is recruited as Organization XIII's thirteenth member and ordered to hop across worlds destroying Heartless in order to release their captive hearts and help Xemnas use them in his master Kingdom Hearts plan. Along the way, he pairs with other Organization XIII members, Xion and Axel, while growing ever more curious about his origins and the Organization's motives.

Around the same time Sora and company are getting their minds blown at Castle Oblivion, Roxas (conveniently) falls into a deep coma. When he awakes, he finds his thoughts occupied with Sora's memories, and becomes increasingly frustrated when no one will explain what is going on. Friendships are also tested during his time with Organization XIII, as his new buddy Xion comes to discover she is actually a clone of Roxas created by Organization XIII as a back-up for Sora in case their Castle Oblivion scheme goes awry (which it does). Xion has little time to digest this new information before she is reprogrammed by Xemnas to assimilate Roxas and become the next best thing to an actual Sora. Disillusioned by Organization XIII's tactics, Roxas leaves the organization to "find himself", ultimately squaring off against a reprogrammed Xion and watching her die in his arms.

At the end of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Sora and his friends are transported to DiZ's (aka Ansem) mansion in Twilight Town where he and Naminé get to task of repairing Sora, Donald, and Goofy's memories. Riku is soon dispatched to find Roxas and bring him to DiZ to be absorbed by Sora. He finds Roxas attempting to take down Organization XIII at The World that Never Was, and saves him from being overwhelmed by the Heartless. Their brief partnership crumbles when Riku overpowers Roxas via his dark Ansem powers and succeeds in bringing Roxas to DiZ. Here, he is placed in a virtual Twilight Town, where he awakens with no memories of his former Nobody life.

Thus, Kingdom Hearts II begins.

Remember how we said it all starts with a boy named Sora? Technically, that's true in terms of when it started for players. Kingdom Hearts overarching story, however, begins about ten years prior to Sora's first outing, and is explained in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep for PSP. From what we understand of Dream Drop Distance, you'll need to know what happened in this portable spin-off, so sit tight and following along we go further down Square Enix's rabbit hole...

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep follows keyblade wielders Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, as they train to pass the Mark of Mastery test and become true Keyblade Masters. The trials are soon corrupted by an evil genius going by the name of Master Xehanort, and Terra fails the test after it is deemed he has too much darkness to become a Keyblade Master. Xehanort's meddling prompts the trio to split, with Terra dashing off to (allegedly) seek guidance from Master Xehanort; and both Aqua and Ventus leaving to clean up Xehanort's army of Unversed (aka anti-humans) and follow Terra's path through various Disney worlds.

Whispers of an ancient “Keyblade War” are scattered throughout the Kingdom Hearts games. It is, after all, the war that tore Kingdom Hearts world asunder, leading to the formation of the current crop of planets. It is also the conflict Xehanort attempts to ressurect once more in Birth By Sleep.

The Keyblade Graveyard is the only physical reminder of this conflict, however it's more than likely the Keyblade War will become a critical plot point in the Kingdom Hearts games ahead.

Throughout his solo journey, Ventus runs into Xehanort's current apprentice, Vanitas. He learns he used to be Xehanort's apprentice, but was tossed aside when Xehanort deemed him too goody-goody to handle his dark plans. In his place, Xehanort ripped the darkness from Ventus to create Vanitas. Not only did this create another classic "WTF?!" moment in Kingdom Hearts history, but it gave birth to the Unversed, who are thought to be extensions of Vanitas' bad mojo.

Long before he fell under the care of Ansem the Wise and gave Sora a run for his money, Xehanort conspired to fuse a heart of pure light (Ventus) and a heart of pure darkness (Vanitas) to forge the χ-blade; a powerful weapon with the power to unlock Kingdom Hearts and release the secrets of the Keyblade War. Unfortunately (well, fortunately for the universe), the plan did not pan out, as the fusion of Ventus and Vanitas proved too unstable.

No sooner are Vanitas and Xehanort successful in forging the χ-blade does Mickey, Aqua, and the gang step into shatter it into itty bitty pieces. The resulting explosion destroys the Unversed, but scatters Ventus' heart to a far off destination.

The final scenes of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep shows Ventus' wandering heart finding a new home within Sora. Meanwhile, a heartless Ventus is left by Aqua to sleep away his days in the newly built Castle Oblivion.

Rather ... Xehanort became Terra. Or, Xehanort and Terra joined to make Terra-Xehanort. Essentially, at the conclusion of Terra's plot in Birth By Sleep, Xehanort uses the χ-blade to inject him with his own heart, thus fulfilling his ultimate plan to drop his old timey body and find a newer, younger meatsuit to call his very own.

This new version Xehanort is defeated by Aqua, but later rediscovered by Ansem the Wise, who takes him under his wing while unaware of his treacherous past.

During Terra's travels, he comes across a young boy named Riku on Destiny Island. Seeing his potential, Terra puts him through the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony and makes a young Riku promise not to tell anyone of their meeting. Convenient, no?

A secret ending in Birth By Sleep reveals Ansem is a-ok and biding his time in a mysterious land called the Dark Margin. He is joined by Aqua, who was also blown into Dark Margin at the conclusion of Birth By Sleep. Together, they ponder the meaning of life and speak of a boy who might one day set everything right. (Psst, it's Sora).

In Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded – the remake of the episodic mobile series for the DS – Jiminy Cricket's journal takes on a virtual life of its own and aides takes Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Mr.Cricket in making sense of a message none of them remember writing, which reads: “Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it”

Their adventures take them through virtual representations of Disney worlds where Data-Rikus, Data-Soras, and Data-Naminés join them in figuring out the message. In the end, they learn the real Naminé is the author of the cryptic comment, and that it means Sora's true purpose is to save everyone tied to his heart, including Roxas, Ventus, Axel, Xion, Terra, and Aqua.

In Signs of What's Next, the secret ending to Kingdom Hearts: Re: Coded, Yen Sid predicts the destruction of Xemnas and Ansem will lead to the complete resurrection of Master Xehanort, who was last seen fading into the distance before his essence merged with Terra in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. Yep, all that time you thought you were ridding the world of evil, you were just setting it up for the grandaddy of all evil. Way to go, chump.

In Dream Drop Distance, Riku and Sora are on a mission to become Keyblade Masters so as to prepare for the return of Xehanort. Yen Sid and Mickey send the pair on a mission to “awaken” worlds that have been “submerged in sleep” and are thus unable to link up to the other worlds. To accomplish this, Sora and Riku must unlock the keyhole of each world while sparring with creatures named Dream Eaters, who have taken to snacking on the worlds as they lie in slumber.

Oh the places you'll go in Dream Drop Distance. They include Traverse Town, The World That Never Was, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pinocchio, Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, Fantasia, and Tron: Legacy.

Wait, no Darby O'Gill and the Little People? Weaksauce.

Dream Drop Distance will feature the ability to recruit Dream Eaters to your party and summon them for extra support in battle. That's right, those world-munching baddies aren't just for killing, they're also for enslaving and carrying around in your pocket. Kind of like pocket monsters. Will you catch them all?

There you have it – everything you need to know about Kingdom Hearts. Well, the important bits, anyways. What great mysteries and burning secrets will be revealed in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance? Provided you haven't already read the spoilers from the international releases, those answers and more will be revealed when the 3DS chapter hits North America on July 31.

Until then, help us fill in the gaps by reminding us of the not-so-important facts, people, and events in the comments below.