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Kingdom Hearts history - One of gaming's most complicated stories explained

A history of Heartless, Nobodies, heroes and mice.

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Kingdom Hearts II

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Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

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Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

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Platforms:

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27 comments

  • ertywerty - January 14, 2013 6:36 p.m.

    Having only played Kh 1 and 2 and hearing bits and pieces of the portable games, this was a good refresher.. Although I don't like the fact they have released 3 handheld games in a row I can see the need to setup the story for KH3 which will basically be a new keyblade war against the original xehanort in birth by sleep. One thing I don't get is whats up with all the xehanorts appearing in KH:DDD.. Can anyone explain plz?
  • Perdire - August 2, 2012 11:37 a.m.

    I won't lie. It was EXTREMELY difficult to get a grasp on the story. . . especially considering I started with Kingdom Hearts 356/2 Days, but the characters are what did it for me. Just seeing the way Axel, Roxas, and Xion interacted made me totally fall in love with the series. So. . . After a lot of sorting through, reading, and re-reading wikis I knew pretty much everything even though I've played only one game in the series. . . (Maybe, maybe someday I will be able to play KH I&II.) Altogether a very good refresher though for playing KH:3D.
  • Corsair89 - July 31, 2012 10:24 p.m.

    Thanks for refreshing my memory, GR! I've been a huge KH fan for years now. So far the only one I haven't beaten is re:coded, which I just figured was the video game equivalent to a clip-show episode. :/
  • Sjoeki - July 30, 2012 1:18 p.m.

    Loved the first kingdom hearts, really liked the second one though it was getting to crowded for my taste. I seriously think that at this point it's easier to explain the metal gear solid saga to my cat, who never even touched a joypad. If a gamesite needs 50 slides to explain the important bits to gamers then there is just to much stuff going on.
  • Asloveszuko - July 30, 2012 10:53 a.m.

    Good read! I've played all the KH games up to this point, and even then this article provided a nice little refresher course! Not to mention I didn't know that there was a secret ending to Re:Coded which I just recently finished. >.< "DOH!"
  • DarthPunk - July 30, 2012 4:33 a.m.

    Christ Gravity's Rainbow is easier to follow than this piece of nonsense
  • zombi3grim - July 29, 2012 4:02 p.m.

    I only played KH and KH2. This was very helpfull.
  • GameManiac - July 29, 2012 10:05 a.m.

    I have a copy of every single KH game, and every single bit of its soundtrack (including those from Dream Drop Distance). Clearly, I'm a dedicated fan. And the fact that this was more "review" than "complicated" for me proves it. Can't beieve Dream Drop Distance comes out on Tuesday (US release). Mark of Master edition, here I come.
  • thecakeisalie96 - July 28, 2012 9:37 p.m.

    I lost you after "Once upon a time it was simple"
  • Fuzunga - July 29, 2012 7:26 p.m.

    You win everything forever for having an avatar picture of the ranting Swede.
  • firesprite1123 - July 28, 2012 8:32 p.m.

    lets see...the only ones i haven't played were chain of memories (stopped half way through sora's story) and re coded and i still figured the story out but even still this article is awesome and in a lot of ways very funny can't wait for dream drop distance
  • jdognasty - July 28, 2012 5:22 p.m.

    I still have absolutely no idea what the fuck is going on =\
  • anthonybonales - July 28, 2012 2:21 p.m.

    The only reason that I'm gonna buy a 3ds. I've wasted so much money on handhelds because of this series
  • D0n41d - July 28, 2012 10:30 a.m.

    This is beyond painful to read in this article format.
  • archnite - July 28, 2012 8:01 a.m.

    On slide 36 you put that Riku leaves Organization XIII and defeats Xion, I believe this should be Roxas. I've only bothered with the console games (and CoM) so this article was really helpful in filling out what missed. I'd like to see a convolution fight between Metal Gear and Kingdom Hearts just to see who can get the craziest. Also whyi is it that when you clone someone you can just flip their gender?
  • Matt_Bradford - July 28, 2012 8:26 a.m.

    Fixed - thanks Archnite. The story is already pretty jumbled without switching Riku and Roxas around.
  • Lemming - July 29, 2012 11:11 a.m.

    Well in the case of Xion, "she" technically was a genderless puppet created by Vexen and only has an appearance based on her beholders memories. Roxas with Sora's memories saw her as a Kairi lookalike. Axel saw her as a Namine lookalike (hence why Roxas and him see her the exact same). Xigbar saw Xion as Ventus. Saix saw Xion as nothing but a genderless puppet. We're not entirely sure what Riku sees her as, but a cutscene does show her appearance shifting rapidly when seeing Riku's memories, so I can presumely assume he saw her as either Sora or Kairi before settling on the Xion appearance. Then Xenmas tired of waiting reprogrammed Xion to realize her purpose (to absorb Roxas and become a controllable Sora) and she took on the appearance of Sora.
  • DrFred79 - July 28, 2012 4:20 a.m.

    DAFUQ did I just read ?
  • Fuzunga - July 28, 2012 12:56 a.m.

    Oh hey, this should really help me out. I've never really understood this series. *sees 52 slides* Fuck.
  • Weirdjedi - July 27, 2012 8:32 p.m.

    Having a PS2 allowed me to play Kingdom Hearts 1 in 2002 and Kingdom Hearts 2 in 2006. I never got a mobile device, so I never played any of the other ones. I just recently found out that Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (or I call Kingdom Hearts 1 1/2) came out on the PS2 while I was busy moving cross-country in 2008. Those 3 games are probably the only ones you really want to play. I really liked how they explained "Heartless" (your essence) + "Nobody" (empty shell) = "Heart" (somebody). The others really add A TON of background that kind of overcomplicates things from a historical perspective. Kind of sad. Without a PS3, I doubt I'll ever continue the series. At least awesome summaries like this one can briefly explain things.

Showing 1-20 of 27 comments

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