Kingdom Hearts has been a beloved series for me. One I’ve very much enjoyed my time with. But what if I said for the longest time, my interaction with the series was just one game. A game that kid me got for Christmas the year it came out. And so, after the excitement of the Wii died down, it was time to get adventuring through Disney worlds in Kingdom Hearts 2.

Not to start, though. As Kingdom Hearts 2 starts with Twilight Town, and the weirdness that surrounds Roxas. This opening has always been a favourite of mine. Following Roxas as he hangs with his friends, encounters the nobodies, and realises his existence is a lie. That he wasn’t meant to exist, and now needs to return to Sora. Other elements of the story of Roxas also come out, chief among them being Axel. Who considers Roxas a friend. Wants him to return to the Organisation.

It’s a very emotional whirlwind, with Roxas having no memory of his time in the Organisation. Only knowing his fabricated memories of Hayner, Pence, and Olette. His confusion over things like why he has the keyblade, who Axel is… It’s powerful in execution. All building to that realisation and his final line. “It looks like my summer vacation is… over.” Still hits me just thinking back to it.

With Sora, Donald, and Goofy now awake, memories fully restored, the real adventure begins. Working together to stop the Organisation in its plans while also trying to find Riku and King Mickey. Coming across plots that the heartless and nobodies are stirring in the Disney worlds, which offer truncated retellings of the story from their films. All leading to the final confrontation in The World That Never Was. Where the threads set up come together wonderfully.

The gameplay was a great part of the enjoyment for Kingdom Hearts 2, with its action combat. Using melee skills with the keyblade, and throwing ranged attacks with magic. The reaction commands providing time-sensitive movement and attacks. The drive forms that changed Sora’s combat capabilities, including dual-wielding keyblades. There was so much to play around with, that enemy encounters were always fun. The variety in enemies also helped with that.

Then there comes the worlds themselves. It was so fun to fight through such varied places, coming from Disney worlds that I recognised even if I hadn’t watched the films they came from. Seeing the appearance of Sora, Donald, and Goofy change depending on the world was great, especially with changes such as lion Sora in the Pride Lands, or mummy Sora in Halloweentown. The worlds might have been linear, but traversing them still held a lot of fun.

And the music across the adventure. Oh, the music! That opening theme of Sanctuary. The slow, wistful melody of Twilight Town’s theme. The various battle themes across the worlds that felt like high-energy extensions of those worlds. I was just so in love. Even in the cutscenes, the music helped elevate the emotions that characters felt. It’s no surprise that along with being one of my favourite games, the soundtrack is one of my favourites for music in general.

I completed Kingdom Hearts 2 a fair number of times across the years. Despite owning a DS and PSP, though, I never really gave the games on those systems a chance. 358/2 Days should have been one I wanted to play, seeing more of the story of Roxas during his time at the Organisation. But the gameplay of it felt much reduced compared to Kingdom Hearts 2. Though maybe that was me focusing too much on the limitations of the DS and not what had been managed on the handheld.

As for Birth By Sleep, my sister had it. I just never played it. Much like with the DS, I felt the PSP couldn’t recreate the magic that had come from Kingdom Hearts 2. Then came the 3DS, with a Kingdom Hearts game released on it the next year. Dream Drop Distance… was a game I gave a chance to, but never played fully until 2017. I think what put me off to start was the swapping between characters. And that the Dream Eater companions were pretty crucial to learning new abilities.

With Kingdom Hearts 3 hype really getting going in 2017 with that Toy Story trailer, I wanted to be playing a Kingdom Hearts game again. With the faithful PS2 no longer working, I could no longer be playing Kingdom Hearts 2. And it was only PlayStation that had got the collections, meaning there was no way I could be playing any Kingdom Hearts on my Xbox One until KH3 released. So it was back to Dream Drop Distance.

I dedicated time to it, and loved it. No longer minding the character switch mechanic, knowing I could plan around it, I fully got into it. I fully got into the combat, finding plenty more options thanks to flowmotion. The story I felt didn’t have as much impact as Kingdom Hearts 2, but I did enjoy the worlds it offered. I also didn’t mind the Dream Eater companions much, as they were varied enough. And there were a few dinosaur-like ones in there, which I very much wanted for my team.

Dream Drop Distance allowed me to do some preparation for Kingdom Hearts 3, with it offering up some small story summaries for all the games. They were good reads, getting right to the core of each game’s plot. It let me recognise characters such as Terra, Aqua, and Ventus from Birth By Sleep, knowing their struggle. Let me gain more details on the plots of the games before KH2. So, when Kingdom Hearts 3 finally released, I could at least put pieces together and figure out the plot elements it presented as it built toward its finale.

Kingdom Hearts 3… What a joy it was. The worlds were so full of life. Combat felt even more free than with Dream Drop Distance, with wall running and diving from high distances. Magic could be used without even stopping. The music was just as great as ever, with my favourite version of Tension Rising coming from this game with Reaper’s Revenge. And then there was the story, and the plots of the Disney worlds truncated to fit that of the main story.

Sora needs to unlock the power of waking, so he’s off on a journey to discover himself. Across worlds, Sora comes into contact with the new Organisation members, who are hunting for information from these worlds. Echoing what he is doing, as each side looks to build its numbers to seven lights and thirteen darknesses that are fated to clash in the next keyblade war. There’s plenty of great interactions across the story, including the most memed such as Woody’s speech and Yeetus Vanitus.

Then comes the finale at the Keyblade Graveyard. Facing off against multiple of the Organisation at once, with the help of different allies per battle. As each enemy falls, a closing cutscene for them happens. I felt they were mostly touching moments, though it did always make me laugh picturing the remaining fighters just waiting around as these moments happened. There was a very touching moment with Xehanort and Eraqus after the very final battle, too. Which is sure to hit harder now I know their history.

Which… yeah. In 2020 the collections came to Xbox One, but it wouldn’t be until the end of 2023, on my birthday, that I would buy them. I played through and enjoyed Kingdom Hearts 1 at last, finding some great worlds to traverse. Even if the platforming it wanted me to do in some sections was a little dodgy. A great story of two boys heading in different directions. One to light and one to darkness. It was great, and I would have gone straight to Kingdom Hearts 2 to continue that high. But… Re:Chain of Memories.

Originally a GBA game that got remade for PS2, released only in Japan until the collections came along. And one I did not like at all. If not for the story, I would have left it. The card system made battles a chore, even when I got into the swing of it. But seeing what Sora and Riku went through in Castle Oblivion made me appreciate their journey in Kingdom Hearts 2 more. Which I was glad to be able to enjoy once again.

As for Birth By Sleep, it would be almost two years before I got to this one, with so many new games providing a distraction. But when I got into it, I felt I could have enjoyed it back on the PSP. Aside from the fact it wouldn’t have had camera control. The story of this trio was a great time, with some great new worlds visited from three different perspectives. Abilities that could be combined to make them stronger or make new ones. And a finale that hit right in the emotions to see the lives of the three friends destroyed.

The two cutscene compilations were watched, letting me see the events of 358/2 Days that I couldn’t get through the actual game for. The tale of three friends and how they were separated. And then Re:Coded, which was fun enough even if the story felt very low stakes. The same could be said for 0.2, which was a fun time playing as Aqua in the Realm of Darkness.

Now, likely in just over a year, Kingdom Hearts 4 will be out. The trailers for it have only just started. Revealing that it would be coming on the same day on Switch 2 as other platforms. And then the first Disney World reveal with Coco. An extended trailer which then showed playable segments as Donald and Goofy, and King Mickey. The latter of which looks to be providing an interesting gameplay style away from the usual action combat.

A Star Wars world was already teased in the initial trailer, so I’m very happy with that. Quadratum feels like it will play a big part in the story. Likely the hub the other worlds are accessed from as Sora, too. There are so many good choices for worlds if I’m right on the focus with them being family. Like, maybe now is the time for that Incredibles world I’ve been wanting to see. No matter what worlds appear, though. I’m going to be very happy playing a new Kingdom Hearts.

Images Taken From:
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix | Xbox Series S
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD | Xbox Series S
Kingdom Hearts III | Nintendo Switch 2
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix | Xbox Series S