After years of hating these games, I figured I'd try playing them. As I've said before, I loathe what I saw them do to FF characters I knew and loved. That being said, they at least seem to do their original characters a bit of justice and I'll just try and pretend their bastardized Seifer doesn't exist.

That brings me to why I made this topic. I cannot play handheld games because of my eyesight. Are any of them essential in understanding the overall plot? I don't want to play 1, 2 and this REChain of Memories game and then realize "oh. This only works if I actually play Birth by Sleep and Fraction Days".

Actually, from what I've been reading from other KH fans, it seems 1 is probably the least important game in the series. The Heartless invasion, the fake Ansem, all are apparently forgotten and insignificant. It's all about Mansex and Organization XIII.
Oh and an evil bald man.