The KH series is....convoluted?

[Rin Heartilly]

Sooooooooooooo I remember back in the day I was a really hardcore KH fan. KH was my first Ps2 game and I played the absolute trout out of that game, then chains of memories came along and I played through it twice (using a rom because I never had a GBA), then KH2 came out and things started to get a tad confusing (for 14yo me anyway) with the whole Roxas/Sora Namine/Kairi thing going on I am you/not really/but kind of/but not really, and theeeeen spin off after spin off...I think the only spin off I finished after was birth by sleep.

Anyway, I have not played KH for a few years now. I remember the story of the first and second games like yesterday but the spin offs...? I'm having some difficulty keeping up with all the new background info that keeps being added to the series. I kinda wish the story stayed on Sora/Roxas/Namine/Kairi/Riku/organisationXIII/Xemnas/Ansem..etc instead of branching off into Xehanort, Ventus, Terra and Aqua. I haven't played KH games in a while so I've muddled all the info I remember about a lot of the characters too :S

So because of this, the hype for KH3 is kind of died a little bit for me because I'm wondering "am I going to have to revisit all these spin-offs or read up on what's happened thus far to fully understand what will take place in KH3?" I think the daunting load of all the stuff out there regarding the KH series is what's stopping me from getting into the series again.\

Does anyone else feel this way? Or am I just a rambling mess right now? Am I even making sense?

[Fynn]

Oh honey

Of course, you're entitled to your opinion. I realize the series can be confusing considering how each installment got released on another system, but I actually love all the entries (except coded) and how they all contribute to the stories.

I don't know, maybe if it was too much for you to follow, maybe try replaying them in the right order again? That can help clear things up a bit. i actually like the "named" entries much more than the "numbered" entries, with birth by sleep, 358/2 Days and Chain of Memories being my absolute favorites due to how gut-wrenching and well-written they are. But hey, to each their own

[Freya]

KH 1.5 and 2.5 consolidate all the games luckily so if you want to try playing through them all, well there you go! Well and then play 2.8 when it comes out, which is Dream Drop and a new episode of BBS that comes before KH3.

If you want to catch up by playing the games, the timeline order is

Birth by sleep
KH1
Chain of Memories
358/2
KH2
RE:Coded
Dream Drop
And then KH3

We don't know enough about KH3 to know if you'll need to play them all or not to understand the story. They'll probably make it easy to pick up since it's been so long since a big console release of a new KH. I believe they made KH 1.5, 2.5 and 2.8 so people can catch up though, so it may need it.

There are also lots of fan made youtube videos explaining it all too so if you really want to know but don't want to play the games, that's also an option.

I haven't played Birth yet myself so that part confuses me. I've generally spoiled it but yeah, I feel you! I wish they stayed all on one console but welp, here we are.

[Sephiroth]

Except 3D you might as well skip the rest and look up a brief summary. They are all canonical but so insignificant. Days is basically the side story of Roxas, Chain of Memories is to introduce the Organization to the player, which also was not necessary and Coded only existed for its secret ending. Oh, and the other cool addition is Unchained Chi.

I think really important for the lore are:

Unchained Chi
Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance

[Fynn]

Birth by sleep
KH1
Chain of Memories
358/2
KH2
RE:Coded
Dream Drop
And then KH3

Yup. Though I think the best way to really take in the story and understand the story is to follow what I like to call "The Narnia Order".

KH1
Chain of Memories
KH2
358/2 Days
Birth By Sleep
re: coded
Dream Drop Distance
(all that other stuff bundled with 2.8)
KH3

The series has complex lore but it is presented to you in chunks that all have devoted segments in the games, so if you just take them one at a time, just taking in what that game gives you, you should be fine

RE Sephiroth: They may seem insignificant, but you'll really get lost if you don't play those games in order. There's a huge difference between experiencing a plot element and reading about it, especially in a series like this that likes to build on little things from previous games that you'd never expect.

And excuse you, Birth By Sleep is as important as KH 1 and 2, basically

[Sephiroth]

And excuse you, Birth By Sleep is as important as KH 1 and 2, basically

Heh? I even mentioned BBS.

For the sake of understanding it better - as good as that is possible - you should always play everything but the thing is, that even if you do not, the core elements are retold in the big main games again.

[Fynn]

I made that post before you edited yours, you bastard

[Sephiroth]

I made that post before you edited yours, you bastard

My post was never edited, there is no edit mark.

[Fynn]

Then how did I not see the list

[Sephiroth]

Then how did I not see the list

Eh, I cannot tell for sure if I did not edit it in but I definitely cannot see an edit mark. Maybe it leaves no mark when you edit it the same minute.

[Fynn]

Then how did I not see the list

Eh, I cannot tell for sure if I did not edit it in but I definitely cannot see an edit mark. Maybe it leaves no mark when you edit it the same minute.

That may be the case... Though I'm pretty sure staff can see that anyway...?

[Sephiroth]

Then how did I not see the list

Eh, I cannot tell for sure if I did not edit it in but I definitely cannot see an edit mark. Maybe it leaves no mark when you edit it the same minute.

That may be the case... Though I'm pretty sure staff can see that anyway...?

Should be possible.

[Shauna]

Get the topic back on track, folks!

[Pheesh]

It's really not. The only thing that makes it hard to follow is that they were all split up on different consoles. Even then it's not that the series is 'hard' to follow, just 'expensive' to follow. But with the compilations out now and summary videos there's no excuse for not knowing the basic plot even if you don't play every game.

[Rin Heartilly]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I think one of the main reasons I was out of it for so long (that I didn't mention) was that my PS3 kicked the bucket ages ago and I didn't buy a new one until late last year, ironically I actually have all the KH games listed (minus chains of memories) included 1.5 and 2.5, because I knew I was going to get back into it eventually, but I was overwhelmed on where to begin xD

So should I just go 1.5 --> 2.5 --> and then 2.8? Is that the most efficient way to do it?