Kingdom Hearts in Order

Why this order?

Kingdom Hearts is famous for being almost impossible to follow. Square Enix spread the games across eight different consoles and rarely released them in the order the story happens. There are two sensible ways in. Release order (the default here) is how returning fans lived it, and it's the safest path for newcomers. The original Kingdom Hearts (2002) is still the best on-ramp, and the spin-offs fill in backstory as you go. You'll meet a few prequel reveals slightly out of sequence, but nothing that spoils the main beats. Story order starts with the Back Cover cinematic and Birth by Sleep, covering events that happen long before the first game. It's the richer way to experience the lore and makes Kingdom Hearts III land harder. The catch: Birth by Sleep reveals faces and names the original game treats as mysteries, so it's best kept for a replay or for lore-hungry players. Whichever you pick, the modern HD ReMIX collections bundle nearly everything, so you no longer need six consoles to play through the whole saga.

What you buy is not quite what this list says. Every entry is dated to its original console, but the collections ship the enhanced Japanese editions by default: HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX contains Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Re:Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix and Birth by Sleep Final Mix, and HD 2.8 contains Dream Drop Distance HD. Those Final Mix editions were never sold separately in the West, so there is nothing to choose against. Chain of Memories is the one real exception, which is why it gets its own step here: the 2004 Game Boy Advance card battler has never been re-released, and every collection since HD 1.5 ReMIX ships Re:Chain of Memories, the 2007 PlayStation 2 remake with 3D battles, voice acting and new cutscenes. That remake is the only version you can actually buy. One more thing the storefront does not tell you: in the collections, 358/2 Days and Re:coded are not playable at all. Both are cinematic retellings, roughly two hours fifty minutes and about three hours respectively, and the DS cartridges are the only way to play them.

Where you buy it changed in 2026. The Nintendo Switch cloud versions were pulled from sale on June 9, 2026, and existing owners can keep playing them until June 9, 2027. Square Enix replaces them with native releases on October 8, 2026: KINGDOM HEARTS Collection [I~III] for Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Windows via the Microsoft Store, bundling HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind, with all three also sold individually. Steam and Epic already carry the same three titles, and the existing Steam bundle is sold as KINGDOM HEARTS INTEGRUM MASTERPIECE. HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX also arrives natively on the original Switch the same day, the Switch 2 physical edition is a Game-Key Card, and owners of the cloud versions get 50 percent off. Melody of Memory is not in the Collection and stays a separate purchase.

Order genuinely matters in three places. Chain of Memories sits between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II and explains why Sora starts the sequel asleep, so skipping it is the most common mistake newcomers make. Dream Drop Distance is the direct set-up for Kingdom Hearts III and assumes you have played everything before it. And Kingdom Hearts III is only complete with Re Mind, the paid DLC that adds the Re Mind scenario plus the Limitcut and Secret Episodes; it is bundled into Kingdom Hearts III in the October 2026 re-releases, so new buyers get it without a second purchase.