When it comes to the role-playing genre of video games, there are very few RPG series' and games as complex asKingdom Hearts. What once started as a simple happy-go-lucky adventure of Sora, Donald, and Goofytraversing Disney worldsand uncovering the secrets of several mysteries has become a vastly complex overarching story that can only be best understood in its entirety.
The thing that makes it difficult to absorb everythingKingdom Heartshas to offer, however, is that it tends to span across almost as many consoles as there are titles. While collections such asKingdom Hearts: The Story So Farand theHD Remixgames do a good job of making this easier, how exactly the timeline works can be tricky to keep track of, especially with time travel added into the mix. Thankfully, the series can be condensed down to important moments, and it’s there that the timeline is a bit more understood.
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TheKingdom Heartsseriesinterestingly starts off with its mobile game,Kingdom Hearts X [Chi] Unchained, which puts players in the original Realm of Light as their own Keyblade wielder avatar. It’s through the events ofX UnchainedthatKingdom Hearts X Back Coverunfolds, as the Union Leaders search for the traitor among them to stop the Keyblade War.
They, and a girl named Strelitzia who died trying to prevent said fate, failed. The Keyblade War leads the Realm of Light to split into the smaller Disney worlds. However, Union Leader Ava’s chosen Keyblade Wielders save the player before they can perish as part of the war, starting the events ofKingdom Hearts Union X, the updated version of the mobile game.
InUnion X, the player character hasforgotten the Keyblade Warhas ever happened with a Data world, and works under Ava’s newly chosen Union Leaders, one of which being a boy named Ventus. Eventually, the Data world becomes corrupted, and these new Union Leaders are tossed into different parts of the Kingdom Hearts timeline when escaping.Dark Road, Xehanort’s story, plays out, and Ventus is eventually found and raised to be his apprentice beforeKingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleepbegins. Xehanort then tries to make the X-Blade, Ventus and his friends Aqua and Terra are separated, Ventus finding young Sora’s heart and choosing to stay with him.
After Sora: Kingdom Hearts Through KH: Melody of Memories
Aqua falls into the Realm of Darkness and spendsKingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passagesuffering for almost the entirety ofeachKingdom HeartsgameafterBirth by Sleep.Years later, after Ventus found his heart, the story ofKingdom Heartsbegins proper with Sora gaining his Keyblade as Destiny Islands falls to the Heartless.
AfterKingdom Hearts, the timeline grows to be a bit more complex;Chain of Memorieswas released first, butKingdom Hearts: 358/2 Daysbegins before it, with both games happening almost at the same time. As Roxas and Xion battle with Sora’s power and memories, things go awry, and Roxas ends up sealed in a Data world to have Sora regain his memories back at the start ofKingdom Hearts 2.
After besting Ansem and Xemnas inKingdom HeartsandKingdom Hearts 2, this reforms Xehanort, who works in secret to formthe Real Organization 13. InRe:Coded, King Mickey learns that Ventus, Aqua, and Terra need to be saved for the upcoming battle between the seven lights and 13 darknesses. This requires the Power of Waking, which Sora and Riku embark on a quest through Sleeping Worlds to obtain inKingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
Sora’s journey is meddled with by the Real Organization 13, as they aim to turn Sora into a vessel for Xehanort. It’s thwarted by Riku and King Mickey, but as a result, Sora is without the Power of Waking and has lost some of his Keyblade abilities. Almost all ofKingdom Hearts 3acts as Sora’s “training session” to regain the Power of Waking, which helps free Ventus and Aqua. In the battle against Xehanort,Kairi goes missing, and Sora chooses to use the Power of Waking to find her at a price.
In the ending ofKingdom Hearts 3: ReMind, Kairi is saved, but Sora disappears. Looking for answers, Kairi and Riku eventually find hints pointing to Sora being lost to a “fictional world” inKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory. With the help of the Fairy Godmother fromCinderella, Riku and Kairi are put in contact with Strelitzia, who reveals that Sora has most likely gone to a new world called Quadratum. She proceeds to helpRiku start his journeythat fans will most likely see in the nextKingdom Heartsgame.
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