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Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover: (SKIP) Also known as Kingdom Hearts Unchained/X/Union Cross, this was a mobile game that was released in 2016.It's short enough that it's worth running through real quick and will help you understand what Aqua has been through, but it isn't an absolute necessity. You'll dive into more Disney worlds and see what Mickey Mouse has been up to over the last several years. You play as Aqua following after the events of Birth by Sleep and start to see how she and her friends are connected to Sora and his friends. Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage: (RECOMMENDED) This is the shortest game of them all and launched in 2016 as part of the 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue collection.Most importantly, Xehanort's master plan gets revealed, and you understand exactly what the overarching plot is heading into Kingdom Hearts 3. Time travel is a major factor and has the two revisiting events from the first game. Following the events of Kingdom Hearts II, Sora and Riku set out to pass the Mark of Mastery Exam to take on Xehanort. Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD: (MUST PLAY) This game was originally released for Nintendo 3DS in 2012 but has been recreated in HD.
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Kingdom Hearts Mousketeers (Image credit: Square Enix) Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Cloud Version Unless you really want to see everything Kingdom Hearts-related, this entry isn't worth watching at all. Jiminy Cricket discovers something is wrong with his journal, so Mickey Mouse creates a digital Data-Sora to fix the bugs. This is basically a collection of cutscenes from a Nintendo DS game that was released in 2010, but the story has absolutely no bearing on the series' overarching plot. Kingdom Hearts Re:coded: (SKIP) Skip, skip and, double skip this one.You will not understand a significant portion of Kingdom Hearts 3's plot if you skip this game. You'll dive into several Disney worlds that we haven't seen until now, including locations found in Sleeping Beauty, Lilo and Stitch, Snow White, and more. Xehanort, a character introduced in Kingdom Hearts II, plays a major role in this story and manipulates the three friends against each other. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus are all students working towards achieving their Mark of Mastery. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix: (MUST PLAY) This game was originally released on PSP in 2010 and has you take a break from Sora and his pals to dive into a prequel that takes place 10 years before the first Kingdom Hearts game.You'll start to learn about a grand evil plot that appears in every game following. The storyline is complicated and might make you feel all the feels. Organization XIII features prominently throughout the levels as you dive into even more Disney worlds and meet iconic villains. Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix: (MUST PLAY) Many consider this to be the best game in the series, but it will start in a rather confusing fashion where you follow the character named Roxas (first introduced in 358/2 Days) for several hours before Sora and the gang show up.Watching this will help make the introduction to Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix make more sense, but you don't need to watch it unless you really want to. You get to see a new character named Roxas and learn about his friendships with Organization XIII members, including Axel and Xion. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days: (SKIP) So this was originally a Nintendo DS game released in 2009, but within this grouping, it is reduced to simply being a collection of cutscenes.However, it also has you revisiting many of the same locations from the first game and feels very watered down compared to more substantial entries.
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It introduces you to some key characters that you'll be seeing throughout the rest of the series' main storyline, most notably, Axel and Namine. This game was originally released on Game Boy Advance in 2004 after the first game but then got the remake treatment on PS2 after Kingdom Hearts 2 launched.
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