Wow, wow, wow.
We’ve gotten 1.5, 2.5, and now, finally, here comes Kingdom Hearts 2.8 FINAL CHAPTER PROLOGUE. It’s not “3.5” because the games were released BEFORE Kingdom Hearts 3. Technically, 2.5 and 2.8 have games that are being released and games that were already released AFTER Kingdom Hearts 2 but not after KH3…Making them 2.5 and 2.8. Anyway…
This is exciting news for fans!
2.8 consists of the following games:
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts X (unchained) Back Story
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Volume 0.2 Fragmentary Passage
For those of you confused with all the games, I’ll run down the list of games and the timeline at the end of this article…
Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is the FINAL. This is the final part of the story. That means this is basically heading towards the end of the story. This may be one of the last Kingdom Hearts games we get before Kingdom Hearts III, the final game.
For many people, all three games on 2.8 are all-new games. I’ve been reading the comments’ sections on Youtube, and I hear people saying, “Tetsuya Nomura has made three all-new side games instead of focusing on Kingdom Hearts 3?” That just goes to show you how behind people are on the Kingdom Hearts news. I knew that I had to announce this to keep everyone here up-to-date.
Am I a little worried that it’s coming out in 2016 INSTEAD of Kingdom Hearts III? Yes, I am. Like many other people, I’ve been waiting for Kingdom Hearts III for more than 10 years. I’m in my 20s, still waiting for the third installment…So, I’m sure Kingdom Hearts III will NOT be released in 2016, which is a bummer, because I’ve really been looking forward to it. And I feel my biological time ticking…
On the other hand, I’m not really old. I don’t want to feel it. And I do want to live my life looking forward to things. If Kingdom Hearts is over, it will feel like a part of my life has left me. I’ve been waiting for this game and playing this game for so long, it has really become a part of my fond memories. I feel a certain connection to this game series. It gives me so many good memories. I remember when I first got the first game. My uncle bought it for me. It was the game that I always wanted the most (next to Tekken Tag). I couldn’t afford it then. But he went out of his way to get it. It didn’t go to waste.
So, I kind of also don’t want the series to end too quickly. It’s bitter-sweet.
Anyway…
Dream Drop Distance Final Mix
Dream Drop Distance has been out since 2012. So, this game isn’t new. This is the re-mastered version. So, no, Nomura wasn’t wasting his time making a whole new game.
Fans who played Dream Drop Distance asked if it would be included in Final Mix form like the other games, so this is how we got it. I’m personally happy about it.
All you people who never got to play this game will finally get to.
Kingdom Hearts X (Unchained) Back Cover
The cinematic that appears in 2.8 covers the story behind Kingdom Hearts X Unchained, the online game released in 2013 and the North American app that came out April 2016.
For those of you who think Kingdom Hearts X Unchained is new, I’m here to tell you it’s not. This game has been out ONLINE for FREE since 2013. Yes, it was in Japanese. At first, it was only meant to be for the Japanese audience, the audience Nomura knew would appreciate it more. Some people around the world realized how important it was after playing the Japanese version, so they asked for an English release.
But some westerners are complaining about it.
I hear some people saying, “Aw, this game isn’t relevant”. If you’d been smoking the words of Nomura, you should know by now that every game he says is “irrelevant” turns out to be important!
This game explains what Eraqus and Xehanort were talking about in the Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer! This game also has an interesting story. This game even has a new world: Daybreak Town! It may even appear in KHIII! Sure, the gameplay is sketchy (It’s a lot like Chain of Memories on the SP, with the same bad graphics and everything).
Still, I recommend people play the KHX game before watching the cinematic and even diving into KHIII.
Don’t think that you can just watch the cinematic and it will cover everything. Again, the 2.8 version is just the cinematic version that covers the backstory of the fore-tellers from Kingdom Hearts X Unchained and not the actual complete Kingdom Hearts X Unchained game. That’s disappointing for me because I really liked the story in X (Unchained), though I know other westerners didn’t.
This cinematic X Unchained Back Cover is a whole new piece to the puzzle to add to the already complex story line.
Kingdom Hearts fans should really take the time out to explore the game and the back story, even if it doesn’t seem relevant or cool.
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Volume o.2~Fragmentary Passage~
This is a BRAND NEW game. If you all unlocked the “Secret Episode” at the end of Birth By Sleep, you might remember that it had the same title as this one. They are NOT the same thing. The one in Birth By Sleep was 0.1. From what I hear, this is Volume 2 of that “secret episode”.
This game is going to be the most closely connected to Kingdom Hearts III.
It follows the story of Aqua after Birth By Sleep. So if you haven’t played Birth By Sleep, I suggest you play it. It is available on 2.5 for those of you who don’t have a PSP (though PSPs are running cheap now). There is also a remastered edition that combines 1.5 and 2.5 in one game.
Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is going to be around US $60.00. I know it’s pricey, but think about it. You’re getting THREE games in ONE. Technically, two games and a cinematic version, but still that’s a lot of software. And usually ONE game is almost that price! It’s a pretty good deal. One of the games are brand new, too! This is also the FINAL PROLOGUE. That means no more additions to the story after this. THIS IS IT. It’s worth it guys. At least, I think so.
Kingdom Hearts Timeline
With all of the side stories, the story has had many additions. It has gotten a bit confusing for most people, especially if many of you haven’t played some of the games yet. Many people have asked, “In what order should I play the games? In which order do the games fit into the story?”
Well, on Kingdom Hearts’s main website, they happen to help fans out with a timeline. Still, the timeline isn’t very descriptive (so they won’t spoil everything) and is currently missing not showing how each game fits in.
So, I’ll help you all out a tad bit more.
The stories came out in this order (all final mixes are mashed with their original stories):
Kingdom Hearts or 1.5 (PS2, PS3)
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories or 1.5 (Nintendo SP, PS 2, PS3)
Kingdom Hearts II or 2.5 (PS2, Ps3)
Kingdom Hearts Coded or 2.5 (mobile phone, Nintendo DS, PS3)
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days or 1.5 (Nintendo DS, PS 3)
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep or 2.5 (and parts of 2.8) (PSP, PS3, PS4)
~You can get 1.5+2.5 Remix Limited Edition, which combines all the above games together~
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance or 2.8 (Nintendo 3DS, PS4)
Kingdom Hearts (Unchained) X or 2.8 Backstory (online website, mobile phone, PS4)
Kingdom Hearts III (PS4, Xbox One)
The order in which the games came out don’t match up with the order in which each game OCCURRED. So, the story can get a bit confusing. The following may contain a few *SPOILERS*. The timeline above have all the games, but it may look confusing.
1) Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover tells the untold story of the fore-tellers, characters that eventually appeared in Kingdom Hearts X. A bit about the fore-tellers was explained in Kingdom Hearts X (Unchained). The 2.8 version, the Back Cover, is the fully fleshed-out story of the fore-tellers. It tells us more about the people involved in the infamous Keyblade War.
2) Kingdom Hearts X (Unchained) technically takes place before Birth By Sleep. KHX Unchained takes place right before the infamous Keyblade War that caused our story to begin the way it has. This story focuses on the history of the whole Kingdom Hearts series. It’s not certain how long ago this game literally took place, but the history behind it took place before Birth By Sleep. It has also been upgraded to Kingdom Hearts Union X [Cross].
3)Birth By Sleep happened sometime after Kingdom Hearts X Unchained, 10 years before Kingdom Hearts, and begins the Xehanort saga. It follows the lives of three keyblade wielders, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. These three people end up shaping events that occur later in the series.
4) Birth By Sleep Fragmentary Passage 0.2 obviously happens right after the “Secret episode” in Birth By Sleep, a little before Kingdom Hearts. However, events in the story eventually seem to align with what’s going on in Kingdom Hearts from behind the scenes.
5) Kingdom Hearts happened next. Sora becomes our main protagonist.
6) Now, you may see that 358/2 Days seems to begin smack-dab-in-between-towards-the-end-of Kingdom Hearts in one of the timelines ABOVE. This story began a bit after Sora stabbed his heart in the Hollow Bastion segment of Kingdom Hearts. This is when Roxas, Sora’s “Nobody”, was born and the reason 358/2 Days, his story, begins there. Roxas is the protagonist of 358/2 Days.
7) Chain of Memories happened RIGHT AFTER Kingdom Hearts and DURING 358/2 Days. Did you notice this in one of the timelines ABOVE? This is when it gets tricky. Remember, 358/2 Days began around the same time as the Hollow Bastion segment in Kingdom Hearts. The events Roxas experienced in 358/2 Days continued on while Sora was entering the Kingdom Hearts End of the World segment. 358/2 Days’s events continued to occur as Sora’s game, Kingdom Hearts, was ending. 358/2 Day’s events also took place while the next story, Chain of Memories, was occurring.
At the end of Kingdom Hearts’s credits, we see a cut-scene with Sora heading down a path. This path leads him straight into the game of Chain of Memories.
358/2 Days and Chain of Memories continued to happen simultaneously, adding to each other’s stories. So while Roxas was continuing to deal with his life in 358/2 Days, Sora was headed towards Chain of Memories. Riku, Sora’s best friend, also had his own story in Chain of Memories. His story began shortly after Sora’s. Even while Sora and Riku were dealing with life in Chain of Memories, Roxas’s story continued in 358/2 Days.
Chain of Memories ended with Sora falling asleep. In 358/2 Days, Roxas was still awake while Sora was asleep in Chain of Memories. He was being affected by Sora’s slumber.
8) Kingdom Hearts II continues where 358/2 Days left off. Kingdom Hearts II begins with Roxas, who has now forgotten who he was after certain events that took place in 358/2 Days. After six days with Roxas in the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II, Sora wakes up from his long slumber (the long slumber he fell into in Chain of Memories). The rest of Kingdom Hearts II is played with Sora as the main protagonist.
9) Notice that Coded comes up next, but then there’s this weird insertion above and between Coded and Dream Drop Distance labeled “KHII” in one of the timelines ABOVE. This is another tricky one. At the end of the Kingdom Hearts II credits, Sora gets a letter with King Mickey’s seal. We might think that this letter has to do with the next game, Coded. It doesn’t. This letter has to do with Dream Drop Distance. So why is Coded next? Well, right after the events in KHII, besides the cut-scene AFTER the credits, Sora returns to a pretty normal life at his home, Destiny Islands, for a while, which isn’t really shown. While Sora has returned to his normal life, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy have returned to Disney Castle. Coded takes place at this point, right before Sora gets the letter at the end of KHII.
10) After Coded, the cut-scene at the end of KHII becomes relevant. Sora gets the letter. It’s a letter for both Sora and his best friend Riku. The letter leads Sora and Riku to the events in Dream Drop Distance.
11) Finally, after DDD, Kingdom Hearts III ends the series.
I hope my timeline helped any confused souls. If you decide to play all the games over or if you’re playing them all for the first time, you can decide to play them in order of release or in order of timeline. Whichever you feel will help you grasp the story more. I think it would be helpful to play them in order of timeline so that it won’t feel so jumpy and so you won’t lose track of what’s been going on. But it’s your decision.
If any of these games sound new to you, that could be the reason you are so confused about everything that’s been happening. Don’t worry, the whole confusing story will be over soon. So just hang tight until then.
Leave me a comment in the comments’ section and tell me what you think about the new release! Check back for more updates!
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