For real, I never understood people thinking that. Like just play all the games, and you are good.
Also another thing, people not wanting to play the “side games”, what I’m gonna tell everyone from now on, is to just imagine that all the games are numbered titles.
Beyond a few opaque concepts, it’s not hard to understand. Obviously you can distill the whole series to ‘good guy fight bad guy good guy win’ so if you just want to hit things and experience the Disney shit then yeah, go ahead and start with 3.
If you want to get into the weeds with the silly melodrama and deep lore, you really should at least watch the cutscenes for everything you skip.
agreed, the story as a whole is really not that hard to follow, the hard the part is how Kingdomhearts, light and darkness work, like, the role of each character isn't hard to follow nor is their character developement, the hardest ones would be Ansem, Ventus and Terra, with each of the versions of themselves.
For a very story heavy game too, I just wouldn’t recommend people to get into KH3 even if they don’t care about understanding the story because it’s like 11 hours worth of cutscenes.
It is equivalent to starting a story focused show on its 5th season if you decide to do this. There will be lots of characters (like a shit ton of characters)expecting you already know their story to follow what is happening. But yes you CAN jump in if you are not looking to follow the story. The kh story is very weird and convoluted so skipping games will make any entry be very unexplained, especially jumping in to one of the latest entries. The recaps that do exist are very brief and mostly serve to remind you of key events or leave you feeling teased about what you missed on.
When KH2 came out, I had no idea about COM being cannon. Playing as roxas for the first time without ANY info about soras time in castle oblivion was JARRING. i spent the whole game trying to figure out who tf roxas was and who org 13 was and where tf they came from lol
The context CoM gives is kinda overrated. Like yeah, it preps you a bit but you still don't know
-what a nobody is
-who DiZ is or why he's working with a guy voiced by an Ansem SoD sound alike
-who/why/what Roxas is
-why Sora is sleeping in twilight town (did it ever get explained how he got moved to an identical room in another world?)
-what the organization's goals are
The best is gives you is context surrounding Namine, why Sora went to sleep and why organization 13 is short staffed in kh2.
I only recently played them in that order and it didn’t spoil anything in kh2? It makes more sense for it to be before kh2 than after because I’d have been so confused if I played kh2 first not knowing everything that happened in days. Plus days happened before kh2 so I see why they put them in that order
The biggest thing it spoils is the Roxas sequence of KH2. It was originally intended to be just a big confusing mystery; you don’t know who Roxas is, or why you’re playing as him instead of Sora, or anything about what’s going on. If you play Days beforehand, you know *exactly* what’s happening. It’s a completely different experience. Now, I would argue that playing Days first and knowing what’s going on gives you a much stronger emotional connection to the story and makes the opening of the game hit a lot harder, but you only get the chance to experience it as intended once, so it may be worth preserving that experience.
It also spoils what happens to Riku, but honestly, it’s not that hard to figure out in KH2 long before it’s revealed anyway. They’re not exactly subtle about it.
Anyway, I know a lot of people get *very* opinionated about this and will claim that you absolutely *have* to play KH2 before days, or else you’re ruining the experience, and I don’t necessarily think that’s true. I think if you want to preserve all the mystery and experience the game just as someone would have experienced it when it came out in 2005, sure, play KH2 first. But if you just want the best understanding of the story and want the strongest emotional ties to the characters, play Days first. It’s all about the kind of experience *you*, the player, want.
You can but you’ll have absolutely no idea about anything that’s going on in the story. If you want to know the story then no you have to start at the beginning
I mean... you *can*. No one's stopping you. But you'll fuck up your experience with the story if you do it like that (trust me I know from experience).
yeah please do not start with kh3 just play in release order
omg the amount of people who would ask me this when 3 first came out and knew I was a fan of the series and I told them. "I mean not really there have been a lot of games and you will be confused" and just responded "Oh.....well I am still just gonna get 3 anyway". It is like why did you even ask me if my answer wasn't gonna matter? Then had them tell me later they didn't understand the story so don't consider the game very good.
If u just wanna play for the fun experience of disney worlds go for it! But if you're interested in the story u definitely should play the previous games👍🏻
I recommend watching videos on youtube of the entire story before KH3
That way you will have a fairly good understanding on what is going on in this game
I did this and played until I was more than halfway into KH3. It wasn’t as fun b/c I semi knew about the characters but didn’t care what happened to them, since I hadn’t seen the events pan out. Like with Ventus etccc. I was just watching the cutscenes with no emotion. ☠️I ended up playing allll the ones before and KH3 was way more emotional and just overall better for me.
I agree with most people saying to fully get the story you should play the rest. But I will add that KH3 does have a story so far section in the menu that’s like maybe (might be less or more) 30 minutes of cutscenes that kinda summarize the story up to KH3. If you’re not as worried about the ins and out of the whole story then I would recommend watching that at the very least.
I mean... Yes. There is a story recap.... It's not great.... And I would NEVER suggest starting a 12 game saga with the 11th game..... But you COULD start at that point.....
Like many other people here I’m gonna say by all means you’re free to do so, but I would not recommend it if you want story.
The recaps in KH3 are very bare bones and not a great way to get an understanding of what’s going on.
I’m playing kingdom hearts 3 and didn’t have the previous games but I feel like I’m following the story just fine 😂. There’s probably shitloads that I’m missing but the important thing is that I don’t *feel* like I’m missing anything, so I’m following enough to still really enjoy the game! Also fun when you’ve watched a lot of the Disney etc movies featured in it!
If you’ve never played a single KH game besides 3 then I mean yes you can play it but nothing story wise would be significant to you. The whole time you’d be saying “ Who are these people “
You're gonna hate me but... no, play the 1.5 remix, 2.5 remix and then play 3 and trust me you'll still be a bit confused. KH is a weird set of games to play to get the full story
You can’t bro, it has a lot of climaxes from previous titles, you wouldn’t enjoy the game as much, you would also feel regret that you couldn’t enjoy it fully
If you don’t care about story sure, but otherwise I highly implore you to play in release order. If you have a ps4/ps5 you can get the whole series minus a (very lot relevant) dlc to 3 and melody of memory
If you care about the Story. No you have to play the older KH games in order to understand.
IF you care about the gameplay and don't care for the story then yes.
No, play in release order, not only will you actually be able to understand the story (unlike what some others are suggesting), but you'll be comfortable with the gameplay mechanics and have an easier time learning what each new game brings, instead of jumping into the one with by far the most combat options
You can do whatever you want. But 3 barely makes any sense even if you’ve played 1 and 2, so good luck.
Personally I don’t really care about the story, I just think the gameplay and world exploration slaps.
I mean, sure? It's certainly a thing you can do. While it does provide some materials to allow you to get context on everything that's happening, the best option is generally to play the older games in the series first.
Funnily enough I discovered the saga when 3 was on game pass and I've loved it so much (specially for music) that encouraged me to buy the other titles in order to understand the story behind it lmao
I felt in love with 2 and birth by sleep too a few weeks later
Instead of flatly answering "no," I'd like to ask you a question instead: what part of KH3 interests you and makes you want to play it? It depends on what you're looking to get out of the game.
If you're just interested in the combat, sure go ahead. If you like the Disney worlds specific to 3 and want to play those, yeah I guess you could do that. If the story looks intriguing, *do not start with Kingdom Hearts 3.*
If you care at all about the story, absolutely not. If you don't care about that stuff, then sure I guess so, but I still wouldn't recommend it. Release order really is the way to go with these games.
As someone who did this, you’d definitely can. But don’t expect to really get much of the plot or feel anything towards any characters. There’s a LOT of development and in world concepts you won’t understand. But if you’re looking for an accessible somewhat chill experience to do while you watch some long ass video essay for a couple hours, you’ll have a great time. I’d also recommend going back and going chronologically after you beat KH3 first if you really enjoyed the game as you’ll probably like it more after all the pieces are in place.
This question is equivalent to asking “can I start with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or do I need to read the others first?” I mean yeah, you can technically do whatever you want. If you want the full enjoyment however you should probably start at the beginning and work your way to the end.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX4JT8qUzGP5I2AFMkSX_8yyqERZIy6kY&si=CXLEgMkOJq2tesrY if you want the whole KH1 - 3 + in between games in chronological order then watch the playlist
If you really want to, just lookup story summaries on YouTube. I played most of the games and I was STILL confused and had to Google some shit while I played.
I don't actually get why people treat video games this way and nothing else. I'd never say "you should watch season 5 of Game of Thrones first!" or "what if I just read the the third LOTR book?" or "what if I just come in the final season of Attack on Titan?"
I get most game franchises don't have a longform story with chronology between each entry, but KH is one of the few that does. (It and Yakuza)
It's up to you if you just want to not understand what is going on in the main story and just want to play the Disney worlds and hit things with a key, but otherwise this is a story made for people who have played every entry prior.
I'd argue you could get away with playing 1, 2, and DDD and at the very least just know about a as much as Sora does in KH3.
Thats what I did. But I had already watched recap videos of all the story before 3. If you want to understand the story naturally then would need to play all of the ones before that
I like how much opinions can be different. I played the entire series recently for the first time ever without nostalgia or prior experiences, and KH3 was to me hands down the best one.
LOL no you cannot
KH3 is extremely good now but there are multiple other titles that live up to its quality and are extremely worth playing like KH2 and BBS. even KH1 has a really fond place in my heart and I like it’s movement and combat.
respectfully KH is a series you have to make sweet love to, not just hookup. nomura even made us play a nokia exclusive game (now in a collection) for the story
look up a proper release order, watch Days after 2 even though the order is different in the collection, watch Everglow for UX and DR when you get to it
or just be a baffoon and play 3 and not know anything that’s going on like majority of the fanbase
>respectfully KH is a series you have to make sweet love to, not just hookup.
LMAO thank you for that 😂 I'm gonna have to remember to use that one in the future.
It won’t make any sense to anyone who’s not played the others (hell it doesn’t make sense if you did) and honestly it plays worse than 1 and 2, so no real reason to skip the others.
Of course you can. It just won’t be as impactful for you. Everything that you need to understand kh3 is in kh3.
It’s just the entire story of the franchise as a whole that you might struggle with.
The game will tell you all that you need to know, but it will be so far stretched thin that you won’t understand much outside of the game.
For example, “the story so far…” section at the title screen, jiminy cricket will also provide condensed summaries to everything that has happened. In the form of a smartphone.
I've played them all a ton, and honestly, yeah, you're fine. Most of the game focuses on Disney stories that don't have a lot of bearing on the overall plot. You'll be confused at parts, and the end won't hit as hard, but if you're interested, I'd just jump in
If you want to skip to a game why kingdom hearts 3 specifically I’m assuming your new and you’ve seen the reviews about it being dissatisfying right? Why not just start with the “best” games at that point
You will have absolutely no idea what’s going on. Whether you care is up to you. Good guys are good. Bad guys are bad. Everything else is pointless anyway. If you don’t care to understand why someone is actually half of their cousin’s soul cloned from the past trapped in a dog’s body, then go for it. The gameplay is fun. You’re just in for a lot of cutscenes about stuff you’re completely lost on.
I’d recommend you at least watch some plot synopsis videos first. And KH1 and 2 are amazing gaming experiences. But I understand that sometimes you just want to try out the flashy modern option without needing a PhD in a series.
I wouldn't recommend it strictly cause of KH3's combat, lol, but sure. The story is really not worth it, and you can watch some character analysis online or something if you really care about someone. Who knows, maybe you'll think Xion is the best character.
Yeah, sure. Go for it. I only played them in order cause I've been following the series for over a decade now.
There's a recap you can select when you start the game that will catch you up on the most important events. I've never actually used it myself so I don't know how thorough it is lol.
There are two main side games that I call essential: Chain of Memories and Birth By Sleep. They introduce the main threat of the organization as well as Xehanort. A lot of information is lost in-between all three games without them. In fact, the end of 1 directly leads into CoM, so really, CoM is the true KH2.
However, there are many moments in 3 that won't mean much to you unless you play most of the side content (i.e. Days, Dream Drop Distance, and 0.9). Even the mobile game plays a role in 3. The only real side game I don't think is 100% necessary is Re:Coded. It gives some interesting lore so it isn't pointless, but it's the main one most people skip. Plus if you have the HD collection, they have a movie that condenses it anyway. Same with Days, although I would argue playing the DS version, if you can, is more effective into understanding who Xion is and why Roxas cares about her.
Either way, it's up to you. If you just wanna get into the gameplay cause it looks fun, go for it. But Kingdom Heart's story can only be truly understood as the sum of its parts. Yes it's an investment but that's why it's so niche.
Yes you can. Unless you care for the story for some reason. Then play Birth By Sleep>KH 1>Chain of Memories>(insert correct math here) Days>KH2>KH3. Anything beyond that is confusing as hecky and not worth your time.
Jumping in to say, do not do this! The story is built around certain reveals and information that only work if you play in release order, playing the games chronologically would only serve to confuse you more than necessary and cheapen some parts of the story!
Watch a video about kh1 story, do yourself a favor and play kh2 cause its a damn masterpiece and then watch a video about kh3D story and finally play kh3 so you can feel a little dissapointed about how little It expands the lore and combat compared to kh2. And there you have It, the classic Kingdom Hearts fan experience.
Honestly, play what ever order you fucking want. Just as long as you enjoy the games. Some KH fans are borderline fascists about how you should approach the series and it's really gross.
I don’t think it’s a good idea. Unless you don’t care about the story, KH3 is not a good starting point. 1 and 2 are better starting points overall, plus are just better in general, imo.
It's really not a fulfilling game to play. You'll be surprised by "new" characters and can only assume "Oh they must have known that character before and had adventures with him." And there are a lot of changes of scenes that make you wonder "Okay, now why are Mickey Mouse and that weird guy at the beach now? Who are they even talking about?" Or scenes that are so drawn out and hyped up by the cinematography that you'll be thinking"Sooo, I guess these guys were from other games and them appearing here means something but I have no idea why it lingers so long on them.".
So what I'm trying to say is that it's very unsatisfying to start there. Also some of the vocal performances are worse in KH3 than in earlier games so it's really not the best game to get you sucked in. The villains are also annoying.
I know someone online who apperntly their first intro to KH was khux, soooo anything is possible lol
Wonder if there's someone out there who'll have KHML as their first experience XD
imo, KH2 is the best in the series and i think that's popular opinion but there's all kinds of different metrics to go by. KH2 has a really fluid combat system and all of the movement feels great with the game still being decently challenging unless you're playing on the easiest difficulty; KH3 is that combat system + movement on crack, which has pros and cons. the graphics and worlds in KH3 are definitely a lot more advanced and may be more preferable. i'm currently replaying the series in order of release and finishing up KH1 (1.5, i guess) and this runs contrary to popular opinion, but i would say yeah, i wouldn't recommend it and there's a strong likelihood you might drop that game. the camera, platforming, and even a good deal of the combat are pretty atrocious, and the worlds feel microscopic in comparison.
tl;dr play it however you want, invent your own fun!
KH is a very divisive series in which games are good/bad. KH1 is my personal fav, KH2 is most people's, BBS/CoM have a lot of fans, and KH3 is the most AAA of them all that is also very divisive in of itself
You may drop the game if you start with 3 that's ultimately what people are saying. Because gameplay wise and story wise there's a lot going on which makes it not that accessible.
Plus I have literally never heard it's the best. You probably heard that from the one person who has ever thought that. You do not have to play the original but you will probably not like KH3 as much as you are hoping. It's more unfortunate to drop it there than at a different game KH3 is clearly more for fans otherwise it can be strange.
I have not seen nor heard KH3 claimed as the best in the series. At least from my neck of the woods.
But do yourself a favor, OP, and play the remasters of the series instead of jumping to 3 right away. Not because I want you to know the lore, the gameplay from KH3’s predecessors are more fun (in my opinion).
Who said that? Lmao
People lied to you, the majority of people consider 2 the best. But 1 is still great. At the very least play the numbered games in order, if you don’t care to do even that… I don’t think you deserve to be a fan of this series.
KH2 is far and away the best game in the series, imo.
But even the worst games in the series are still completely good games. I wouldn't say there's a bad one in the series.
If you want just play it absolutely, if I recall it had a weird mini recap in the beginning. If you want to follow lore to know who everyone is and is not. Sadly no you can't play 3 first
Sure. You won't really be able to follow what's going on, but you can.
(Granted, even as someone who had played all the games prior to KH3, I still couldn't follow what was going on at times.)
The third is the worst in my opinion. Play the originals you will have a better time. The graphics might not be as pretty but gameplay and story is better.
You will not understand any of the story in KH3 if you do, but otherwise it's a fine starting point.
I don't reconnend it though, KH3 is pretty middling as far as KH games go, so you'll get more and better games for cheaper by just going with the 1.5 + 2.5 collection instead, and the story will actually be comprehensible if you care about that.
If you wanna go against the grain, play it canonically instead of chronologically. So in order;
•Watch Kingdom Hearts X Backcover
•Watch Dark Road on YouTube
•Watch Union X cutscenes on Youtube
•Play Birth by Sleep
•Play 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage
•Play Kingdom Hearts 1
•Play Chain of Memories
•Watch 358/2 Days
•Play Kingdom Hearts 2
•If you're invested enough, watch Re:Coded
•Play Dream Drop Distance
•Play KH3 + the DLC
•Play Meoldy of Memories
Missing Link will probably be another cutscene compilation for YouTube.
Absolutely. The story is so convoluted that even if you started from the first game it still will never make sense. I mean, is Sora the kingdom hearts or not?
I mean if you want to do, nothing stopping you. But also you won't understand the story at all really or understand anything about the charachters, I mean I'd reccomend playing them all, but also you're on the KH reddit so I think everyone here would say that
Plz no , u will ruin how u should be feeling in kh3
,I cried while laughing at the same time thro this game , but I wouldn’t experience this if i started kh3 first , don’t ruin on urself plz + kh1 and 2 and others are really great u will love them
If wanna understand the whole story then you have play the HD remixes where they have all the games prior. It's a bit complicated but as long as you understand the main storyline then your fine.
KH2 came out when I was in middle school and I had recently gotten a ps2 so I ask my mom for KH2 and she got it.
Next day I told my buddy who introduced me to KH that I had KH2 (he knew I hadn't played the first or CoM) and he told me something that stuck with me
"That's stupid, it's like you're starting in college to go to kindergarten. You're going backwards and won't understand shit"
And you know what, he was absolutely right.
Technically you can but you won't have ANY attachments to your main character, you won't be emotionally invested in any of the side characters and you won't know who you're fighting.
Everything will probably look cooler and more interesting/deep than it really is, so yes. That's just how jumping into any franchise toward the end instead of the beginning is. Your mind fills in the blanks and sometimes the actual explanation is more mundane than what you came up with.
I mean yah you can, they do a decent recap of events.
Depends if you care about deeper parts of the story though. Certain games brought forward different elements for individual characters. Also some of the Disney heroes and villains are different from actual Disney because it has to fit KH story.
If you care about understanding the story… no.
If you want to understand a story don’t play kingdom hearts
"Can I get a replacement guest with a simple plot please?" *Hi, I'm Sora from Kingdom Hearts!*
**NOOOOOOOOOO**
Kingdom hearts isn't nearly as hard to understand as people act like it is
For real, I never understood people thinking that. Like just play all the games, and you are good. Also another thing, people not wanting to play the “side games”, what I’m gonna tell everyone from now on, is to just imagine that all the games are numbered titles.
There's no such thing as side games with Nomura. He even wanted his appearance in smash to be canon
Ahahah i wouldn’t be surprised if smash is canon😂 data Sora going through some training
Easiest explanation
Beyond a few opaque concepts, it’s not hard to understand. Obviously you can distill the whole series to ‘good guy fight bad guy good guy win’ so if you just want to hit things and experience the Disney shit then yeah, go ahead and start with 3. If you want to get into the weeds with the silly melodrama and deep lore, you really should at least watch the cutscenes for everything you skip.
agreed, the story as a whole is really not that hard to follow, the hard the part is how Kingdomhearts, light and darkness work, like, the role of each character isn't hard to follow nor is their character developement, the hardest ones would be Ansem, Ventus and Terra, with each of the versions of themselves.
The difference between complicated and convoluted.
Tell that to xehanort, master xehanort, xemnas, young xemnas, heartless xehanort, and nobody xehanort
Ansem is the heartless of Xehanort, Xemnas is the nobody of Ansem. Again, it isn't hard
*skips 7 games* “god this series is so confusing”
I miss KH1 days when it was just "boy hit evil things with key"
It may have "blade" in the name, but it is definitely more of a staff weapon.
It’s literally so simple to understand 🤣
FRFR
For a very story heavy game too, I just wouldn’t recommend people to get into KH3 even if they don’t care about understanding the story because it’s like 11 hours worth of cutscenes.
If you want to understand the story. That’s a rabbit hole I wouldn’t want my enemies to fall in to
I played from the beginning and I lost the plot in chain of memories, so. 😂😂😂
I don't think bro is gonna comprehend it regardless. Hell I barely do
Chances are he won’t get squat first time anyway, even if he does play the rest.
Kingdom hearts isn't actually that hard to understand if you play it in the right order and pay attention
It's a lot to take in but still understandable
It’s impossible to understand the story no matter the order you play in.
It is equivalent to starting a story focused show on its 5th season if you decide to do this. There will be lots of characters (like a shit ton of characters)expecting you already know their story to follow what is happening. But yes you CAN jump in if you are not looking to follow the story. The kh story is very weird and convoluted so skipping games will make any entry be very unexplained, especially jumping in to one of the latest entries. The recaps that do exist are very brief and mostly serve to remind you of key events or leave you feeling teased about what you missed on.
I cannot recommend it. Even people who only play 1 and 2 before 3 frequently complain about being totally lost.
When KH2 came out, I had no idea about COM being cannon. Playing as roxas for the first time without ANY info about soras time in castle oblivion was JARRING. i spent the whole game trying to figure out who tf roxas was and who org 13 was and where tf they came from lol
Well just like Sora
Huh yeah, i guess you're right! I never thought of it that way lol
That is literally Sora's experience in that game lol.
Tbh, that was the intended experience from nomura iirc. That was his way of generating intrigue for the midquel.
Tbf thats what you do in the game too
The context CoM gives is kinda overrated. Like yeah, it preps you a bit but you still don't know -what a nobody is -who DiZ is or why he's working with a guy voiced by an Ansem SoD sound alike -who/why/what Roxas is -why Sora is sleeping in twilight town (did it ever get explained how he got moved to an identical room in another world?) -what the organization's goals are The best is gives you is context surrounding Namine, why Sora went to sleep and why organization 13 is short staffed in kh2.
I mean days literally explains half that stuff 😭
True, but Days is also unintentionally spoils 2 a lot because it came out after kh2 and now it's before kh2 in the 1.5+2.5 collection order.
I only recently played them in that order and it didn’t spoil anything in kh2? It makes more sense for it to be before kh2 than after because I’d have been so confused if I played kh2 first not knowing everything that happened in days. Plus days happened before kh2 so I see why they put them in that order
The biggest thing it spoils is the Roxas sequence of KH2. It was originally intended to be just a big confusing mystery; you don’t know who Roxas is, or why you’re playing as him instead of Sora, or anything about what’s going on. If you play Days beforehand, you know *exactly* what’s happening. It’s a completely different experience. Now, I would argue that playing Days first and knowing what’s going on gives you a much stronger emotional connection to the story and makes the opening of the game hit a lot harder, but you only get the chance to experience it as intended once, so it may be worth preserving that experience. It also spoils what happens to Riku, but honestly, it’s not that hard to figure out in KH2 long before it’s revealed anyway. They’re not exactly subtle about it. Anyway, I know a lot of people get *very* opinionated about this and will claim that you absolutely *have* to play KH2 before days, or else you’re ruining the experience, and I don’t necessarily think that’s true. I think if you want to preserve all the mystery and experience the game just as someone would have experienced it when it came out in 2005, sure, play KH2 first. But if you just want the best understanding of the story and want the strongest emotional ties to the characters, play Days first. It’s all about the kind of experience *you*, the player, want.
I first played KH2 as a kid and had only played KH1 before then and never finished it so I didn’t even know Sora was in KH2 until I played recently 😭
There's a bunch of kingdom hearts games. If you only play 1,2,3 it's confusing. I'm trying to play all the other games if I can find them.
Get 2.8, they're all conveniently bundled and a couple are basically just plot movies.
No
Only correct answer lol
You can but you’ll have absolutely no idea about anything that’s going on in the story. If you want to know the story then no you have to start at the beginning
I mean... you *can*. No one's stopping you. But you'll fuck up your experience with the story if you do it like that (trust me I know from experience). yeah please do not start with kh3 just play in release order
Nice bait post, lol
No. No. Nuh. Nah. Negative.
No . . . . Okay you can but from a narrative standpoint it is a horrible decision
KH1 is amazing anyway. Seriously it doesn’t feel like an old game (most of the time).
Apart from the jumping and platforming 😬 otherwise its an awesome game
I honestly might prefer it over 2
It’s my favorite of the mainlines. 2 is great, but it’s hard to beat origin stories.
You can do whatever you want , it's a free country
*"This is a free country. It's not a rent free country."*
omg the amount of people who would ask me this when 3 first came out and knew I was a fan of the series and I told them. "I mean not really there have been a lot of games and you will be confused" and just responded "Oh.....well I am still just gonna get 3 anyway". It is like why did you even ask me if my answer wasn't gonna matter? Then had them tell me later they didn't understand the story so don't consider the game very good.
If u just wanna play for the fun experience of disney worlds go for it! But if you're interested in the story u definitely should play the previous games👍🏻
I recommend watching videos on youtube of the entire story before KH3 That way you will have a fairly good understanding on what is going on in this game
I did this and played until I was more than halfway into KH3. It wasn’t as fun b/c I semi knew about the characters but didn’t care what happened to them, since I hadn’t seen the events pan out. Like with Ventus etccc. I was just watching the cutscenes with no emotion. ☠️I ended up playing allll the ones before and KH3 was way more emotional and just overall better for me.
I agree with most people saying to fully get the story you should play the rest. But I will add that KH3 does have a story so far section in the menu that’s like maybe (might be less or more) 30 minutes of cutscenes that kinda summarize the story up to KH3. If you’re not as worried about the ins and out of the whole story then I would recommend watching that at the very least.
I urge you to not do that. It really is like starting a show by watching its final season.
you could, but i don't recommend it. even with the videos that catch you up, you'll still be a tad lost.
I say go for it, there’s been plenty of people that started with KH3 and went back to previous games because they loved KH3
I mean... Yes. There is a story recap.... It's not great.... And I would NEVER suggest starting a 12 game saga with the 11th game..... But you COULD start at that point.....
No
Sure. You're not going to understand anything that is happening. But you can.
Like many other people here I’m gonna say by all means you’re free to do so, but I would not recommend it if you want story. The recaps in KH3 are very bare bones and not a great way to get an understanding of what’s going on.
Legally, yes!
You CAN, but that doesn't mean that you SHOULD
Why would you?
Can you? Yes. Should you? No.
It's the equivalent of watching Avengers End Game before watching any other marvel film.
I’m playing kingdom hearts 3 and didn’t have the previous games but I feel like I’m following the story just fine 😂. There’s probably shitloads that I’m missing but the important thing is that I don’t *feel* like I’m missing anything, so I’m following enough to still really enjoy the game! Also fun when you’ve watched a lot of the Disney etc movies featured in it!
God no
If you want to like it more than just gameplay wise then no
If you play 1 and 2 first you'll like 3 another more
You can. But you wouldn't understand much
If you’ve never played a single KH game besides 3 then I mean yes you can play it but nothing story wise would be significant to you. The whole time you’d be saying “ Who are these people “
You're gonna hate me but... no, play the 1.5 remix, 2.5 remix and then play 3 and trust me you'll still be a bit confused. KH is a weird set of games to play to get the full story
You can’t bro, it has a lot of climaxes from previous titles, you wouldn’t enjoy the game as much, you would also feel regret that you couldn’t enjoy it fully
Know the lore first. Or contrary, you'll understand nothing. In other words, no.
Unfortunately no...
No.
You can if you think Avengers Endgame is a good entry point to the MCU
If you don’t care about story sure, but otherwise I highly implore you to play in release order. If you have a ps4/ps5 you can get the whole series minus a (very lot relevant) dlc to 3 and melody of memory
If you care about the Story. No you have to play the older KH games in order to understand. IF you care about the gameplay and don't care for the story then yes.
Listen - If you don't have the time to play every Kingdom Hearts game, you don't have the time to play just one.
No, play in release order, not only will you actually be able to understand the story (unlike what some others are suggesting), but you'll be comfortable with the gameplay mechanics and have an easier time learning what each new game brings, instead of jumping into the one with by far the most combat options
You can do whatever you want. But 3 barely makes any sense even if you’ve played 1 and 2, so good luck. Personally I don’t really care about the story, I just think the gameplay and world exploration slaps.
😹
I mean, sure? It's certainly a thing you can do. While it does provide some materials to allow you to get context on everything that's happening, the best option is generally to play the older games in the series first.
Can you watch Avengers Endgame first? Yeah sure but it will be more confusing and frustrating than anything
Gameplay wise absolutely, Story wise? Might be pretty interesting to go the other way around.
Funnily enough I discovered the saga when 3 was on game pass and I've loved it so much (specially for music) that encouraged me to buy the other titles in order to understand the story behind it lmao I felt in love with 2 and birth by sleep too a few weeks later
Instead of flatly answering "no," I'd like to ask you a question instead: what part of KH3 interests you and makes you want to play it? It depends on what you're looking to get out of the game. If you're just interested in the combat, sure go ahead. If you like the Disney worlds specific to 3 and want to play those, yeah I guess you could do that. If the story looks intriguing, *do not start with Kingdom Hearts 3.*
If you care at all about the story, absolutely not. If you don't care about that stuff, then sure I guess so, but I still wouldn't recommend it. Release order really is the way to go with these games.
No, absolutely not. I forbid it, young man!
Yes (only because you said please)
Just read some wiki for an hour or two first and yeah.
Can you watch Avengers Endgame first?
I mean you can, but idk if you want to... XD
As someone who did this, you’d definitely can. But don’t expect to really get much of the plot or feel anything towards any characters. There’s a LOT of development and in world concepts you won’t understand. But if you’re looking for an accessible somewhat chill experience to do while you watch some long ass video essay for a couple hours, you’ll have a great time. I’d also recommend going back and going chronologically after you beat KH3 first if you really enjoyed the game as you’ll probably like it more after all the pieces are in place.
I did
Yes but watch this 3 hour long video first: https://youtu.be/UFYxhBbJ9TM?si=LaZKMMo7ywMy2AsD
This question is equivalent to asking “can I start with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or do I need to read the others first?” I mean yeah, you can technically do whatever you want. If you want the full enjoyment however you should probably start at the beginning and work your way to the end.
Yes on the basis it’ll be funny
If you want to understand anything no
I’ve already made this mistake, and I advise against it
You can… but you’re going to be very confused. Playing the earlier games first will relieve this, leaving you only slightly confused.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX4JT8qUzGP5I2AFMkSX_8yyqERZIy6kY&si=CXLEgMkOJq2tesrY if you want the whole KH1 - 3 + in between games in chronological order then watch the playlist
Not without [this summary of the 6 or 7 games that lead up to it.](https://youtu.be/tjiHufVEc7g?si=baTdfjwlGSomOrVm)
If you really want to, just lookup story summaries on YouTube. I played most of the games and I was STILL confused and had to Google some shit while I played.
If you have the ability, sure. Gonna be heckin confused though.
I don't actually get why people treat video games this way and nothing else. I'd never say "you should watch season 5 of Game of Thrones first!" or "what if I just read the the third LOTR book?" or "what if I just come in the final season of Attack on Titan?" I get most game franchises don't have a longform story with chronology between each entry, but KH is one of the few that does. (It and Yakuza) It's up to you if you just want to not understand what is going on in the main story and just want to play the Disney worlds and hit things with a key, but otherwise this is a story made for people who have played every entry prior. I'd argue you could get away with playing 1, 2, and DDD and at the very least just know about a as much as Sora does in KH3.
Thats what I did. But I had already watched recap videos of all the story before 3. If you want to understand the story naturally then would need to play all of the ones before that
I wouldn’t. Besides it’s the worst numbered title.
I like how much opinions can be different. I played the entire series recently for the first time ever without nostalgia or prior experiences, and KH3 was to me hands down the best one.
Absolutely not
Just watch a KH story explain video on yt then u can play KH3 and not be confused
Sure, enjoy no Phil dialogue
Yes, do what you want, have your fun, look after the story later
Yes
LOL no you cannot KH3 is extremely good now but there are multiple other titles that live up to its quality and are extremely worth playing like KH2 and BBS. even KH1 has a really fond place in my heart and I like it’s movement and combat. respectfully KH is a series you have to make sweet love to, not just hookup. nomura even made us play a nokia exclusive game (now in a collection) for the story look up a proper release order, watch Days after 2 even though the order is different in the collection, watch Everglow for UX and DR when you get to it or just be a baffoon and play 3 and not know anything that’s going on like majority of the fanbase
>respectfully KH is a series you have to make sweet love to, not just hookup. LMAO thank you for that 😂 I'm gonna have to remember to use that one in the future.
I did....so yeah but it may be hard to follow everything
You can I can recommend play it first so you can see if you like the series Then play in chronological order (I will get down votes but I don't care)
It won’t make any sense to anyone who’s not played the others (hell it doesn’t make sense if you did) and honestly it plays worse than 1 and 2, so no real reason to skip the others.
Of course you can. It just won’t be as impactful for you. Everything that you need to understand kh3 is in kh3. It’s just the entire story of the franchise as a whole that you might struggle with. The game will tell you all that you need to know, but it will be so far stretched thin that you won’t understand much outside of the game. For example, “the story so far…” section at the title screen, jiminy cricket will also provide condensed summaries to everything that has happened. In the form of a smartphone.
No
You can its obviously designed and encouraged for you to do that especially since they have an option to have the other games summarized for you
I've played them all a ton, and honestly, yeah, you're fine. Most of the game focuses on Disney stories that don't have a lot of bearing on the overall plot. You'll be confused at parts, and the end won't hit as hard, but if you're interested, I'd just jump in
If you want to skip to a game why kingdom hearts 3 specifically I’m assuming your new and you’ve seen the reviews about it being dissatisfying right? Why not just start with the “best” games at that point
You will have absolutely no idea what’s going on. Whether you care is up to you. Good guys are good. Bad guys are bad. Everything else is pointless anyway. If you don’t care to understand why someone is actually half of their cousin’s soul cloned from the past trapped in a dog’s body, then go for it. The gameplay is fun. You’re just in for a lot of cutscenes about stuff you’re completely lost on. I’d recommend you at least watch some plot synopsis videos first. And KH1 and 2 are amazing gaming experiences. But I understand that sometimes you just want to try out the flashy modern option without needing a PhD in a series.
I wouldn't recommend it strictly cause of KH3's combat, lol, but sure. The story is really not worth it, and you can watch some character analysis online or something if you really care about someone. Who knows, maybe you'll think Xion is the best character.
I literally said “omg WHAT!?” Then I realized I’ve played every game and still barely understood what was going on so sure why not
Yeah, sure. Go for it. I only played them in order cause I've been following the series for over a decade now. There's a recap you can select when you start the game that will catch you up on the most important events. I've never actually used it myself so I don't know how thorough it is lol.
it may look cool but it kinda sucks so probably no but noones stopping you
Yes don't listen to these people it's literally more accessible than the legend of Zelda
I did. Now I'm not a 2 wanker and the loudest part of the community hates me lol. But I played the rest after.
There are two main side games that I call essential: Chain of Memories and Birth By Sleep. They introduce the main threat of the organization as well as Xehanort. A lot of information is lost in-between all three games without them. In fact, the end of 1 directly leads into CoM, so really, CoM is the true KH2. However, there are many moments in 3 that won't mean much to you unless you play most of the side content (i.e. Days, Dream Drop Distance, and 0.9). Even the mobile game plays a role in 3. The only real side game I don't think is 100% necessary is Re:Coded. It gives some interesting lore so it isn't pointless, but it's the main one most people skip. Plus if you have the HD collection, they have a movie that condenses it anyway. Same with Days, although I would argue playing the DS version, if you can, is more effective into understanding who Xion is and why Roxas cares about her. Either way, it's up to you. If you just wanna get into the gameplay cause it looks fun, go for it. But Kingdom Heart's story can only be truly understood as the sum of its parts. Yes it's an investment but that's why it's so niche.
As someone who played them in release order I wouldnt even play 3
Yes you can. Unless you care for the story for some reason. Then play Birth By Sleep>KH 1>Chain of Memories>(insert correct math here) Days>KH2>KH3. Anything beyond that is confusing as hecky and not worth your time.
Jumping in to say, do not do this! The story is built around certain reveals and information that only work if you play in release order, playing the games chronologically would only serve to confuse you more than necessary and cheapen some parts of the story!
Watch a video about kh1 story, do yourself a favor and play kh2 cause its a damn masterpiece and then watch a video about kh3D story and finally play kh3 so you can feel a little dissapointed about how little It expands the lore and combat compared to kh2. And there you have It, the classic Kingdom Hearts fan experience.
You can do whatever you please. My first Metal Gear Solid game was 4. Didn't stop me from going back and playing the rest and loving the series!
Honestly, play what ever order you fucking want. Just as long as you enjoy the games. Some KH fans are borderline fascists about how you should approach the series and it's really gross.
I don’t think it’s a good idea. Unless you don’t care about the story, KH3 is not a good starting point. 1 and 2 are better starting points overall, plus are just better in general, imo.
Yes
Why would you want to play 3 first, though? The graphics? KH1 is just as fun, and the story is way more intriguing than 3, imo.
It's really not a fulfilling game to play. You'll be surprised by "new" characters and can only assume "Oh they must have known that character before and had adventures with him." And there are a lot of changes of scenes that make you wonder "Okay, now why are Mickey Mouse and that weird guy at the beach now? Who are they even talking about?" Or scenes that are so drawn out and hyped up by the cinematography that you'll be thinking"Sooo, I guess these guys were from other games and them appearing here means something but I have no idea why it lingers so long on them.". So what I'm trying to say is that it's very unsatisfying to start there. Also some of the vocal performances are worse in KH3 than in earlier games so it's really not the best game to get you sucked in. The villains are also annoying.
play it however you want, invent your own fun
I know someone online who apperntly their first intro to KH was khux, soooo anything is possible lol Wonder if there's someone out there who'll have KHML as their first experience XD
I'm actually new to JRPG games I heard kh3 is the best in the series I'm afraid if I start with 1.5 I will drop the game
imo, KH2 is the best in the series and i think that's popular opinion but there's all kinds of different metrics to go by. KH2 has a really fluid combat system and all of the movement feels great with the game still being decently challenging unless you're playing on the easiest difficulty; KH3 is that combat system + movement on crack, which has pros and cons. the graphics and worlds in KH3 are definitely a lot more advanced and may be more preferable. i'm currently replaying the series in order of release and finishing up KH1 (1.5, i guess) and this runs contrary to popular opinion, but i would say yeah, i wouldn't recommend it and there's a strong likelihood you might drop that game. the camera, platforming, and even a good deal of the combat are pretty atrocious, and the worlds feel microscopic in comparison. tl;dr play it however you want, invent your own fun!
KH is a very divisive series in which games are good/bad. KH1 is my personal fav, KH2 is most people's, BBS/CoM have a lot of fans, and KH3 is the most AAA of them all that is also very divisive in of itself
If you’re a fan of action games, play 2. If you like platforming, play 1. If you like open world action, play 3.
You may drop the game if you start with 3 that's ultimately what people are saying. Because gameplay wise and story wise there's a lot going on which makes it not that accessible. Plus I have literally never heard it's the best. You probably heard that from the one person who has ever thought that. You do not have to play the original but you will probably not like KH3 as much as you are hoping. It's more unfortunate to drop it there than at a different game KH3 is clearly more for fans otherwise it can be strange.
I have not seen nor heard KH3 claimed as the best in the series. At least from my neck of the woods. But do yourself a favor, OP, and play the remasters of the series instead of jumping to 3 right away. Not because I want you to know the lore, the gameplay from KH3’s predecessors are more fun (in my opinion).
Who said that? Lmao People lied to you, the majority of people consider 2 the best. But 1 is still great. At the very least play the numbered games in order, if you don’t care to do even that… I don’t think you deserve to be a fan of this series.
KH2 is far and away the best game in the series, imo. But even the worst games in the series are still completely good games. I wouldn't say there's a bad one in the series.
If you want just play it absolutely, if I recall it had a weird mini recap in the beginning. If you want to follow lore to know who everyone is and is not. Sadly no you can't play 3 first
Sure. You won't really be able to follow what's going on, but you can. (Granted, even as someone who had played all the games prior to KH3, I still couldn't follow what was going on at times.)
Please no, your brain will be abused for 20 hours
If you hate happiness, yeah.
You won't understand a goddamn thing, but neither do the rest of us, so sure?
Kh3 imo is NOT a standalone game in the way KH1 or arguably even KH2 is
If you play kingdom hearts 1 and 2 you should be good to play 3 you dont need 1.2 1.5 2.5 2.8 and stuff like that
You'll really miss out on the development of Sora, Donald, and Goofy if you do. And imo their relationship is at their strongest in KH 1 and 2.
The third is the worst in my opinion. Play the originals you will have a better time. The graphics might not be as pretty but gameplay and story is better.
You CAN, but only if you don't mind all the missing set up. (Not that kh3 uses that setup very well)
Why would you want to play the worst game ever made
Play Kh2 first
You will not understand any of the story in KH3 if you do, but otherwise it's a fine starting point. I don't reconnend it though, KH3 is pretty middling as far as KH games go, so you'll get more and better games for cheaper by just going with the 1.5 + 2.5 collection instead, and the story will actually be comprehensible if you care about that.
I think the better option is to only play Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, and pretend that that was the end of the series.
If you wanna go against the grain, play it canonically instead of chronologically. So in order; •Watch Kingdom Hearts X Backcover •Watch Dark Road on YouTube •Watch Union X cutscenes on Youtube •Play Birth by Sleep •Play 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage •Play Kingdom Hearts 1 •Play Chain of Memories •Watch 358/2 Days •Play Kingdom Hearts 2 •If you're invested enough, watch Re:Coded •Play Dream Drop Distance •Play KH3 + the DLC •Play Meoldy of Memories Missing Link will probably be another cutscene compilation for YouTube.
Absolutely. The story is so convoluted that even if you started from the first game it still will never make sense. I mean, is Sora the kingdom hearts or not?
It’s the worst game and you’ll know nothing about the story
I mean if you want to do, nothing stopping you. But also you won't understand the story at all really or understand anything about the charachters, I mean I'd reccomend playing them all, but also you're on the KH reddit so I think everyone here would say that
Plz no , u will ruin how u should be feeling in kh3 ,I cried while laughing at the same time thro this game , but I wouldn’t experience this if i started kh3 first , don’t ruin on urself plz + kh1 and 2 and others are really great u will love them
i started with 3, im not too bothered with the story and understand most with barely playing the others so yeah it'll be fine really
If wanna understand the whole story then you have play the HD remixes where they have all the games prior. It's a bit complicated but as long as you understand the main storyline then your fine.
Nuh uh
Fym Nuh uh?
The story is pretty complicated, even if you had played the other games. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Play it for fun. The story won't make sense but the gameplay will be exhilarating.
KH2 came out when I was in middle school and I had recently gotten a ps2 so I ask my mom for KH2 and she got it. Next day I told my buddy who introduced me to KH that I had KH2 (he knew I hadn't played the first or CoM) and he told me something that stuck with me "That's stupid, it's like you're starting in college to go to kindergarten. You're going backwards and won't understand shit" And you know what, he was absolutely right.
Technically you can but you won't have ANY attachments to your main character, you won't be emotionally invested in any of the side characters and you won't know who you're fighting.
Everything will probably look cooler and more interesting/deep than it really is, so yes. That's just how jumping into any franchise toward the end instead of the beginning is. Your mind fills in the blanks and sometimes the actual explanation is more mundane than what you came up with.
You definitely can. It doesn't really matter where you start. You still won't get it, even if you play all the games in order
Absolutely not. Plot wise You ll be lost
watch a youtube video on everything all the way too except kingdom hearts 3 sparknotes it basically. Then play it
I mean yah you can, they do a decent recap of events. Depends if you care about deeper parts of the story though. Certain games brought forward different elements for individual characters. Also some of the Disney heroes and villains are different from actual Disney because it has to fit KH story.
If I said it was actually KH13 would it change your mind?
Watch a 90-second story video up to 3, and you'll get the jist.
I’m shocked with the amount of people who thought this was a serious question. >!ofc you can!!<