Can someone explain to me the weird numbering system to someone that has never played a Kingdom Hearts game.
From HD 1.5:
1) Kingdom Hearts Final Mix - Essentially a remake of the first
Kingdom Hearts.
2) Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories - A high-definition remake of the GBA game
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, which takes place between
Kingdom Hearts and
Kingdom Hearts II.
3) Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days - This is a remake of the DS game of the same name, which also takes place between
Kingdom Hearts and
Kingdom Hearts II. The catch: They removed all the gameplay. The version included in this compilation is a three-hour cinematic version of the story.
From HD 2.5:
1) Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix - A remake of the second
Kingdom Hearts.
2) Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix - This is an HD version of the PSP game
Birth by Sleep, which is a prequel to the first game. It’s an important one to play if you want to understand the
Kingdom Hearts story. Just kidding. Nobody understands the
Kingdom Hearts story.
3) Kingdom Hearts Re:coded - Just like
358/2 Days before it, this is a cinematic retelling of the DS game
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded. It takes place after
Kingdom Hearts II.
Still following? Basically, 1.5 is
Kingdom Hearts and the games that followed it, while 2.5 is
Kingdom Hearts II and the games that followed it, which makes logical sense and would be pretty straightforward if not for all the other dumb twists and turns. Like our third game:
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
Now we’re getting into batshit insane territory. Bear with me.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, which comes out in January for PS4, is actually a compilation of three games:
1) Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD - a high-definition port of the 3DS game
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, which came out in 2012. This is the most recent
Kingdom Hearts game
2) Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep–A Fragmentary Passage - This is a new playable episode of the story that takes place right after
Birth by Sleep and stars one of its main characters, Aqua. It’s not clear why it’s called “0.2.” Presumably director Tetsuya Nomura meant for it to combine with 2.8 to lead to
Kingdom Hearts III, but it’s actually
part of 2.8, so... you know what? Let’s not think about this too much.
3) Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover - I’m exhausted. Is anyone else exhausted? This one is, according to Square Enix, “a new HD movie that tells the mysterious story of the Foretellers and connects to the earliest parts of the series’ history.”