Everything You Need to Know About Kingdom Hearts

Last fourth dimension effectually, we ended with the start Kingdom Hearts, considering this is the kind of series in which the first game is actually the third chronological game in the story. Today, we're moving onto the next three games in the series's timeline: Chain of Memories, 358/two Days and Kingdom Hearts Two. Instead of watching these games, which can amount to approximately 20 hours, why not read our (comparatively brusque) summaries for each game?

Chain of Memories

After sealing Kingdom Hearts, Sora, Donald and Goofy are transported to a world where Pluto (King Mickey's dog, of course) waits for them with an envelope signed by the king. The three follow him, but somewhen lose track of him and presently encounter a figure in blackness robes who tells Sora that ahead lies something he needs simply must lose something in order to attain. Bewildered by the message, the motley trio reaches a big castle—Castle Oblivion, which, if you read the commencement part of this series, yous know used to be the Land of Divergence.

Upon entering, the coiffure is convinced for some inexplicable reason that Mickey and their friend Riku are in the castle. The hooded effigy from before steps through the archway and lets them know that, while Sora and his friends are in the castle, they volition be unable to recollect every spell and power they ever knew. Thus, Sora needs cards forged from memories to become through doors and progress deeper into the castle. That's why you have the game's awful carte du jour-based battle system, which might be why you skipped playing it…and which is probably why you're here!

Through each door, Sora steps into a different world he visited in Kingdom Hearts that he's now reconstructed through his memories. He meets several members of Organization XIII, starting with the cloaked figure, who is later revealed every bit Marluxia, and Axel, who tells Sora that the deeper he goes into the castle, the more memories he will forget.

In between these scenes, we momentarily see flashes of a girl with blonde pilus, bluish eyes and a white apparel, ofttimes seen drawing in her sketchbook. This is Namine. Sora of a sudden "remembers" that she was a friend who played with him, Riku and Kairi on Destiny Islands, simply he tin't remember her name. Because Axel and Marluxia have previously told Sora that the most precious memories are buried so deep inside our hearts that they're out of accomplish, Sora and friends realize that going deeper into the castle will help them call up all they've forgotten—they take to forget to recollect. Like with many things in this series, just pretend it makes sense.

Every bit they travel through the castle, Sora and pals fight some members of System XIII, each of who works to convince him of Namine's being, as well every bit that she is in danger and he needs to save her. At one indicate, he comes face to face with his expert (debatable since he proceeds to attack Sora) friend Riku, who is mad Sora forgot him and Namine. But this isn't actually Riku; it's a replica of Riku that the lead scientist in Organization Xiii, Vexen, created to challenge Sora. The members at Castle Oblivion are planning to overthrow the organization, just as you can expect, this doesn't piece of work out in the finish despite them using Namine to create simulated memories in Sora and lure him to them.

Those plans are a bit boring to Axel, so he spices things upwardly past letting Namine escape to tell Sora the truth: that she doesn't actually exist in anyone'southward center, and that the person he's promised to protect is Kairi. Namine has the power to enter, rearrange and create new memories, fifty-fifty false ones, which is what she's been doing to Sora all along—which also means that his memories can be recovered since they're notwithstanding in him.

Namine decides to help Sora gain his memories back and afterward Sora, Donald and Goofy defeat Marluxia, she lets him know that he has two options: he could reclaim his erstwhile memories and lose the memories of Castle Oblivion, or lose his old memories just keep his memories of Castle Oblivion. Sora naturally chooses to get his old memories back, and Namine puts Sora, Donald and Goofy in pods where they must sleep until she rearranges their memories back together. In order to recall her, Jiminy writes in his journal to 'thank Namine' anytime.

Simply nosotros're not done notwithstanding, because it'south Kingdom Hearts, then of course nothing'southward uncomplicated. Every bit all this was happening, Riku (the real ane) is transported from the realm of darkness at the end of Kingdom Hearts to Castle Oblivion'southward deepest basement. He fights his mode up and tries to overcome the darkness in him. He battles several Organization Thirteen members—Vexen, Lexaeus and Zexion—and eventually comes upon a man named DiZ. He also meets Namine and his own replica, which sets out to kill him after it learned of its fake memories and beingness. Riku destroys the replica and proceeds to face up Ansem, the seeker of Darkness, who has been possessing his torso because of the darkness that still resides in Riku's heart.

Riku'due south replica, who has since learned of his altered memories, seeks to justify his existence by killing Riku, only to exist destroyed by him. Riku chooses to face up Ansem upon learning from Naminé that Ansem lives in his heart, and defeats him subsequently DiZ summons him for Riku to fight. After getting an Organization XIII cloak from DiZ (because information technology protects him from beingness sensed by them and being devoured by the darkness), Riku sets out on a journey to utilize both his darkness and his light with Mickey equally his companion, uncertain every bit to where it may lead but firm in his decision to walk the road to dawn.

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358/2 Days

This ane is a petty more accessible than nigh of the other games since it'due south been ported to Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix as a 3 hour-long picture show. Just iii hours is a lot, nosotros get it! We're here to help if yous want to skip that, besides.

Like Nascence past Sleep, 358/ii Days focuses on a unlike trio from Sora, Riku and Kairi. Days centers on a trio of friends in Organization XIII: Roxas, Axel and Xion—who is the Organization's 14th fellow member.

Roxas is Sora'due south Nobody. To offering a refresher: back in Kingdom Hearts, Sora momentarily turned into a Heartless in Hollow Bastion. When this happens, a Nobody is also built-in, and Arrangement Xiii is a group of special Nobodies with human forms and special powers. All of them salvage for Roxas and Xion agree the memories of their by man selves.

Roxas and Xion join the Organization around the aforementioned time and quickly become best friends with Axel. Axel is sometimes absent-minded because 358/2 Days takes place at the aforementioned time equally Chain of Memories, so he's traveling between Castle Oblivion and The World That Never Was, where the Organization's headquarters are. During this time is when Roxas and Xion become close. Both of them can wield Keyblades, which is essential to the Arrangement's goal of collecting released hearts to consummate Kingdom Hearts. Once they do that, they tin assimilate with Kingdom Hearts and get whole, proceeds a heart and finally feel like consummate selves.

Over the course of 358 days, Roxas carries out missions with different members of the organization. Xion confides in Axel that she has fragments of memories—not total memories, but isolated moments that she vaguely remembers. Roxas has no memories of the past, but he feels like the memories he has made with Axel and Xion are the virtually important things to him and are the but thing he wouldn't desire to lose. For Nobodies, for beings with no hearts, the Organization members seem to feel a lot, yes?

One day, Roxas feels Xion drifting from them. She's distracted during a mission she has with Roxas, which normally doesn't happen, and she misses a few of their gatherings at the clock tower in Twilight Town. Xion'south entered a low subsequently a recent meet she had with Riku, in which he calls her and her Keyblade a sham and tells her to leave the Organization. Combined with Saix calling her a mistake, Xion starts doing things on her own, and even begins to autumn into random deep slumbers and silly spells in which she has dreams of Sora'southward memories. In order to notice out her true origins, she runs away from the Organization.

It's during this that she later meets Riku again. Riku has sought her out because he had recently visited Namine in Twilight Town, who has been busy trying to piece Sora's memories dorsum together since the end of Chain of Memories. She revealed to him that Xion is absorbing Sora's memories and delaying Sora's awakening. Roxas and Xion take been forming their ain identities and are fighting so much to become their ain people that they are preventing Sora to awaken. She tells Riku that while Xion's face used to be blank, she now has a conspicuously visible face—a confront that, from the beginning, is conspicuously similar to Kairi. This is considering Kairi is Sora's most important person; thus, his memories of her are the strongest he has, and those memories have taken shape equally Xion. Riku shares this information with Xion, who now struggles to decide where she belongs and what is all-time for everyone else.

Axel and Roxas use their spare time to find Xion. They somewhen notice her and despite Roxas's pleading, she tells him she won't return to the System. Xion proceeds to fight Axel, who knocks her out and takes her back to the Organization. Back at their headquarters, Xemnas reveals to Roxas that Sora is the connection betwixt him and Xion as well as why she'due south in the Organization. By keeping the two close to each other, Xemnas is able to prevent Sora from waking up and stopping his plans.

When Xion returns to the Organization, Roxas grows weaker past the day, especially when he uses his Keyblade. This is because Xion is actually a replica; she's Replica No. 1 (throw the Ten in at that place, move letters effectually and you lot get her name), a part of Vexen'south Replica Program, which also involved the Riku Replica in Chain of Memories. Her powers get stronger as Roxas's become weaker—something Axel is at present aware of. Namine tells DiZ that Sora's memories accept stopped, and a manus must be forced.

This is something Xion knows, every bit well. She runs abroad again, and fifty-fifty though Axel is sent to bring her back, he lets her escape after they fight. This angers Roxas, who hears the truth about everything from Axel when he comes back from the fight. Fed up with the lies of the Organization, Axel refusing to explain who he really is, and all that is happening with Xion, Roxas deserts the Organization to get answers.

Xion seeks out Namine, who warns her that if she returns to Sora, Xion will disappear and nobody will remember her. Xion makes her decision, allows Axel to bring her back to the Arrangement and faces Roxas, who at present sees her face equally Sora'southward because her fourth dimension is well-nigh up.

The two fight and Roxas somewhen defeats her. Xion disappears in Roxas's arms equally he starts to forget her; it'south a scene worth watching, for it's surely i of the most tragic moments in the series. Before she completely disappears, Xion asks Roxas to cease Xemnas from getting Kingdom Hearts, and she thanks him and Axel for their friendship, which will last forever.

Roxas has set himself on freeing Kingdom Hearts and finding Sora to eliminate him and so that he can take his own life and friends back. As Roxas is leaving the Organization's headquarters, Riku ambushes him and the two fight. He almost defeats Riku, only Riku gives into the darkness (which makes him stronger) to fulfill Xion'south wish and end Roxas. Riku takes a defeated and collapsed Roxas to DiZ, who has formed a programme to go Roxas to return to Sora. Roxas wakes upward, seemingly having a normal life in Twilight Town, marking the showtime of Kingdom Hearts 2.

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Kingdom Hearts II

This game is A LOT. Thought the last few entries having cutscene movies 5 hours long was bad? The cutscene movie of this game on YouTube is thirteen hours. Whew. Sora'due south friends may be his power, only our dedication to summarizing this incredibly complicated serial for you is ours. Let's get to it.

This game picks up from the cease of 358/2 Days. Roxas wakes up in Twilight Boondocks, having go close friends with three teens known as Hayner, Pence and Olette. Over the course of his "concluding calendar week of summer holiday," Roxas is flooded with Sora's memories, even connecting to Kairi at one signal and briefly communicating with her when he tries to phone call out to Namine for help.

This happens because Namine is Kairi'southward Nobody. As ane of the seven Princesses of Heart, Kairi's heart lacks darkness. Thus, her body and soul never left the Realm of Light, which is why she was in a comatose state in Kingdom Hearts. Since a heartless wasn't created when Kairi lost her center, Namine was built-in from Kairi'due south heart but from Sora'south torso and soul, created when he pierced his own heart and became a Heartless in order to fix Kairi's heart free. This is why she was able to manipulate Sora's memories and those of people connected to him.

Through his conversations with Namine, Roxas learns more nearly Sora and DiZ, who has been constantly in the background. After many events, including Axel trying to go him to come back to the Organization, Roxas realizes that he isn't actually in Twilight Boondocks. This has but been a virtual simulation of Twilight Town, created by DiZ to get Roxas to merge with Sora so that Sora can finally wake up. With Roxas realizing what he has to practise, he merges dorsum with Sora, and it'due south incredibly tragic when y'all reverberate on how Roxas has now twice formed connections he securely cares about only to realize he isn't an actual fully-realized person.

Sora, Donald and Goofy before long wake upward after that. When they encounter King Mickey in Twilight Town, he sends them to Yen Sid, who tells them of the threat that are the Nobodies and Organization XIII. The three friends embark on a journeying to find Riku and to stop the System.

After that, you lot see Maleficent reappear…fifty-fifty though she died in Kingdom Hearts. There is a valid but extremely convoluted explanation for this that we will become into in the terminal part of this lore summary. But accept it for what it is for now. She tends to pop upwards and is relatively ineffective at making the group'southward lives difficult in comparing to the Organization. Sora, Donald and Goofy travel through various Disney Worlds and seal the doors to protect the worlds from the Heartless and Nobodies.

One twenty-four hour period, Kairi decides to look for Sora and Riku instead of waiting for them at Destiny Islands. Axel tries to kidnap her and chases her through a portal (that Riku opened up subsequently sensing she was in danger) that takes her to Twilight Town. While he does capture her there every bit she waits for Sora, she'due south somewhen captured by Saix and taken to the Organization's headquarters.

Subsequently searching for Kairi to no avail, the gang goes back to Hollow Breastwork, where they acquire of Ansem's study and computer room. King Mickey finds them and explains that who Sora and friends thought was "Ansem" (the dude they defeated at the end of Kingdom Hearts) wasn't actually Ansem. That was merely his Heartless who went effectually telling people he was Ansem. The real Ansem is around somewhere—and he's not even named Ansem; he'south Xehanort. Xemnas, the leader of Arrangement Xiii, is Xehanort's Nobody.

They exit Ansem's study and go out to fight an ongoing Heartless/Nobody state of war in Hollow Bastion. They defeat Demyx, the starting time in a string of Organisation members they will finish upwardly fighting. After briefly coming face to face up with Xemnas, Axel and Saix, Sora and friends leave Hollow Bastion to exercise more Disney World shenanigans. In the procedure, they meet Xaldin (whom they defeat) and Xigbar (whom they don't defeat just nonetheless).

They eventually caput back to Hollow Bastion and learn that Ansem'southward computer room has a plan that cranks out endless Heartless, which is why it seems like the Heartless never lessen in numbers. The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee (which consists of various Final Fantasy characters) puts together a disk that eradicates the program, ending the threat of the Heartless in Hollow Breastwork. Later the many years since Xehanort assumed control, Hollow Bastion finally goes back to being Radiant Garden.

Sora and friends become back to Twilight Town, where they save Pence, Hayden and Olette from some Nobodies. Rex Mickey tells them that he's figured out that Ansem the Wise has infiltrated Organization XIII's stronghold. They head into Namine's mansion, find Ansem's estimator room, and through there become into the Realm of Darkness.

Through the Realm of Darkness, Sora, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey are able to get into The World That Never Was. It doesn't take long before Sora, Donald and Goofy are ambushed by an Organization member and several Nobodies. But this time, the member is Roxas. He proceeds to battle Sora but loses the fight. As he'south slain by Sora, Roxas and Axel "meet" in a metaphysical Twilight Town, where they discuss the possibility that they might accept hearts. Roxas reflects on his friendships with Axel, Hayner, Pence and Olette, and after telling each other to take intendance, they both disappear, with Roxas going dorsum to Sora and telling him that he makes "a good other."

At the Organization's stronghold, Namine and Riku help Kairi escape from Saix's hold and then that they tin can reunite with Sora. As Kairi is being attacked by Heartless while trying to reach Sora, Riku gives her a Keyblade, and the 2 fend off an army of Heartless that Saix summons to cease them. Elsewhere, Mickey finds DiZ, who was actually Ansem the Wise this unabridged time.

Y'all run into, to finish the darkness from swallowing Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise sought to research and understand it. He did this with the aid of 6 apprentices—Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, Ienzo and Xehanort. He used Xehanort to report the darkness in his center, hoping that this would also help him recover his memories.

Unfortunately, his apprentices used his laboratory to conduct inhumane experiments on the human heart and its darkness. Ansem felt betrayed by his apprentices, and then he put a terminate to the experiments. Around this time, King Mickey found his way to Ansem the Wise, and their friendship helped him heal; this is how the two know each other.

Despite this, the six apprentices kept dabbling into the darkness behind Ansem'southward dorsum, and upon being consumed past it, they produced the outset members of Organization XIII (Braig = Xigbar; Dilan = Xaldin; Even = Vexen; Aeleus = Lexaeus; Ienzo = Zexion). The apprentices then sent Ansem the Wise to the Realm of Darkness, where he discarded his proper name (which Xehanort had stolen through writing false "Ansem Reports" in social club to present himself equally Ansem) and causeless the identity of DiZ. Subsequently a while, he escaped when he gained the power of darkness. He used corridors of darkness to make it at Twilight Town, where he observed everything and connected to study the Heartless and Nobodies.

Afterwards this, Sora defeats Xigbar and has an emotional reunion with Kairi and Riku. The group too defeats Lexaeus and Saix on the way to reuniting with King Mickey and Ansem, during which Riku reveals to Sora that Roxas is his Nobody. In the meantime, Ansem carries a special device upward to one of the highest points of the building with King Mickey. This device would repossess Kingdom Hearts and encode it as information. Ansem the Wise is, ultimately, the reason for the existence of the Heartless. Equally the device explodes and seemingly kills him, bringing about a surge of low-cal, he is able to achieve redemption for his mistakes.

(As stated in our summary of Birth by Sleep, we know he doesn't die and is rather just sent to the Realm of Darkness again, where he meets Aqua and tells her of Sora.)

The explosion also rids Riku of the presence of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and undoes what the Arrangement has done with Kingdom Hearts. Withal, this summons an army of Heartless in the metropolis below. Maleficent and Pete had been around, so they prove up to put a stop to them.

Sora and Riku go to terminate Xemnas, which proves to be a long fight consisting of many stages in typical JRPG fashion. In between them, Namine opens a portal for anybody to go through in order to return home, and as she does, she recognizes Roxas inside of Sora. The ii reunite and accept a conversation before returning to their original selves.

After everyone but Sora and Riku has stepped through the portal, Xemnas closes information technology, cut the two off from the residue in hopes of killing them. Sora and Riku win the long battle and defeat Xemnas together. They follow a calorie-free that appears after Xemnas is defeated and end up in the Realm of Darkness, at the shore where Ansem and Aqua will presently run across. The two take an emotional conversation, and after a bottle with a note from Kairi (which she had sent at the get-go of the game while she was still trying to remember Sora because Namine was still re-arranging his memories) washes up on the shore, they stride through a door that opens and leads them dorsum to Destiny Islands. Everyone reunites and it'due south a happy ending.

...Except not quite. As Sora and Riku are chillin' on the beach, Kairi brings a letter in a bottle to them. Sora notices the letter has been signed past King Mickey, and this alphabetic character is the bridge betwixt Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III.

In the next and final function of our lore primer, we'll exist recapping Re: Coded, Dream Drop Distance and other tidbits of data from the mobile game Wedlock X.

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Natalie Flores is a old Paste intern who specializes in videogames. She'southward on Twitter @heartimecia.

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Source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/kingdom-hearts-iii/everything-you-need-to-know-before-playing-kingdom/

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