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This past week, my favorite game series, Kingdom Hearts, celebrated its twentieth anniversary. In light of that momentous milestone (and the fact that all I’ve been doing these days is immersing myself in every form of Kingdom Hearts possible), I’m offering you the Totally Definitive Kingdom Hearts Game Tier List™. This ranking has no objective standards and is based solely on my whims and feelings towards the game series that has dominated my media interests for the past decade, but it is mostly spoiler-free(-ish).
There’s no possible way I can sum up the plot of ten-plus games in a way that is coherent to anyone, so all I got for you is: Sora goes on adventures with Donald Duck and Goofy to save the world. His weapon is a giant key. There’s other people that do stuff too.
Now that you understand everything, let’s dive to the heart in.
S Tier: Kingdom Hearts II (2005), Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009)
Kingdom Hearts II
What a boss game. While I’ve only played this game once (maybe twice), I remember just how fun it was. Sora not only gets reaction commands, which kick off bad-ass moves, but also a form which lets you wield two keyblades. The plot is well-paced through the Disney world with only a hint of the shenanigans to come, and Organization XIII is an intriguing big bad. Plus, the opening gives me goosebumps each time. I can’t justify going any lower with the cornerstone of the series.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Playing Days is like reading Romeo and Juliet for the first time: you know what’s going to happen to the characters, but you don’t know exactly how they get there; you know what’s coming, but your heart gets ripped out anyways. Days follows Roxas, number XIII, as he collects hearts for the Organization (yes, that Organization) and becomes friends with Axel, number VIII, and Xion, number XIV. Its graphics are bad, the leveling system is, uh, unique, and everyone except me hates the boss fights (Ruler of the Sky is fun, guys!), but the story is unparalleled. You watch as Roxas’s life slowly builds, as he makes friends and eats ice cream, and then as it slowly unravels. I have vivid memories of fighting the final boss on spring break beside an indoor pool and crying as Vector to the Heavens played. I am forever holding a torch for the full remake that this masterpiece deserves.
A Tier: Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded (2011)
Haters will tell you that this game is dumb, clunky, just a pure retelling of Kingdom Hearts 1, the worst game in the series. I’m telling you that the only reason this isn’t S Tier is because the storyline gripes are kind of right. You play as Data Sora in a digital version Kingdom Hearts 1, and there’s not much more there. But the developers took a chance in messing around with the gameplay style, and it works—you get side-scrolling platforming, shooting type boss battles, and a turn-based combat system in the Olympus Coliseum that I could play forever. It also has the most iconic line of the series. Days is the princess of the side KH games, but Re:Coded is the unfairly maligned stepsister I will defend with my life.
B Tier: Kingdom Hearts (2002), Kingdom Hearts III (2019), Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory (2020)
Kingdom Hearts
It’s the OG, so I give it points for that, but sometimes Kingdom Hearts is a little rough around the edges. The bosses will curbstomp you, which was real rough with unskippable cutscenes, and you will fall off the vines in Deep Jungle and thank the Tarzan estate that they forbid Tarzan from ever appearing in the franchise again. Regardless, it has charm: Sora, Donald, and Goofy are just half-pints on an adventure, and I’m taken by Sora’s extremely helpful happy-go-lucky outlook and his one-track mind to get his friends and island back. The ending plays my heartstrings like a fiddle to the tune of “Simple and Clean.”
Kingdom Hearts III
I played this game for the first time over the span of three days in a sort of spring break frenzy, which is kind of magical itself. The long-awaited (and I mean long) direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts II busts in with gorgeous graphics and flashy combat systems that are easy to learn and fun to boot. Unfortunately, the story falls flat—crammed in the last three hours, disconnected from the Disney worlds, and then expanded only through a DLC. After waiting ten years (in my case) to see what exactly happens to Sora and company, I wasn’t impressed. I could, however, play the Pirates of the Caribbean world where you sail around on a ship, get into naval battles, and collect crabs all day long.
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory
Thanks to the incredibly talented composer Yoko Shimomura, Kingdom Hearts music has always been a highlight, so it made sense for the franchise to release a rhythm game. For me, who had just fallen hard for Project Diva, the Melody of Memory announcement felt like God had personally aligned the planets simply for my joy. It’s pretty much what it says on the tin: you hit buttons in time to a curated setlist from across the series and watch the characters run across the screen. No notes; does its job perfectly.
C Tier: Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010), Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance (2012)
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Oh boy, middle school Alex was so peeved when this game was announced to be a Playstation Portable exclusive as opposed to the perfectly fine Playstation 3 that my family already owned. As such, I experienced this game mostly by picking up the plot-relevant details via the internet and had to wait to play it until 2014 when it was rereleased for Playstation 3 (sigh) as a part of the 2.5 ReMIX. The plot is sad and the gameplay is fine, but ultimately I’m not as emotionally attached since I experienced this game more through osmosis rather than furious button-mashing.
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
DDD has the double-whammy of being forgettable and the worst offender of “Kingdom Hearts plot is whack” in the series, introducing time travel of all things. You switch between playing as Sora and as Riku, which in theory would be fun if it was done better. Plus I had to borrow my brother’s 3DS rather than use my perfectly suitable DS, and I’m still a little salty.
D Tier: Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories (2008)
I’m sorry to do this—pile onto the Re:CoM hate—but there’s a reason that I hadn’t played this game until the year of our lord 2022. Re:CoM has a combat where you fight with cards (hold-over from its GBA days), meaning you actually need to think before you button-mash attack. The “this is just Kingdom Hearts 1 plot again!” argument from Re:Coded also applies here. The only potentially redeeming part of this game is playing Riku’s side, but instead the game went, “Oh, you want to know about Riku’s character motivations in 1? No, we’re just going to talk about how evil he is for giving into darkness. How’s that?” Unfortunately, Re:CoM contains a lot of important plot, so if you’re a hardcore fan you’ll have to bite the bullet or watch the cutscene compliation on YouTube. I played it on beginner mode, and I don’t even feel bad about it. I did have a semi-decent time, though, so D Tier it is.
F Tier: Kingdom Hearts ꭓ/Unchained ꭓ/Union Cross (2016)
Lord help me, I almost spent money on this dumb gatcha mobile game that has five hours of plot spread through nine hundred-odd quests. Good riddance to all the nights sophomore year when I fell asleep playing this game because of the bonus hour at 11 pm EST. Hats off to Everglow, who is the only reason I know what happens in this dumpster fire of a “game” and is preserving it now that KHUX is dead and gone. Forever. Don’t talk to me about Dark Road.
“I Haven’t Played It” Tier: Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage- (2017), Kingdom Hearts ꭓ Back Cover (2017)
I wasn’t going to buy the 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (Kingdom Hearts gets justifiable shade for its naming of games) to play DDD again, so I also didn’t play these. As far as I know, Fragmentary Passage is where Aqua gets Minnie Mouse ears and bears the sins of the world, and Back Cover is a bunch of old farts talking at each other and swinging keyblades. They are D Tiers in my heart.
Postscript
KH fans, fight me in the comments. Or share your favorite cringey middle school favorite AMVs. I’m ready.
If you’re new here and intrigued, check out my favorite streamers playing through all the games. Alternatively, watch an actual Kingdom Hearts YouTuber who completely disagrees with me on these rankings or listen to Project Destati’s phenomenal arrangements. Or let me be to you as my cousin was to me, giving you the games and saying, “No, it’s a good series. It won’t consume your life. Come closer.”

Alex Johnson (‘19) is a virtual computer science teacher and a proud resident of Grand Rapids. When she’s not brainstorming the newest project to inflict on her students, she’s cooking semi-vegetarian food, reading too many romance books, and playing rhythm games.
How DARE you put BBS as C tier! Best ability system, by far, and I can’t wait for a BBS2 😉 (I’m kidding, mostly, but it’s definitely in my top 3, as clunky as the game is and as ridiculous as it is to have to beat superbosses three times over to get the platinum trophy. Which I *totally definitely* did not do… twice… on ps3 and ps4 versions).
Also, 0.2 is quick, and even though it’s mostly an exploration of the engine they used for KH3, it’s worth playing. Maybe your local library has a copy? The Back Cover movie provides a lot of valuable info about the foretellers as well (even if I’d agree it’s D tier. They call it a movie, but it is NOT well-produced).
I will give you that Ghost Drive is a blast, and after googling I’m finding out that I wiped the ability system and how it works from my mind so I guess you get a point there too. And gosh really? I don’t think I’ve ever 100% a KH game. Mysterious Figure 3 times? God rest your soul.
Glad to know I’m not missing much on Back Cover LOL
Thanks for your comment! I’m definitely watching that video soon
… 9 times. 6 times getting the plat on both version, 3 extra times because I wanted to do it on critical mode. Because I’m ridiculous. Ven and Aqua are fine once you learn the fight, but Terra doesn’t get the same invincibility frames and it’s a mess with him.
Platinuming re:CoM was still worse. And I’m not a re:CoM hater! The trophies required you to level up Sora and Riku to level 99, which was ridiculous when you beat Riku’s mode on average like level 30ish? 40? I can’t remember.
Last comment: I actually agree with you on re:Coded! So much hate out there, but so much cool gaming in that.
Oh, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ae06Z1NcM&ab_channel=grandpasweaters for a video that ALWAYS makes me laugh
Crying laughing over this. I was watching the bugs line and my housemate went, “That’s fake, right?… right?” Regular Pat has a top 100 lines of the series video that also gets me every time.
To your previous comment: you’re making me happy I’m not an 100-percent-er. I liked grinding in Re:CoM, but not that much. Urgh. Appreciate the Re:Coded support 🙂