Ranking the KH games from favorite to least favorite

[Double OKP 171]

This would be my ranking:

1. Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]

A lot of people don't like this game, mainly because of its gameplay. I actually like the gameplay, and it has the best story in my opinion. It's also what keeps me hyped for every month lol, and when the updates arrive, I literally am waaay too hyped. I'm not a huge fan of the art style though.

2. Kingdom Hearts III

This game was really fun and the graphics were awesome. One thing I really hate about it though is the character interactions, mainly the interactions with the heroes, ESPECIALLY that one in the Mysterious Tower where the Guardians of Light assemble. But besides that, it was a great game!

3. Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory

I am currently playing this right now. It is a great game, but I'm terrible at it lol. One thing I'm annoyed at it they call the musical compositions without words songs but that's because I unfortunately know music, and I wish I didn't! This game gives me hope for Kairi(I watched the scenes on Youtube lolll). I am enjoying this game and can't wait for the final boss!

4. Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover

This was an interesting movie, seeing the events pre-Keyblade War from the Foretellers' perspective. I really wish the scene with Ava and Luxu was included though.

5. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep 0.2 Fragmentary Passage

I haven't finished this game yet but it is fun. Including that you start at level 50 lol

6. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

I'm not really sure how to rank this because I've never played the game version. The movie was a little long but it was fun. The story is awesome. 

7. Kingdom Hearts I Final Mix

It took me forever to finish this but it was a great experience. I fondly remember how I kept spamming L1+Triangle to use Cure/Cura/Curaga. I am probably never going to dare to face Mysterious Figure/Xemnas. 

8. Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories 

The gameplay is very unique. I was stuck on this game for a long time, and when you take a break for a long time, you forget the controls. So, I must have forgotten(or else Marluxia didn't explain this, I'm sure he did) the reason why the cards disappear. And whenever I picked up this game again, I was stuck on bosses 'cause I didn't know why lol, which was verry frustrating. But...after finally finishing Sora's side, I was very grateful for Ansem/DiZ's refresher. Anyway...overall this game wasn't that great in gameplay but it had a good story.

9. Kingdom Hearts Dark Road

I started playing this when it first came out. I'm not a fan of the gameplay but with the recent updates, I think it is improving. The story is very interesting and I like the amount of story of each update. Keeps(at least) me hyped for the next one even though it doesn't come out monthly.

10. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix

In terms of story it was good(except that Aqua, Terra, and Ven didn't have a lot of interactions). In terms of gameplay...Terrible. I seriously did not enjoy playing this.

11. Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded

Like KHDays, I've never played it. The movie was long, but unlike KHDays it was boring in my opinion.

12. Kingdom Hearts HD Dream Drop Distance

I haven't finished this, but I DO NOT LIKE IT. The gameplay is a lot smoother than BBS, but I still don't get why my Keyblades are so weak. I'm currently stuck in the Monstro world and The Grid. I seriously do not like the Drop. When you're fighting a boss and you drop....GRRRRRR

13. Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix

I know a lot of people like this game. The main reason I don't like it is that you don't start with Dodge Roll; instead, you have to get to the part where the Twilight Town trio tell you of Kairi's visit, which is a long way off from the beginning. And then you have to level up that Drive Form you obtain(I think it's called Limit), but the fastest way to do that is to use Ars Arcanum and Sonic Blade from the shortcuts tab, but how in the world would I know that??? So I went through most of the game without Dodge Roll which was verrry frustrating. And also, when you stand over the save point, it doesn't fill your drive gauge. Instead, you have to defeat so many enemies before you can use one. And also, THEY MADE XIGBAR HARDER THAN XEMNAS!!!

Note: I did not put Re:Mind because I don't have it. 

Edited January 5, 2021 by Double OKP

[Vulpes XIII 38]

My first and second favourite constantly switch places but it always between those two games, but anyway for me my list would currently be

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories - I know this is a really unpopular opinion but I just really like this game, the card system is a lot of fun and I enjoy trying to come up with strategies for each fight. I think the story in this game is one of the better written stories in the series and it’s the game that my favourite characters first appear in. Sora’s story is definitely my favourite and Riku’s is good too, honestly this game really does not deserve as much hate as it gets, also currently playing through the Gameboy advance version right now and it is definitely a challenge especially when you get to the 13th floor but it’s also a fun game.

Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix - All I can say is I like nearly everything about this game and find it lots of fun.The only thing I don’t like is Hot Rod Heartless, Dancers and Data Demyx (as I hate that beat 99 water clones in 10 seconds part.)

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days- I think Organization XIII are awesome so when I found out there was going to be a game where you could play as them I knew I would like this game, I think the Days trio are awesome and I really enjoy watching their friendship develop over the game and this game also introduces the rest of my favourite characters. This is definitely one of the more emotional games in the series especially the boss fight against Xion as having to play as Roxas fighting Xion after seeing their friendship throughout the game and Vector To The Heavens playing in the background definitely made this one of the few times in video games where I didn’t want to fight the final boss. I think the DS version is the best way to experience this game instead of the movie and the multiplayer is really fun too.

Kingdom Hearts 3- This may be a unpopular opinion but I actually liked the game, I’ll admit it had it faults but overall it was still a good game. The fights in the Keyblade Graveyard were a lot of fun. I was really happy to see the Days trio reunite and was also really glad to see my favourite characters return in the game and I’m happy that the game hinted at them being important to future games. Also The DLC is awesome and I really enjoy switching between the Data fights and photo mode.

Kingdom Hearts DDD - Don’t have much to say about this game other than I enjoyed the combat, the story was good despite the retcons it caused in the series lore, plus the stuff with the Dream Eaters are fun it reminds of playing with the Pokémon at the campground in Sword and Shield.

Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory - I love the music in the franchise so having a game based around it is a lot of fun for me. The only reason this game is lower on the list is only because we barely got any new story as well as the fact Kairi got no character development, but overall the good parts of the game outweighs the bad for me.

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix - Good at the time however it didn’t age well in my opinion and the controls aren’t that great despite being a Final Mix version.

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep -  I just can’t enjoy this game I’m not a fan of the Wayfinder trio and didn’t like any of the characters except Vanitas and later Ventus but that was only because of Union X. I didn’t like the controls and I got bored playing it, the only reason it higher than some of the others is because it done some things better than some of the other games I’m still to mention.

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep A Fragmentary Passage - The controls were good but it still has a lot of the same problems BBS had and the only reason it’s lower than it is because it’s really short and more of a demo than a game in my opinion.

Kingdom Hearts Union X - I really enjoy the main story and I like a majority of the characters and character customisation is fun too , but I dislike the story in the Disney worlds and the fact it’s a mobile game as well as how long it takes to advance the main story.

Kingdom Hearts Coded - Played several worlds and it got too repetitive, got bored playing and decided to YouTube the cutscenes instead.

Kingdom Hearts Dark Road - Not enjoying it so far but too soon to judge the story in my opinion

Kingdom Hearts Back Cover - Although we get plot it still just a movie not a game so I thought it would be unfair to compare it to actual games.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by Vulpes XIII

[Moogle13 55]

I find it hard to pick a favourite, the top three are always switching with one another. And I'll only rank the ones I've actually played and experienced the combat of, to be fair in my ranking. Also, assume that all of them are the most updated, best version in my ranking.

 

1. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance - The gameplay was fun, and playing as Riku was a nice change too! Story wise it was pretty good for a KH game and I think Dream Eaters are the cutest thing ever, even cuter than all the moogles in FF. Especially the dragon-like Dream Eater. Just overall the game comes together to be my favourite... For now, at least. Rating: 10/10... All the top three get 10/10 because I love KH too much.

2. Kingdom Hearts II - The story was at it's peak, the combat was exceptional in a lot of ways, and it's the game filled with the most heartwarming and memeable moments. Not to mention it has one of my favourite worlds, Timeless River, and has probably my favourite version of Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden. Rating: 10/10

3. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep - I love Terra, Aqua and Ven so much. This might be my favourite one for the story because it's just so tragic and I adore tragedy. Also the combat command creation was different and fun, even if it was a bit OP. And it may be controversial but the Command Board might be my favourite KH minigame, it was a lot of fun! I'm still holding a grudge over the ice cream ducks that stopped my platinum trophy though... Rating: 10/10

4. Kingdom Hearts 3 - On one hand, I love it so much. "Don't Think Twice" and "Face my Fears" are absolute bops, the gummi ships were better than ever, it had my favourite designs of all the characters, and Sora's personality is just *chef's kiss*. The Disney worlds were so much bigger and fun to explore. There was a lot love. But there's also a lot to hate as well. The pacing, some bits of the ending, the lack of exportability in Traverse Town and not being even able to step foot in Radiant Garden. The lack of FF characters really mad me mad at the time too, and the DLC barely made up for that. Also I played it on Normal difficulty and I regret that to this day, it made the combat very lacklustre. Rating: 8/10

5. Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory - Maybe it's just because it's still the honeymoon phase after finishing it, but I had so much fun with it. There wasn't much story wise but what we got was pretty good. there were some flaws, but overall the fun I had playing it outweighs them all! Rating: 8/10

6. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep 0.2 Fragmentary Passage - This is the last one I've actually played (I don't own many consoles, I've just watched the cutscenes for the rest). It was... Too short. I can't really make much more of a comment. It was fun just very short. Rating: 7/10

 

Honestly if I actually played Days and CoM, they'd probably be pretty high on the list, as their story is really good. And CoM has a lot to do with best girl Namine. But having not actually experienced it, I can't really rank the fairly. Let's just say they're 8/10 for story, pretty much. Back Cover was interesting for what it's worth and I haven't done much of anything with Union X so I dunno about that one, no comment on it.

Anyway that's my ranking, looking forward to reading what others have to say. All and any KH content is good KH content to me  

[Double OKP 171]

2 hours ago, Vulpes XIII said:

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories - I know this is a really unpopular opinion but I just really like this game, the card system is a lot of fun and I enjoy trying to come up with strategies for each fight. I think the story in this game is one of the better written stories in the series and it’s the game that my favourite characters first appear in. Sora’s story is definitely my favourite and Riku’s is good too, honestly this game really does not deserve as much hate as it gets, also currently playing through the Gameboy advance version right now and it is definitely a challenge especially when you get to the 13th floor but it’s also a fun game.

My first playthrough was honestly a nightmare, at least for Sora's side. But if I ever replay it, I think I would have a more positive opinion about it, especially since in my first playthrough I didn't know any better?

[Dagesh Lene 366]

Nice list! These are my favorites (I have not played Melody of Memory, so I will not include it in this list; I am also including Back Cover and Dark Road as part of Union χ[Cross]):

1. Kingdom Hearts

The reason why I like this game the best is because it makes the best use of Disney and Final Fantasy as well as having the best world exploration. I also loved the story in this game. The platforming could use some work, but other than that, I think the game is fun to play.

2. Kingdom Hearts II

The gameplay of this game is second to none, but other than that, I felt that KH1 did almost everything else better. However, it is still a really good game and is definitely the most fun to play out of all of them.

3. Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom Hearts III did so much stuff right. The graphics were beautiful, the worlds were bigger and better than ever, and it had some of the best moments in the entire series. However, it felt less like a finale and more like setup for the next saga, and the stories pacing could have been better. Most of the issues I had with the game were minor, but the thing that I disliked the most was how it ended on a cliffhanger. Thankfully, Re:Mind fixed that for me as well as adding a lot of fun new stuff that almost makes me want to put this game higher on the list, but in the end, I personally like KH1 and KH2 more.

4. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

I love the use of Disney in this game and story is one of my favorites. I also think that the gameplay is fun. It definitely feels like it deserves to be up there with the numbered titles.

5. Kingdom Hearts [Dream Drop Distance]

I do like the use of Disney and the gameplay. However, the story, while I don't think it's bad, does go off the rails a bit with the introduction of time travel.

6. Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-

This game was so fun for being so short and did a great job of giving us a taste of what KH3 was going to be like. If it were longer, it would probably be higher on this list.

7. Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]

Since all of the updates haven't been released yet at the time of me posting this, I don't know for sure where this game will end up, but for now, this is where it is. I think the gameplay is fun and the story is interesting. However, there is way too much filler and the story does go off the rails some more in my opinion. I also wish that the game focused more on the Keyblade War instead of making that part of the story optional event missions.

8. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

The story of this game is one of the best, but the gameplay is repetitive and a bit boring. 

9. Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

The story is good, but I am not a fan of the gameplay. I also do not like how the worlds are just the same rooms with different skins and that the Disney worlds just retell the same stories from KH1 for the most part. However, I do like how they tweak the Disney stories to do more with the theme of memories.

10. Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

The story is not very good, and I found the gameplay to be annoying because of the data gimmick. Plus, the Disney stories are just worse versions of the KH1 stories again, but unlike CoM, these don't really have much to do with the theme of data other than the fact that the Bugs have corrupted their worlds.

Edited January 5, 2021 by Dagesh Lene

[Allwil13 754]

Here's mine. Keep in mind that the order changes depending on how I'm feeling, but here's the rankings as of right now:

1. Kingdom Hearts III
I know a lot of people were disappointed with certain things in Kingdom Hearts III when it came out, but I was absolutely smitten with the game. I loved how well it tied up so many loose ends and how many questions it answered, and I loved how absolutely enormous the worlds were. There were still a few things I didn't really care for (such as Kairi's continued lack of development), but they were just nitpicks. The game is still absolutely solid IMO.

2. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
I know a lot of people are going to find this weird, but I absolutely love Birth by Sleep. I love the command system, I love the story, the music, the characters, everything. I also loved being able to see the Organization back when they were still young and whole. Lea and Isa were my favourites.  This was my favourite installment in the series until KHIII came out.

3. Kingdom Hearts 3D
Once again, I imagine this game's placing on my list is going to seem weird to a lot of people, but I really enjoy KH3D. I love the Dream Eater system because it allows the player to put together a party from dozens of options, which is something that no other entry in the series does. I also really enjoyed the story, especially since this was the point that Axel officially became a keyblade wielder. 

4. Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
Chain of memories has a battle system that is VERY divisive, but I've always loved the card system in CoM. I like that it gives you the ability to be strategic and organize your deck however you like in a style that works for you. I also love the story for this game as it is the point in the series where the overarching plot actually shows up.

5. Kingdom Hearts II
I imagine a lot of people are flabbergasted that I put KHII so far down this list, but I was never all that taken with KHII ike everyone else was. While the story was really good, I found that some of the worlds felt really small and the reaction commands got really annoying really fast. As I got older I grew to enjoy the game much more, and obviously the Final Mix version made some fantastic improvements. I can't deny that it's a great game, but for some reason I find that I prefer to play through other games in the series over this one.

6. Kingdom Hearts
The original Kingdom Hearts will always have a special place in my heart, and because I played it dozens of times as a kid I have always retained a strong ability to play through it with ease, but I can't deny that it hasn't exactly aged well. The plot seems weirdly separated from the rest of the series, and the magic system was not well thought out. Nevertheless, I will always love the original Kingdom Hearts game, and it is by no means a bad game, even by today's standards.

7. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Aside from the fantastic story that Days gave us, I was not a big fan of this one. The panel system was absolutely atrocious IMO, and having a limit to how much magic you could cast during missions really did not sit well with me. It would be nice to see them remake the game with a complete overhaul, but I doubt that is ever going to happen.

8. Kingdom Hearts X/Union Cross/Dark Road
While Union Cross and Dark Road do have interesting stories, the fact that we have to wait so long between entries as well as the insane difficulty spikes I encountered in Dark Road has caused me to delete the app from my phone and just keep up with the story through youtube. Not a fan of these at all.

As for Melody of Memory, I never bothered to play it as I am not a fan of rhythm games, but judging by the cutscenes that I watched on youtube it doesn't seem all that interesting. 

This ranking list is just my opinion of course, but I hop you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!

[SweetYetSalty 330]

 

1: Kingdom Hearts~ For gameplay and story this would equal my number one favorite game overall. It's simple, easy to follow, really fun to play and explore. I love everything about KH1. The original story, the Disney Worlds and how they were used, Sora's friendship with Donald and Goofy. The Riku rivalry, even Kairi for her limited screentime was a cute character. The FF characters were used well and this is the one title I always return to for a relaxing good time. It's got it all.

2: 358/2 Days~ For gameplay it's near the bottom, but story wise it's my second favorite in the series. I've never be emotionally engaged in a video game story before Days came along. This game turned a character I was lukewarm on (Roxas) into my all time favorite character. It made me love Organization XIII when I previously soured on them. It gave me Xion and my favorite trio of the series, the Sea-Salt Trio, and that alone makes me return to play the DS game, even though it's not the best to play. As said it's repetitive and some missions go from boring to tedious. But it's all worth it for the amazing characters the game gave me.

3: Kingdom Hearts 3~ Gameplay wise this is my second favorite KH game. Storywise, I'd rank KH1, Days, and maybe CoM above this one. What really put this one so high on the list is ReMind and Limitcut. Those contents alone were amazing and I love Data Greeting and fighting the Data Organization. The Disney Worlds were a improvement over KH2's but still didn't match KH1. Best Gummi Ship gameplay in the series, and the Keyblade Graveyard reunions are some of my favorite moments in the series. The added DLC content just made it all even better.

4: Melody of Memories~Story wise probably one of the worst if not the worst. The reason it ranks so high is the gameplay. This is the most addictive gameplay I have ever done, and I previously was not into rhythm games. I love the music, the tracks, the visual worlds we run through. Playing as my favorite trio in any world I want, you better believe I used RAX forever. Collect the cards of my favorite characters and enemies. Full chain and All Excellent songs and improve my score. I love this game, it didn't even need a story. That's why it ranks so high on my list because of the gameplay. This is also the first (and only) game I platinum'd. If not for gameplay this would be at the very bottom of my list.

5: Chain of Memories~The reverse Melody of Memories. I cannot stand the card battle system at all. This is bottom tier in terms of gameplay for me. But I adore the story. I prefer Riku's story over Sora's, but the latters isn't too bad. I think this batch of Organization members were more memorable in this game then most of the ones introduced in KH2, honestly. At least Larxene, Vexen, and Marluxia. The game setup a lot of stuff lore wise for the series, and even though I'm neutral on her today, Namine was absolutely lovable in this game.

6: Kingdom Hearts 2~ I am one of the biggest nitpickers of this game. Gameplay wise I will agree this is a near masterpiece of a game, with good controls, solid bosses, and cool enemy designs. I say near because things like the Light Cycle and flying carpet segments exist. Story wise This game is good but not nearly as great as everyone makes it out to be. This game has aged the worse due to all the retcons the series has undergone and now certain things in this game no longer hit as hard as they were intended. Organization XIII was pretty generic here too, I appreciate them today, but back then I remember not being terribly impressed with any of them minus Xemnas, Axel, and Demyx. The Disney Worlds are hit or miss. Some are the best in the overall series and others are the worst. The Sora, Riku, Kairi reunion however still remains one of my fave moments in the series. Also the KH2 Manga is way cooler then the game.

7: Birth By Sleep~ Looking back at the history of this game, this is where most of the big retcons started. Some are good, some are bad, some are really confusing. Gameplay wise this as a okay title. Better then Days and CoM but not on the level of the main numbered titles, in fact this game made me appreciate those titles more. Storywise this is where things get interesting. I think the story of BBS is very good. The characters, however needed some work. I didn't really get invested in the Wayfinder Trio as a trio until 0.2, KH3, and the BBS novel. They aren't bad characters, but I never bought into them being the close friends the game kept telling me they were. They are much better now, but this was a rocky start. But I did like them as individuals.

8: Dream Drop Distance~From here on out I cannot judge by gameplay because these are the games I never played only watched the cutscenes or read their novels. DDD I have never played, but the story I watched and later read. It's not as bad as many make it out to be. I don't mind time travel, but this game made it so complicated that it's almost hard to enjoy. They also tried to tie everything together when it didn't need to be and that's why so many inconsistent messiness comes from this game. KH3 unfortunately continues some of the trends found in this game. That said it has good stuff in it too storywise. It gave me Sora meeting Roxas and actually talking to him. KH2 didn't even do that.

9: ReCoded~ This one is good for the characters of Data Sora, Riku, Roxas, and Namine. I think all of them were charming data clones of the real thing. In my opinion Data Sora and Data Roxas had better first interactions then the real ones in KH2. Yes I am shading KH2 a lot now. Otherwise nothing really happens here.

10: The rest~ I view all the Union X/Chi/Back Cover stuff the same. Interesting stories that caught my attention but minus like a select few, their characters all need work. I can't tell you anything about the Dandelions because they don't feel like real characters, that I'm attached too. Master of Masters and Ava are the only ones I truly like. I don't really count 0.2 as it's own thing.

Separated the list looks like this.

Story

1: Kingdom Hearts 

2: 358/2 Days

3: Kingdom Hearts III

4: Chain of Memories

5: Birth By Sleep/0.2/ Kingdom Hearts II

6:Dream Drop Distance/ReCoded

7:Union X/Back Cover

8:Melody of Memories

Gameplay

1: Kingdom Hearts 

2: Kingdom Hearts III

3: Melody of Memories

4: Kingdom Hearts II

5: Birth By Sleep

6: 358/2 Days

7: Chain if Memories

Edit: I just can never decide if I like BBS or KHII more as a story so they are tied. Same with DDD and Coded.

Edited January 5, 2021 by SweetYetSalty