Many people who are playing the new Kingdom Hearts 3 game are enjoying it, especially the fans of the series. They know the story, and the ones who dislike the series are just confused by the complex plotline. So I am here to explain the entire lore for Kingdom Hearts. Spoilers ahead for the games leading up to III, but what did you expect?

Birth by Sleep

So where did it actually start? The first game (to actually understand the story) is Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. The three protagonists introduced are Ventus, Aqua, and Terra, and the main antagonist is a guy named Xehanort. Throughout the story, Xenahort is trying to take over Terra’s heart. Vantias is his right-hand man, and his job is to mess with Ventus’s head and make the Key Blade. While that happens, Aqua falls down into the Realm of Darkness and fights her way through in search of the light. In the scenario I am talking about, this game is Birth by Sleep 0.2 and is more of a side story, but it is a major element nonetheless.

Kingdom Hearts

Now we get to the first game, which is Kingdom Hearts. In this story, you meet three characters: Sora, Riku, and Kiari. These kids want to sail out and find a better home, but before they can, a big storm hits their island and separates them. You play as Sora and begin your adventure by meeting up with two Disney characters everyone knows: Donald Duck and Goofy. You save worlds from darkness by sealing every keyhole within them.

Chain of Memories

The next chapter of the storyline is called Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The journey starts with Sora, Donald, and Goofy ending up in a place called Castle Oblivion. In this castle, there is a group known as Organization XIII. They are considered “nobodies,” which is, in the context of the series, a person without a heart. As Sora makes his way through the castle, he slowly starts to lose his memory, but whether he loses it completely or saves it is for you to find out.

358/2 Days

Along the timeline of Chain of Memories, there is a story taking place in the form of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Focusing more on Organization XIII, you play as Roxas and meet two characters named Xion and Axel. The trio are great friends, and at the end of every level, they eat ice cream together on the top of a clock tower. If you’re wondering how Roxas came to be, Sora turned into a heartless in the first game, and Roxas is his nobody.

Kingdom Hearts 2

Now on to Kingdom Hearts 2. To put it simply, Sora and his friends have to save the world by stopping Organization XIII and defeating the nobodies. They succeed at both, and that’s really all you need to know for this one. As a side note, this is the first game in the series that Sora and his nobody, Roxas, meet.

Re:Coded

Now we move on to Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded. In this game, the Disney character Jiminy Cricket has a journal chronicling the previous games’ events. Because there are pages missing, the trio from the first game uses a data version of Sora to adventure through the journal. Inside, Sora meets his nobody, Roxas.

Dream Drop Distance

The last game to play before Kingdom Hearts 3 is Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Sora and his best friend, Riku, are gonna train to become Key Blade masters, but in order to do so, they have to be asleep. While sleeping, they encounter little creatures called Dream Eaters; some are good and some are bad. To save the world (again), you will team up with the good Dream Eaters and defeat the bad ones. Another important plot point is that during the game, Organization XIII has gotten into your head, so Sora has to find out what their plans are and how to stop them.

So now that you understand the storyline of Kingdom Hearts, you will be ready to play the long- awaited Kingdom Hearts 3.