With Kingdom Hearts 3 only a couple months away, Square Enix is giving fans of the series a chance to catch up on the complex story before the next big installment comes out. Today, Square Enix officially announced Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far, a compilation of every major installment to the beloved franchise all in one package. At the time of writing, the collection will only be released for PS4 and only in the United States.
Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far will feature all the games that will play into the story of Kingdom Hearts 3 in some form. Some of the games in the series will be remastered, while others will be in a movie form that will cover that specific game’s story. The collection includes the following games:
- Kingdom Hearts FINAL MIX
- Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (HD Remastered Cinematic)
- Kingdom Hearts II FINAL MIX
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final MIX
- Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (HD Remastered Cinematic)
- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-
- Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover (Animated Film)
Each of these games contributes to the story that players will embark on when Kingdom Hearts 3 releases early next year. For those interested in trying the series out, this collection should be a great way to experience everything the Kingdom Hearts franchise has to offer. However, if fans don’t want to play through (and watch) all of these titles, Kingdom Hearts 3 will recap the story for those who are new to the series. With Kingdom Hearts 3 tying together every game in the series, new players will definitely need some familiarity with the story so far.
This collection is perfect for those who do not already own Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 and Kingdom Hearts 2.8, but could be skipped for those that already own those two collections. While convenient to have in one box, it does not seem like this new collection will feature any new content though fans will have to wait and see if that is true when the collection launches. Regardless, this will hopefully hold fans over until Kingdom Hearts 3, which will hopefully be worth the wait.
Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far launches October 30 exclusively on PS4.