Ranking Every Mainline Kingdom Hearts Game

Kingdom Hearts is one of the longest-running franchises in games, spanning not just mainline entries but plenty of spinoffs, too (and yes, we know the spinoffs are pretty necessary to understand the series’ story). It combined two things that, on paper, should have never worked – Final Fantasy and similar RPG elements with Disney characters and worlds – but somehow, it clicked, and fans fell in love with this creative mix. 

With 20 years of history behind it, beloved characters (both original and Disney’s), and more reminders of the importance of friendship and heart than in any other series, it’s hard to ignore the impact Kingdom Hearts has made in the gaming community. With that much history, though, comes plenty of highs and lows, and there are clear standouts as a result. The Game Informer staff took on a task more daunting than understanding the story of Kingdom Hearts: ranking its games. 

Here’s our ranking of the mainline Kingdom Hearts games from worst to best. By that, we mean you won’t find the mobile games or Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage here. The mobile entries, while chock full of critical story beats, feel too different from the “main” games to fairly compare. A Fragmentary Passage is more of a short episode; comparing it to a full game didn’t make sense. We’d love to see where you’d rank them in your list, though, so let us know in the comments below!