Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] Review – Let’s Do This One Last Time

Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] is the best way to play the full Kingdom Hearts series, outside of the defunct mobile titles and rhythm game. Every major game is included and runs flawlessly, and finally playing the series natively on a Nintendo console feels fantastic. If you want to catch up on one of gaming’s best and most beloved series, this is a great way to do it.

I genuinely think few people in the world are as steeped in Kingdom Hearts as I am. Since childhood, I played the series religiously, hosted a podcast about it in my teenage years, co-hosted a PAX panel about it in my young adult years, and made a goofy video about how to get started with the series shortly after. The Disney/Final Fantasy smorgasbord is never far from my mind, so I felt something of an obligation to see if this latest offering of the series’ biggest titles was a suitable way to experience the franchise.

The Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] includes Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 HD Remix, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind. Outside of Union Cross/Dark Road (the mobile games that are no longer in service) and Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (the rhythm game set after the third mainline title), everything you need to experience before Kingdom Hearts IV is here, and it’s presented rather well.

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 HD Remix

Technically, this is two collections contained within this one new collection, but it’s all been bundled into one. Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix are all playable, while movie versions of the Nintendo DS games Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded are present.

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix holds up well and has no performance issues that I could spot during my time with it on the Nintendo Switch 2. The cutscenes and gameplay stayed a smooth 60 fps, and the colors popped as much as ever. Square Enix really nailed the game’s visual style years ago, and it doesn’t look nearly as dated as other games from that era.

The same applies to Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, which were also originally on the PS2. Though they sport slight visual upgrades over the first, the performance is just as stellar as in Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] and the first game. I didn’t run into any stuttering or crashes while playing, and being able to play all these games smoothly on the go when the Switch 2 is undocked is incredibly appealing to me.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix is also problem-free, though you’d likely expect that from a remaster of a PSP game by now. The controls for it and the rest of the titles feel completely natural, which pleasantly surprised me since I’ve mostly played the titles in this part of the collection on PlayStation controllers/consoles. 

Both of the movies look great, and I’ll always take the opportunity to tell people to experience Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. It’s just as tragic and moving as it was when I played it in 2009, and though Re: Coded still isn’t especially necessary or memorable, it looks fantastic as presented in this bundle.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue

Contained within 2.8 are Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Kingdom Hearts 0.2 – Birth by Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage, and the movie Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover. This is where the games started releasing on more modern consoles, though the fact that the Nintendo 3DS is now 15 years old and, thus, not truly modern makes my stomach hurt.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance was originally released for the Nintendo 3DS, so there’s a nice parallel to finally playing it on the Nintendo Switch 2. Again, it runs smoothly at 60 fps and continues to show off the series’ colorful style. The story gets a little too complex for its own good, but it’s still plenty enjoyable and features some of the most unique worlds in the series. Plus, a playable Riku is always a good thing.

Though it’s a shorter experience, A Fragmentary Passage is your first taste of natively HD Kingdom Hearts. For this part of Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III], you play as Aqua as she wanders the Realm of Darkness. Given the massive engine jump, I found it slightly less consistent at hitting 60fps, but I didn’t notice any major drops. The shorter game looks wonderful and has a lot of strange little features unique to this more experimental entry, like the ability to dress Aqua up with accessories. Essentially, this is a dandy little prologue to Kingdom Hearts III, and it feels properly at home on the Nintendo Switch 2.

Then there’s Back Cover, which is a movie that portrays a small portion of the lore from Kingdom Hearts χ – the original smartphone game that went on to become Unchained, then Union Cross – all of which together have established a wild amount of lore for the series. It’ll help newcomers be ready for Kingdom Hearts III, but it doesn’t cover much of what’s sure to be essential to Kingdom Hearts IV (judging by the trailer), so I wish Square Enix had included some text or videos to help with that.

Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind

Finally, the most recent mainline game in the series serves as the end of Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III], and it’s presented in its fullest form with Re Mind included. This is a convenient way to get the full Kingdom Hearts III experience, and it feels a bit surreal to play that game portably on the Switch 2.

Kingdom Hearts III is jumpier in terms of framerate than previous entries, which is partially to be expected. Like with 0.2, I didn’t see the game fall below 30 fps, but it often wavered between that and 60 fps. Not a major issue for most, but worth noting compared to the rest of the games in this collection. The visual style looks great, just as it did at its original 2019 release.

The game is still incredibly fun to play thanks to its fluid combat and larger scale, though the story’s pacing leaves something to be desired. Re Mind helps fix the ending a bit and adds some cool character moments, but the real highlight comes in the form of the Data Fights and Yozora battle. These are some of the best fights in the entire franchise, so newcomers should be sure to play them once they get there.