I haven’t started a kingdom hearts game ranking either, so here you go
Kingdom hearts: S-tier. Easy. C’mon. It’s so good. It still holds up so well. The atmosphere and vibes are second to none in the whole series. The exploration is only outdone by kh3, a game that came out SEVENTEEN YEARS LATER. The story is self contained which lets it be just as, if not more, narratively satisfying than every other numbered title. It’s absolutely phenomenal.
Chain of memories: I want to love this game so badly, I swear. The combat is genuinely great against bosses and on the last three floors, and the story is so good and the darkest in any kingdom hearts game (and it’s not even close tbh). But the first like TWENTY HOURS are so rough. Before you settle into a good deck the combat is… not awful, but not good. The Disney worlds are a slog. I could only get through them because I was skipping the cutscenes. They’re just the kh1 stories but rushed, and without NEARLY as much charm. B-tier. A great game hidden under a polarising combat system and god awful filler.
358/2 days: AGGRESSIVE CRYING. But no seriously A-tier. Phenomenal game held back by being on a ds. But when a game’s only flaw is “hardware limitations”, you know it’s a great game. But even then, the only other console I’d have it on is the ds. Days has some of the best uses of the dual screens I’ve ever seen, best of which is Roxas’ memories of Sora. When Roxas experiences events similar to Sora’s adventure and you see Sora’s memory on the bottom screen playing out in real time - there’s nothing like it. And there’s no real way to experience it other than on the ds (or 3DS (or wii u I GUESS)). The combat isn’t GREAT, but it’s still good! The story might just be the best in the franchise, the characters are some of my favourites, the panel system makes inventory management so damn fun, seeing the organisation operate is so cool, the Disney worlds are actually pretty good, GOD this game is so good. But I can’t give it an S because it is very clearly a ds game. I can’t put it into words but there’s clearly restrictions that do hamper the game like each weapon only having two combos (maybe a second route if you’re lucky). I WANT it to be S-tier but I had so much more fun with kh1 and am having so much more fun with kh2. It sadly just doesn’t compare. It deserved a full remake for the hd1.5 collection so it could reach its glory.
anyway 2 is probably going to be S-tier. The combat is SO FUCKING GOOD. Probably the lowest or second lowest in S-tier, due to the Disney worlds, but still. Absolutely phenomenal so far.
