I Played Kingdom Hearts for the First Time on Switch 2 — and I'm Both Overwhelmed and Hooked

Confronting a Major Gaming Blind Spot

Like many lifelong gamers, my personal library comes with a few glaring blind spots—massive, acclaimed franchises that I have always meant to experience but somehow managed to miss entirely. At the very summit of my personal "list of gaming shame" sits Kingdom Hearts. For over two decades, I have watched from the sidelines as Square Enix’s bizarre, ambitious action-RPG mashup of classic Disney worlds and Final Fantasy lore captivated generations of players. Yet, the sheer scale of the series and the complex timeline always made it feel as though the ship had long since sailed for newcomers.

That hesitation vanished with the announcement of the Kingdom Hearts Collection. Tailor-made for players eager to dive into the franchise without navigating confusing digital storefronts or relying on cloud versions, this comprehensive package arrived on the Nintendo Switch 2. After spending the last few hours exploring the very first entry in portable mode, I can officially say that I am hooked—even if the initial hours left me thoroughly overwhelmed.

Overcoming a Rough and Dated Opening

It is no secret that the opening hours of the original Kingdom Hearts show their age. Even with the Final Mix version ported to the Nintendo Switch 2—which delivers a noticeable bump in resolution and framerate—the game cannot hide its PlayStation 2 origins. However, graphical fidelity is the least of its early-game hurdles; rather, it is the questionable level design that truly tests a newcomer's patience.

Starting out on a sleepy tropical island, protagonist Sora dreams of escaping his small home world. Unfortunately, that dream is immediately bogged down by tedious fetch quests. Instead of embarking on a grand, heroic adventure right away, players are tasked with gathering a stockpile of coconuts, finding old rope, and hunting down a seagull's egg just to build a makeshift raft. It is an unexpectedly mundane and sluggish introduction to an otherwise sprawling universe.

The Journey Truly Begins at Traverse Town

Mercifully, once you slog through the menial chores, the narrative kicks into high gear. Darkness consumes the island, bestowing upon Sora the series' iconic Keyblade and whisking him away to a mysterious new hub: Traverse Town. This is where Kingdom Hearts finally reveals its true magic. Meeting beloved Disney icons alongside familiar faces from Final Fantasy VII breathed new life into my playthrough, casting away the memory of the tedious coconut-hunting prologue.

As the narrative hooks sank deeper, I found myself willing to forgive the mechanically clunky combat and dated action-RPG framework. The emotional core, memorable character designs, and overarching mystery completely overshadow the friction of 2002-era game design. And if veteran fans are to be believed, the best is yet to come, especially when moving toward fan-favorite sequels like Kingdom Hearts 2.

An Ultimate Package for Newcomers

What makes the Kingdom Hearts Collection such an incredible value proposition is its sheer volume of content. Featuring 10 titles in total—including 7 fully playable, remastered games and 3 cinematic HD movie adaptations—the package covers everything released to date. With each game boasting roughly 30 hours of gameplay, the $74 price tag offers an immense amount of content. At first glance, trying to process the entire saga feels akin to attempting to binge the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe right before a massive crossover event.

Playing this massive collection on the Nintendo Switch 2 feels entirely natural. The ability to seamlessly chip away at dense RPG campaigns in handheld mode removes the friction of being tethered to a TV, making it vastly superior to traditional console setups for busy players. With Kingdom Hearts 4 slated for release down the line, there has never been a better time for complete beginners to dive in and experience the magic for themselves.