Last updated on November 4, 2026
Kingdom Hearts 1-3 Collection is a collection released by Square Enix on October 6, bringing together both the main and the side games of the saga of Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy.
With Kingdom Hearts IV announced for late 2027, releasing this collection now makes perfect sense for players who played the games back in the day and want to refresh their memory of the gameplay and story.
It’s an even better fit for anyone who has never played the series and wants a complete package without any hassle.
The game runs great on PS5, with no frame drops. There’s no quality or performance setting, but it handles everything really well.
The story begins with Sora, the protagonist, an ordinary boy living on Destiny Islands with his friends Riku and Kairi. Everything changes when he learns he is the chosen one who can wield the Keyblade, a weapon that will later help him both in combat and in puzzles.
The island is destroyed by a dark force called the Heartless, and everyone ends up separated in different worlds. Sora sets out to find them together with Donald Duck and Goofy, travelling through several Disney universes.
Is it worth hundreds of hours?
It’s an Action-RPG in the style of Final Fantasy, where characters from that universe also show up. At times it also feels like a hack and slash game without much variety, since most of the time you just press X to attack and cast a spell now and then.
You can equip accessories that boost Sora’s stats, such as magic, attack or defense, which come in handy along the way.
The game design feels like it’s from 2002. There’s no map and no guidance telling you where to go or what side activities are available, so you’re left to discover everything on your own.
It can be frustrating at times, but every level is well thought out.
Unfortunately, enemy variety is low, at least in Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Final Mix. Your party members aren’t the most useful either, often dying more than they actually attack enemies.
The art design, however, is superb. For me it’s what makes the game so impressive, even more than 24 years after the first game in the series came out.
Kingdom Hearts at its finest
The music is excellent. Composer Yoko Shimomura did a wonderful job of expressing the emotions of this universe through tracks like Dive Into the Heart, Darkness of the Unknown and Dearly Beloved.
I recommend listening to them even if you don’t plan on playing the series. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of the soundtrack on repeat for days. She’s also back for Kingdom Hearts IV, which is the perfect choice.
My conclusion is that this collection is perfect if the recent Kingdom Hearts IV trailers caught your eye and you want to discover the story of Sora and the Disney characters, or if you simply want something that brings back the nostalgia of the 2000s.
The collection remains remarkable, with over 100 hours of content across all the games and a clear sense of how the series improved from one entry to the next.
Right now the game costs €80 (380 lei). In my opinion it’s worth the money for how much content all the games add up to. But if you’re not in a hurry and already have a big backlog, I’d definitely recommend picking it up on sale later on.
Final score: 8/10
I’m passionate about books and video games. These two great passions represent, for me, a boundless universe where I can “escape” from reality whenever I need or want to. There are so many stories, worlds, and landscapes where I can instantly teleport that I don’t think a whole lifetime would be enough to explore them all (though it would be my greatest dream to be able to).
