Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 is a massive collection of four HD remasters of Kingdom Hearts games and the cutscenes of 358/2 Days and Re:Coded remastered. Now why just the cutscenes and not the full games? Because the two DS games ran completely different engines and honestly, were not good gameplay wise. Storywise 358/2 Days is an absolute tearjerker but actually playing the DS original sucked hard, so only the cutscenes being remastered is a blessing in disguise so you can get the feels and important story beats and then immediately get back to the fun. (Trust me I'll explain why later in the review)

The games in question are the two numbered titles Kingdom Hearts 1 Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, and Re:Chain of Memories and Birth by Sleep Final Mix. What does Final Mix mean? Well those games released back before DLC existed so Final Mix just means the definitive versions with quality of life changes and new content, so if you played these games in your childhood back during the PS2 it's a must buy as they made so many good changes (most notably the ability to skip cutscenes in KH1 PRAISE GOD!)

Tested on Steam Deck and the games all work perfectly with 5 hours of battery life on a single charge. All the games in the collection are running on the old PS2 era engine the series is primarily known for, so they're not demanding games and can pretty much run on any modern PC, including non-gaming PCs.

Now with all this said, there's an important warning I gotta give for newcomers, and it's regarding the Kingdom Hearts Conundrum™. For longtime fans you know exactly what I'm talking about. You see, the Kingdom Hearts franchise is absolutely magical and all must plays, however they have a big flaw, and that's that the story is absolutely complicated and requires knowledge of previous games to make sense. And I'm not talking just mainline numbered titles, I mean ALL TITLES. Kingdom Hearts 2 for example has key story points that were explained in Chain of Memories which at the time was a spinoff title on a completely different system, that being the Nintendo Game Boy Advanced. Birth By Sleep especially contained a lot of important story details and that was a spinoff on the PlayStation Portable. And of course 358/2 Days originally being on the Nintendo DS and having really controversial gameplay elements that really make it not as inviting.

Nowadays it's not so bad because we got the collections, but as you continue your Kingdom Hearts journeys you HAVE to play the games by order of release as they were designed that way. Trust me as a Kingdom Hearts fan since the beginning, you cannot skip any of them otherwise trying to piece everything together is just gonna hurt your head. The good news is you don't have to play every single one. Re:Chain of Memories you can just watch the cutscenes on Youtube as the gameplay is mainly just supplemental. Birth by Sleep though, strongly recommended to play because it's story is deeply important and it's gameplay really damn good.

Barring the Kingdom Hearts pain train, you don't need to know anything to have fun, and that's what Kingdom Hearts is, just pure fun. A grand crossover adventure between Final Fantasy and Disney that on paper shouldn't work but it does, with great actions, great moments, and overall just games that will stick with you for the rest of your life. There's a reason this franchise is so beloved the world over.

If you want to know more, the Youtuber SuperButterBuns has made a series called Kingdom Hearts For Beginners that will give you lots of tips tricks and headsup to make your journey more enjoyable. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaDEzrYRlCgFhp2F8wFfNWEx1Y6qbMQZu