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The origins of Xehanort would also be detailed in this handheld trilogy. The next three games, released between 20, would see the series branch out into handheld consoles as it primarily focused on other characters besides Sora who could wield the Keyblade, and eventually had Sora learn of his connection to these new characters. It would not be until the third game, Kingdom Hearts II, that it was made clear the source of the evils plaguing the worlds was Xehanort, a former scientist turned harbinger of chaos who eventually was established as the Overarching Villain of this set of games. The first three games, released from 2002-2005, tell a trilogy in which Sora discovers his ability to wield the Keyblade and searches for his missing friends, battling the forces of darkness and exploring the Disney worlds along the way.
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Detailed below is the order the games are released in, and should be played in.
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The first phase of games detail Sora and friends' struggle against a man known as Xehanort, who wishes to unlock the secrets of Kingdom Hearts and use it for his own nefarious purposes. As he begins to search for his missing friends, Sora is granted the mysterious Keyblade: the only thing capable of closing the gaps that the Heartless are using to invade the worlds. Sora is sucked through a portal and winds up in Traverse Town, a crossroads world that has become the refuge of those who have lost their worlds to the Heartless. This is until the day his world is engulfed by The Heartless, an eldritch species that feed on the hearts of innocent people and literally consume entire worlds. Sora is a young boy living a peaceful but boring life on an island with his best friends Riku and Kairi.
The series is well-known for its incredibly bizarre premise and increasingly complicated plot, not to mention its increasingly absurd sequel subtitles. It's basically Final Fantasy meets Disney (along with some other Square Enix properties later on). Kingdom Hearts is a series of fantasy Action JRPG games, co-produced by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) and Disney, directed by Final Fantasy character designer Tetsuya Nomura, and starring characters from both companies. So, a Square Enix developer and a Disney executive walk into an elevator. For the game in the series titled Kingdom Hearts, see Kingdom Hearts.
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