Kingdom Heartsis a long-standing series, mixingFinal Fantasy,Disney, and original characters. There are fans who’ve been around since 2002, when the first game in the series came out, and newer fans who’ve been able to experience the games back to back with no wait time in between.
The main story isaround 30 hours, but the games have some things you’re able to do on the side if you want to 100 percent them, from optional bosses to collectibles. It feels good to do everything to completion for games you love, but the Kingdom Hearts games tend to make that challenging with this extra content. Some of them are particularly difficult.
We’ve used trophies as a reference point where applicable. Platinum trophy percentages are based onPSNProfiles, and average completion times are based onHowLongToBeat.
2%
Average 100% Completion Time
62 Hours
The first major thing to note is that Kingdom Hearts Final Mix’s Platinum trophy is difficulty-locked; you need tofinish the game on Proud modeif you want to get its Platinum trophy. If you’re looking to 100 percent the game on only one playthrough, you won’t have the easiest time, as there are also trophies tied tobeating the game without using a Continueor changing your equipment, and one for finishing in 15 hours or less.
That’s not even mentioning theColiseum that you’ll have to completeor the extra bosses to beat—one of thembeing Sephiroth himself. Plus, you’ll have to do some extra gummi ship missions, and the gummi ship section of the first game is just… not good. Then, synthesizing all items is going to take a while, since it’s up to the enemy drop rates, which are often laughably low. Basically, expect tosinka lotof time and possibly at least two playthroughs if you want to 100 percent the first game.
1.8%
96 Hours
Birth By Sleep is infamous in the community for being a nightmare to 100 percent. The mini games are obnoxious, andthe optional bosses aren’t easy, but the worst part is that you can’t just pick the character you play with best and use them to beat the side stuff. No,you have to beat everything with every characterto truly 100 percent Birth By Sleep.
Moreover, the advice for one of the secret bosses is to take advantage of the invincibility frames of your dodge animations during the boss’s attacks, oryou risk almost instantly dying to a combo you can’t get out of. Except Terra doesn’t really have those, so it’s even harder to beat with him. You have no choice but to sink tens of hours into the badly implemented mini games and the Command Board if you want to 100 percent BBS. Oh, and there’s the trophy forbeating the game on Critical Mode.
1.5%
61 Hours
Chain of Memories is one of the more divisive Kingdom Hearts games, as its unique combat system involves using cards against enemies to attack in real time. If you don’t jive with the gameplay, it’s difficult game to play through, let alone 100 percent. Also,similarly to BBS, you have to go through the game twice—once with Sora and once with Riku. Each has their own requirements for completion, and they can get grindy really quick.
Getting Riku to level 99, for example, is almost guaranteed to take more time than you’d like. There are also trophies forcompleting the game without dying or escaping from battle. Couple them with the trophy forfinishing the game on Proud difficulty, and you’ve got two choices: be prepared to reload often, or reach 100 percent completion on two playthroughs.
But the absolute worst part iscollecting all cards and sleights, because only certain enemies and bosses drop some of them, and it’s not a guaranteed thing, making them missable if you’re unlucky.
The PS4 version’s difficulty trophies are stackable, while the PS3 version’s are not, so you will have to beat the game multiple times on different difficulties for all trophies on PS3.
54.5 Hours
358/2 Days is cutscene-only in the HD collections, but if you’re looking to 100 percent it on the Nintendo DS, you’re in for a long ride. Fans tend to either dislike the gameplay or simply find it okay, but you’ll have to adapt to it if you really want to complete everything. The gameplay is mission-based, andsome missions have Bonus Gauges you have to fillto get all the rewards the mission has to offer.
You also have Challenge Missions, which give you one to three challenge sigils based on how well you do. The challenges includenot getting hit, not missing with attacks, completing the mission within a certain time limit, and more. Some are easier to complete than others, with an honorable mention going to the infamous Dustflier boss that’s hard enough to beat normally, let alone with additional challenges. In the end, you’ll have to collect358 crowns, 255 sigils, and 167 panels, just to name a few.
52 Hours
Like 358/2 Days, Re:coded is in cutscene-only format in the HD collections. It’s also a doozy to 100 percent on the DS. There are no PlayStation trophies, but the game has its own in-game trophies for you to get, along with completing Jiminy’s Journal. Trophies include getting all Keyblades and one command to their maximum levels, as well ascompleting worlds within certain time limits and even beating a world at one HP.
You’ll also be spending some time in the Coliseum if you want to fully finish it, as there are 50 floors to beat. One of the hardest parts, though, isgetting all avatar parts and 99 dalmations, because there are a lot of both, and you may get repeats of avatar parts you already have. Also, dalmations aren’t even guaranteed to drop, soit’s all up to your luck. And, of course, there are the usual trophies for beating the game on every difficulty.
