Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

This is it. The final compilation of the enormous storytelling universe that is Kingdom Hearts. And it delivers. Especially in terms of filling some gaps in the early story while convincingly bridging games from Birth by Sleep up to Dream Drop Distance while preparing for Kingdom Hearts 3.

Highly polished and visually stunning, Three can't come fast enough...

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is a must play for any Kingdom Hearts fan, just for KH 0.2 alone. Not only is there a wonderful remaster of an underrated 3DS game, but players get their first opportunity to go hands-on with the gameplay for Kingdom Hearts 3. While I found Kingdom Hearts X: Back Cover to be a bit of a shoo-in, it does give fans of both the mobile game and the series some extra content to enjoy. With Kingdom Hearts 3 a while off, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is the perfect appetizer.

This is a robust collection that allows series completionists to enjoy the entire franchise in just a few compilations – which will become only two when the PS4 version of the 1.5 and 2.5 Remix comes out in March.

Thanks to some excellent all-new content and the most polished HD remaster the series has yet seen, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue successfully and beautifully sets the stage for the big showdown of light versus dark in Kingdom Hearts 3. A must-have for fans, and a primo starting point for newcomers.

Kingdom Hearts 3 seems as if it may finally be coming in the relatively near future and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue serves as an excellent appetizer for those waiting.

Even if we aren’t getting Kingdom Hearts 3 anytime soon, you’re finally able to play one of the series great titles at long last on the PS4, and see how the future of the series is shaping up.

While it’s not the new Kingdom Hearts game that many may have wanted, it’s much more than just a simple collection of old titles or some cheap cash-in. It’s a bridge to what awaits, and I can’t help but feel excited after watching the credits roll for the umpteenth time.

The content is great, but the relative value is horrible. If you are a big Kingdom Hearts fan (and really that’s who this collection is intended for), you’re going to be overjoyed.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a brilliantly odd release. Newcomers to Kingdom Hearts may be put off by the complexity of the stories they’re thrown into, but Dream Drop Distance and A Fragmentary Passage are accessible enough via sheer gameplay alone. Really, it’s just puzzling why this title gets released first when Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 Remix (a much more substantial and sensible package) is only a couple months away. In the meantime, this package makes for a promising start before Kingdom Hearts III.

Holding two entirely-knew Kingdom Hearts experiences and a criminally underplayed title in the franchise, Final Chapter Prologue is a collection that every likely Kingdom Hearts III player should experience.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a great collection for fans and also for newcomers to the franchise.

Kingdom Hearts II.8 HD is the last piece that leads us to Kingdom Hearts III.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is the best way to discover Dream Drop Distance (if you didn't play the original) and a wonderful teaser for Kingdom Hearts 3. But the wait, supposed to be easier, is now worse. ¡Come on, Nomura! ¡Bring it on!

Even though this compilation doesn't have the same amount of content that past remastered Kingdom Hearts packages, it's exciting to see a little bit of the future of the series on the actual generation of consoles with a great remaster of a portable game and a short game that showed us the evolution of the franchise.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is thoroughly enjoyable, even as a newcomer, but it requires a lot of homework via YouTube clips and Wiki. The characters are varied and vibrant, and the lineup includes some classic headliners. It's a great taste of what's to come in Kingdom Hearts III, but I feel it's priced a bit high for what it delivers.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue consists of great new content. It is a great role-playing game and gives us more information about the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3 game. The new graphics live up to expectations.

Don’t let the convoluted title fool you. It’s worth the play, even if you’re new to the franchise.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a morsel that updates a small bit of the past with a very nice Dream Drop Distance HD Remaster, details a bit of the present with the χ Back Cover cinematic, and shows a smidge of the glorious future with Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage. The gaming content is high quality, but low quantity, leaving you wanting more. Great for junkies needing a Kingdom Hearts bump to get them through the long wait should get this immediately.

Ultimately, 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue has one purpose – to pave the way for Kingdom Hearts 3 – and it pulls it off incredibly well. Dream Drop Distance HD has a great story and some really cool mechanical ideas, but is let down somewhat by the limitations of the 3DS hardware it was adapted from. But 0.2 Birth by Sleep A Fragmentary Passage is just stellar. It gives the perfect taster of what to expect in Kingdom Hearts 3, while also being its own awesomely designed short-form experience. If we discount its smaller scale, 0.2 is probably one of the best instalments of the series we’ve ever had.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8. is a great package for the hardcore fans of the series, including the first glimpse of how Kingdom Hearts III is going to be in terms of gameplay and feel. Also, Dream Drop Distance's remaster is pretty awesome.

None of the experiences are without fault, but together they make for a perfect warm up for the next chapter in the Kingdom Hearts saga.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 features three solid entries into the Kingdom Hearts series and, while there’s plenty of setup for the future, what’s here is mostly fantastic. Back Cover might be the weak point of this collection, but even that is worth checking out if you’re really into the crazy lore in this series. Simply put, Kingdom Hearts in 60FPS is wonderful and the little taste of Kingdom Hearts 3 is even better than I had hoped.

Though it’s a little shorter compared to its predecessors, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a collection worthy of your time. The HD treatment on Dream Drop Distance is excellent. Birth by Sleep 0.2 - A Fragmentary Passage is a gorgeous prologue to Kingdom Hearts III, and while Kingdom Hearts X (key) Back Cover is the weakest link in the collection, it lets fans efficiently catch up on that chapter of the story. While it may just be an appetizer, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a fine example of why we’re still excited for the future of the franchise.

While Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue suffers from Square’s scattershot approach to what has been included in the collection, it nevertheless remains a must-have for Kingdom Hearts fans, especially those who didn’t have access to Dream Drop Distance the first time around because of the franchise’s odd migration to and from Sony and Nintendo devices seemingly at a whim.

This is a game for fans of the franchise, maybe not the best of these remixes, but definitely enjoyable and a great option to keep us entertained while we wait for Kingdom Hearts III.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue may not satisfy those who desperately want Kingdom Hearts III, but it is the perfect collection to experience old and new adventures in the Kingdom Hearts universe while we wait.

Three Kingdom Hearts experiences in the same pack. Another fantastic compilation for PS4 of one of the best Square Enix franchises.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue is essential for the faithful, flummoxing for newcomers, and a promising start to the series' life on PS4.

A perfect compilation for preparing the future release of Kingdom Hearts III.

Final Chapter Prologue is especially worth playing if you know the franchise well and you'd like a taste of Kingdom Hearts III.

A collection of well-made PS4 ports, preparing fans of the series for Kingdom Hearts 3. But for everybody else it's not worth buying.

A good game, but already seen on 3DS five years ago, plus an even better one, but too short.

Of all of the HD remastered packs of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, 2.8 is probably the one with the least gameplay hours, but the one that fans will want to have the most, because of the innovative Birt By Sleep 0.2. This A Fragmentary Passage is 3 hours long and is more a visual and gameplay prelude of what we'll have in KH3.

An awesome remaster and a taste of what's to come, yet lack of new content make this package something only true fans will enjoy to the fullest. But the way this prologue plays is more than a good reason to look forward for the next installment in the series.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is probably the weakest of the Kingdom Hearts collections to date. Since it's bundled with a single game, a demo, and a borderline-incoherent selection of cut scenes, the content is far behind the other Kingdom Hearts HD ports. The content is mostly good, and the Ground Zeroes-style demo for Kingdom Hearts 3 is sure to entice fans. It has more original content than the previous collections, but it's still not worth the $60 asking price. Kingdom Hearts fans will be happy to get some time with the newest entry in the series, but casual players might want to wait for a price drop.

A Fragmentary Passage is a wonderful addition to the Kingdom Hearts franchise, though newcomers will find any part of this collection very hard to understand.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue isn't impressive in terms of content when compared to others sets but it's a good example of a 3DS game ported to a big console. It will please the fans; everyone else should steer clear - casual gamers won't understand the phenomenon of this Disney/Final Fantasy hybrid.

The most far-reaching package of content in the franchise, stretching from the series’ earliest moments all the way to its most recent, but an understanding of its scope requires some history with Kingdom Hearts lore. And because much of it touches on familiar territory, as a whole it lacks an essential feeling that the main numbered entries and spinoffs (like Birth By Sleep) evoke.

Final Chapter Prologue is a great game for series veterans, but it's severely lacking in content compared to previous collections.

While it’s not my favorite bundle they have released, it most certainly has some fun times in it. RPG and Kingdom Hearts fans should not shy away from this one. Still, seeing as how 2.5 HD had both Kingdom Hearts 2 and Birth by Sleep in it and this package only has a full game and a 2 hour episode, I would say at least wait for a slight price drop.

Kingdom Hearts fans - particularly those who can justify the game's astronomical price point of $60 for about five hours of new content - will definitely enjoy their brief time with Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.

Fans of the franchise should pick this up, if they’re eager to see what Kingdom Hearts III will have in store, although newcomers would do better to pick one of the previous HD remakes.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue is a collection which fans of the saga should not miss. Despite not overflowing with contents, this anthological prologue to the story of Kingdom Hearts is the missing piece of the series created by Nomura.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 The Final Chapter Prologue is an atypical collection: on one hand able to enchant with Dream Drop Distance, for gameplay and for the graphics, but on the other hand it doesn't impress with Birth by Sleep 0.2. The Back Cover film, then, doesn't transmit great feelings.

We're not too much passionate about Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Charter Prologue, at least not at full price. Dream Drop Distance is a really fun game, but if you already own it on 3DS, this new edition doesn't offer too much else. A Fragmentary Passage is a real blast, but it's over in a jiff. Could be worthwhile for hardcore fans of the saga, especially if on sale.

While the new engine doesn't sport a consistent framerate and you can pretty much skip the Chi movie, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a healthy enough serving of what's to come in Fragmentary Passage, and bundles in one amazing core entry that everyone should play.

There’s a decent amount of content in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue, but it doesn’t explain much for newcomers playing their first Kingdom Hearts game on the PS4. In addition, Back Cover will feel like a waste of time to some, and Birth by Sleep will feel too short. Dream Drop Distance translates fairly well, but alone it’s not worth the price of admission. As a bundle, the entire package offers a decent value and a great lead-in to Kingdom Hearts III.

A bundle consisting of a terrible, nightmarishly dumb movie, a remake of a rather mediocre 3DS game, and a prologue to Kingdom Hearts III is not the best investment you can imagine. It does show though that Kingdom Hearts and Unreal Engine 4 is a match made in heaven. [04/2017, p.72]

At this point you’re probably wondering: if 2.8’s best bit is that brief, is 2.8 even worth it? Honestly, you’ll have to follow your heart on that one. [April 2016, p77]

A collection of highs and lows, Dream Drop Distance is fluid but flawed. It's Aqua's heart-stirring tale that will make seasoned keyblad wielders rejoice. [March 2017, p.93]

It should be an easier purchase to make if you haven’t played DDD before, but other than that, it’s hard to recommend this collection if you’re only getting it for 0.2, however awesome it may be. I do also understand just how starved Kingdom Hearts fans are however, so do know what you’re getting yourself into, but take solace in the fact that even though 0.2 is short, it’s a thrilling ride.

Despite my love for the series, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is not without its faults, the most glaring being the high barrier of entry. As I said earlier, I cannot in good conscience recommend this game to folks unfamiliar with the series. However, if you don't care about story or you're a Kingdom Hearts vet, then have at it. Or as so many of the Kingdom Hearts armchair psychologists will tell you, "May your heart be your guiding key". What does that even mean?

The players who never finished or even tried Dream Drop Distance on Nintendo 3DS will find this Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue very enjoyable. The others could be disappointed and will struggle to justify the pricetag.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a strong but unnecessarily pricey collection for die-hard fans, especially for those who don't intend to play Dream Drop Distance. For those who do, it most certainly is a wonderful game that has undergone an admirable transition between platforms. With a fair film and enticing episode in tow, there's only so much more our hearts can bear in anticipating Kingdom Hearts III.

Birth By Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage might be short, but it's a beautiful, entertaining episode that fills in some gaps in the lore. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance retains a lot of the fun that made it so popular on the 3DS, even if its Drop system grows tedious. And for all of its comparative drudgery, Kingdom Hearts x Back Cover is at least visually appealing. It might be an overall confusing entry for newcomers to the series, but on the whole, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue indicates that we have much to look forward to in the long-overdue Kingdom Hearts III.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue may be saddled with a ridiculous title, but the package offers plenty to enjoy. It may not be the most welcoming of games, thanks to Kingdom Hearts being amongst the worst offenders for convoluted narratives, but the HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance combined with a glimpse of what is to come for the franchise makes this more or less essential for fans.

For fans this is something of a no-brainer, especially after a price drop. Others may want to consider carefully, though that taste of KH3 is still rather difficult to resist. Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is ultimately a collection of a good but not great game, an exciting demo and a hardcore-fans-only movie - and hearing that you probably already know exactly where you stand.

Quotation forthcoming.

I’d heartily recommend this for KH fans, although I caution that perhaps they should wait for the price to drop. Newcomers to the franchise entirely should avoid this title until the first two anthologies are under the belt. This is definitely not an installment that is easy to jump into.

The best parts of this new Kingdom Hearts collection — the remaster of Dream Drop Distance and Aqua's miniature adventure — offer plenty of fun and a tantalizing taste of what Kingdom Hearts III will be like. The series' narrative absurdity is ever-present, but so is the addictive fun of its hack-and-slash gameplay.

Dream Drop Distance is a fine HD remaster, and the game is solid, if not the best of the series. 0.2 Birth By Sleep, on the other hand, should not be missed, and has got me incredibly excited for where the series is going to go next.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is an adequate collection of what's left over from the series, with what also acts as an exquisite demo for the upcoming Kindom Hearts 3. This isn't to say that hard work hasn't gone into the remaster, but for a premium price point the game just isn't worth what it's asking, and the core component shows its age and origins a little more than could be hoped for.

The game is okay, it’s not for me specifically as I’ve never been a huge fan of Kingdom Hearts but I can see why it is as popular as it has become, thus as a result fans will enjoy it. So in the end, Kingdom Hearts fans will feel their money was well spent.

Rather than a game, it is a spilled drawer with Kingdom Hearts label. One Nintendo remake, one movie and one good, but short game. We were expecting more. [Issue#272]

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD is a good compilation for long-time fans of the saga. Dream Drop Distance looks good on PS4 and, boy, Birth by Sleep 0.2 sure looks gorgeous. However, this prologue lasts only less than three hours, DDD is not the most thrilling game of the saga and X Back Cover is a very poor attempt at making a movie with an hour long badly paced cinematic. Clearly not a compulsory purchase but still entertaining enough for fans.

A meaty and highly distinctive package which should delight cartoon-obsessed youngsters and those who live to play Japanese RPGs. But, despite the Disney involvement, it doesn’t feel likely to challenge the mainstream. In certain respects – albeit in the grand tradition of Japanese RPGs – it’s so complex as to be baffling.