I don't often like to talk about games in terms of dollars or pounds per hour of playtime, but when there's a deal that offers such outstanding value for money, it's hard not to highlight how much you get for the price paid. That's where I'm at while looking at this deal on the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece Collection on Steam, as it's now a whopping 70% off.
Working out exactly what you get in this bundle is almost as complicated as summarising the plot of the games (oh yes, I went there), but the simple answer is that it's basically the easiest way to play (or watch) the entire Kingdom Hearts series so far — all 200 hours or more of it.
To start, you get Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 and 2.5 Remix, which includes complete versions of the first and second mainline games (Kingdom Hearts 1 and Kingdom Hearts 2), as well as a remaster of the Game Boy Advance interquel Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, an updated port of the PSP prequel Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and a cutscene compilation of two further side-stories, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded.
The second part is Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, which includes Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD, a high-definition remaster of the original 3DS game that took place after Kingdom Hearts 2. It also has Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, a movie-fied and cutscene-only version of a pair of mobile-only titles, and Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A fragmentary passage, which serves as a brief introductory episode ahead of Kingdom Hearts 3.
Finally, you get Kingdom Hearts 3 + Re Mind, which is the most recent mainline entry in the series to date, as well as the DLC chapter that tells another side of the story during the game's climax.
Phew, I hope you managed to make it all the way through that. As you can see, it's a hugely convoluted series spread across multiple consoles, handhelds, and mobile spin-offs across several generations. And while some games have been reduced to movies or cutscene compilations in this collection, it's the best or easiest way to experience them all in one place.
Get 70% off the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece Collection on Steam
It's probably a good time to get caught up on the series so far, as there will be a big Kingdom Hearts event at the upcoming D23 Expo on August 15. The panel, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the series, will feature Disney and Square Enix executives, as well as Haley Joel Osment and David Gallagher — the actors behind Sora and Riku.
Hopefully, this will be the biggest update we've had on the next upcoming entry since the surprise Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer during this summer's Nintendo Direct. If not, all eyes will be on Gamescom later this month for even a crumb of news.
