Posted by An introduction movie is a part of almost every Kingdom Hearts game made by Square Enix. Before you start the game, the beginning movies will play. They give you a sneak peek at what’s to come. Different starts get you ready for the game in different ways. Some prepare you thematically, while others may summarize the previous games in the series.
All of these have music playing in the background, usually a song by Hikaru Utada that goes with the images. However, some of these spots do well while others do not do as well. Let’s put each Kingdom Hearts opening in order of how good it is.
Back Cover
Some might call Kingdom Hearts Back Cover a game. Since it’s a collection of HD clips that tell part of the story of the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Union X. The beginning of the game, which shows scenes from Union X, makes this very clear. However, this footage doesn’t make for a very interesting introduction—the mobile footage is scaled down, so it’s not stretched. And the chibi art style doesn’t lend itself to showing emotion.
The sad series menu theme is used instead of a Utada song, making this the only opening in the series that doesn’t have one. It’s a well-liked song on its own, but it doesn’t belong as an opening.
Re:Chain Of Memories & Re:Coded
The openings of both Re:Chain of Memories and Re:Coded are very similar. They are both collections of cutscenes from past games in the series set to the same remix of Simple and Clean that was used for the opening of Kingdom Hearts 1.
The used footage does its job of showing key moments from earlier entries to tell people of what happened, but it doesn’t do much else. Also, it’s too bad there isn’t any original music. Simple and Clean is a famous song, but it’s used too much in the beginnings of Kingdom Hearts games. The quality of these two starts is about the same. But Re:Coded is a little worse because the symbols splashing across the screen make some scenes less clear.
358/2 Days
Like Re:Chain Of Memories and Re:Coded, 358/2 Days starts with a song that has already been used over video that has already been used. However, it stands out a bit from the others.
Sanctuary is used instead of Simple and Clean, but it has only been used in one other opening. The same footage is used to introduce the viewers to the members of Organization 13, who are much more important in 358/2 Days. The shots of the members with words around them work well, if not a little funny by accident. But that’s in line with the Kingdom Hearts series as a whole, so that’s good.
Melody Of Memory
The start of Melody of Memory is a little dull, mostly because of the starts of the Kingdom Hearts games that came before it. It came out soon after Kingdom Hearts 3, 0.2, and Dream Drop Distance, all of which have high-quality original openings. It was disappointing to see that Melody Of Memories had an opening that was used from an older, non-numbered game.
It’s better that it uses the original version of Simple and Clean instead of the remix that is used in many other Kingdom Hearts openings. However, the lack of any new footage is upsetting. Because it would be great to see more of Kairi, who plays the lead role in this game. The main story of the game has a lot of great new cutscenes with Kairi. Using even a few of these would have given the beginning some much-needed visual flair.
Birth By Sleep
Birth By Sleep uses the same version of Simple and Clean that was used in 1, Re:Chain Of Memories, and Re:Coded. However, the video for it has new footage that shows off our new main characters.
However, hearing the same opening song again is a bit annoying because Birth By Sleep’s world is so different from the ones that came before it, with new characters and places. Getting the same opening song again feels like a missed chance. But the new footage of Aqua, Terra, and Ventus looks great and goes great with the beat of the song.
Dream Drop Distance
Dream Drop Distance is getting closer to the end of the Kingdom Hearts series of non-numbered entries that came out between Kingdom Hearts 2 and 3. It shows that Square Enix has learned from the mistakes of past non-numbered entry openings and is trying something new.
The tune of Simple and Clean is used again, but this time as an instrumental from the song. It gives the opening a grand and emotional feel that makes it stand out from other Kingdom Hearts openings. The opening feels old, and the pop-up book images of Mickey and the main cast add to that feeling. Any fan of the show will feel a range of emotions while watching this opening.
Kingdom Hearts 3
The beginning of Kingdom Hearts 3 seemed to have an impossible task: it had to summarize not only what happened in Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, but also in all the other games that weren’t numbered. But it managed to work in a pretty elegant way, showing that every character’s story arc is complete in Happy Wheels.
This opening is beautiful to look at, and the chess theme gives it a strong personality. It shows how much work went into Kingdom Hearts 3. Face My Fears, a brand-new song by Utada, is also used. Even though using a song with a lot of dubstep influences seemed a bit out of date at start in 2019. It works in a way because the instrumental fits in so well with the visuals.
0.2 Birth By Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 is only a three-hour game that shows us what Aqua has been up to since Birth By Sleep, but the beginning was very well thought out and pays off hugely. Simple and Clean is used again. But this time it gets a new version that turns it into a tropical house song.
This upbeat version of the song goes well with the beautiful images. Which have a main ocean or water theme that fits with Aqua’s name. It also does a great job of setting the scene for Aqua’s journey up to 0.2, making it the best non-numbered entry opening in the Kingdom Hearts series.
Kingdom Hearts
The beginning of the first Kingdom Hearts game was different. Because it was the first in the series and didn’t have anything to point to or summarize. This is why it’s so amazing how good and memorable the beginning is. Even though the images from Y2K are a bit out of date and have a Dance Dance Revolution or arcade background graphics vibe. They work with the song and are still useful today.
The events shown are famously vague, but they are still fascinating. There are scenes where the actors look at each other deeply, which might seem out of place. But they’re meant to make the audience want to play the game to find out the answers.
Kingdom Hearts 2
This is the best beginning to a Kingdom Hearts game because it combines the powerful melody of Sanctuary with stylish graphics that are timed perfectly with the song. At first glance, these images don’t seem to show much. But they do summarize what happened in Kingdom Hearts 1 and Chain of Memories, a game that many people skipped because they didn’t know how important it was.
The animation used in this opening is still famous for a reason, and many of the scenes are very memorable. For example, Sora and Riku running up opposite sides of a staircase is both a metaphor for how they interact with each other and a direct reference to how Chain of Memories is put together. Sanctuary is the perfect background music for the show because it brings out the emotions that are already there and helps even new fans understand how the characters feel, even if they don’t know anything else about them.