In the game, the journal is kept by Jiminy Cricket, who was appointed by Queen Minnie as the royal chronicler. The games are driven by a linear progression to the next story event, usually told in the form of a cut scene, though there are numerous side quests available that provide bonus benefits to the characters.

The game further explores the "heart" concept by involving a new group of enemies, the Nobodies, which are the cast-off shells of those who have become Heartless. The manga was originally serialized in Japan by Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan and eventually released in tankōbons. The list included Haley Joel Osment, David Gallagher, and Hayden Panettiere as the three new characters introduced in the game. The English release of the Kingdom Hearts games featured an all-star voice cast which included many of the Disney characters' original voice actors.Kingdom Hearts introduced the main characters (Sora, Kairi, and Riku) of the series, and established the plot's framework involving hearts and dark beings known as the Heartless. The books include Kingdom Hearts Ultimania, Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Revised Edition, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Ultimania, Kingdom Hearts Series Ultimania α ~Introduction of Kingdom Hearts II~, Kingdom Hearts II Ultimania, and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ Ultimania. Sora is usually accompanied by Donald Duck and Goofy, who are non-playable characters that aid Sora in battle. The games are influenced by their sister franchise, Final Fantasy, and carry its gameplay elements over into their own action-based, hack-and-slash system.

Nomura was hesitant about releasing a game on the Game Boy Advance because he felt that the 3D graphics of the original game would not translate well into 2D. They meet King Mickey, who reveals that the "Ansem" Sora defeated was the Heartless of Xehanort, who, sometime after being found by Ansem, betrayed his master and stole his name, and since then, Ansem the Wise has been missing. During the Tokyo 2020/2021 Summer Olympic Games opening ceremonies Parade of Nations, the music from Olympus Coliseum could be heard alongside other video game music as the athletes marched into the Olympic Stadium. After Ventus and Sora lost things that were important to them (Ventus's heart and Sora's memories) both were taken to places of safety until it could be reclaimed. Unlike Kingdom Hearts for the V CAST and Kingdom Hearts coded, this game does not have a storyline and focuses more on socializing.

The game is set 70 years before Birth by Sleep and explores the origins of Xehanort and his eventual turn to darkness, [31] and was developed by the same team working on Union χ. is a fantasy action role-playing video games franchise developed and published by Square Enix (formerly Square).

The gameplay is similar to that of the first Kingdom Hearts game, with the addition of the Reaction Command, which performs reflex-sensitive actions in battle. Sora once again travels to many Disney-themed worlds and resolves the troubles caused by not just Maleficent and Pete, but also Organization XIII whose members refer to him as Roxas. With his newfound power, Riku subdues Roxas and takes him to DiZ, but the ordeal leaves him stuck in Ansem's form. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance was released on March 29, 2012, in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS.The first part was released in Japan on January 23, 2019, with the second part releasing in early 2019. The main theme songs for the Kingdom Hearts games were written and performed by Japanese pop star, Utada Hikaru. Along the way, Terra slowly begins to lose control in the darkness inside his heart, but finds solace with Master Xehanort, who appears to understand him. Soundtracks were released for the first and third installments following the release of their respective games. Xehanort, now with amnesia, is found by the sage king of Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise, and taken in as his apprentice.