Kingdom Hearts 4has been in development for a few years now, and while that’s nothing to be surprised about, the wait for something that you’re excited for can be brutal. Time seems to inch forward, and you’re able to find yourself day-dreaming about it when you should instead be paying attention to whatever it is you’re actually supposed to be doing.
Luckily, Kingdom Hearts exists in a gaming space that has quite a bit of overlap with other games. These games are not going to scratch the exact same itch as Kingdom Hearts, but they are great games in their own right, and do have some similar ideas.
Some of these games are more similar to Kingdom Hearts than others. But, all of them are RPGs in one way or another, and they might lead you to series or developers you might not have otherwise given a shot, but do end up enjoying.
8Final Fantasy
FF7 Remake | FF15 | FF16
The Final Fantasy series has been long-running, and that can be intimidating to get into for someone who’s never given it a shot. But for the most part, every single Final Fantasy game is its own adventure, with its own gameplay styles and story.
Some of the most recent Final Fantasy games, FF15, FF16, and the FF7 Remake/Rebirth, areall action-RPGsthat share the most gameplay overlap with the mainline Kingdom Hearts games of any on this list. While for FF fans, FF15 and FF16 might not have been as RPG as they’d like, they accomplish what they set out to do spectacularly, and are great fits for Kingdom Hearts fans.
7Hades
Hades 1 | Hades 2
We’re going to go back and forth between games that share quite a bit with Kingdom Hearts, and games that step a little bit further away, but could be appealing to Kingdom Hearts fans. The Hades games are the latter, but they are action RPGRoguelites thathave an exceptional story, colorful characters, and very satisfying combat.
The Kingdom Hearts games have the advantage of making their own imprint on decades of existing characters, while throwing in many of their own, as well. The Hades games have this same advantage, just using mythological characters instead of modern animated ones.
6Gotham Knights
Quadruple Protagonist
Gotham Knights is a strangely underrated game; sure, it wasn’t the memorable breakout that the Arkham games were, but it also wasn’t setting out to do that. Those expectations were often coming from fans and advertisers, rather than what the game actually set out to accomplish.
And what Gotham Knight does, it does pretty well. It’s a fun, open-world action RPG with a cast of characters that people will already be familiar with, to varying degrees. While it doesn’t hit any particular note out of the park, it’s an enjoyable ride all the way through, and does a great job at exploring these underutilized characters.
5FromSoftware
Elden Ring | Dark Souls | Bloodborne
While none of these games have an art style or tone similar to Kingdom Hearts, if you’re looking for great third-person RPG combat, these are the premiere examples of it. There are very few games that can rival these in terms of refined combat, and it makes progressing through their worlds immensely satisfying.
And coming from the Kingdom Hearts series which has a plethora of titles, the FromSoftware games, especially these three series, are all cohesive enough that they can be played and enjoyed in succession. You can treat them as one big series, and they are going to take up a ton of your time (in a good way).
4Horizon
Zero Dawn | Forbidden West
These are action RPGs with a bit more focus on narrative than combat compared to the last entry. The Horizon games are extremely well-crafted in pretty much every department. They have exceptional storytelling, characters that stick in your mind, and a game-world that’s fun to explore.
There’s no one element that stands out the most in Horizon for me; all of it blends together into something that’s memorable as a whole. Sure, it borrows plenty of elements from other things, but it uses them in service of the story that it’s telling, and it uses those elements well.
3The Legend Of Zelda
Breath Of The Wild | Tears Of The Kingdom
These games have some of the colorful palette that the Kingdom Hearts games have, but with a very heavy focus on the world, rather than on the story. That’s not to say there isn’t a story here; there is, and it’s good. But the focus is mostly on exploring the world, and the huge variety of interactions you can have with it.
On their own, these two games are going to represent hundreds of hours for someone who’s looking to see everything that they have to offer. While some of the open-world stuff can have lackluster rewards, if you’re someone who enjoys the journey and isn’t overly focused on the destination, these games are going to be a hit for you.
2Mario + Rabbids
Kingdom Battle | Sparks Of Hope
Another extremely colorful couple of games, these are turn-based RPGs, rather than action RPGs. It’s fair if that’s a deal-breaker, but plenty of people who generally do not enjoy turn-based RPGs havehad a wonderful timewith these games.
Shockingly, the Rabbids are a delightful addition to the Mushroom Kingdom, particularly in Kingdom Battle.
I am not someone who replays games often; I have no time, and the time I do have is often spent playing something new so that I’m knowledgeable enough to write about it. These are two games that I have made time to replay, because they truly are a wonderful time.
1Yakuza
Every Single One
The Yakuza series has spread itself out from where it began; it was once only an action RPG, but has moved into the turn-based RPG space since. Whatever the Yakuza games are classified as, they are equal parts absurd and heartfelt.
I’m not quite certain how to go about describing the Yakuza games to someone who’s not familiar with them, so I’ll just say this: if you’re looking for another long-running narrative that goes off the beaten path regularly, or if you’re looking to watch hours and hours of cutscenes, or if you’re for more outrageous minigames than you may keep track of, then the Yakuza games were made for you.
