Credit: Unsplash

Once more into the darkness.

Kingdom Hearts is one of those game franchises that must look like a complete mystery to an outside observer. In fact, I’ve had conversations with friends about the series while non-fans were listening, and they always have a distinct bewildered look on their faces. I’ll concede that most of these games’ story is complete gibberish, but when I played that first game as a kid, it was like the best kind of Disney magic, which makes sense since, y’know, Disney characters. Unfortunately, due to my lack of a PS4, I never got to play Kingdom Hearts III, but it seems I’ll finally get my chance soon.

Yesterday, the Epic Games Store held a brief showcase to spotlight some of the big name upcoming games they had secured exclusive rights to. There were some interesting tidbits like Oddworld Soulstorm and Axiom Verge 2, but one major curveball was the announcement that Epic Games had secure exclusive distribution rights for the PC ports of the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise. All of the games will be available on the EGS starting March 30, and in their HD forms no less. To be more specific, we’re getting:

• Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX
  • Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
  • Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
  • Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (HD Remastered cinematics)
  • Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
  • Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix
  • Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (HD Remastered cinematics)
• Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
  • Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD
  • Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover (movie)
  • Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep
• Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind DLC
• Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory

📣Just announced📣

The iconic @KINGDOMHEARTS Series is coming to PC for the first time ever on March 30th!

Are you ready to join Sora and friends in their battle against the darkness? Pre-order all the titles in the @KINGDOMHEARTS series starting today 👑https://t.co/nUKDdLoEcZ pic.twitter.com/RgcfVk3CFA

— Epic Games Store (@EpicGames) February 11, 2021

That’s a whole lotta hearts. The only major sticking point for fans on this (besides the whole EGS thing in general) is that each of these games will be running for a full $59.99, with the exception of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, which is $49.99. Many have pointed out that these games are currently available on other platforms in bundle deals for a quarter of those prices, which has stirred up some ire toward both Epic and Square Enix. If Epic has any plans for such bundle deal pricing, they haven’t said.