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Kingdom Hearts Ultimania: The Story Before Kingdom Hearts III
A gorgeous oversized hardcover collecting Kingdom Hearts art and trivia, leading up to the events of Kingdom Hearts III !
Enter the magical worlds of Disney as featured in the hit game series! This tome meticulously showcases each of Kingdom Hearts ' unique worlds, characters, and equipment, encompassing all the games predating Kingdom Hearts III . Explore character profiles from icons like King Mickey and Goofy, to modern favorites like Tron or Captain Jack Sparrow. Study detailed summaries of each games story, along with rare concept designs and storyboards! No stone is left unturned in this grand overview, which includes content
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts Coded
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts Unchained X
Dark Horse Books, Square Enix, and Disney present Kingdom Hearts The Story Before Kingdom Hearts III . This original English translation of the Japanese fan favorite reference guide is sure to capture the imaginations of Disney fans and gamers everywhere!
Enter the magical worlds of Disney as featured in the hit game series! This tome meticulously showcases each of Kingdom Hearts ' unique worlds, characters, and equipment, encompassing all the games predating Kingdom Hearts III . Explore character profiles from icons like King Mickey and Goofy, to modern favorites like Tron or Captain Jack Sparrow. Study detailed summaries of each games story, along with rare concept designs and storyboards! No stone is left unturned in this grand overview, which includes content
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts Coded
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts Unchained X
Dark Horse Books, Square Enix, and Disney present Kingdom Hearts The Story Before Kingdom Hearts III . This original English translation of the Japanese fan favorite reference guide is sure to capture the imaginations of Disney fans and gamers everywhere!
256 pages, Hardcover
Published June 29, 2021
8 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
About the author
Square Enix
592 books86 followersSquare Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. (株式会社スクウェア・エニックス・ホールディングス) TYO: 9684 is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series. Its headquarters are located in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 20, 2025
The actual written content leaves a lot to be desired, but the art is nice!
August 16, 2021
Finally an Ultimania for English speakers! Even when I preordered it KH3 had already been out for a while, but I would think most fans interested in this book are not relying on it to be their only exposure to the series before playing 3. Instead it's a good overview of the events that span the whole series in chronological order for those who need a refresher or clarification on the timeline and characters. The only game that is barely mentioned is the online mobile game which was still ongoing at the time this was being compiled, which is a shame because for me that is one of the most confusing entries and one I personally would like answers on. But for me one of the main draws to buying this type of book is access to things like concept art, story boards, and character designs and Nomura's work is beautifully reproduced here. I'm very happy to finally be able to add an Ultimania to my book collection and other diehard KH fans will be too.
November 25, 2021
The book was a bit disappointing. I was expecting much more in-depth information, explanation of the story, maybe the inclusion of in-game lore and archives... The section which explains the story is good and it definitely helped me to understand Kingdom Hearts more. After reading, I felt confident when I started playing Kingdom Hearts II. I just don't feel like the price of this book justifies the 20-30 pages I found to be actually useful.
There's a big section with the artwork (no commentary provided), rather basic character summary and things like that.
Kingdom Hearts Ultimania is a fine companion book but it is not essential. It's a bit disappointing that after all the books Japanese fans got, this is the only one we have translated.
There's a big section with the artwork (no commentary provided), rather basic character summary and things like that.
Kingdom Hearts Ultimania is a fine companion book but it is not essential. It's a bit disappointing that after all the books Japanese fans got, this is the only one we have translated.
February 15, 2023
I love Kingdom hearts, I recently got into it, & played through the whole franchise over a year ago now. I never had a difficult time understanding the story surprisingly, but in this book I really like how they go through the past games and story, as well as the character correlation chart at the end. Personally though my favorite part about this book is the art, I love Nomura’s style and how he designs characters. Chapter 4, the art gallery, I’ll go through every now and then to look at all the art prints, I know I could easily go through them online but it feels better physically looking at them on paper. If you like kingdom hearts & would like to get this book I say go for it. May your heart be your guiding key.
October 25, 2021
A great encyclopaedia of the events leading to Kingdom Hearts III. Even for the die-hard fans following the series since 2002 there is likely new pieces of information to be found - and even if not there is something deeply satisfying about having so much information about the series in a single source.
My one criticism (and by extention a warning to anyone considering buying the book) is that it contains next to no information about Kingdom Hearts: Union X/Unchained X despite presenting the game on the timeline within the oenig pages.
My one criticism (and by extention a warning to anyone considering buying the book) is that it contains next to no information about Kingdom Hearts: Union X/Unchained X despite presenting the game on the timeline within the oenig pages.
July 18, 2021
This is perfect for any kingdom hearts fan! I have been playing these games for years and I still learned new things about them.
October 15, 2021
Hands down one of the most impressive of these Ultimania guides that I have purchased. Just an incredible amount of details included. A very worthwhile read for any KH fan.
August 13, 2022
Beautiful cover and nicely laid out
August 10, 2021
11/10 stars in strength, this book weighs like 4.5 lbs and is defeating my fibro-afflicted wrists. It clearly wins this battle.
Update: Okay, I propped this book up for the sake of my wrists and soldiered on. It's a pretty decent guide if you're looking for a decent way to catch up before tackling KH3 or the KH series in general, but it was brought over in English years later... but I'm far from complaining. I'm grateful we've started seeing these materials state-side! But a head's up that if you're going to use it, realize that lots has happened since this was first published, so there's still even more catching up to do.
I liked the little key notes and captions. It's a nice little encyclopedia with fairly round summaries of what has happened so far. I think it fares better than the cutscenes in Melody of Memory, as far as summarizing the story.
There's also a nice little art collection. The pages are sturdy, it's a lovely hardcover... but uh, if you do have wrist issues of any kind, consider reading in short spurts or have a good place to lay the book flat. My desk wasn't big enough to hold computer AND book, but I propped up a tower of books on the lid of a wicker laundry basket beside my desk. :P
Update: Okay, I propped this book up for the sake of my wrists and soldiered on. It's a pretty decent guide if you're looking for a decent way to catch up before tackling KH3 or the KH series in general, but it was brought over in English years later... but I'm far from complaining. I'm grateful we've started seeing these materials state-side! But a head's up that if you're going to use it, realize that lots has happened since this was first published, so there's still even more catching up to do.
I liked the little key notes and captions. It's a nice little encyclopedia with fairly round summaries of what has happened so far. I think it fares better than the cutscenes in Melody of Memory, as far as summarizing the story.
There's also a nice little art collection. The pages are sturdy, it's a lovely hardcover... but uh, if you do have wrist issues of any kind, consider reading in short spurts or have a good place to lay the book flat. My desk wasn't big enough to hold computer AND book, but I propped up a tower of books on the lid of a wicker laundry basket beside my desk. :P
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews