Those eager to grab their keyblade and play Kingdom Hearts natively on Steam Deck don’t have to wait any longer, as the franchise is finally on Steam.
The Kingdom Hearts franchise has been available on handhelds for a while, but its initial performance on the go left much to be desired. Back in February 2022, Nintendo Switch players were left with buggy cloud-based versions of the beloved Disney action RPG franchise.
Since then, the entire game series has found its way onto PC via the Epic Games Store. As an Epic Games exclusive, the Kingdom Hearts series previously needed some rigorous know-how to run on Steam Deck – but now that the iconic RPG series is finally on Steam, it’s as easy as pie.
Can you play Kingdom Hearts on Steam Deck?
The Kingdom Hearts franchise is playable on the Steam Deck but Kingdom Hearts III suffers from performance drops and requires some in-game setting changes.
Both Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue have been given a fully ‘verified’ commendation, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s Disney-induced adventures perform great on the Valve handheld.
According to footage recorded by YouTuber DeckWizard, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 and 2.5 ReMIX both perform at a stable 90 FPS while being tested on the 512GB OLED model.
Unlike the Epic Games versions, the cut-scenes also remain intact, with every FMV working “as expected.”
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Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind DLC also performs well natively on the Steam Deck, able to reach 90 FPS. However, the game took longer to go through Valve’s testing process and gain its fully verified status.
While fully verified, some worlds also have the occasional drops, from anything between 60 – 70 FPS, all the way down to 50 FPS. Switching the in-game settings to medium, and the resolution scale to 75 will make for a smoother performance taking on the heartless on the go.
While Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind DLC are now on Steam, they can already run via the Epic Games Store on Steam Deck. However, its performance isn’t ideal with multiple reports online that the cut-scenes don’t play, instead showing blank screens or crashing entirely.
Now, the series is finally available natively on the Steam Deck for the first time, with its FMV cut-scenes working exactly as they should. With that in mind, Kingdom Hearts on Steam Deck is one of the best ways to play the beloved RPG series whenever, and wherever your heart desires.
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind DLC require 60GB, 35GB, and 75GB respectively of install space for your Steam Deck. Combined, this amounts to 170GB in total needed to play the Kingdom Hearts franchise on the handheld.
Picking up one of the best microSD cards will help ensure you have plenty of storage for Kingdom Hearts any Steam Deck game you want to play – especially if you haven’t yet picked up the 1TB OLED or upgraded the SSD.
