Please keep in mind that these fixes will not work for everyone.
Issues and Potential Fixes
All Ports
Issue: My game is lagging, even though I have above the minimum/recommended requirements listed on my storefront!
Solution #1
Most Kingdom Hearts games, especially the older titles (anything on 1.5+2.5, and probably the ones on 2.8), generally do not run well when set above 60 FPS. It’s recommended to play at 60 or 30 FPS. You can find this in Game Settings > Display > Frame Rate. It’s also recommended to turn off Refresh Rate (also called V-sync in other games), as well as playing in Fullscreen rather than Borderless Fullscreen.
Solution #2
The game is not checking whether you have a dedicated graphics card (a GPU), and is defaulting your your integrated graphics (a much weaker GPU integrated into your CPU, commonly found on laptops, or some PCs). If you know your computer has both integrated graphics and a dedicated GPU, try forcing Kingdom Hearts to run using the dedicated graphics. How to do so is different for every family of cards, so look up how to do so.
Solution #3
Are you sure you’re above the recommended settings? Despite many calling these ports functionally the same as “PS2 games”, they aren’t. They run differently, use more resources, and require more power than games did back then. Check again, just to make sure, and try reducing resolution or frame rate to make your setup use less resources.
Issue: My game is crashing at random times, even when nothing particularly crazy is happening on screen!
Solution #1
Most Kingdom Hearts games, especially the older titles (anything on 1.5+2.5, and probably the ones on 2.8), are generally very volatile when set above 60 FPS. It’s recommended to play at 60 or 30 FPS. You can find this in Game Settings > Display > Frame Rate. It’s also recommended to turn off Refresh Rate (also called V-sync in other games), as well as playing in Fullscreen rather than Borderless Fullscreen.
Solution #2
Your monitor may have too high a refresh rate for Kingdom Hearts. Try limiting your monitor’s refresh rate to 60 Hz while you’re playing Kingdom Hearts.
Issue: My game says my saves are corrupted!
Solution Complaint #1
Damn. That sucks. Square made the saves effectively function as “memory cards” for the game, and to prevent people from sharing these “memory cards”, they made the game write your user ID to the save. If your game crashes during saving, the save may be corrupted. Unfortunately, crashing isn’t the only cause of this, because Square is stupid and sometimes the game just incorrectly writes your ID, making it so that the next time your game boots up, it’s reading an ID that doesn’t match yours, causing your save to not be loaded.
Prevention
Back up your saves. Unless you’ve modified the game somehow, they’re located at:
- C:\Documents\KINGDOM HEARTS [game name]\Epic Games Store[user ID].
For the older games (before KH3), each .png file is your “memory card” for that respective game. For KH3, you have to dig just a few folders deeper into [user ID]\SaveGames\kh3sv2\data\, where each “slot” file corresponds to a specific save slot in-game. Save these files somewhere else on your computer, or on a flash drive, or in the cloud somewhere, and do so frequently. You will be glad you did.
Issue: My controller isn’t working!
Solution #1
Is it plugged in to the computer via USB? For some reason, Kingdom Hearts on PC does not play well with controllers connected via Bluetooth.
Solution #2
Does it work with other things on your PC? For example, opening a controller tester on your internet browser should show whether button inputs are being registered. If not…
Solution #3
Is your USB cable actually functional?
Issue: My controller’s button icons aren’t displaying properly!
Solution #1
Go into the Game Settings (open the main menu and press ESC), and change the icon type in the Gamepad submenu.
Kingdom Hearts I Final Mix
Issue: My game hung or crashed after beating the final boss!
Solution #1
Verify your game files if you didn’t see the final cutscenes.
Solution #2
The game doesn’t save after beating the final boss. It really does just end. You’re not missing any post-game, since the game was made back in ye olde times.
Kingdom Hearts III
Issue: I beat the game on Critical Mode but didn’t unlock Oblivion!
Solution #1
Did you get the Proof of Times Past? If so, visit the Moogle Shop to exchange it for Oblivion!
Solution #2
Did you at any point through your playthrough on this save turn on Japanese voice over? If so, unfortunately you cannot recieve the Proof.
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory
Issue: I’m waiting for so long to get a match for the multiplayer mode!
Solution #1
Ask someone in the server to play! Unfortunately, the multiplayer of MoM isn’t very popular.