After 14 years of waiting, Kingdom Hearts fans finally got their hands on the ambitious pseudo-finale that is Kingdom Hearts 3. While the game trips over its own storytelling in the 10 previous games, it manages to provide a satisfying, if underwhelming, experience.
The Kingdom Hearts universe is a mash-up between Disney and Final Fantasy, a combination that should not work, yet somehow does.
Fans of the series will have a hard time understanding the story if they are not well-versed in every entry into the series, and newcomers will not understand any of it.
The whole series is a grandiose battle between the forces of light and dark spanning multiple worlds to respectively protect or control Kingdom Hearts, the heart of the universe.
Gamers play as Sora, a kid whose world was consumed by the darkness. Sora fights alongside Donald Duck and Goofy to stop Organization XIII from unlocking the power of Kingdom Hearts.
Sora is a keyblade wielder, a weapon that functions as both a key and a sword. The keyblade can lock or unlock the hearts of the worlds and the people that inhabit them. For most of the series, this has factored into the main story in key moments. However, this is not the case in Kingdom Hearts 3.
There are seven Disney/Pixar worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3, and they all look gorgeous. From the ice labyrinth in Arendelle from Frozen to the high seas featured in Pirates of the Caribbean, I frequently found myself stopping to take in the view.
Though Kingdom Hearts deals with complex issues such as the death of a dear friend, they also interject moments that elicit pure joy. Dancing with Rapunzel and the people inhabiting the Kingdom of Corona makes the players forget the trauma Sora and his friends are going through for a fleeting moment.
When Elsa sings “Let it Go” in Arendelle, the player does not think about how many times they have already heard it, they are absorbed in the emotional vortex created by the character’s new context in the Kingdom Hearts universe.
While Sora is fighting through these worlds, his friends Riku and Kairi have their own story arcs. Their arcs feel undercooked and shoved into the game so the characters are not stagnant.
One of the main issues of the game is that there is no midpoint to the story, like there has been in previous titles. The entire game is separated into the Disney worlds and the “story” worlds, which leaves the entire story to unfold in the third act of the game. This leaves the end of the game feeling rushed and forced.
Character arcs set up in spin-off titles are resolved too quickly, though they still manage to tug at the heartstrings. These are resolved through an overly long boss gauntlet that forces the player to fight through their tears from the previous boss conclusion.
The combat of the game is also a mixed bag. As in previous games, the main component of fighting is mashing the attack button until you burn a hole through the controller.
Each keyblade has a unique form that can be used after the player fills up the command gauge, and may be upgraded using various materials scattered throughout the game. This is a very welcome addition to the combat, as some of the harder boss fights force you to use different strategies to succeed.
Team attacks and the newly added attractions factor into combat much more than the game’s predecessors.
Attractions are Disney theme-park rides reimagined as an ultimate attack, which do not feel that ultimate when you acquire them every 30 seconds of combat. These attacks are extremely powerful and break the game to the point that almost no battle, including the bosses, feels challenging.
I played on proud mode, the highest difficulty, and did not feel any challenge until the final boss fight.
Historically, the Kingdom Hearts series has had critical mode, which adds an extra level of strategy into the game. Most forums regarding Kingdom Hearts 3 on Reddit lament the exclusion of this difficulty mode, and I have to agree. The feeling of beating a boss after you have gone through the process of learning its attacks through many failed attempts is simply unavailable in the game’s current state.
Kingdom Hearts 3 may have its share of issues, but it is still an exciting and emotional journey that is rewarding if you have followed the story until now.