It’s a
strange feeling, waiting for something for over a decade and finally having it arrive.
There’s the excitement of course, the dire need to play it as soon as possible.
But it’s difficult not to be a little worried as well.
How does a developer meet the expectations of those who have waited for so long?
Will there be any significant changes?
Can the story end in a satisfying way?
Will it even be fun?
Yet despite this mixture of excitement and dread, I found myself comforted as I began
Kingdom Hearts 3.
There’s a warmth here belying a confidence that shines through every facet of the game.
But there’s still the question, was it worth the wait?
Kingdom Hearts 3 serves as the finale to what’s become Tetsuya Nomura’s grand opus that
combines Disney with elements of Final Fantasy.
And despite the ten year gap since Kingdom Hearts 2, many other games have been released
across a multitude of systems expanding upon existing story elements, introducing new ones,
and ultimately setting the stage for the final chapter.
It’s a long-running joke that Kingdom Hearts’ story is an indecipherable mess, and even
as a fan since the beginning, I was expecting that to hold true.
But, it’s not.
In fact, I believe this may be the most accessible plot in the series since the original.
Essentially, Sora is journeying across worlds to discover a way to wake a power within him
that he’ll need for the confrontation with Xehanort, as his friends prepare in their
own ways, whether by searching for lost friends or training for the final battle.
At the same time, Xehanort’s forces are also preparing for the final clash and ensuring
backup plans that Sora comes across as he explores each world.
And while there are plenty of references to previous games and the threads established
there, I don’t feel it’s completely necessary to know every little detail to still enjoy
this story.
Kingdom Hearts 3 has both a recap to layout the most important events and the Gummiphone,
which essentially replaces Jiminy Cricket’s Journal and succinctly explains terms and
characters.
It’s enough that newcomers could probably still enjoy the gameplay without feeling too
lost.
That being said, longtime fans or those who do know what came before will get the biggest
payoff from this past knowledge.
There were so many moments that sent chills through my body or left me with tears in my
eyes.
But that may be simply because I’ve long loved the story of Kingdom Hearts and its
characters.
It’s entirely possible that others won’t connect in the same way I did.
And that’s fine because it’s not the only reason to play Kingdom Hearts 3.
As much as I came away satisfied from the story, the gameplay was what truly shined.
The game wastes no time getting to high-octane action to pull you in.
The sheer amount of options when it comes to combat in the game is simply staggering.
Right from the beginning Sora has access not only to his usual combo attacks and strikes
but the Flowmotion from Dream Drop Distance as well, though it has been reined in a bit.
By dashing into pillars or against walls, Sora can then leap off for a heavy strike
or a fast set of hits.
It keeps things fast-paced but it doesn’t feel as essential as it was before.
It’s a tool in the player’s belt to use as they see fit and can be extremely effective.
But there are also two new abilities that Sora has access to early on, Attractions and
Formchanges.
Attractions call forth special theme park rides that can deal massive damage to the
surrounding enemies.
But it’s not something that Sora can access at any time.
Instead, he must attack an enemy that has green circle on it within a certain timeframe.
If the player lands at least one hit, then an Attraction command becomes available.
The Attraction itself can’t be chosen, instead it’s determined by the current landscape
that Sora’s in.
And while they’re incredibly powerful, there’s still a limited range to the Attraction’s
attack that also requires proper timing and maneuvering to get the most out of them.
Formchanges are accessed by a meter that gradually fills as Sora lands hits with his Keyblade.
Once the threshold is reached, the player can choose to activate them to gain access
to completely new moves, depending on which Keyblade Sora currently has equipped.
While his Kingdom Key only gives him access to special attacks, other Keyblades completely
change their form and attack properties.
It’s a way for Sora to wield different weapons like claws, guns, hammers, and staves without
losing the Keyblade.
The system feels well-balanced since some of the more powerful special attacks that
become available take longer to reach, providing a slight sense of risk versus reward.
In addition, each Keyblade feels more significant than ever before thanks not only to the Formchanges,
but the Synthesis Shop.
Here materials can be used to further power your favorite Keyblade and keep apace of the
stronger enemies.
And this is further emphasized by the ability to equip three Keyblades at once.
Although Sora can’t duel-wield Keyblades like in Kingdom Hearts 2, he can change between
them with a left or right tap on the d-pad, even while in the middle of combos.
It allows you to both prepare for what’s to come and change things up whenever you
want.
Formchanges are one of my favorite additions to combat.
The sense of power and planning come together perfectly as you learn what each Keyblade
is capable of.
Pulling off just the right combo to clear enemies is extremely satisfying to the point
that I ended up enjoying Formchanges even more than the Drive Forms that powered Sora
in Kingdom Hearts 2.
The different Keyblades also affect the returning Shotlocks from Birth by Sleep.
By holding down the R1 button, a circle appears that begins targeting all nearby enemies and
unleashes a powerful attack.
This attack is different depending on the Keyblade, changing the Shotlock into a long-range,
short-range, or even healing move.
They’re great in a pinch but are balanced by the Focus Bar.
Usually there’s only enough for one Max Shotlock and another smaller one.
Then there are the Links, which act as Summons, bringing forth Disney characters for a series
of smaller attacks that can clear a room before finishing with a grand attack.
Not only can they cause massive damage, but they fully heal Sora as well.
However, they can only be used if the MP gauge is completely filled.
This also drains the MP gauge completely, much like the Cure spell making it important
to decide when to unleash each Link.
While good in a pinch, my style didn’t lend itself to Links that often.
It slowed the pace just a little too much.
And that’s still not everything in regards to combat.
Like Formchanges, the same magic can be comboed to fill a meter that then unleashes the next
powerful spell at no MP cost.
Donald, Goofy, and Disney allies also often offer up opportunities to combine forces for
a special attack keeping the fights fast and dynamic.
Even better is that there’s no need to swap for the unique Disney character this time
around.
Every character will be in the party, up to five at a time.
Even better is that your allies’ AI seems greatly improved this time around.
Donald and Goofy barely got knocked out during my playtime and Donald’s infamously bad
healing timing actually helped me more than once.
Finally, Sora has his usual set of Abilities that he learns throughout the game which improves
his combos, gives him access to counters, and expands his movement options.
All of this combines to make a sublime combat system.
It feels good early on and by the end, when I understood each system and had access to
all of my Abilities, it was near perfection.
Even smaller fights could feel rewarding as the Heartless appear in greater number than
they ever have before.
It is the best the combat has ever been in Kingdom Hearts.
But I did have one issue.
The Attractions, the Formchanges, and the Ally Team-ups are all accessed through the
triangle button, stacking on top of one another as you earn them with timers signifying when
they’ll disappear, but cannot be chosen individually.
There were many times that I wanted to use a Formchange, but I had to get through an
Attraction first.
Or I wanted to use an Ally Team-Up but that would mean unleashing a different special
attack early.
I wish there was a way to choose which one was used.
However, the only option regarding this is changing it from Oldest first to Newest first.
I did adjust my strategies accordingly and it didn’t hamper my enjoyment much, but
I still wanted that extra bit of control.
There are plenty of worlds to explore and these are some of my favorites in the series.
And a lot of that comes from PS4’s hardware enabling a scope and level of realization
far beyond what we’ve seen before.
In Hercules’ world, you’ll explore the city of Thebes and climb your way to Mount
Olympus.
In Tangled’s world, you’ll journey through a massive forest as you escort Rapunzel to
the Corona Kingdom.
And in Toy Story, you’ll explore a massive toy store filled with mechs that you can take
over and control.
It’s amazing.
Every single world feels unique and while they carry the core gameplay of Kingdom Hearts
3, they also offer something different, with Tangled, Frozen, and Pirates of the Caribbean
being the standouts for me.
Tangled provides a level of exploration that I just didn’t expect.
Frozen finds a way to make climbing a snowy mountain fun.
And there’s an entire sea and set of islands to explore in the Caribbean.
And that’s just a few examples as the way these stories are told is so much grander
with the wider landscapes giving the plot points more time to breath.
Only a handful are actual retellings of their respective movies with the others offering
brand new scenarios to the point where they could be seen as a sequel.
And it has to be said that Kingdom Hearts 3 is drop dead gorgeous.
The environments are full of personality and the characters emote more than they ever have
before.
The Disney scenes that are retold have some sequences that look nearly indistinguishable
from the movies they’re from.
Even the human characters of Pirates of the Caribbean blend so much better than before
with the likes of Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
Jack Sparrow has an eye twitch that adds another layer to the character and really helps sell
the reality of these worlds often leaving my mouth agape.
And this visual fidelity applies to everything.
The original characters look great, every environment is varied and so much bigger than
you’d ever expect, and the way characters emote add so much to the story sequences.
It’s breathtaking at points.
And while there can be occasional brief moments of stuttering, I never noticed slowdown during
the more insane action moments.
Even traversing to these worlds is fun.
The gummi ship is back and rather than emulate a bullet hell as before, it’s more of a
playground to be freely explored.
Or you can ignore it completely and choose to go directly to the next world and avoid
combat altogether.
In fact, Heartless ships are clearly marked and take place somewhat separately from the
open world.
It’s a bit like Space Invaders with enemies coming in from the side that have to be quickly
defeated.
Most of these battles are short challenges or boss fights, each with their own rewards.
More importantly, it’s fun.
I felt a greater desire to get a better rank than ever before.
Exploration is rewarding as well with Treasure to find, Munny to collect, more gummi parts
to unlock, and even synthesis materials that can be gathered.
The gummi ships can still be built by the player for their own unique designs and weapon
layouts or blueprints of pre-built ships can be used if that’s too much of a hassle.
Eventually new teeny ships that augment your power can be added along with special attacks
that make the battles even more chaotic.
I’ve never really been a fan of the gummi ship sequences, but I would find myself spending
an hour at a time just exploring before taking on the next world.
It’s certainly the best the gummi ships have ever been.
Finally, there’s the new gummiphone which we mentioned earlier.
It not only replaces Jiminy’s Journal as a means to keep up with the story, but a way
to access the new Classic Kingdom mini-games.
These are based on classic Mickey Mouse cartoons and are presented as a Game & Watch-style
LCD game.
There are quite a few to discover and range from a short bit of fun to full-on games of
golf.
I didn’t spend too much time with them, but they, along with all of the other mini-games
that are featured in each world, do did help to give a brief respite from the action.
The gummiphone can also be used as a camera so that Sora can take pictures whenever he’d
like.
Many will find this fun on its own, but there’s also practical uses for it like photo missions
that unlock more in the Synthesis Shop or Lucky Emblems that are deviously hidden in
each world.
I may have beaten Kingdom Hearts 3 in about 40 hours, but if you want to do everything
it’s easy to double that amount.
That being said, the game is remarkably well-paced with a healthy split between the Disney elements
and consistently pushing toward the finale.
The presentation is general is top notch.
Yoko Shimomura once again knocks it out of the park with her seamless blend of original
themes and Disney adaptations.
She can make some of the more intense boss battles feel all the more epic while simultaneously
punctuating the poignant moments with so much sadness.
It’s masterfully done.
The voice acting is just as great too with many of the Disney actors returning to their
roles and those that don’t having pretty good to amazing replacements.
The new voice of Jack Sparrow is particularly spot-on.
And for the first time, every bit of dialog is spoken as well, immersing you in these
worlds.
But what really helps this time around is the writing as it’s surprisingly funny with
many of the jokes landing for me.
Past games attempted humor, but it always came across a bit groan worthy.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is not afraid to poke fun at itself either which is a welcome sight.
But my favorite element are the conversations while exploring.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy will talk about different things that they’re experiencing or seeing
which just makes the whole game feel so much more alive.
And that is doubly true for the welcome introduction of NPCs.
These worlds finally feel lived-in and bustling as villagers talk about what’s happening
or make off-hand remarks.
It’s been done in other games before, sure, but to actually have it in Kingdom Hearts
adds so much to the idea of becoming part of these Disney movies.
It really feels like your visiting a place, not just a movie set.
The dread I felt leading up to Kingdom Hearts 3’s release, worrying that it just couldn’t
live up to my expectations and that it would be only okay or even bad, ultimately proved
to be unfounded.
This game met and exceeded what I hoped for time and time again.
I loved exploring each world.
The combat was satisfying throughout.
The story is well-paced and mostly accessible to newcomers while still satisfying to this
long-time fan.
And the presentation is astounding.
Every element comes together beautifully to create not just my favorite Kingdom Hearts
game in the series, but something that’s absolutely mind-blowing to me.
It is that good.
It was worth the wait.
And I hope there are those new to the series that will give it a chance.
Don’t let the fear of an incomprehensible story keep you away from an unforgettable
journey.
The gameplay alone is worth the price of admission.
Just enjoy the ride.
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