After over a decade from the second mainline game, and with a plethora of spin-offs since, Kingdom Hearts III is the long awaited third and final game in the “Dark Seeker” saga. Basically, it is supposed to end the storyline started so many years ago, so it had a lot of shoes to fill. Given that the series pretty much started on PS2 and then skipped the PS3 generation, and with this game built from the ground up for PS4 (and Xbox One), the improvements in the graphics are astounding and incredible. Since you return to worlds you’ve been to before in previous games, you can see the big differences in detail, it’s a very pretty game to look at (although a bit shiny and plasticky at times).
This is an action RPG, and the gameplay moves back to the mainline games, so the Command Deck from Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance is gone, but not completely. There are still remnants of it built into the combat system. Basically, Sora can attack and use magic, and since it’s real time, while there is a menu it’s clunky and timewasting, so you can assign magic and items to the shortcut menu that you can pull from pressing the left trigger button in conjunction with a face button. You get three layers of shortcuts (for a total of twelve), which is pretty good.
Sora can also block and dodge roll. That’s the basics, and where the “improvements” to the combat are the addition of even gimmickier elements. Attack enough and Sora can form change, which isn’t too bad. This is the part that reminds you most of the Command Decks since you choose when and if you want to activate it. The gimmicky parts are the “Attraction Flow” attacks, which summons Disney theme park rides as attacks, and they’re a visual spectacle, and can do significant damage, but it’s like building clunky minigames right into the combat system, and it just feels tacky.
Sora is usually joined by Donald and Goofy, who will help, as well as the guest character of the world that they’re in. We’re deep in the lore now, and Sora will fight both Heartless and Nobodies as common enemies, with the usual recurring series original villains plus the Disney villains as bosses. Bosses can be huge in size, and once again, devolve into gimmicky fights which are chaotic and clunky. At times it feels like you are playing minigames more than fighting the boss.
If you understood the story up until now, congrats. There is an optional summary you can select, and the story kicks off after the events of Dream Drop Distance. Sora, Donald and Goofy need to find Roxas, while Mickey and Riku go ahead and find Aqua. Their ultimate objective is to defeat Xenahort. That’s the overarching plot, as each world has its own mini subplot. This is a story heavy game, as expected of a JRPG, and cutscenes can take a long time. At one point, the cutscenes were half an hour long, and they’re not the most riveting. There will be sections where you will walk a few steps and a cutscene will play, although it’s not as egregious as it could be.
The main draw of the game are of course the Disney worlds, and they’re much bigger this time around, but offset by less worlds. The developers have so many to choose from, and of course they pick some of the most well-known and popular ones from recent movies such as Frozen, and Big Hero 6, but also some Disney Pixar classics too. Some of the worlds strictly follow that movie’s plot. It follows so closely to its source material that it feels repetitive as it replicates the key plot points scene by scene, and even frame by frame. It is impressive at how far graphics have gone but coupled with the different voice actors (who still does a tremendous job at sounding like the characters), and the fact that it doesn’t cover all of that movie’s scenes, it feels off. It feels rushed and truncated. You would have needed to have watched the movie to even understand what is happening.
It’s an unfortunate fact that Sora and company feel so detached from the worlds where they are basically just observers and bystanders, as they do not integrate well into those movie’s plots. The other worlds, however, are an original story, which are usually set after that movie. These are much more interesting, as it feels like a continuation of that movie. Although the Kingdom Hearts games have never succeeded in pacing its scenes properly, and it’s the same here. Scenes are overly long without much happening within them, which sours the experience somewhat.
The scene’s lengths are not the main issue given that this is a story driven game, so it’s expected. No, what is bad is how the cutscenes are paced and written. They’re just so boring and bland. It usually contains too much dialogue that’s filler and doesn’t add much to the plot. There are awkward silences as the next character pauses before speaking. These make the cutscenes drag out and the characters are constantly harping on about the same things, making it all so repetitive.
The first Kingdom Hearts game integrated the Disney worlds into the story the best. Subsequent games, and including this one, don’t. The plot basically doesn’t progress until all the Disney worlds are over. Given that each world is like its own self-contained story that isn’t too connected to the overarching plot. The bulk of the plot is in the last part of the game, after you have visited all the Disney worlds. This makes those worlds pointless as a result and feels like a completely different game afterwards. You’d feel that either the Disney worlds were superficial and tacked on, or the final sections of the game were superficial and tacked on. It’s just bad writing (but probably some executive meddling by Disney also at play).
The sheer number of characters makes it hard to keep track of everyone and their backstories. The game attempts to close out every single one of their stories given it’s the last game in the Dark Seeker Saga. The final hours of the game are filled with more cutscenes than gameplay but somehow it still closes off those characters unsatisfactorily. It rushes through multiple characters’ fates at once, while at the same time, it overdramatizes those scenes. It doesn’t utilize the long cutscenes for anything good. it still manages to waste time on useless shots, or useless dialogue, which is infuriating.
The final battles were filled with gimmicks that are constant interruptions to the fight, wrestling control away from you. Most of the game was okay in this aspect, but it is really ramped up for the final boss. The boss itself is underwhelming but what’s more underwhelming was the cutscenes afterwards that is supposedly the ending to the whole series that started from the very first game. It’s disappointing and a whole bunch of nothing but by this point, the story’s so convoluted but the ending’s so simple, that you simply do not care as it’s just that terrible. The game takes around 25 to 30 hours to complete, but there’s lot of things left to do such as the remaining collectibles as well as additional battles that are unlocked.
Overall, Kingdom Hearts 3 is a flawed game but that’s nothing new to the series. The battle system takes inspiration from previous games, but it isn’t quite as fun as a few of them (particularly the spin-offs like Birth by Sleep). It relies heavily on special attacks that take control away from you. The story is mediocre and is not worth the buildup of the many hours and games it took to get to this point. It’s told in a horrible way with extremely poor pacing and cinematography. There are pockets of fun and the graphics are impressive, given that you are now playing within the Disney Pixar movies now. For the end of the whole saga, it’s still worth playing, but don’t keep your hopes that high up.
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