Reviews

Kingdom Hearts III: Share the Disney Magic

Editor Ethan Miller

One of my favorite scenes in Kingdom Hearts III is when Sora, Donald, and Goofy first meet Rapunzel after she leaves her tower for the first time in the “Kingdom of Corona”. She constantly swaps back and forth between being excited to explore the world and worried about what her mother is going to say. At one moment she’s joyfully swinging atop tree branches with her bright blond hair and the other she’s on the ground writhing on the ground, unsure what to do next. She’s both excited about seeing the world and scared to see how her mother reacts.

While it’s a really good scene all around, perfectly adapting one of the most memorable scenes from the original Tangled movie, it also perfectly encapsulates how I feel about Kingdom Hearts III, the first numbered entry in the Kingdom Hearts series in thirteen years.

While, yes, there have been entries since 2006’s Kingdom Hearts II, on varying systems like the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS, but the gameplay systems in each have all been experimental, straying away from what made fans fall in love with the series in the first place. From the Command Deck System that made its debut in 2010’s Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep to Kingdom Hearts: Union χ [cross] use of Medals, each spin-off title has a different way of fighting, that always ends up feeling inferior to Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II’s classic mesh of turn-based menus and action RPG combat.

Kingdom Hearts III is crazy, flashy, and most importantly, fun. The evolution from II to III feels great, with tons of options in both abilities and in the different “Keyblades”. Each “Keyblade” has its own abilities and “Transformation”. Each “Transformation” brings about different attacks, magic casting styles, and traversal options, making combat the most enjoyable and varied in the series. Being able to equip three “Keyblades” to swap on the fly adds even more option to the already dense combat system. “Transformations” can be swapped with the press of the D-Pad. Chaining combos and magic is a blast, but sometimes it feels a bit easier than I would like.

I played on the hardest difficulty, and there were only a couple of times where I got wiped out, and only because I wasted all of my healing items. That, coupled with the insane amount of damage the Attractions, summons that is based on different Disney World Rides like Big Magic Mountain, and the disappointing lack of a “Critical” difficulty makes the game almost a cake walk. Compared to Kingdom Hearts II’s Insane “Critical” mode, making the players use every ability Sora has at his disposal, makes the lack of any harder difficulty options even more puzzling.

There are a lot more traversal options in Kingdom Hearts III than any other Kingdom Hearts game. The ability to run up walls, jump across chasms, and the return of "Flowmotion" from Dream Drop Distance (although in a thankfully less powerful form, now called Athletic Flow), Kingdom Hearts III has the most vertical levels in the series. Opening with Olympus was a genius decision, and perfectly showcases the new traversal options by having the player climb the mountain to “Olympus” was a spectacular visual showcase of the Unreal Engine 4. Starting off the game with a bang almost felt like a laugh at Kingdom Hearts II’s admittedly slow opening tutorial segment. The fight with the Rock Titan especially made my jaw drop, showcasing the visual effects with the smooth transition from the bright daytime to the stormy night.

Kingdom Hearts III is one of the most beautiful looking games I have ever played. The attention to detail in each Disney world in mind blowing in every sense of the word. The Toy Box looks exactly like the Toy Story movie it’s based on and seeing all of Johnny Depp’s mannerisms represented in Jack Sparrow was absolutely insane. The “Let it Go” Scene in Arendelle blew me away with how much it looked like the source material. These worlds are some of my favorites in the series and is an amazing showcase to what the PS4/Xbox One and the Unreal Engine are capable of. This is the first full Kingdom Hearts game on hardware more powerful than a PlayStation 2, and it shows.

The soundtrack is the best in the series, bar none. Yoko Shimomura returns for Kingdom Hearts III, and every track in III is absolutely fantastic. Standouts for me are the battle themes (Toy Box and Monstropolis are my favorites) and the Scala Ad Caelum world theme. Each track is wonderfully orchestrated, making my ears cry out in joy.

The plot itself is where I’m a bit more conflicted. Kingdom Hearts is notorious for its confusing story, and while I feel that some of the complaints about the series overarching plot are a bit overblown, I can’t help that admit that previous knowledge of the entire series has always been necessary. While that still holds true for the third entry, Kingdom Hearts III does make strides to make the story more accessible. For one, I was impressed with how well the previous games were summed up. One of my favorite examples was a scene with Mickey Mouse and Riku taking a look back on their goal and a bit of the story so far. It didn’t seem forced, and while it didn’t help me much (having already played all of the previous games), it’s definitely a step in the right direction for newcomers. Another new addition is that of the Memory Archives. A series of five short videos located in the title screen menu, the Memory Archives sums up every game so far. Not all of the information is summed up, but most of the story beats needed to understand III are here, albeit not in their full glory.

I wasn’t really a fan of some of the pacing issues. The goal at the beginning has been clear to Kingdom Hearts fans since Dream Drop Distance. Recover the “Power of Waking” that Sora lost when he failed the Mark of Mastery exam in Dream Drop Distance to save the people lost along the way to form the Seven Guardians of Light to fight against Xehanort's Thirteen Seekers of Darkness. While it may catch newcomers off-guard, there is plenty of moments where the events of past games are summed up to make sure everyone is on board. Most of the game is a fun Disney-filled romp, so when the third act hits (without even reaching a clear middle section) without warning, I was definitely caught unawares. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the Disney Stories. Worlds like Monstropolis, Toy Box, and San Fransokyo all have original stories, taking place after their movies (and in Toy Box’s case, taking place between Toy Story 2 and 3). Even the worlds that ARE based on existing stories, they all feel like Sora, Donald, and Goofy were there all along, pushing things ahead from the sidelines. The interactions between Sora, Donald, and Goofy, especially, have genuinely funny dialogue, making it feel like they really are best friends. They have really great chemistry together, every interaction making me laugh out loud.

Kingdom Hearts III is the culmination of sixteen years of games. As the long-awaited conclusion to the Xehanort Saga, KHIII had a lot to live up to, but I’m glad to say that Kingdom Hearts III lives up to most of those expectations. Playing similarly to its PS2 counterparts, with additions that make it feel more modern than I could ever imagine and with plenty of Disney charm to keep me coming back for more, Kingdom Hearts III proves that the series still has more heart to give.