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    Kingdom Hearts III

    Game » consists of 6 releases. Released Jan 25, 2019

    The third sequentially numbered title in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

    pd's Kingdom Hearts III (PlayStation 4) review

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    • pd has written a total of 5 reviews. The last one was for Kingdom Hearts III

    Kingdom Hearts III Review: Pulling Hearstrings

    Note: Video version here. The text below is a transcript of the shooting script. Some wording might be slightly different between the text and video.

    MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!!! This review contains discussion of the endgame! Be warned!

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    How do I even begin to talk about Kingdom Hearts 3? There's a lot of baggage that comes with trying to talk about this game. People who care about the series know exactly where they stand. People who dont care will, at best, go on with their lives... or at worst, make the same tired jokes about the lore they always make. And yet, here I am. Reviewing Kingdom Hearts 3. Because, like every other fan of the series, I need to get these thoughts out. So strap yourself in, it's time to face my fears. That was such a bad joke, why did I keep that in the script?

    Disclaimer: There will be all kinds of spoilers in this video. I initially tried making something spoiler free. That had me talking a lot about mechanics and how Kingdom Hearts 3 plays. While I will certainly talk about those things, those arent the kind of reviews I make. This isn't a product review. This isn't buying advice. This is a reflection on my personal experience with a piece of media. And to adequately express my feelings on Kingdom Hearts 3, I need to talk spoilers. So, for people who have already finished the game or those who don't care about spoilers, this video is for you.

    I love Kingdom Hearts. The series deals in a very specific brand of crazy, anime nonsense that keeps me coming back time after time. I've been strung along for 17 years to get to this point. With that much build up, could Kingdom Hearts 3 really give me a satisfying enough conclusion to the madness? The answer is: mostly, but not a hard yes.

    Kingdom Hearts 3 is a game that has to do a lot more than conclude a story. It has to try to bring a series, that hasn't seen a full game released on a home console since the PS2, into the modern era. 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage was our first peek into what that could look like, and it left something to be desired. Kingdom Hearts 3 makes good on some of the ideas brought forth by 0.2 and expands on them for the better, while falling short on a few others.

    The combat is one of the most clear examples of this. Kingdom Hearts has always had fairly simple, yet fun action with a focus on visual flare. That continues into Kingdom Hearts 3 with some refinements that make the combat feel more inline with recent action games. It still feels like a Kingdom Hearts game. You're still a bit floaty, you're still mashing the attack button to enter into a long string of combos. But the work has been done to make Kingdom Hearts 3 feel like how you *remember* old Kingdom Hearts games playing. Not how they actually play once you've gone back to them after many years. Which I personally believe is a good thing. A great balance was struck between modernizing elements and evoking the classic feeling of wielding a keyblade.

    There is more to the combat than just mashing the X button, though. Systems from the various, non-numbered Kingdom Hearts games find their way into Kingdom Hearts 3 as well. Flowmotion from Dream Drop Distance returns in a much less obtrusive form. Only activating on specific objects or needing a second button press, making it so it only triggers when you want it to. Shotlocks from Birth By Sleep give you some more ranged attack options in addition to your magic. Kingdom Hearts 3 also takes the ideas of Reaction Commands from Kingdom Hearts 2 and combines them with the Command Styles from Birth By Sleep creating Situation Commands. These were first seen in 0.2, but they are more fleshed out in Kingdom Hearts 3.

    While getting hits on enemies with your combos, a meter above your command prompt will start filling up. Once you hit three chevrons, you'll be given access Situation Command depending the actions you took to build up that meter. You might get a high level spell if you used a lot of magic, or a team attack with on of your party members. But the most interesting of the Situation Commands are the ones tied to keyblade transformations. No longer does Sora only fight with his vaguely key shaped sword. Each keyblade has a different transformation that opens up a variety of new ways to mix up your attacks. Shields, guns, claws, even yo-yos. There are plenty of options to fit your style of play. And the ability to equip three keyblades at once that you can switch to on the fly should help shake things up even more. My favorite was the Highwind form of the Pirates keyblade. It's a spear with a surprisingly long range. It's awesome, and it stayed my favorite keyblade until I got the Ultima. That thing just shreds through enemies. No other keyblade holds a candle to it.

    I had an amazing time with the combat in this game. It can be a little simple, but I find it to be very rewarding. All that visual flare goes a long way. And I just like how it feels. It is a little loose, but not so loose that I don’t feel in control. I never skipped an encounter. I always fought everything I came across.

    It’s an enjoyable battle system overall, but like I said, Kingdom Hearts 3 is a game that *mostly* satisfies. That "90% of the way there" feeling is pervasive through all aspects of the game, combat included. Kingdom Hearts 3 is quite possibly the easiest Kingdom Hearts game I've played. You could mash your way through most fights without engaging with any other the new mechanics and still come out of it just fine. Attraction Flow, one of the tentpole features of the Situation Command system, is cool the first few times you trigger it, but ends up being less fun to engage with than fighting enemies the old fashioned way.

    And the ability to switch keyblades mid battle isn't as useful as I hoped it would be. I was initially excited at the prospect of splitting my loadout between a magic, attack, and balanced keyblade. Switching between them depending on the situation. What really ended up happening was I stuck with whatever keyblade I was fond of at the time and upgraded it in the Moogle shop as far as I could. The difference in stats was never large enough to warrant a switch just to cast a spell or two.

    The "mostly satisfying" principle, as I have decided to call it, applies to the game's worlds as well. Traveling from world to world involves you hopping on your Gummi Ship. These sequences have historically been some of the most unflattering aspects of the game. Kingdom Hearts 3 manages to make the Gummi sequences serviceable. Instead of being a linear bullet hell-esque pathway to a new world, the Ocean Between now serves as a sort of overworld. You can fly freely around space, breaking crystal for items, shooting asteroids for materials, and getting into the occasional fight. It's weirdly like a budget version of the space aspects of No Man's Sky. It may not be the greatest thing, but it's totally fine.

    Sure, farming keyblade upgrade materials takes a longer than you would like, and the controls are a bit wonky when switching from the 3D plane of exploration to the 2D plane of battles. But after my 60+ hours with the game, I hadn't grown tired of the Gummi Ship. It served it's purpose. Better than any incarnation before it. If anything, I wish I had it in me to really dive deep into ship building instead of relying on blueprints. The Gummi editor, while cumbersome, allows you to build some crazy stuff.

    Once you're off your Gummi Ship and arrive at a world, you're greeted with a big ol' helping of Disney. The Disney aspects of Kingdom Hearts have never been the draw for me. That said, I can't deny the they are full of charm. The majority of the Disney worlds are based off Pixar and the 3D Disney Animation movies. This means a lot of the Disney characters fit right in to the visual style of the game. Running around and exploring parts of these worlds seriously looks incredible. Take the Pirates world for instance. Seeing Sora, Donald, and Goofy standing next to realistic depictions of Jack Sparrow, William Turner, and Davey Jones is fucking bananas. It may not be the most technically impressive game visually, but Kingdom Hearts 3 doesn't need to be with this much style slapped onto it. I'm so glad there is a photo mode in here too. It was so much fun goofing around taking selfies with other characters and the lovely scenery.

    I have an album full of these silly photos that I just loved sharing on Twitter. The game even has a fake Instagram, and I think it’s fucking great! Unfortunately, the fake Instagram posts are just loading screens. You can’t actually post something to the fake Instagram. If that were an actual feature in the game to share my photos, that would be the cherry on top of this photo mode.

    Speaking of other characters, a large part of the charm in these worlds comes from the Disney characters interacting with Sora and his friends. I may not be big on Disney franchises, but I will always find endless joy in hearing anime nonsense come out of the mouths of beloved Disney characters. Rex from Toy Story literally says Bahamut. That's fucking wild.

    It also seems like Nomura and the team played a handful of modern games and said "we want that in the Kingdom Hearts." Many of these worlds have their own unique mechanics that are reminiscent of other games. I already mentioned the No Man's Sky like Gummi sequences. Corona has a Journey sliding down a hill moment. Toy Story has mechs. Pirates has ship combat from Assassin's Creed, though in this case I actually enjoy it because it is a lot more arcadey. Pirates eventually becomes a mini Wind Waker too. They give you full access to the ocean map and let you travel at your leisure, visiting islands looking for treasure. All these gimmicks, while short lived, feel like pieces of other games inside this larger game. I welcome this experimentation.

    Of course, as charming as these worlds are, the "mostly satisfying principle" applies here too. Some worlds feel like they got the short end of the stick. Monster's Inc is just a series of hallways. San Fransokyo is is large open sandbox with not much to do in it. Arandelle is one of the lowest points in the game because it all looks the same. It is so easy to get turned around in this frozen tundra and lose your sense of direction.

    There aren't many original Kingdom Hearts worlds to visit either. Radiant Garden, Castle Oblivion, the Realm of Darkness are, for the most part, all relegated to cutscenes. I wanted a moment of wonder that came from exploring old worlds I was familiar with with an updated look. I got some of that from walking around Twilight Town. But that wonder only lasted so long once I realized I couldn't visit the clock tower, let alone climb to the top of it.

    I also think having more original worlds to play through may have helped alleviate my issues with what might be the most difficult aspect of the game to talk about. The climax. The last third of the game comes at you at a break neck pace. If some of that was spread out through more original worlds, maybe I wouldn't be talking about how the "mostly satisfying principle" is more prevalent here than anywhere else.

    Kingdom Hearts 3 has to wrap up 17 years of ridiculous lore in a matter of a few hours. It manages to do this, but at the cost of giving the player time to process it all. Character arcs are being resolved left and right. Xion is suddenly back, Roxas' body zooms in at just the right moment, Terra's heart is revealed to be inside the dark Guardian all along. All these things are great moments, but imagine how much greater they would be if they were given more time to breathe. I had a difficult time wrapping my head around some of the resolutions to these character's stories. Me. The walking Kingdom Hearts encyclopedia. The answers are there, but it took some digging through the journal and rewatching some cutscenes to get to them. There was an opportunity here to individually tell these stories in longer, better paced segments and give them the time they deserve.

    I would love nothing more than to have been able to take control of all the keyblade wielders for a significant amount of time to experience the resolutions of these character arcs first hand. The game teases you with this idea too. Early on you get to play as Riku for a short combat sequence, and later you get to play as Aqua for a boss fight. The sequences are exciting, but that is all they ever amount to. Having all the keyblade wielders gathered in one place only to relegate them to temporary party members during a series of boss fights a huge missed opportunity.

    Kairi's arc in particular is the most egregious example. She starts being built up as someone finally capable of pulling her own weight. She's done with sitting on the sidelines waiting to be saved. Now it's her turn to help her friends overcome obstacles. I love these moments. They show growth, determination. And right as she's has a chance to take her turn in the spotlight, she gets kidnapped and killed in the blink of an eye.

    Of course, I'm being critical of these things because I love this series and I love these characters. I have seen these characters go through so much. I want them to have their resolutions be worthy of the journey it took to get to this point. That's where the "mostly satisfying principle" comes in. Despite my issues with the pacing of the conclusion, I still enjoyed every second of it.

    By this point, the game has already trickled out a handful of exciting moments to fawn over. Aqua's return from the Real of Darkness, Ventus' awakening, Axel channeling every Kingdom Hearts fan in the entire world. But none of that prepared me for the madness that was about to come. The final act is chock full of the kind of spectacle I expect from a Kingdom Hearts game. Gorgeous scenery, bombastic boss fights, and crazy anime twists and turns.

    The game starts off the climax by killing off our heroes. They fail. They lose. They make you play as Sora in the afterlife. Death doesnt mean a lot in a Kingdom Hearts game, but that didn't lessen the impact I felt when I realized what was happening. And it only escalates from there. I practically jumped out of my chair when Lingering Will saves Ventus and when Yen Sid channels Moses. Giving each organization member a moment to reflect before their deaths was somber in a way the Kingdom Hearts games rarely are. And the final battle in Scala Ad Caelum felt just as epic as fighting Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts 2 as a kid. It tapped into to a feeling I didn't know still lingered after all these years. That childish wonder that I haven't really experienced from a Kingdom Hearts game since Birth By Sleep, despite enjoying most every entry in the franchise released after it.

    But the wild ride didn't stop there. Kingdom Hearts 3 had one more heartstring to pull. After the world is saved, Sora goes off yet again to save Kairi. Cut to all the characters I've grown to love finally united and having the time of their lives. But something isn't right. Kairi is sitting on a tree with Sora. There's a brief glimpse of them holding hands before Kairi sheds a tear and Sora fades away. He didn't make it back. The implication that Sora was able to save Kairi but not himself, along with tying the moment to the ending theme, might be the most satisfying storytelling decision in the entire game. Full stop. I don't need that story spelled out for me. That scene was enough.

    All these moments and more evoked a rush of emotion that is only possible after being invested in this series for so long. This is the payoff for sticking with Kingdom Hearts. I can talk as much mess as I want about the finale not giving me a moment to rest and process what is happening until after the fact, but I can't deny how completely on board I was for the ride while watching it all play out. Yes, the resolutions come quick, but they indeed come. I'm not left asking questions that have been lingering for the better part of a decade. Sure, the epilogue and secret movie raise a bevy of *new* questions to ask, but that's for the future. The bread crumbs are there to start piecing together what's down the road. But in the here and now, I have my answers. By the end of it all, Kingdom Hearts 3 totally satisfies whatever I've thought I was waiting for all this time.

    I don't need to tell you how to feel about Kingdom Hearts 3. You already made up your mind before watching this video. What I can tell you is how much Kingdom Hearts 3 meant to me. I'm glad I finally got to play it. I'm glad it ended up being as fulfilling as it was. There was a fear that a game with this much baggage could only be terrible or amazing. It ended up being neither of those two. Nowhere near the former and falling just short of the latter. But getting 90% of the way there is still a damn good way go out.

    Other reviews for Kingdom Hearts III (PlayStation 4)

      Kingdom Hearts 3: Where Fun and Confusion Cross Blades 0

      (Ahoy mateys, before you read on know that there be some spoilers ahead. Ye have been warned. Yar!)When I first started Kingdom Hearts 3 I went in with a very negative viewpoint on the series as a whole. Having only ever played the main titles of the original Kingdom Hearts (2002) and then it's sequel Kingdom Hearts 2 (2005) a lot of the story was lost on me. For anyone that is thinking about diving into this series just know that when Kingdom Hearts 3 starts it starts. No preamble. No get you u...

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      This series has so many different narratives yet it managed to conclude in a way I enjoyed 0

      After years of building we finally reach the culmination of four side games that have been slowly building up to this conclusion. Was it worth the wait? Does it upgrade the combat? We shall see as I review Kingdom Hearts III.Picking up right where 2.8 prologue left off we find Sora heading off to visit Olympus to get some advice from Herc. Since he has lost his powers at the end of the last game and must somehow regain them. Behind the scenes Organization 13 have been revived and are once again...

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