Kingdom Hearts is a franchise with history. As the title Kingdom Hearts III already suggests, this game is the eleventh part of an already old game series loved by the fans.
If you look here – due to the small size – over 0.2 and everything what “X” has in the name, so with Dream Drop Distance 2012 the last part of the series has appeared. And as always, when you have to wait for something: The longer it takes, the greater the expectations. In this report you can find out how well the latest part of the Disney-Final Fantasy-Crossover does justice to this.
Perfect franchise entry point?
As already mentioned, this is not the first Kingdom Hearts game. Of course, the question arises: Is Kingdom Hearts III suitable as an entry point into the series?
To be honest, that’s very hard to answer when you’ve played the previous parts. Kingdom Hearts in itself has a rather complicated plot that has filled the Internet with probably more flow charts than any other franchise in the last seventeen years.
The game itself explains a lot of what happened in the last parts, especially the actions of various spinoffs. But in a way that doesn’t get on the nerves of veteran veterans like me. On the contrary, it seems relatively lively, since it happens in dialogues. The characters tell others what has happened, or roll up the past themselves, in order to draw conclusions for the present.
You can’t understand the story down to the last detail. On the whole, however, one should climb through. Especially since the game provides one with a glossary of important terms and recap movies of previous games. However, you have to keep in mind that Kingdom Hearts is very much based on the emotional bonds the player builds with the characters. If you don’t have this bond, of course some scenes miss their effect.
Recover what is lost, and even more…
Now that I’ve talked at length about who understands the story, I guess the point has come where I talk about the actual story of Kingdom Hearts III. The story continues where Dream Drop Distance left off. After Sora has lost his powers due to the events of the previous game, he must now train again to regain them and also acquire new abilities. To be exact, the power of awakening. After all, seven guardians of light have to be drummed together and two of them are put out of action due to the events from Birth by Sleep.
Because Xehanort gathers his allies around him to start a second key sword war. A circumstance that would be about as pleasant as it sounds.
So we travel a lot of new and also some already known Disney worlds. In these we meet popular characters like Hercules, Elsa and Baymax. As usual, we are accompanied by Donald and Goofy, who – in addition to world-specific Disney characters – actively support us in the fight.
Loving character interactions
Something that struck me relatively early in the game is the beautifully designed interaction between the characters. By this I mean not only the cutscenes, but also the comments the group members make in between while exploring the environment. Sometimes there are optional events which cause certain reactions to certain environmental elements. So it is worthwhile to explore your surroundings diligently and not only for the various collectables.
I also noticed very positively how beautifully the storylines of the individual Disney worlds were integrated into the main story. This is particularly positive in comparison to the predecessors, because it was rather less the case there. Although some Disney characters also had important roles there, the actions within the individual worlds were more like minor episodes of abundance or the consequences of a cartoon without an overarching action. But not in this part. Each world feels relevant to the action and development of the characters.
Writing has also improved considerably compared to the previous parts. The dialogues feel more lively and natural. While some dialogues used to seem like they were just for plotting, in Kingdom Hearts III they feel more like conversations that people would actually have.
Strong start, weaker end
While most of the game is beautifully written – besides some little things – the ending leaves a lot to be desired in certain places. The whereabouts of certain characters simply remain unclear, which is more than frustrating at this point. However, it wouldn’t be a Kingdom Hearts game if it didn’t raise at least a few unanswered questions.
Another point is that you decided to let the player fight against several opponents at the same time. If one of the opponents is defeated, an interim sequence runs. Which feels like the other opponent isn’t there. This makes especially emotional scenes look a bit weak when you get thrown back into the fight against the remaining enemies. Above all, the reaction of the opponent to the fact that his teammate has just given up the spoon is of course missing.
Of course, the reason is obvious: the developers couldn’t possibly know who to defeat first. But the solution is even more obvious: Let the player fight each opponent individually.
Except for one of these fights, none of these encounters had a reason why one should fight against several antagonists at the same time. So, aside from the difficulty. But that’s another tiresome subject in Kingdom Hearts 3.
Apart from that there are also scenes that don’t make any sense or characters that simply don’t develop further.
Colorful, varied gameplay
For the quality of a game, the story is of course relevant, but the gameplay is more important. In the case of Kingdom Hearts, it has been more than successful. Both new and old features and abilities have found their way into Sora’s repertoire for this game.
But by far the most remarkable attractions are the attractions. These are rides as found in amusement parks, which can be summoned during the fight and thus harm the enemies. By the way, the why or from where is not clarified, even if new abilities from nowhere actually contradict the premise of the game.
In itself, it is fun to use the attractions and they also offer a nice change, as each one plays a little differently. However, the attractions are unfortunately quite overpowered.
Another new element that offers variety are the keyword transformations. These are individual for each key sword and can take different forms. From a hammer to crossbows, so it’s worth trying different swords.
Otherwise, gameplay elements from previous games have returned, such as the Free Flow from Dream Drop Distance or the focus attacks from Birth By Sleep.
But exactly this diversity poses a problem, because the game offers hardly any challenges. It may be because I have played all the previous parts and am accordingly familiar with the controls and gameplay. But I played the game at the highest difficulty level and only had problems in optional fights. Which is partly due to the fact that various abilities are simply too strong. Especially during the attractions one is hardly vulnerable.
From time to time you get into situations where you can’t use these and other abilities. In these moments, the game is suddenly a whole lot harder. So maybe it would have been a good idea to weaken certain skills or make the opponents stronger.
The new Gumi-Jet
As already in the first two main parts of the series, you fly with the Gumijet from world to world. However, the Gumijet in Kingdom Hearts III has a much more open system. Instead of only being able to fly given routes, you can now move freely and explore the (albeit somewhat small) universe. This gives this part of the gameplay a much stronger “Open World” feel.
This is also where the biggest challenges of the game await you, but most of them are optional. Many bosses can be easily flown around and the main story can be continued. Which is a bit of a shame, because as I said, these fights are much more challenging than anything that has ever happened outside of the jet.
Great worlds, little content?
The worlds are beautifully staged and quite a bit bigger than in the previous titles. Despite their size, however, they are by no means empty. They are filled with NPCs, enemies, mini-games and full of little things to discover.
They appear more lively, both on an optical level and from the background noise. If you are in a place with a lot of people, you often hear snippets of conversations or other conversations. This contributes immensely to the atmosphere.
With one exception, none of these NPCs have optional quests. At this point a little potential was given away. Because even though you can talk to most characters, in the end they only contribute to the atmosphere. But not the gameplay itself.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only thing that gets a raw deal. Because also the story itself is relatively short with about 30 hours (of which by the way there are 10 cutscenes). Of course there are lots of mini-games, optional bosses and fights besides the story, but… That only compensates to a certain extent.
Conclusion
Kingdom Hearts III is a wonderful RPG despite all the shortcomings. Of course, the concept of Kingdom Hearts itself is something you have to get involved with. The story is told very confusingly and suffers from various inconsistencies. However, this doesn’t stop the emotional scenes from unfolding their full effect.
The strands of action that began in the previous parts are appropriately merged and dissolved in this part. Even though I wish they’d taken more time for them. The ending is a little frustrating. It certainly wouldn’t have hurt the game to continue the story for a few more hours.
With 30-35 hours the main story is a bit short. Especially in view of the price, which is currently between 60 and 70 €. However, there are heaps of optional content. With these mini-games, collectables and optional bosses, you can easily keep busy for 50-60 hours.
In summary Kingdom Hearts III* is not everything it could have been. But it’s not bad either. It’s a good RPG with flaws here and there. These do not diminish the general fun of the game.
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Pro
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Contra
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| + Strings from previous games will be merged + Better written than in previous games |
– Very unsatisfactory ending – Some scenes hardly make sense |
| + Varied with many possibilities to defeat opponents + Gameplay adapts to the environment + Different, playable characters |
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| – Most fights are very easy, even on high difficulty levels | |
| + Simple, control known from previous parts | – Many commands are on one head |
| + characters and scenes were beautifully set in scene + Wonderful musical background |
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