Kingdom Hearts 3 delivers the conclusion to the story started nearly 20 years ago in extraordinary ways. It has the best gameplay of the series, wraps up all the storylines and still finds room for some surprises.
It’s here. It’s finally here. Can you believe it? You see, I’ve been waiting on Kingdom Hearts 3 since I was in 6th grade (yes, I’m young; or old depending on your perspective). For a while there, I never really thought it would exist. Even when the game was officially announced in 2013, I was a little on the “let’s wait and see” side of things. But here we are in 2019, just three years short of the 20-year anniversary of the original Kingdom Hearts release in 2002, and it hath arrived.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is a great game. That’s all I have to say. Thanks for reading this review, I hope you subscribe to DigitalChumps on YouTube and follow us on Twitter for all of our future reviews!
What’s that? You’re still here? Fine, I’ll gush about Kingdom Hearts 3 for a bit.
Kingdom Hearts 3 isn’t the perfect game by any means, but it’s a game that deserves its spot in the limelight. Not many games can come out 6 years after its initial announcement and be as good as Kingdom Hearts 3 is. Here, let’s just jump into it:
“We could find some ingredients around here!”
This will probably the shortest section of the review since it’s very difficult to talk about the story of Kingdom Hearts 3 without spoiling the hell out of it. The best way to describe Kingdom Hearts 3’s story is simple – it’s a beautiful mess. New players will need to memorize all of the characters, how they relate to each other, the time travel elements, the duplicates of every character, the interconnect—you know what, you probably get the picture. It’s a little hard to say if the third entry is the ideal entry point for new players.
My face during most of the scenes.
What I will say is this, KH3 does as good of a job as it can in explaining its overarching plot points while playing throughout the story. There were plenty of, “OH YEAH, THAT HAPPENED IN KINGDOM HEARTS SUCH-N-SUCH” moments, without feeling like I needed to pause the game to go watch a recap video. New players definitely should play at least the main entries before playing Kingdom Hearts 3.
That being said, for veteran players like myself, Kingdom Hearts 3 offers the most robust and rewarding payoff to our nearly 20-year journey. I was a little afraid that Kingdom Hearts 3 would offer plenty of easy nostalgia points with very little substance, but I’m happy to report my fears were absolutely unfounded. Kingdom Hearts 3 knows what it is and plays along with it throughout its entire story. Cutscenes frequently acknowledge that the story they’re presenting to you is convoluted, and they quickly apologize for making things so complicated. For those fans who are deeply versed in Kingdom Hearts lore, you won’t be disappointed, as the game has plenty of call-backs to story threads that haven’t been apparent for several games, while also throwing in some new elements to keep things interesting. Yes, the game is the conclusion of a trilogy, but it does enough world-building for itself that it really feels like Kingdom Hearts can live on.
The Tangled world is surprisingly one of the best worlds in the game.
All of the above said, I do have one major gripe with the Disney worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3. By and large Kingdom Hearts 3 has some phenomenal world design. The Frozen world is amazing. The Pirates of the Caribbean world is way more engaging, heartfelt and fun than it has any right to be. 100 Acre Wood nearly made me cry. In spite of all these great places, one thought kept popping up in my head as I played through the game — what went wrong with the Toy Story world? Why did I keep asking this? Let me explain.
All of the Disney worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3 feel masterfully crafted with exception to the Toy Story world. Other than Woody, Buzz, Rex, Ham, the Aliens, and the little green soldiers, there’s very little connection to Toy Story throughout that world’s story. None of the plot beats follow the films, they aren’t referenced, and it almost feels as if they never existed. While Andy’s Room is beautifully rendered, players spend less than 5 minutes in it before moving onto a toy store that isn’t even Al’s Toy Barn. It was odd and felt out of place from all the other amazing worlds. I guess every world can’t be my favorite, but I never thought the Tangled world would “wow” me more than the Toy Story world. It feels like a lost opportunity at best.
Toy Story world aside, it was great seeing beloved characters cracking up with each other and/or Sora’s consistent cheeriness. The game feels like the natural conclusion it always should have been. I really don’t want to get into spoiler territory here, but the story really does deliver. If you’re a Kingdom Hearts fan, it’s worth the journey. If you’re a new fan, do yourself a service and sit down and play through the rest of the series first.
“HEE-YAH *clanging Keyblade noises*” — Sora, Kingdom Hearts 3 (2019)
Kingdom Hearts 3 offers the best gameplay in the series and here’s why:
- Ability to equip multiple Keyblades.
- Easy progression throughout so you feel appropriately powerful, yet never god-like.
- Disney Ride summons.
- Reliance on your Keyblade(s) over Magic.
- Team-Up Powers
Need I say more? I must? Fine. Kingdom Hearts’ gameplay has evolved significantly since the original game’s release in 2002. From easy 3-hit combos that take forever to take down an enemy in the OG Kingdom Hearts to now having the ability to string together beautifully animated combos while throwing in some magic and summons in KH3, Kingdom Hearts has gone from one of the most tedious JRPGs to play to one of the best Japanese Action RPG games of all time. Giving players the ability (finally) to equip up to three Keyblades that can easily be switched mid-combat via the directional pad opens up the game tremendously. Players no longer have to debate whether I want to replace an aesthetically pleasing Keyblade with an ugly one with better stats, rather both can be upgraded. In addition, both can be as strong as the last and, because of their transformations, they can be amazing to switch between for combos.
Speaking of Keyblade transformations, every Keyblade has its own unique feel and use, solely due to their ability to transform. For example, the 100 Acre Wood Keyblade is amazing with its ability to transform into
Team-ups with Donald and Goofy mid-battle are spectacular.
two guns that shoot honey everywhere and that can absolutely decimate Heartless. Combine that with the Toy Story Keyblade that can turn into a giant hammer, and you got yourself an arsenal fit for a true Keyblade Master.
The visuals of combat are stunning as well. From the different animations of Team-Up abilities with Donald and Goofy to the chaos each Keyblade transformation brings to the table, Kingdom Hearts 3 has some of the most visually engaging combat in the series. The Disney Ride summons play a big part in that, as you’ll be able to enable random “Ride Summons”, which bring out classic Disney rides into the combat arena to help you defeat Heartless. By and large, I felt that the Disney Rides were pretty useless in combat since they never did the damage I wanted them to do, but they still provided a visually stunning piece to combat that effectively breaks up the monotony of combat encounters.
Now, two things did bother me while playing throughout the game, which I felt could have been better, they were the Gummi Missions and boss health bars. The two complaints are really intertwined since I really think KH3 had the potential of having the best Gummi missions in the entire series. Unfortunately, it’s heavily brought down by the outrageous health bars most bosses have. Kingdom Hearts does something not many other games can do: build up enough tension going into a boss fight, where the first 5-10 minutes of that boss fight feels epic and rewarding. The problem with KH3 is that after that initial 5-10 minutes, boss fights last another 10 – 20 minutes. It takes forever to take down bosses! It doesn’t matter if it’s a high-ranking Heartless or a simple Gummi Ship battle. Since bosses have the same attack loop, the monotony of fights gets boring and tedious. I wanted to throw my controller out my window when I died right before defeating a Gummi Ship boss. I never want to see those flying blocks again.
The best gameplay addition are the classic Disney World ride summons. The Mad Hatter’s Tea Cup ride is pictured here.
This is the End
Kingdom Hearts 3 is the perfect conclusion to the story that fans fell in love with, including myself. Is it the best game I’ve ever played? No, but it doesn’t really have to be. Could it be better? Nitpicking-wise, sure; but what game couldn’t be? The gameplay is the best of the series, and the story is streamlined in a way that fans of all types can follow along with ease. Square Enix paid attention to the little details in Kingdom Hearts 3 to make it the satisfying conclusion fans deserve.
