Kingdom Hearts 3
Kingdom Hearts 3 is a long-running series from Square Enix spanning 17 years and seven games. Its die-hard fan base has waited patiently for the latest installment in the franchise and as a fan myself I have a few things to say on the matter. At its core, Kingdom Hearts 3 is a very simple game. Fight the enemies, power up your keyblade, and enjoy the convoluted story. For players new to the game Kingdom Hearts 3 is a confusing, but colorful way to get into the series. The gameplay is simplified using a basic platformer scheme to get you right into the action. One button to hit, one to jump, another to interact with objects, and so forth. The newest game adds on a few elements from past installments like the FlowMotion abilities which allow you to seamlessly integrate parkour like elements into your combat. This gives the pace of fighting a frenetic, wild feel that goes as fast as you can keep up. Add magic abilities on top of that and you have a solid combat system honed through years of past releases and player feedback.
The fantastical designs in Kingdom Hearts 3 are fun to look at and take full advantage of the PS4 graphics. The soft looking art direction allows anime-inspired characters like Sora and his friends to interact well with the Disney cast like those from Frozen, Monsters Inc, and even the realistic Pirates of the Caribbean. In this game there are moments during combat when you can work together with other characters via a button prompt, usually ending in a bright and colorful explosion. These alongside the new Disney Attractions, where you summon an iconic Disney ride to aid you in battle, are an absolute delight to watch. I felt as if I were a kid again reading a pop-up book for the first time. The first 20 times. After that, the over-the-top explosions and Soras exclamations of childlike glee got old. It got to the point that I would avoid the specific button prompts during battle. When you chain a long enough combo together another prompt gives you the option to bring the Keyblade you wield into its second form. Some are more entertaining than others but all are a pleasure to watch unfold at least once. The design for this game is top-notch and it clearly shows.
Story-wise you can jump onto Youtube and find a number of videos that will explain the detail-heavy plot, so I won’t jump into the specifics. However, if you’re brand new to the series here is a quick primer. The Kingdom Hearts series features the main protagonist Sora, a happy-go-lucky kid from a small island searching for adventure alongside his two friends Riku and Kairi. Due to an unfortunate series of events Sora gets exactly what he asked for and is separated from his friends, home, and sent tumbling into parts unknown. When things look bleak Sora learns that he is a chosen wielder of the powerful Keyblade. It is only with this mysterious weapon that he can combat the darkness given physical form called Heartless. Along the way, he makes friends with Disney’s Donald and Goofy and the trio go on several adventures together. The main draw of the series besides its entertaining combat is its seamless marriage of characters from the Final Fantasy series alongside several Disney movies. As I said before, at times the game feels like a children’s book, which isn’t really a bad thing. However this series is nearly two decades old, it’s fanbase has largely grown up and experienced the joys and despairs of being an adult. Sora, however, much like the Lost Boys from Peter Pan, has not.
This is arguably the series greatest weakness, and it lies in the heart of the games greatest strength. Playing Kingdom Hearts 3 made me feel like a kid again, and that was both the solution and the problem. It made me realize just how much I’ve grown since the last installment, and how much Sora hasn’t. At times the game tries to give you a sense of urgency and at the moment it often succeeds. It was only after I turned off the game that I realized nothing serious happened. Nobody bleeds, despite being hit several times using a club like an object with spiky bits. But more importantly, nobody dies in this series. People disappear, get their souls ripped out of their body and effectively split in two, but nobody dies, not really. And that’s where I have a problem. I’m not expecting or asking the game to get edgy or dark for no reason. I just want the series to acknowledge that most of us playing are now adults and that we deserve to be treated like it. I completely understand if some find my opinion to be disagreeable. After all, that’s all it is in the end, my opinion.
What I will say however is that I enjoyed the attempts at raising the stakes in the story this time around. Unfortunately, things felt pretty rushed towards the end leaving more than a few questions unanswered. The voice acting too was fantastic, with Haley Joel Osment (Sora) masterfully showing new facets of his character. When it comes to epic moments and intense battles Kingdom Hearts doesn’t disappoint. Some of my favorite moments included wading into a furious battle only to nearly fall to my enemies. The very act of nearing death would then activate the chance to enter Rage Mode. This is one of Sora’s alternate forms in which he gains crushing strength at the cost of his lifeforce. Using Rage Mode is often an extreme gamble where you ride the thin line between life and death, betting it all on victory. Moments like that are why I play Kingdom Hearts. And I often wished some of those moments lasted longer. The game’s difficulty was another sticking point with me. Despite playing on Proud (Hard) Mode I still felt like a majority of the battles were over in a flash. In one important battle with a character forcefully turned evil I intentionally handicapped myself, refusing to use any Action Commands that would help ease the battle, because I felt the ‘decisive’ battle in question was much too easy, to begin with.
Despite the elaborate story and one-note characters, this is still one of my favorite series to play. Its a ton of fun and reminds you to always look on the bright side of life. Every time I finished playing this game my day would get just a little bit better. As long as they keep supplying that feeling, I’ll keep playing. And from the looks of things, the series creator Tetsuya Nomura isn’t done yet, planning a few DLC releases to keep the story going until the inevitable release of Kingdom Hearts 4. Kingdom Hearts 3 was made by Square Enix. It is on sale now for $30 from your local retailers.
