REVEIW - Kingdom Hearts 3 - The Plot Thickens... I Think

Name: Kingdom Hearts 3
Developer: Square Enix, Disney Interactive
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: PlayStation 4(reviewed), Xbox One
Release: 25.01.19

Where do you start a review of a game like Kingdom Hearts? ("Did you like the game?" There's a good start. I know it's been a while since you did some writing but...) I enjoyed Kingdom Hearts 3 a lot. The combat was that weird mix of Devil May Cry hack and slash meets Final Fantasy menu selects, the story is a mix of nostalgia and confusion banana pants, level and character design were once again beautiful and scaled to a new generations console power. I felt it was worth the wait. Let's get into it, shall we?

Is this Kingdom Hearts?

The Dumbo in the room is the Kingdom Hearts plot. KH3 felt like a game that was trying to acknowledge it's very convoluted past and straighten some things out. (For the most part) Given that it's a series that's had more spin-offs and side projects than Happy Days, it's had its work cut out for itself. I'm not going to defend it, the story is screwy and I've spent slightly more time than I care to mention on various fan wikis trying to fill gaps in my not inconsiderable Kingdom Hearts knowledge. Once again you're travelling from Disney world to Disney world, interacting with that movie's characters in a loose interpretation of the film's plot. For some, it works pretty well. I particularly loved the Tangled and Monsters Inc. worlds. (So much so that I really want to watch Tangled now) For others (*cough* Toy Story and Big Hero 6 *cough cough*) it kind of feels like you've been given a world to explore that has a basic theme and no actual objective in mind, which at this stage and after 13 years after the last main instalment, is a little disappointing. The Kingdom Hearts side of the story does make a decent effort to tie things up though, though can still be annoyingly cryptic and repetitive in its choice of dialogue. (We get it, Sora, your friends are your strength. Hearts, yeah, connected, great)

Serious work for serious people.

To think I never thought I'd love again. I love you, lizard bro.

Visually, it's just lovely. It's never been a bad looking series but with the polish allowed it on the current generation of consoles, it really can be picturesque. So much so, they introduce a camera to take pictures. Did I spend too much time taking selfies with my various teammates? Why yes, yes I did. (Considering Kingdom Hearts 2 came out before the first iPhone, this addition is a little unsurprising) Of course, I also spent far too much time flying around in the Gummi Ship. I've talked before about how this is one of my favourite minigames and Kingdom Hearts 3 basically makes it its own separate game. Instead of linear flight paths, however, you're given "systems" to fly about in with fights you can participate in to get new ship parts and models depending on what rank you earn. For the most part, as long as you have a ship that can deal out massive damage (My ship was basically a glass cannon, it could deal it out but it could barely take a scratch without dying) you'll generally have no issues earning As. With all the lasers firing and enemy ships exploding on screen it can become a bit of a mess of visual noise on the screen, but then if it wasn't like that I would be a little disappointed. (Wear shades, destroy enemy fleets in style)

Shades like this would be perfect, in fact. *hint hint*

Seguing fluidly into the game's combat in general, it's got its ups and downs. First off, it feels very fluid, you can hotkey spells and work them into combos with your keyblade, stacking up some serious damage. Shotlock, from Birth by Sleep, is back and it is by far the most useful set of moves you have in your arsenal. On more than one occasion, I've used it to completely annihilate both bosses and large groups of enemies. The moves change, depending on the keyblade being used but more often than not it'll get the job done. Next, are the spells, where you can now cast "Grand magic" which are devastating (I'm not being hyperbolic with that term, it's the business) versions of your basic elemental spells pumped up to MAX. The special moves I wasn't so keen on were the Disney Land attractions. Summoning teacups and carousels is cute but 95% of the fights would present me with a prompt to use one and it kind of hit pause on the flow of the battle. You don't need to use them and can skip over them if other prompts appear, but they really pushed the Disney with this instalment. Then there's the biggest issue, which has been the biggest bugbear I've had with the series combat since Kingdom Hearts, which is the camera. It just doesn't quite do what it's meant to and locking onto enemies is only possible if the camera is facing them. Pressing the attack button generally sends Sora in the direction of the nearest enemy to remedy this, but sometimes Sora can get confused and think the priority target is a clutch of coconuts at the top of the nearest tree. This is further aggravated by later enemies that can teleport, most often off-screen, breaking your lock on them. I mean, it is what it is and I've fought and won every battle the game threw at me with relative ease. (That said, the difficulty felt a little dumbed down from previous games)

Baddiemax, Baymax's big bad brother.

A special mention goes to the cooking minigame. Apparently, I needed that in my life. Who knew? (Another special mention goes to WHERE ARE ANY FINAL FANTASY CHARACTERS?! Just thought I should get that off my chest)

I have three Michelin stars, thanks to KH3.

Would I recommend this game to Xehanort, eh, I mean you? No. I don't think I could. There would be no point. Either you've waited patiently for this game's release for the last 13 years and you've snapped it up regardless of reviews. Or you've lost interest during the myriad of side games that have further muddied the plot. OR you didn't have the interest, to begin with. I enjoyed the 50+ hours I've sunk into the game and, for the most part, this was every bit the next instalment I was waiting for.

(Don't get me wrong, I would recommend the entire series to you. Sure it's an epic time-investment, and you really have to put up with a lot of Donald Duck's voice but as a game series, it has provided me with some great moments and satisfying challenges. Maybe even a few tears... I DON'T KNOW MY GOD I SAID MAYBE GET OUT OF MY FACE ALREADY... ahem)