Rate top gamesAs a huge fan of the series, I can say that Kingdom Hearts has always kind of been a mixed bag. The best moments of playing a Kingdom Hearts game are usually spent either in combat with a well-designed and intimidating boss or getting swept away in a genuinely touching moment with your favorite Disney characters. This game provides a fair amount of both, but the overall package is probably the least appealing of either of the mainline games and probably Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance as well.
Gameplay: By game's end I was more and more comfortable with balancing all of the new features -- as many reviewers have noted there are a LOT and some of them are a lot more fun than others, but that's not the main problem. So Sora starts the game roughly the equivalent of a LV20 or LV30 in the original two titles. I'm sure this was to try and avoid the "player reset" problem typical in RPG sequels, but how they try and compensate creates a huge problem. In order to compensate for how strong you are from the get-go, the dev's solution is to just throw a far greater number of enemies at you and give them extra health. This results in long stretches of the early game where the combat is just way too easy and waaaaaay overlong. Wave after wave of enemies and they barely leave a scratch. At about the halfway point the scaling felt like it was starting to even out and there was greater challenge/reward in combat, but it was a major drag getting there. This is undoubtedly the Kingdom Hearts game I died the least in. I can't tell if I love or hate that the end of the game is like 20 boss fights back-to-back? I did it all in one sitting so I guess that's good.
Story: Within the first hour or so after putting that disk in, you know what you're in for. It is very sloppily told. I liked how the Disney worlds were incorporated more actively in the main story. At times the dialogue feels a bit snappier and down-to-earth than previous games, at other times it feels like placeholder dialogue that was vom-ed out when the head writer entered the room and yelled "HURRY UP AND FINISH THE GAME!" The game does what it promises to do by bringing all the plot threads from all the other games together, but does so in the absolute most literal sense and that's it. There were some crowd-pleasing moments that satisfied my inner fanboy. There were moments I wished got more attention. Kairi is suuuuuuuper underserved in this.
Overall, it is was definitely a good deal more fun than it wasn't, and as I got further in the game I got more and more sucked in as the pieces started working better together. As a fan, the ending was fine. I can see myself following the series into the future, but I would need to see a lot of change. And for the record, FFXV stuck the landing waaaay better.
Gameplay: By game's end I was more and more comfortable with balancing all of the new features -- as many reviewers have noted there are a LOT and some of them are a lot more fun than others, but that's not the main problem. So Sora starts the game roughly the equivalent of a LV20 or LV30 in the original two titles. I'm sure this was to try and avoid the "player reset" problem typical in RPG sequels, but how they try and compensate creates a huge problem. In order to compensate for how strong you are from the get-go, the dev's solution is to just throw a far greater number of enemies at you and give them extra health. This results in long stretches of the early game where the combat is just way too easy and waaaaaay overlong. Wave after wave of enemies and they barely leave a scratch. At about the halfway point the scaling felt like it was starting to even out and there was greater challenge/reward in combat, but it was a major drag getting there. This is undoubtedly the Kingdom Hearts game I died the least in. I can't tell if I love or hate that the end of the game is like 20 boss fights back-to-back? I did it all in one sitting so I guess that's good.
Story: Within the first hour or so after putting that disk in, you know what you're in for. It is very sloppily told. I liked how the Disney worlds were incorporated more actively in the main story. At times the dialogue feels a bit snappier and down-to-earth than previous games, at other times it feels like placeholder dialogue that was vom-ed out when the head writer entered the room and yelled "HURRY UP AND FINISH THE GAME!" The game does what it promises to do by bringing all the plot threads from all the other games together, but does so in the absolute most literal sense and that's it. There were some crowd-pleasing moments that satisfied my inner fanboy. There were moments I wished got more attention. Kairi is suuuuuuuper underserved in this.
Overall, it is was definitely a good deal more fun than it wasn't, and as I got further in the game I got more and more sucked in as the pieces started working better together. As a fan, the ending was fine. I can see myself following the series into the future, but I would need to see a lot of change. And for the record, FFXV stuck the landing waaaay better.
Other reviews14
Brings a lot of plotthreads to an emotional end, has some fantastic action gameplay and really fun levels.
«Blew my mind»
So disappointed in the Monster Inc. world, but overall I thought it was really good. Easies and shortest of the KH games though, so play it on a harder difficulty.
It didn't meet the unrealistic expectations due to no fault of it's own. It plays good, looks great and sounds even better.
«That ending!»
«OST on repeat»
It wasn't the perfect game we all wanted but everything we loved is still here and looks better than ever. The combat system was mega neutered from 2 but everything else is on steroids.
«Beaten more than once»
«OST on repeat»
I waited YEARS for this to be given even more poor storytelling, flashy yet shallow gameplay, and an unsatisfying conclusion that can only be fixed if I pay extra for DLC. Pixar characters were actually badass though.
«Disappointment of the year»
KH2 is my favorite game of all time so waiting this long to get KH3 and it turning out to not be very good was really a huge disappointment
«Disappointment of the year»
I made the mistake of only playing KH I and II, thought that would've been fine because I'm not really in these games for the story. I enjoyed the difficulty and gameplay of those two, but three was so incredibly easy, it was boring for me. It was only within the last 4 hours that I was actually having fun playing the game. If you're a fan, go for it, but if you're not one like me, definitely skip.
«Disappointment of the year»
«Waste of time»
With fun combat and charming Disney characters galore it’s hard not to have a blast playing Kingdom Hearts 3. The only things keeping it from being a perfect entry in the serious is a bloated 3rd act and the complete, baffling absence of any Final Fantasy characters.
4/5
«That ending!»
I waited so long for a game that highlights every issue of modern day AAA games. There is no consistency, gameplay is seizure inducing and a non-challenge thanks to rides and the story is only something for hard-liners and people who havent watched a Pixar movie in the last 5 years, everyone else will probably be bored senseless.
«Disappointment of the year»
«Waste of time»