The Newcomer’s Review of Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom Hearts is a wild series. Three core entries but also tons of spin-offs on other platforms that are critical to the main story, even some of the hardcore fans have trouble keeping up with all of it. So, what happens when someone who has never even watched a series recap goes head first into Kingdom Hearts III? That’s what we were interested in finding out here at GameZone.

I, Cade Onder, took it upon myself to see how this game would hold up as a standalone game because I’m a madman. Now, some of you are going to come for me because there’s been like a decade to go back and catch up on the history of this series but there was a key factor in this decision: Kingdom Hearts has never been on Xbox prior to III. That means there is a whole new audience of people that have the chance to play these games that have never ever touched a past entry, so we were keen on finding out on how friendly these games are to newcomers.

So without further ado, The Newcomer’s Review of Kingdom Hearts III.

DISCLAIMER: A review copy was provided by the publisher.

Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4 (reviewed)

Developers: Square Enix

Publisher: Square Enix

MSRP: $59.99

Kingdom Hearts III is a WILD game, absolutely bananas. I didn’t understand a large portion of it but to say I didn’t enjoy it would be a lie. Did it live up to the hype that people had helped build inside me for years? Not really, it’s special but that may be due to the Disney gimmick.

So, what is Kingdom Hearts III? It’s an action-RPG that blends iconic Disney universes with an entirely new one built by Square Enix. It’s a classic story of good vs. evil, you have the good guys comprised of the heroes of Disney such as Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, and other famed protagonists and Square Enix’s creations like protagonist Sora.

They join forces to stop a shady order called “Organization XIII”, evildoers seeking to ultimately cause misery on the world. The plot of Kingdom Hearts III for those who aren’t well versed in the game’s lore will be very hard to follow mostly due to its reliance on its original vocabulary created for the game.

The “Heartless”, “Nobodies”, etc. It’s a lot of mumbo jumbo that means more to those who know this series like the back of their hand but with how many times these words and others appear in dialogue and cutscenes, you’ll find yourself constantly feeling confused and lost. The important thing is to just look at it as the simple concept of good vs. evil. So long as you do that, you’ll get the gist of it.

Of course, there are some very lengthy cutscenes full of exposition that appear frequently which really expand on some of these deep cuts so you may struggle to really pay close attention due to the lack of background knowledge but ultimately, where the game strives is in its charm.

Beyond the crazy anime-esque storytelling that serves as the overall throughline for this story, you have the Disney worlds. Each level is based around an acclaimed film from the House of Mouse’s extensive cinematic catalog. In Kingdom Hearts III, there’s Hercules, Toy Story, Tangled, Frozen, Monster’s Inc, Pirates of the Carribean, Big Hero Six, and Winnie the Pooh.

Some of these are just abridged versions of the films they’re based on, some serve as semi-sequels to the movies (like Monsters Inc and Toy Story) but no matter the case, the charm is super present. Wholesome tales of friendship and love, sometimes bordering on very cheesy and sappy but in a way that you can’t help but admire.

Even though many of the characters are voiced by sound-alikes, it still warmed my heart to see little Boo from Monsters Inc, Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, and others all back in action. For years, I’ve been dreading a Toy Story 4 because the third film is a perfect conclusion but Kingdom Hearts III made me realize I still want new adventures with those characters.

Some of the actors are really bad at replicating their characters, however. Mike Wazowski’s stand-in sounds like someone impersonating an Italian mobster who is trying to sound like Mike Wazowski and Keira Knightly’s replacement is… it’s astonishingly bad. Of course, it’s not going to be perfect but it felt like not all the effort was put forth by casting and the actors themselves.

Square Enix has gone to great lengths to give each world a very distinct look that emulates the visual style of their films. While they aren’t all super drastic shifts from each other, they’re noticeably different and it’s a touch worth appreciating.

One of my bigger disappointments in Kingdom Hearts III was the lack of meaningful side content. It’s a very linear game and despite having a world (Twilight Town) that acts as a hub for cooking and shopping, it feels dry. There are two shops, both of which can be found in many other places, and the cooking is painfully barebones.

The creative geniuses behind this action RPG have a legendary chef like Remy from Ratatouille in their game and they make his craft look like a joke! Cooking is simplified to one action depending on the kind of food you’re making. If you’re making a desert, you’ll bring all the ingredients to the kitchen, and start by cracking an egg into a bowl.

Crack the egg successfully and boom, there’s your dessert. That singular egg transforms into a gourmet cake. Others include shaking salt and pepper for a few seconds or cutting stuff very briefly, this is all very hastily put together. While I’m sure part of the reason for this is so players can cook food quickly and be on their way, I wish there was more depth to it because it feels incredibly simple and cheap as is.

Besides the Disney connection, what’s probably a big draw to Kingdom Hearts III for many is the gameplay. When you watch videos, it looks pretty bonkers. Various cartoon characters kicking ass, spawning iconic Disney attractions as power moves, and fast-paced melee combat? Why wouldn’t that be great?!

Sometimes it is, sometime’s it’s a big drag. The pros of the moment to moment action is the non-stop spectacle, Kingdom Hearts III is just constant set pieces even in the most mundane battles. There’s a baffling amount of flair to the combat, there are few games that could ever go toe to toe with the basic fundamentals of Kingdom Hearts III’s gameplay.

Most battles start with you swinging your keyblade around like a sword or shooting some magic spells like fire but the more enemies you defeat, the more abilities you earn within battle. These abilities range from special keyblade bonuses that deal more damage during attacks and perform special moves to summoning Disney attractions like the teacups or carousel.

These deal massive damage and are super efficient ways to clear large groups of enemies or drain a boss’ health. They’re also loads of fun, which is essential because you will use these attractions dozens, if not hundreds, of times throughout the game. All of this helps make combat super flashy with lots of lights, colors, and chaotic fun.

The scope and scale of the whole game can feel almost titanic at times. One of the first boss battles in the game sees you fighting a titan at Mount Olympus, you start by attacking its limbs and then eventually call in a flying rollercoaster with canons on it. You fly around in this rollercoaster, absolutely annihilating this creature like you’re part of the air brigade tasked with shooting King Kong off the Empire State Building.

It’s enough to make you chuckle at the absurdity of it all but it’s a good kind of absurdity, most games would never attempt to do things like this but they should because it’s nothing but smile-inducing.

That’s all well and good but even with this, combat sometimes fails to maintain engaging. Combat is dedicated primarily to one button (X on PS4, A on Xbox One), you press this button so many times and there’s no real variety in it to keep it challenging or interesting (minus the frequent abilities). Some hack and slash games get over this hurdle by having throwables assigned to other buttons, heavy or light attacks, but everything is pretty much focused on that one single button.

It grows rather tiring over long play sessions and I sometimes found myself just running past enemies and skipping entire encounters so I could just move on with the story. There are lots of combat scenarios in Kingdom Hearts III and they’re super frequent, it’s pretty problematic when the combat feels so dull that I just skip entire sections.

The gameplay can also feel rather unintuitive with major oversights in design. Sometimes you can rack up multiple abilities but the catch is you can only trigger one at a time which makes sense. But you can’t cycle through the ones you have available and choose which you’d rather use. You have to use all of them in order to get to the one you might want due to how they’re stacked on top of each other.

Sometimes the overall flow and momentum of the action is interrupted by clunky movement and animations as well. You can find yourself locked into animations after being damaged where Sora is unable to fight back or move out of the way as an enemy continuously beats the snot out of you and drains a good portion of your health.

Combat feels like it could be so much smoother and enjoyable but it lacks in many areas because the focus is largely on the aforementioned spectacle of the special abilities. It forgets that the build-up to getting those abilities needs to be amusing and gratifying but it ends up ultimately feeling like a chore.

The Verdict:

Kingdom Hearts III is a confusing and sometimes tiring fireworks display of ambition and passion. The charm and wholesome nature of the Disney worlds, the flashy and frenetic battles, the gargantuan scope and scale of it all, all of this works in its favor to be something really unique but there’s a lot dragging it all down too.

Combat quickly grows tiresome to its repetition and sometimes unintuitive design, the core story is nearly impossible to follow for newcomers and only does the very bare minimum to fill players in. If you’re a Kingdom Hearts veteran, your heart may burst with joy with where the story goes but newcomers will find their brains working in overdrive trying to keep up with all the nonsensical jargon invented by Square Enix.