Hi to anyone reading this, let me first reintroduce myself; I just to come to this site a lot a few years back, but my internet participation hasn't been that much lately. I'm just a guy, 22 years old. HUGE Kingdom Hearts enthousiast. The rest of this will all contain spoilers, about Disney Worlds, about the ending, just everything in general. 

Sidenote: it's just my opinion, so don't take it too seriously. I just had to write this stuff off somewhere. 

Spoiler

 

* The Disney * 

Kingdom Hearts 3 started off really great for me. I loved getting right into the action with Olympus, 'cause let's face it: we've waited a long time for this game. So it's a good thing it starts off the bat. I really enjoyed Olympus, The Toy Box and Kingdom Of Corona. I was overwhelmed with how fleshed out these worlds were and appreciated the little touches like really getting to explore the forest with Rapunzel. That part with the birds, and the swimming was so adorable to me and really gave me the spirit of that movie between all the fighting. When we got to Twilight Town I got everything I needed for my first visit; I really thought I would come back, not just for Winnie The Pooh. When I got to Monstropolis something felt off, instead of exploring the world of the movie I visited a game map version of that factory. I was kind of along for the ride, but mostly because of Boo. Then landing in Frozen was the worst, literally all the maps look the same and there was no character interaction except for the part with Olaf. I was literally bored. After those two worlds I feared for the worst with PotC and Big Hero 6. Yet Pirates Of The Carribean was such a breath of fresh air for me. This world did every gameplay aspect right in my opinion, just a bit sad the story was such a mess. I loved everything: diving underwater, collecting the crabs while exploring the town and fighting/adventuring on the open sea; there really is a lot to do here and variation is key to me. The story however heavily relies on you knowing the plot of the movie, and though I've seen it I was still a bit lost with the big time jump. It seems like a missed opportunity to not be the one that frees Calypso since she seems so fully aware of who Sora is. Which brings me to another pet peeve, the Davy Jones boss fight. We hadn't even met him up untill the point we finished him. And that's just very unrewarding, same with Hans in Frozen. Sora/Donald/Goofy aren't really part of the major story beats, they just stumble around get half of the story and kill the bad guy, though for all they, they might not be all that bad. We didn't see Hans do the whole deceive Anna and leave her to die part, and for all we know Jack had a deal with Davy, but Jack didn't keep his end of the bargain. So those tense moments with the boss feel very unrewarding. And that feeling stuck with me all the way through the end game, (I won't bring up Big Hero 6 'cause that world was perfection to me! I loved the story, the music, everything). 

* The Endgame * 

I had read in every review that the endgame takes up to 10 hours and is all Kingdom Hearts land, and really great with twists and turns. But tbh I hated it.
Coming from BH6 we go straight to Destiny Islands, where we go straight to the realm of Darkness, to CO, To the land of Departure, To mysterious tower. 
We hang around all those place for five minutes or less and suddenly Aqua and Ventus are back. It feels like it shouldn't have been that easy, and this is were I think the lack of Original worlds starts to play it's part. There's nowhere to get ready or play out any of this, after everything happens we open up the keyblade graveyard and this would've felt more grand to me, if I could actually walk around Mysterious Tower for a bit, see all the characters in one room outside of the cutscene, talk to them and build suspense. But for firetrucks sake as soon as we get to the Keyblade Graveyard everyone dies and Sora loses hope? I'm so confused. We've fought towers of heartless before and this is our undoing? I just don't get it, I didn't even know everyone had "died" until we had to get their hearts back? We hadn't even fought or talked to all the 13 darknesses yet and everyone was dead. It felt so weird, I was completely ready for battle, super stoked and this shit happens? I end up having to fight a giant heartless tornado with KHUX players their name and just pressing Triangle? but after all that we're super scared again because of some heartless tornados, and lose all hope. I thought I was gonna get an epic fight with the Riku Replica and his giant Xehanort shadow. Wich would've been way more epic than the way we ended up defeating him.
I felt like I never got to do any of the cool stuff and all these epic villains I've come to love over this franchise were way better bosses in their original game. I didn't even feel the need to stack up on potions or anything between the fights. And I was underpowered according to the world battle lv.

* All These Questions * 

- Why did Xemnas chose Luxord, Larxene, Marluxia and Demyx? He said something along the lines of who they were before, and at that point I would've sworn they were the fortunetellers from KHUX.
- Why did Xehanort assemble too many seekers of darkness but then they have a discussion about Larxene having told Sora they're ready when they're not? 
I count: Xehanort, Young Xehanort, Xemnas, Ansem, Vanitas, Terranort, Vexen, Larxene, Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, Xion, Riku Replica, Xigbar and Saix.
- How did Xehanort get those flying keyblades when we never fought Demyx, Vexen or Xion? We're still a keyblade short at this point. (did I miss someone?) 
- Where are the Final Fantasy characters? 
- Where are the original worlds? We were shown at least mysterious tower in the KH3 trailers. Hollow Bastion was such a huge part in Kingdom Hearts I and II, it just doesn't feel the same without it. Mostly because without a world to rely on a lot of the action happens within cutscenes and boss fights which then feel super rushed. 

* My Most Important Question * 

Why did we go to the keyblade graveyard? None of these 'bad guys' ever threatened to destroy the world in general; the treat has always been: come to the keyblade graveyard with seven guardians of light and then we fight you, you lose and we take over the world. Was it a 'we can take em let's just get it over with' kinda thing? I never really got the main drive to have this confrontation because it could've gone so many ways. And even visiting the Disney worlds the organization was only a threat to Sora because they didn't want him to meddle with the worlds. This game is just so weird, and I've never felt that way about a Kingdom Hearts game before. Some parts feel so rushed, which makes me sad because it makes me feel like the game developers weren't honest with us; did something go wrong behind the scenes? I feel like as a fanbase, we gave them so much time, that we would've waited another ten years if we had to. 

The reviews tell me that if you're a fan this game is perfection, but can I ask; is this really the game we wanted? 

 

Ok I think this is all. 

 

alright,

i do disagree with some points here, and for the overall feeling of the game, but that's an honest opinion,

 

i'd say one thing right off the bat, expectations, and desires. both issues especially nowadays with hype and that excrutiating tendency to binge on and bask in theories and plots and whatnot -for the sake of waiting i'm aware of it but even being very fond of that game series since 2002 there comes a time you just need to let time past and leave it at that and enjoy the reunion when it finally arrives-

that might be a very broad assumption on my part, but nonetheless if it doesn't apply to you i'm sure it does to a large majority of people who for the most part just poisons an environment and a game appreciation as a whole. yup, not so fond of the idea of fanbases, especially at our time and age. and to believe some chitchat here and there holds more weight than actual money made in a company's decision to keep on producing something is preposterous to say the least.

 

anyway. onto the review.

Spoiler

 

i will admit quite a few parts feel rushed, especially that PotC part where indeed someone who didn't see the 3rd movie will definitely be lost.

but that just is the expression of what i consider to be a blatant truth of the series throughout the years, and that is that chiasm and apparent desire to sort of separate from DIsney universes as a whole.

KH definitely grew into its own beast and what began as a FF/Disney mashup is definitely not that anymore, and it's been roughtly the case since CoM.

in that regard that also explains the lack of FF characters, they relied on the usual scheme of Disney worlds as vessels to hold the main story but in that story itself FF characters where never more than glorified cameos, and after all those years and story developpement there's absolutely no  need for them anymore.

SE isn't dupe, and if FF is a well known franchise amongs gamers, Disney is just that big of a juggernaut compared to puny FF. Showing a bit of it here and there was fun but really more of some fanservice than anything else and with the abundance of OG KH characters to digest, the need for more FF chars is just inexistant and would potentially confuse those who don't know that much of FF lore as a whole compared to Disney which is known worlwide.

FF characters are gone, they weren't that much of a deal to begin with and could be replaced by anyone else so for more clarity it's not a bad thing.

Original worlds.

the focus of KH3 was to wrap up Xehanort overall story arc. in that regard what OG world would we have needed? for what purpose? what would the addition of a new world  bring to the game when there wouldn't have any story to add to these?

Plus we had an OG world, and not a small one, whose addition was more of a tease for potentially more stories to come and that ended up not having a real impact on Xehanort's one. yes talking of Scala Ad Caelum.

Gorgeous world but tells nothing at least right now. Just brings more questions.

we had Final World as well to add to the overall KH Lore, but again, not directly related to KH3's main story.

 

Adding OG worlds is all good but if there's nothing to link them to, it's overall a waste of a world, just look at Scala, gorgeous and so underused because with the story we were told there was nothing that could be really done to add to it in a meaningful way.

for better or worse we won't be seeing Hollow bastion anymore, one could argue we actually saw it quite a lot in the game in a way though...

 

 

Endgame

 

i agree some parts felt a bit odd, and though it could be understood i felt Sora lost hope a bit too quickly but that was to further emphasize what was to come after, the FInal world and so on. still, a bit confusing but then again when was KH not at least a bit confusing.

not giving it a pass, it is what it is.

the plotline with Marly/larxy/demyx/luxord and their potential older selves fells rushed and brushed aside indeed, it is these parts of the overall plot that you have to be well versed into KH lore to even remotely grasp, waiting and seeing what will come out of it. I myself didn't give it much thoughts so far so i will say i don't know.

 

 

as for Keyblade graveyard, well that's Xehanort's plot. either our heroes gather 7 guardians or it is heavily implied if they don't the Organisation has back up plans to make the clash between 13darknesses and 7lights happen no matter what.

so it's a gamble of going there and actually try to do something or let things happen, let innocents be killed/used and Xehanort have his way. Sure to fight them was bound to go in Xehanort's course of action but at least  something could be done, and indeed they managed to stop him in the end.

i would add they were just keeping and eye on potential lights in the different worlds, that's why they never engaged with Sora and friends to begin with. no use to fight before the clash.

 

as for the semi rush before the final battle, anything that would have been added would have felt just like more thing to virtually make it last longer,

they find Aqua, the next move was logically Ven, due to him being hidden there was no reason for any problem to get to him, Vanitas popping up was just so that Ven would have a reason to 'wake up' and find its way back to his body, and the moment they gather their 7 guardians, knowing from larxene the organisation was 'done' with finding their 13darknesses the only move was to go to battle heads on, and not waste time.

 

again, i do agree some parts were rushed, DIsney's parts i couldn't care less, especially considering it's always the same thing, a rehearse of the story of the world and considering the ones they rushed, Frozen and PoTC, given their popularities, the amount of people who don't know the stories to begin with is on the lower hand of the stick and truth be told, that's not what KH3 is about anymore.

 

moving forward, and seeing what the epilogue and secret movie showed us, i have good hope they'll drop Disney even more and turn KH into it's own thing, FF is already out of the picture, and Disney is becoming redundant at that point, if it's not to add to the OG stories, like Toy story of Bh6 worlds did, then it's not really a big deal, the main attraction there is to see Sora and friends interact in the OG plots to an extent (i will admit i couldn't stop laughing at the "let it go" portion of the Frozen world that was clever and priceless)

it definitely feels different that other KH games, being the one that had the excrutiating task to put an end to the Xehanort saga, after so many years of waiting. It could never leave to all expectations, but it did what it had to do, to offer scenes and interactions that needed to be seen for more than a decade for some. I for one am glad it left the overall KH CHI/X/union part on the side for further development in future games to focus more on Xehanort, the black box being only some sort of cameo here, and the little hint at Unioncross at the end was a nice little touch.

 

i for one didn't have expectations as to what game I wanted it to be, other than a good game with the story i've come to expect after all these years of teasing and preparation.

KH3 is a good game, excellent even, it plays wonderful and is a true testimony to the people that followed it since KH1 in many ways, and i for one am very thankful they didn't make it like KH2 with backs and forths and double the Disney time because let's face it, that's not what this is about anymore and i'm glad they didn't bloat it even more with disney side plots when all that mattered for this one was the Xehanort saga end.

yes some parts are rushed and more questions arised, it's not a nomura game for nothing, 

 

 

As the game everyone has been waiting for, it might not fulfil that exact role. However, as a game on it's own, it's magnificent. I can see why a lot of people disagree with their anticipation for Kingdom Hearts III having finally arrived but I think there is a way to save that. Because this is the final chapter of the Xehanort Saga, it could be somewhat expected that there would be less content and especially the stakes involved. But also, it still delivers a satisfying if not very final conclusion between both the 7 Lights and the 13 Darknesses. You can't expect perfection but at the same time, you can expect near to it. Kingdom Hearts III is exactly that, balancing both the positives and the negatives. Hopefully when the next Saga begins, everything will be built up again and we can see how more directly the confrontations of the future will affect everyone.

 

Oh yeah, another way to think of everything is that Dream Drop Distance could be considered "the 1st half of Kingdom Hearts III", in other-words the beginning of the end. Not only that but all of the games past II could be seen as also part of III, building up it's tension and suspense. Hence why there seems to be more or less a certain lack of them both in III. The way I biasedly see it, the Xehanort Saga is divided up into two Story Arcs. Covering I, Chain of Memories and II is the "Door to Light Arc" and then covering the rest of the games onward is the "Key That Connects Everything Arc". 

Edited February 1, 20196 yr by Iamkingdomhearts1000

I also thought the game was rushed but what bothered me the most was the pace of the story. The story only starts after the last Disney world... Before that you only see a lot of short cliffhangers that make it seem like a soap-opera. I'm just as lost as you in those questions, but I do hope they make a game of kh ux for ps4

 

However, I must highlight the gameplay. I just loved it! Leveling up has always been a pain for me but this is the first game that it is not. I'm level 75 and will probably go for 99 for the first time ever

5 hours ago, Iamkingdomhearts1000 said:

As the game everyone has been waiting for, it might not fulfil that exact role. However, as a game on it's own, it's magnificent. I can see why a lot of people disagree with their anticipation for Kingdom Hearts III having finally arrived but I think there is a way to save that. Because this is the final chapter of the Xehanort Saga, it could be somewhat expected that there would be less content and especially the stakes involved. But also, it still delivers a satisfying if not very final conclusion between both the 7 Lights and the 13 Darknesses. You can't expect perfection but at the same time, you can expect near to it. Kingdom Hearts III is exactly that, balancing both the positives and the negatives. Hopefully when the next Saga begins, everything will be built up again and we can see how more directly the confrontations of the future will affect everyone.

 

Oh yeah, another way to think of everything is that Dream Drop Distance could be considered "the 1st half of Kingdom Hearts III", in other-words the beginning of the end. Not only that but all of the games past II could be seen as also part of III, building up it's tension and suspense. Hence why there seems to be more or less a certain lack of them both in III. The way I biasedly see it, the Xehanort Saga is divided up into two Story Arcs. Covering I, Chain of Memories and II is the "Door to Light Arc" and then covering the rest of the games onward is the "Key That Connects Everything Arc". 

Spoiler

I'm really glad you enjoyed it! And I don't want to come off as if I didn't. I see all the games equally important as part of the canon but I don't think of DDD as the first half of KH3. The truth is, I wasn't expecting perfection. I was expecting massive worlds and fun gameplay because that is what the trailer showed me and I don't like to make further assumptions. However I really do feel a disconnect between the Disney part of the game which is the best it's ever been imo and the endgame where there where hardly any legendary levels or bossfights. I won't remember fighting the vanilla versions of Xemnas, Vanitas, Terranort etc. I won't remember fighting that heartless thief with two health bars and the same moves through all the worlds. I won't remember [scalum ed keila? *I truly don't know] the way I did with the world that never was, or Hollow Bastion because apart from the bossfight I don't even get to go to that world. I had really hoped to explore it after the fight but it's the final save point. 

I don't in any way mean to attack your experience with this! It's just me explaining why I felt certain things a little bit more. 

 

5 hours ago, Lu Xun said:

I also thought the game was rushed but what bothered me the most was the pace of the story. The story only starts after the last Disney world... Before that you only see a lot of short cliffhangers that make it seem like a soap-opera. I'm just as lost as you in those questions, but I do hope they make a game of kh ux for ps4

 

However, I must highlight the gameplay. I just loved it! Leveling up has always been a pain for me but this is the first game that it is not. I'm level 75 and will probably go for 99 for the first time ever

Spoiler

I totally get what you mean! I do love the gameplay as well. Most of the disney worlds are great in my opinion, the biggest problem is with the endgame. It feels super rushed, half of the confrontation happens in cutscenes and it doesn't feel deserved. Also who was the traitor? I know Vexen was the traitor, but whom of the 'Chosen' ones? They were really trying to push that storyline, and Xemnas brings it up while dying, but I feel like it didn't really play out that way. 

 

 

7 hours ago, sorakm said:

alright,

i do disagree with some points here, and for the overall feeling of the game, but that's an honest opinion,

 

i'd say one thing right off the bat, expectations, and desires. both issues especially nowadays with hype and that excrutiating tendency to binge on and bask in theories and plots and whatnot -for the sake of waiting i'm aware of it but even being very fond of that game series since 2002 there comes a time you just need to let time past and leave it at that and enjoy the reunion when it finally arrives-

that might be a very broad assumption on my part, but nonetheless if it doesn't apply to you i'm sure it does to a large majority of people who for the most part just poisons an environment and a game appreciation as a whole. yup, not so fond of the idea of fanbases, especially at our time and age. and to believe some chitchat here and there holds more weight than actual money made in a company's decision to keep on producing something is preposterous to say the least.

 

anyway. onto the review.

  Hide contents

 

i will admit quite a few parts feel rushed, especially that PotC part where indeed someone who didn't see the 3rd movie will definitely be lost.

but that just is the expression of what i consider to be a blatant truth of the series throughout the years, and that is that chiasm and apparent desire to sort of separate from DIsney universes as a whole.

KH definitely grew into its own beast and what began as a FF/Disney mashup is definitely not that anymore, and it's been roughtly the case since CoM.

in that regard that also explains the lack of FF characters, they relied on the usual scheme of Disney worlds as vessels to hold the main story but in that story itself FF characters where never more than glorified cameos, and after all those years and story developpement there's absolutely no  need for them anymore.

SE isn't dupe, and if FF is a well known franchise amongs gamers, Disney is just that big of a juggernaut compared to puny FF. Showing a bit of it here and there was fun but really more of some fanservice than anything else and with the abundance of OG KH characters to digest, the need for more FF chars is just inexistant and would potentially confuse those who don't know that much of FF lore as a whole compared to Disney which is known worlwide.

FF characters are gone, they weren't that much of a deal to begin with and could be replaced by anyone else so for more clarity it's not a bad thing.

Original worlds.

the focus of KH3 was to wrap up Xehanort overall story arc. in that regard what OG world would we have needed? for what purpose? what would the addition of a new world  bring to the game when there wouldn't have any story to add to these?

Plus we had an OG world, and not a small one, whose addition was more of a tease for potentially more stories to come and that ended up not having a real impact on Xehanort's one. yes talking of Scala Ad Caelum.

Gorgeous world but tells nothing at least right now. Just brings more questions.

we had Final World as well to add to the overall KH Lore, but again, not directly related to KH3's main story.

 

Adding OG worlds is all good but if there's nothing to link them to, it's overall a waste of a world, just look at Scala, gorgeous and so underused because with the story we were told there was nothing that could be really done to add to it in a meaningful way.

for better or worse we won't be seeing Hollow bastion anymore, one could argue we actually saw it quite a lot in the game in a way though...

 

 

Endgame

 

i agree some parts felt a bit odd, and though it could be understood i felt Sora lost hope a bit too quickly but that was to further emphasize what was to come after, the FInal world and so on. still, a bit confusing but then again when was KH not at least a bit confusing.

not giving it a pass, it is what it is.

the plotline with Marly/larxy/demyx/luxord and their potential older selves fells rushed and brushed aside indeed, it is these parts of the overall plot that you have to be well versed into KH lore to even remotely grasp, waiting and seeing what will come out of it. I myself didn't give it much thoughts so far so i will say i don't know.

 

 

as for Keyblade graveyard, well that's Xehanort's plot. either our heroes gather 7 guardians or it is heavily implied if they don't the Organisation has back up plans to make the clash between 13darknesses and 7lights happen no matter what.

so it's a gamble of going there and actually try to do something or let things happen, let innocents be killed/used and Xehanort have his way. Sure to fight them was bound to go in Xehanort's course of action but at least  something could be done, and indeed they managed to stop him in the end.

i would add they were just keeping and eye on potential lights in the different worlds, that's why they never engaged with Sora and friends to begin with. no use to fight before the clash.

 

as for the semi rush before the final battle, anything that would have been added would have felt just like more thing to virtually make it last longer,

they find Aqua, the next move was logically Ven, due to him being hidden there was no reason for any problem to get to him, Vanitas popping up was just so that Ven would have a reason to 'wake up' and find its way back to his body, and the moment they gather their 7 guardians, knowing from larxene the organisation was 'done' with finding their 13darknesses the only move was to go to battle heads on, and not waste time.

 

again, i do agree some parts were rushed, DIsney's parts i couldn't care less, especially considering it's always the same thing, a rehearse of the story of the world and considering the ones they rushed, Frozen and PoTC, given their popularities, the amount of people who don't know the stories to begin with is on the lower hand of the stick and truth be told, that's not what KH3 is about anymore.

 

moving forward, and seeing what the epilogue and secret movie showed us, i have good hope they'll drop Disney even more and turn KH into it's own thing, FF is already out of the picture, and Disney is becoming redundant at that point, if it's not to add to the OG stories, like Toy story of Bh6 worlds did, then it's not really a big deal, the main attraction there is to see Sora and friends interact in the OG plots to an extent (i will admit i couldn't stop laughing at the "let it go" portion of the Frozen world that was clever and priceless)

it definitely feels different that other KH games, being the one that had the excrutiating task to put an end to the Xehanort saga, after so many years of waiting. It could never leave to all expectations, but it did what it had to do, to offer scenes and interactions that needed to be seen for more than a decade for some. I for one am glad it left the overall KH CHI/X/union part on the side for further development in future games to focus more on Xehanort, the black box being only some sort of cameo here, and the little hint at Unioncross at the end was a nice little touch.

 

i for one didn't have expectations as to what game I wanted it to be, other than a good game with the story i've come to expect after all these years of teasing and preparation.

KH3 is a good game, excellent even, it plays wonderful and is a true testimony to the people that followed it since KH1 in many ways, and i for one am very thankful they didn't make it like KH2 with backs and forths and double the Disney time because let's face it, that's not what this is about anymore and i'm glad they didn't bloat it even more with disney side plots when all that mattered for this one was the Xehanort saga end.

yes some parts are rushed and more questions arised, it's not a nomura game for nothing, 

 

 

Spoiler

If this wraps everything up, why not have the Final Fantasy characters there that mentored us from the start? This truly is not my biggest concern but it would've felt nice to wave them goodbye in the last part of the Xehanort saga since they taught us what the keyblade is. They were there in Hollow Bastion when we locked up the keyhole, and throughout KH in general they were super invested in the Ansem/Xemnas storyline. 

An original Kingdom Hearts world would've given me time to breathe. It's not so much to do with hype, but with the precedent Kingdom Hearts has set itself: stunning/fun endgames. Kingdom Hearts 1 with Hollow Bastion till the end of the world > A lot of story but also a lot of exploring and fighting general heartless. Kingdom Hearts 2 Twilight Town > The World That Never Was > A brilliant endgame with a lot of secrets unraveled and this carries on through what were originally handheld games. I just would've liked to have a bigger build up after the Disney Worlds and that doesn't happen for me just watching cutscenes, I need to play something too.

I know it's a Nomura game; and I liked the way Union Cross was kept out of it as well. I like the little gathering of the tellers at the end. The mystery of the box, Kairi crying on the Destiny Islands, those were good Nomura things. 

It just seems KH3 went full out on Disney and then shoved in an ending. And really it's not the story of the ending that bothers me, it's the presentation of it. Nothing about it felt exciting to me running from boss to boss which were all the vanilla versions from previous games.