Some frustration grew, but the excitement never waned as the anticipated release date spanned from 2017 to 2018.
Of course, for many, the most anticipated element in a Kingdom Hearts game is the roster of Disney inspired worlds; what films will be used and how the films’ plots will be incorporated into the Kingdom Hearts plot, utilize characters and locations from the film, the role of protagonists Sora, Donald and Goofy and more.
After several years of the franchise containing the same roster with revamps to the extent the films allow, at last, in January 2019, Kingdom Hearts III was released with an almost all-new roster of Disney worlds, and the debut of Pixar inspired worlds.
Is it enough, though? Do the new worlds introduced in Kingdom Hearts III live up to the anticipation?
Here I’ve ranked the Disney worlds of Kingdom Hearts III from worst to best to best.
1. Arendelle (Frozen)
The biggest and most successful Disney film since The Lion King (1994) and one of the most anticipated additions to Kingdom Hearts since its release was a big gimmicky mess that leaned too much on the film's massive popularity.
Sora and company were more observers than participants in a worthless, hole-filled film plot adaptation, spending half of it scaling a mountain just to be thrown down and interacting with Larxene more than the film characters to the point of not establishing relationships with them.
The 'Let it Go' number was included exactly as it was in the film as nothing more than an exploit. Despite being the central villain of the film Hans’ has two cameos, first walking to the palace with an unconscious Ela slung over his shoulder and wrapped in some dark aura, and then when Anna stops him from killing her.
We only ever hear the name Hans once as the name of Anna's supposed true love with no connection made to this character who is threatening Elsa. Those who haven't seen the film were unable to understand the importance of this name or the character or that the two are the same.
The events are just thrown out there quite randomly with no explanations. Kristoff's trust in Sora and company based on Anna's judgment bugged me; he has a whole song about how he doesn't trust people. The Organization’s angle of securing new princesses of heart fell flat on Elsa as it did Rapunzel because of the missed potential. Or perhaps because the popular theory was that she’d be manipulated or exploited for her powers, and instead, she was left to her self-imposed isolation with the littlest role in the world.
2. Kingdom of Corona (Tangled)
A complete utter waste of the film plot with disjointed, almost non-existent storytelling and Sora and company as more observers than participants.
There are no backstories or explanations to engage Sora and co. in the film's plot or its significant elements, causing some abrupt unclear reactions from him, such as his congratulating Rapunzel on being able to return to her real home.
Flynn’s thug associates are absent from this adaption, their roles fulfilled by Marluxia. However, Mother Gothel still uses her film line: “Let’s go quick before they come to,” establishing a second participant who did not exist and Flynn being set up to appear to be ditching Rapunzel with the crown doesn’t have the build of Mother Gothel insisting to Rapunzel that he was just entertaining her for the crown which made it abrupt and confusing to those who have not seen the film.
Rapunzel's magic hair and Mother Gothel's character lent themselves well to this installment's callback to the age of Fairytales and the Keyblade War as Mother Gothel had been using the flower for immortality for centuries, and that drop of light that became the flower could have been one of the few surviving shards of light from the war. Those opportunities, however, were ignored in favor of Rapunzel just being a new princess of light.
3. 100 Acre Wood (Winnie the Pooh)
The chance of pace from the redundant destruction of the book was weak, and the introduction of Lumpy had excellent potential for a plot revolving around the group’s reluctance to trust a Heffalump. Instead, there was no substance whatsoever. This world was a short and pointless waste of beautiful crisp illustrative graphics.
I also don't think Tom Kenny does a good Rabbit at all.
4. The Toy Box (Toy Story)
While this world is nostalgic to those who remember the Super Nintendo and PS games and informs the future of the franchise with the introduction to the video game Verum Rex, this long-anticipated world and Pixar’s official debut in Kingdom Hearts had to create a lot of flat excuses for Sora and co. to fit into a world focused on inanimate objects. No doubt to eliminate the characters that could not be voice cast, such as Mr. Potato Head and Jessie.
The concept of a mirror image of the world to isolate the toys' hearts and harness the strength and vulnerability of their innocence is intriguing. Still, the lack of development left it feeling hollow. We didn't learn what this mirror world was made of or how it was made. Is it a data world like the other Twilight Town? I believe it should have been filled with Dream Eaters or Nobodies, not Heartless.
Buzz and Woody switch their third film roles so that Buzz was the Andy-attached distrusting one to Woody’s openness towards Sora and co. and Buzz’s concern about being turned against his friends was inconsistent with the canon and off-putting. The latter would have been fantastic if this was set after the third film in which he was reset to factory/'real space ranger delusion' mode, but I believe Nomura had said it was placed between the second and third films, which made it random and nonsensical.
Then we have one of the worst resolutions in the franchise to date when out of nowhere; the group accepts being trapped in the mirror world and separated from Andy.
It went against their belief in the love of a child in the films, the second film in particular, which focused on a child's love vs. sitting in a glass case in a museum, and the former won out.
5. Monstropolis (Monsters Inc.)
The teaser stills of Sora and co.’s monster forms were all that was needed for this to become one of the worlds we most looked forward to, and the use of the scream energy concept was perfect for reintroducing the creator of the unversed, negative emotions incarnate, Vanitas. The incarnate of the darkness in Ventus’ heart.
His behind-the-scenes involvement represented by film villain Randall Boggs created an intriguing if not predictable build-up, which almost made it the best use of an Organization member.
This was not quite as successful a post-film plot as San Fransokyo due to lack of development and inconsistencies.
While we don’t see her, Boo’s voice in the film's last moment is indisputably older, so to involve her in this plot as the toddler, she interfered with the timeline's presentation. Additionally, Vanitas needed more backstory as Ventus defeats him in Birth by Sleep. The world was also quite empty as it consisted of so few characters.
Granted, it might have been more difficult to justify Sora and co.’s alliance while screams were still the resource. However, using the film plot rather than a post-film original plot might have solved these issues since the Disney + series Monsters at Work had not existed, as Vanitas lends himself well to the role of Waternoose.
6. Olympus (Hercules)
Although one of few returning worlds in this game, I felt it was more successful as a whole plot-based world than, for the most part, an optional extracurricular.
Pairing Sora’s lost powers with Hades’ coup against Zeus, thus giving him a bit of Hercules’ role, flowed well and as the place where Hercules had his first success, using Thebes and in a state of rebuilding was a very symbolic way to set the scene.
The titan boss battles were long overdue but waiting for the right technology was well worth it as the sheer scale. In particular, the Rock titan battle was stunning, although the wind titan battle was a little too similar to the Genie Jafar battle in Kingdom Hearts II, which is a lost point for originality.
As a continuation of an established timeline within Kingdom Hearts, the Hades coup was abrupt and not quite connected with the previous uses of the Hercules-based world or Hades' character. A short flashback of the Fates explaining the prediction with the planets aligning would have helped this somewhat.
The brief and exclusively film-based use of Zeus' character was the lowest point. Although he's not usually supposed to interact with mortals, I'd expected him, as an immortal god, to have original substance and experience similar to King Tritan in Kingdom Hearts I implying that he has met a Keyblade wielder before. Remember the 'Look inside your heart' conversation in the film? That would have been an excellent line to incorporate regarding Sora's quest to regain his lost powers.
7. The Caribbean (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End)
Although I have not seen the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the film plot is quite prominent in this world as central conflicts and even an attempt to tempt Sora.
The box containing Davy Jones’ heart being confused for the mysterious box given to Luxu by the Master of Masters in Kingdom Hearts Union X was a strong plot point not just for Organization XIII but because it maintained the main plot’s relevance within the film.
In contrast to the prior version of this world introduced in Kingdom Hearts II, the landscapes here are the vastest and just gorgeous and is one of the few worlds in this game to give Sora and co. a form or costume change.
The ship battles and the swimming underwater were a little less than appealing.
Controlling the large ships was a challenge because of the weight and slowness. The water wall defense wasn't too effective since one can't shoot in the brief moment that it's up. Also, I felt the underwater controls were more complicated to remember vs. those of Atlantica in Kingdom Hearts I and II. It took me a bit of time to stop reflexively attempting to apply the Atlantica controls.
8. San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6)
This breathtaking cityscape with Kingdom Hearts’ first-ever day and night cycle is one of the most authentic and vast worlds we've ever seen.
The plot felt a little disconnected from the rest of the game but overall had the best incorporation of the film elements as viable Kingdom Hearts lore and character interactions that made Sora and Co. feel a part of the events. The return of the original Baymax, who had sacrificed himself to the void of dimensional space with the martial arts chip corrupted by darkness, is one of the best uses of a Disney character in Kingdom Hearts history, and Replica Riku provided some of the most Organization XIII action in the game.
The one flaw was that when Hiro decided to destroy the martial arts chip and the team tried to tell him that it wasn't necessary, he needed to acknowledge that the chip's darkness was his own because he created that chip out of rage and a thirst for revenge. It would have been nice to explore the bridge more as well.
Overall, the film choices were spot on, and there were some shining successes while some suffered from underuse of the characters and plot and favoring of the new princesses of heart angle that went nowhere. Going forward after defeating Xehanort for good, Sora’s journey is now continuing into a whole new realm. The fictional or “unreality” realm as his violation of the design in Re Mind to save Kairi’s heart has resulted in his being trapped in the world of Verum Rex. This video game informed his persona in The Toy Box with its main character Yozora and without his iconic companions Donald and Goofy.
Does this mean that he is done in the realm of Disney? We’ll just have to wait and see.
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