Kingdom Hearts 3 Review [spoilers]

So, I literally just beat Kingdom Hearts 3 about an hour ago and boy do I have thoughts on the game.

First, my overall one-liner: Fun, but very flawed game. Now. Onto the details. (Warning, spoilers!!)

I'm going to start with the flaws first, and then end on the positives because... I think you'll realize that is just going to make a lot more sense. Here we go!

Flaws: 

Flaw #1: Too. Many. Cut scenes
I already mentioned this on tumble and even made a few tweets about this, but seriously, this game has an issue with cut scenes. Half the time this game honestly felt more like a very long interactive movie than a game, which is fine if you're playing something like Uncharted, but not fine if you're expecting an exciting action-packed, action RPG where you actually get to PLAY THE GAME. And the issue wasn't just that there was too many cut scenes (because there were, way too many, so many), but also that some of them were ridiculously long. And I mean ridiculously.

I could literally go on bathroom breaks without needing to worry about rushing. I started preparing lunch sometimes. Towards the end I actually sat and ATE MY ENTIRE LUNCH while a cut scene was playing. And you know the best part? A warning appeared on my screen that my PS4 was going to go into Rest Mode at one point because the cut scenes were SO. DAMN. LONG.

Pretty much any time you walked into a large space a cut scene or a "special" enemy encounter would appear. Also - the point where it got really fucking annoying? So at the end you fight every single member of Organization XIII on various 3v3 or 2v3 battles or whatever. The annoying thing? During these 3v3 battles, if you killed one of the members then it would automatically trigger a cut scene where Sora would have a final meaningful conversation with said member, and then instantly warp you back to the battle because you still have two other members to kill! It was ridiculous! And since the game was so easy, it meant that you'd fight for about a minute or two and then BAM cut scenes. Then fight and then BAM cut scene. And also, it just makes no sense plot wise because how would Sora even have time to have these conversations while in the middle of an intense THREE WAY BATTLE.

They should've just put one cumulative cut scenes at the end of each battle (and condensed them). Ugh. But also, I'm going to talk about the end of the game a bit more - not the conclusion to the game, I mean the actual endgame as in the lead up to the end.

Flaw #2: Way too easy
But first, flaw #2 - game was waaaay too easy. As in brainlessly easy. I mean, I know we're probably not playing Kingdom Hearts for the epic combat, but KH1, and I'd argue that 3D and BBS all required a certain amount of skill. KH2, not as much, but still some amount. KH3 you could literally just spam X and square to dodge roll and you'd be good. If you really wanted to you could button mash triangle every time a special action popped up. I eventually limited myself to only activating my keyblade abilities, but I pretty much stopped using the attraction commands after the first world because they were more annoying than helpful most of the time.

Now, I generally don't mind combat being too easy as long as you give me decent boss fights, but the issue with KH3 being too easy was that this included the boss fights! A lot of the time you wouldn't even know it's a boss fight if it weren't for the extra HP and the general size of the enemy, but besides that, all boss fights pretty much had zero stakes. I remember in past KH games, cure/cura/curaga was like my lifeline. In this game, I think I used curing spells a total of like.. 20 times max? Maybe not even? Although I will say, I used my other magic a lot more, but curing? Not a necessity whatsoever. And so many of the boss battles were just so meh, I genuinely didn't find any of them interesting or exciting which is such a let down. Especially once we got to the end. Let me elaborate on m next point.

Flaw #3: Lead up to the end/Pacing
So as I said, leading up to the end you fight every single member of Organization XIII. This was stupid. Like actually. You really didn't need to. The only fights that should have happened should have been with Xigbar, Vanitas, Ansem, Xemnas, Young Xehanort and Master Xehanort. Everyone else was extra and could've been done away with in a cut scenes. I think that also would've made the ending much more tense and faster. The fact that you got bogged down fighting extraneous members and frankly, cause of the lack of difficulty, just mowing everyone down, it really made the end seem less tense.

But also, I think what also led to the ending feeling a bit less spectacular was just the overall pacing? You pretty much go to all the worlds and you get bits and pieces and hints of... other plots and kind of a vague overall plot, but it isn't until you reach the end that things literally go from 0 to 100 and bullet trains you to the Keyblade Graveyard. You spend 80% of the game just flying to different worlds, experiencing what is happening there and then BOOM, Realm of Darkness, Aqua is saved, Ventus is saved, Keyblade Graveyard, Xehanort DONE. Don't get me wrong, I liked the ending, I genuinely did, but I felt like it could've been so much more rewarding with a proper build up.

The fact that you spend the first 30 hours just doing your usual world traveling, and then the last 3 hours actually cramming in plot with other characters is... not great. I wanted to spend more time with Aqua and Ventus and more scenes of them adjusting to learning that it's been TWELVE YEARS. I wanted to actually go explore the Realm of Darkness (As Riku while Sora is off adventuring). Explore Castle Oblivion (As Aqua while she tries to remember where the heck Ven is because it's been twelve years!) I wanted this game, from beginning to end, to make me feel like I was being thrown up and down on the craziest roller coaster, but instead you spent the first 80% joy-riding before it plummets you off a cliff. Pacing. This game had none of it. 

Flaw #4: Meh music?
And one to my final point - the music. A lot of the music in Kingdom Hearts is really great, and I think it really helped with how much emotional impact a lot of the previous games had. Like, I literally started bawling with Simple and Clean started playing during the final cut scene, and also when that tune started playing when Roxas reunites with Xion and Axel? Oh my god, that hurt. Also, that slight mounting excitement when I heard traces of Rage Awakened while fighting Master Xehanort at the end!

But again, those are all callbacks to old songs. There were no new songs that had any lasting impression on me. Not even the new theme song which I personally feel is super weak. If you can't tell I was very disappointed by Sora's final confrontation with Master Xehanort and I'm not going to lie, if that fight had been backed by proper epic music I would've let a lot of my faults slide, but nope. It didn't even have good music to save it. I think the only levels where I kind of caught on to the music was San Fransokyo at night and bits and pieces in Arandelle. And of course Twilight Town, will always love that tune. But yeah, besides that? Nothing really stood out, which is such a bummer considering how much emotion this game should have had and yet? Meh.


Positives:

Okay, on to the positives!

1. It's just really fun!
Despite all my complaints, I genuinely had a blast playing this game. Yes, I said the combat was too easy - but again, I also said that if the boss battles had been decent I would've been fine with the easy combat. And it's true, because the combat is so fun! I loved the special keyblade powers, and this was one of the only KH games where I actually found myself constantly using magic because it was actually helpful. I loved using flowmotion, I loved how you could run up buildings and onto roofs and how that added to the exploration.

Honestly - fighting in this game is fun! It's just a pity that you're way too over-powered.

2. Various worlds were interesting
I honestly really enjoyed the plots and how they laid out each of the worlds. The one I found the most boring plot-wise was Monsters Inc. and the Pirates one was a bit tedious due to all the sailing and swimming and boat battles - but I'll give them points for creativity. Being able to climb buildings in San Fransokyo was awesome. I really enjoyed the Toy Story plot and how much detail was in that world in general. Frozen and Tangled were nice and cute. Olympus was a great starter world and a great way to introduce you to the mechanics. Funnily enough, I kind of felt like re-reading Percy Jackson after exploring that world.

So yeah. The worlds were great. They weren't too big so as to be overwhelming, and I love how much freedom you go to explore and jump around. I was a bit sad that some maps weren't bigger though, like the town in Tangled. I was also sad you couldn't go inside Elsa's castle, or visit the actual town of Arendell either (you can tell, I have a thing for exploring towns). And there's a reason for that, towns are interesting! They have so much potential for climbing on buildings and hiding things in corners! Some areas were a bit monotonous though, but what can you do when all you're supposed to do is explore a forest, or a snowy mountain or roam the seas? But I think they did the best they could and the details they added in were nice. Again, the plots as well were interesting too, so I was really happy with this. Especially because I distinctly remember in KH:3D not caring about any of the worlds, or plots or anything. 

3. Satisfying Ending
I don't know about other people because I literally remained spoiler free and avoided everything kingdom hearts related, but despite my issue with pacing and lead-ups and all that, I still genuinely enjoyed the ending and thought it was satisfying. Why? Because everyone made their way back to their friends, Roxas came back, Ven, Terra and Aqua are back together - ergo, I am happy. That's all I cared about. I really didn't care how they actually wrapped up the plot of Kingdom Hearts because let's be honest, the plot is so convoluted I don't think many of us are actually invested in the plot..... are you? Okay, well I wasn't. I was invested in certain characters, but the plot? Eh.

After Kingdom Hearts 3D I really gave up on the plot. Up until BBS I was still really excited at the prospect of how Sora's fate would intertwine with saving Aqua, Terra and Ven, but once KH:3D brought in time travel shenanigans and multiple Xehanorts and a new Organization I was like... whatever. All I want is for my babies to be saved and they were so YAAAAAY. I don't even care that Sora's gone because I'll be honest, Sora (and Kairi) were two of the people I couldn't have cared less about. Yeah, I know Sora's the main character but meh.

I cried okay. I cried when it showed everyone running around and alive and Simple and Clean started playing. I cried so ya'll can suck it. Actually I already started crying when Roxas came back in a beam of light. And also I was crying when Aqua, Terra and Ven run to hug Eraquas one last time. MY BABIES. (Can you tell which game is my most favourite game)?

Other things?

1. All the side stuff
I felt like the side stuff was nice. It gives you extra stuff to do after you finish the game, but isn't too in your face, although I did felt like some of the mini games became a bit... much. Searching for Lucky Emblems was a fun way to incorporate the camera. I literally didn't play a single Classic Game on the gummiphone so that's something I need to go out and do. The flan games are fun, but kind of annoying because I suck at them. I do find it annoying how some fruits you can only get from the flan games D=. The egg recipes for the cooking are RIDICULOUS AS FUCK. Also all the secret recipes, what the hell??? WHAT THE HELL.

But yeah, overall? The side stuff is pretty fun and decent. I was able to find most things on my own so I didn't feel like any of it was too hard, or needed to be completely ignored. And again, it leaves me hopeful so that I'm willing to keep exploring in the end game to try and complete everything if I can. Although not the Ultima blade, that's just too hard.

2. Gummi Ship Exploration 
I'm not great at flying games so the actual exploration was pretty hard, but I didn't mind the combat stuff once I figured out how to upgrade my gummi ship. Was it a nice change though? Yeah, for sure. Also it was nice that you didn't really have to fly that long to reach planets if you didn't want to explore (which I mostly didn't because I really did suck at controlling my gummiship).

So yeah, overall... I wouldn't say the experience was fun for me, but it wasn't terrible, and better than the obstacle course from KH1. I mean, I kind of would have preferred if they just didn't include it all together, but I guess it wouldn't be a true KH console game without the gummiship.

Conclusion:
So all in all, I think KH3 was worth the money and a satisfying ending. Was it the best game in the series? In many ways yes. Again, I think the worlds were amazing, I think the way they integrated the plot into the worlds was great, and it was just so fun exploring and fighting. But, was it sadly marred by a lot of extraneous flaws? Yes. The difficulty really was a huge bummer. Button mashing games are fine, but I feel like they still need to come with a bit of skill. Especially for boss battles. Moves need to properly telegraphed and I feel like you need to actually feel like if you died, it's because it was actually your fault for screwing up a block, or just not timing your dodge, not because the enemy is moving so fast and flying all around the screen you can't even keep up with them. Also the amount of cut scenes. The cut scenes god damn it!

Final thing on the cut scenes - the worst part about them is so many of them really did feel useless and extraneous. Like, if we got actual meaningful cut scenes between the characters we cared about, great! But a lot of them just felt like people literally repeating the same lines over and over again. "May your heart be your guiding key" "Darkness" "Light" "Sora, Donald, Goofy". Like. Again, by KH:3D I gave up on the plot, but they could've tried a bit more. Just a bit. What happened to golden lines like "I guess my summer vacation is over?" What happened to scenes like that? /sigh.

Okay - back to concluding thoughts. So yeah. Decent game. Decent conclusion to a fun "light-hearted" series (let's be real, KH is actually depressing as hell, BBS and 385/2 are killer). If you're a fan of Kingdom Hearts, even just a casual one, I think you'll definitely enjoy it. If you're someone who is a bit more critical of the series and hoping this game will change your mind... um... it might be very hit or miss. So yeah. I'd give it a solid 7/10 as a game just on sheer enjoyment, but as a final game to end the Kingdom Hearts series - to me, it feels like a solid 9/10 (I can't give it a perfect score with all those flaws now can I? But again, I was satisfied with the ending so yay! :D)