Kingdom Hearts III

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 88 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 81 out of 88
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 88
  3. Negative: 1 out of 88
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  1. Riot Pixels
    Apr 20, 2019
    73
    If you like animated movies from Disney and Pixar, and you want to relieve some of the key moments, welcome to Kingdom Hearts 3.
  2. GameGrin
    Feb 15, 2019
    70
    An easy 8, maybe even 9/10 for long time fans, but for most people points will be lost in the story department. It's never too late to catch up, but DO NOT start here!
  3. RPGamer
    Feb 12, 2019
    70
    Kingdom Hearts III is most assuredly one for the fans. For those who have enjoyed the past entries, the issues have already proven themselves to be readily surmountable and the way the game wraps up the lingering plot points will be very much appreciated. However, for those who haven’t yet been sold on the series, it’s a much more varied proposition. The disconnect between the final quarter and the rest of the game is jarring, and the gameplay, while certainly enjoyable, doesn’t offer much to distinguish itself from many other action RPGs.
  5. GamingTrend
    Feb 20, 2019
    65
    Kingdom Hearts III is a product of a development hell. It has too many ideas, too many characters, and too many mistakes holding it back. It is a fun experience that I recommend just for how addictive and smooth the combat is. Kingdom Hearts III is a fun game, it just easily could have been a great one.
  6. Edge Magazine
    Feb 28, 2019
    60
    The pacing ensure playing Kingdom Hearts III is a bit like being dragged through a theme park while hungover. [Issue#330, p.112]
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  7. Guardian
    Feb 6, 2019
    60
    Perhaps it was inevitable that after such a long time, the conclusion to this story would ring slightly hollow, even rather facile, after all the prior build-up. I’ve been through 13 years of life, but it turns out that Sora got to skip all of that. Kingdom Hearts III plays it extremely safe, ultimately banking on nostalgia and delivering more of the same. Its charm is only skin-deep.
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  1. Eurogamer
    Jan 29, 2019
    Overwrought, unsatisfying storytelling takes the shine off a gorgeous and ambitious finale.
  2. Mashable
    Feb 6, 2019
    Absolutely everyone who was alive to play the other games is different now, and that's not a bad thing. I love the idea of this game being able to float me back into a time where I could cheer for Mickey Mouse without feeling silly and cry because Naminé was lonely. That feeling alone is worth the box price on Kingdom Hearts III.
  3. Polygon
    Jan 24, 2019
    Kingdom Hearts isn’t simple anymore; it isn’t just joy and bright colors and Disney heroes. Instead, the conclusion of this story is tangled up in so many conflicting threads, each one a heavy burden on its hero, whose smile now feels unnerving. Kingdom Hearts 3 is an example of what can go wrong when a series that once stood in contrast to its peers as a lighthearted alternative loses its way.
  5. The A.V. Club
    Feb 5, 2019
    Viewed in 2019, there’s a noxious sense that a game like Kingdom Hearts III is a victory lap for a corporation so successful at absorbing its business competitors that it’s almost completely dominated the minds of global audiences, especially those of a tender age.
  6. The Jimquisition
    Jan 28, 2019
    Yes, it’s more total nonsense from a story perspective. As a game? Well, it’s a ton of bloody fun, because it’s a very good game.
  7. The Verge
    Jan 29, 2019
    After playing through all of Kingdom Hearts III, I’m still not sure whether it’s a good place to start for newcomers. It plays well, looks amazing, and there are a lot of great moments for Disney fans. But so much of that is buried beneath lengthy cutscenes that explain little, and halfhearted gameplay modes that don’t add anything to the experience. There’s just so much of everything, most of it unnecessary, and the game makes few, if any, real concessions to new players. That said, I’m not entirely convinced I would understand things any better even if I had actually played all of the previous games.
  8. Time
    Feb 25, 2019
    Kingdom Hearts 3, through its subpar plot delivery and frustrating combat, disappoints in a way that is not surprising. It’s a game that, as one of many with a strong emotional bond to the series, gives you what you wanted, even if it is a decade or so late. But whether you still want it is the real question.
  9. Vice
    Jan 31, 2019
    Kingdom Hearts III is an absolute disaster. I loved every minute of it.

Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best PS4 Game of 2019
11
#11 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019
89
#89 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2019

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2513 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,827 out of 2513
  2. Mixed: 328 out of 2513
  3. Negative: 358 out of 2513
  1. JTJSGamer
    Jan 29, 2019
    10
    It may have taken a long time for this game to come, but it was totally worth the wait. I features all the things that made the franchiseIt may have taken a long time for this game to come, but it was totally worth the wait. I features all the things that made the franchise great in the first place, and has better combat, more worlds to explore, and much more content. Definitely a must play.… Full Review »
  2. jctanti
    Feb 11, 2019
    9
    tldr: For KH fans, I fully recommend this game - it's only a 9/10 b/c of some small things
    For non-KH fans, play the other games first, then    tldr: For KH fans, I fully recommend this game - it's only a 9/10 b/c of some small things
    For non-KH fans, play the other games first, then come back to this one :) Or, of course, just skip it entirely.

    After finishing the main story, and briefly beginning the post-game content, I can safely say that this game has met, but not exceeded, my expectations of what Kingdom Hearts 3 was going to be.

    That being said, Kingdom Hearts 3 is a fantastic game, that also has its flaws.

    With regards to story, it has some problems; for example, the game doesn't weave the KH storyline with the Disney world storyline together throughout the game as smoothly as KH2 did, opting to more cleanly dedicate the first 60-70% of the game to Disney stories and VERY little to KH story. But in the end, I was ultimately satisfied with the way they ended the Xehanort arc, and if you're a Kingdom Hearts fan, I'm confident you will be too! There are some SERIOUS epic fan-service moments in this game where I got up on my feet and cheered.

    Gameplay-wise, bad news first, this game has some issues in two regards: (1) the game is somewhat on the easy side, even by Kingdom Hearts standards, and (2) the overall amount of side-quests and things to do outside the main story seem a bit lacking compared specifically to Kingdom Hearts 2.

    (1): I've never thought of the KH games as being the most challenging games, and generally thought of them all as being easy (even on Proud or Critical mode), with the exception of some of the International/Final Mix post-game content/bosses, and of course, if you choose to do a Lvl 1 run. But Kingdom Hearts 3 takes the easy gameplay, and ramps it up even more. They crammed almost all the "Triangle"-mechanics from other KH games, or something similar, into this one as well, like shotlock, keyblade/form-changes , attractions, link summons, and your standard companion combo moves. Having all these moves at your disposal makes a lot of fights trivially easy; you simply have too much in your arsenal for any enemy, even bosses, to pose much of a threat. Like I said, I've never gone into a KH game expecting a Dark Souls experience or anything like that (nor do I WANT it to be that), but I definitely would have wanted a LITTLE more challenge in the standard-play combat. I did my initial run on Proud mode too, so between that and a pure Lvl 1 run, it would have been nice to see the a difficulty level somewhere in the middle.

    (2): The dedication to side-quests and optional battles seems to be have been toned down in this game. The notion of completing the side-quests in KH3 doesn't feel nearly as compelling as completing the Jiminy Journal in KH2 felt. So I wish there was more as far as side-quest content. But given that this isn't the International/Final Mix version, maybe that will be rectified later with such a release, or maybe DLC (which, to be clear, wouldn't be that bad - this game is fully worth the $60 price tag as it is, in my opinion, so it's NOT a "developer skimping on content with the intention of gutting us for DLC" situation).

    Now for the good stuff!

    As easy as the combat has become because of things highlighted above, it's still FUN. AS. HECK. Swinging the keyblade, transforming it into all manners of other kinds of weapons, casting extra-flashy, next-gen graphics spells, and just the overall graphical design overhaul the game has gotten makes every fight a truly beautiful spectacle to behold. The Keyblade you ultimately decide to use also dictates your fighting style to an extent, and there are a few different weapons variations to try out. You feel like an absolute boss when you destroy every mob of bad guys, and while not very challenging, fighting is still extremely satisfying.

    The addition of Pixar/3D Disney worlds was definitely welcome indeed! Seeing Toy Story, Monsters Inc, and Tangled characters as part of the Kingdom Hearts cast was something I'd wanted for a long time, and they pulled it off flawlessly. The worlds themselves have also received much of a graphical overhaul, and now feature much larger, richer areas to explore (honestly, sometimes too large - hunting down treasure chests has ironically become SO much more difficult now because of how detailed the worlds have become!). And the addition of some scattered, fully-voiced, NPCs throughout the non-Heartless-infested areas of some of the worlds makes them feel that much more alive.

    As for the story, if you're a KH fan, you will LOVE, at the very least, the last 30-40% of the game - as implied earlier, in true KH fashion they save most of the juicy stuff for the last few chapters of the game, but it is so well worth it, I didn't even care. Epic moments, team-ups, battles, and conclusions to so many character arcs, the final moments of this game will truly be a joy to play through if you've followed the story so far    … Full Review »
  3. jim-bob
    Jan 29, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. -GAMEPLAY-
    *combat*
    let's start with the combat.
    Kingdom Hearts 3 has the most dumbed down & insulting system I have ever experienced. What they did to the combat system is absolutely disgusting. instead of having a proper command menu, 80% of your options are all locked behind "Situation Commands" which are spoon fed to you at the games discretion. All that's required of you is that you press triangle. It's a mindless streamlined system designed to take away your freedom & play the game for you. Players choice, responsibility & resource management have been stripped away to accommodate incompetent & less intelligent players at the cost of competent players as there's no way for them to get control. Situation commands are unreliable, cheap, limited free garbage the game gives you and many of them are random. You have no drive gauge & they removed drive forms. Some of the new transformations are good but again they're held back by the casualised situation system which I assume was put in the game so toddlers could complete it.

    Soras new attack animations are wonky & all over the place. not clean, quick and focused like KH2's. this results in worse combat feel. standard attacks over all just feel like a cheap imitation of KH2's attacks when they should feel better.

    Combat is flashy but not flashy in a functional way. The game values flashiness over substance. Many of your "attacks" in combat are just glorified cutscenes now. limits in this game have been neutered. For example Donalds limits in KH2 were gameplay. They had timing depth, combo potential & required smart use.
    In KH3 Donalds limits are cutscenes that have no gameplay value at all. you just press triangle and the cutscene plays out. there's also far less variety in combat. KH2 had 14 partner limits. KH3 only has 11 and a bunch of them are just cutscenes.
    Summons in this game are not really summons. they've essentially been reduced to single limits & the majority of them suck & have no viable use.
    instead of reaction commands we have a handful of big, out of place Disney rides. they suck. it's all obnoxious, goofy looking garbage that interrupts your gameplay.

    This game has serious balance issues that need to be fixed. There's no critical mode and every other mode is too easy.
    lvl1 proud mode is almost unplayable and was clearly never tested by the devs. yet they still put it in.
    there's no proper level scaling & enemy placement & behaviour is not solid or well thought out.
    *movement*
    There's more platforming now which I wanted but Soras basic movement hasn't been improved from 2 and now he has more clunky moves. at no point in the game does platforming flow together well. it always feels really disjointed.
    *camera*
    The camera is a nightmare to deal with. constantly fighting with you for control, will often get stuck behind things & will often zoom off so Sora isn't even on screen.

    -BOSSES-
    Bossfights range from serviceable to down right terrible.
    Kingdom Hearts 2 had 60+ bosses & the quality of those fights was higher
    KH3 has a measly 28, including the secret boss & 4 of those are the same heartless swarm again.

    -WORLDS-
    Twilight Town? It's only 2 areas.
    100 Acre Wood? more like 1 Acre Wood. it's 1 minigame at rabbits house.
    Yeah a lot of these 'worlds' aren't even worlds. they're 1 or 2 rooms. there's only really 7 worlds (KH2 had 15)
    they're fairly big but filled with invisible walls and the art direction is ruined by the obnoxious white shine on walls, polls ect that you can't turn off.
    Shorter & less content. a lot of what inflates the hours is the cutscenes & super long loading screens. which brings me to the performance. framerate is unstable with regular frame drops thru out the game (and due to some sort of weird optimisation many characters animations often go all choppy).

    -STORY-
    The story is as poorly written & stupid as ever. It's such a tangled mess of bloated, unnecessary nonsense now, the writers can't even keep track of their own characters. The usual incoherent gibberish of "darkness, hearts, darkness, friendship" is all there but now it's more repetitive than ever.
    The dialogue is still poorly written. World endings are usually the worst.
    The 'humour' in this game consists of characters laughing like morons at something thats not remotely funny as the camera pans out.
    The story is so phoned in, even the characters start phoning it in.
    Characters go from being total powerhouses to complete drooling potatoes in cutscenes.
    There's one cutscene in the final battle where Sora actually gets knocked unconscious from another character stumbling & falling over on him. I'm not joking. The ending is complete fan service trash & the main villain completely does a 180 on his character in the end and it's laughable and not not believable.

    it's hard to believe KH3 has been in development for 7 years. it has a plethora of design problems & is a stripped down, lacklustre experience & a bad sequel    … Full Review »
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