Kingdom Hearts III

 PlayStation 4
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
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  1. SOLIDSNAKEN64
    Feb 4, 2019
    7
    This is a hard one for me to review, I have been a fan since the 1st KH came out and have been patiently waiting for 13 years for KH3. There are a lot of things that KH3 gets right but also alot of things that haven't been updated since KH2. I haven't finished the game yet but have put enough time in with KH3 to give my review. I'm about 18 hours in and about a little over halfwayThis is a hard one for me to review, I have been a fan since the 1st KH came out and have been patiently waiting for 13 years for KH3. There are a lot of things that KH3 gets right but also alot of things that haven't been updated since KH2. I haven't finished the game yet but have put enough time in with KH3 to give my review. I'm about 18 hours in and about a little over halfway through the game. First I want to point out that the graphics look amazing, hands down the best visually looking KH. I feel like nothing has changed from how the worlds are laid out. Everything is funneled through corridors, the environments are beautiful at times and then also empty hallways that you just keep running through. Gameplay is great, smooth and easy to use. The theme park summons are awesome to look at but eventually get repetitive as they are easy to summon every battle. I'm playing on the hardest difficulty - proud mode and I feel like I'm playing on easy, there is not much of a challenge even for boss fights. I really want to enjoy the story and there is some entertaining parts, but its definitely cheesy and cringey sometimes, also the story just seems to get more convoluted then it already was. The damn gummi ship is something they could get rid of and I wouldn't even bat an eye, it's such a **** filler mechanic that's not needed or even better since KH2. Is KH3 fun? Yes it definitely is if you've played the series before. veterans need to take of their nostalgia glasses you'll see that there are alot of things that could have been much better especially after waiting 13 years. New comers to the series I believe will be asking them self's what the f is this game made for little kids. KH3 is an ok addition to the franchise but it definitely felt like the dev's rushed this game out.… Expand
  2. frederik1478
    Jul 25, 2021
    7
    A good ending for franchise and I hope it will be,
    I love the Kingdom hearts franchise is the closest to my heart but I think this is a good place to just ended ,the Combat is not the best the serious but not the worst is a child of birth by sleep Kingdom hearts 2 body feels more like birth by sleep floaty kind of movement I'm not a fan of the world , I really love the ending and I will    A good ending for franchise and I hope it will be,
    I love the Kingdom hearts franchise is the closest to my heart but I think this is a good place to just ended ,the Combat is not the best the serious but not the worst is a child of birth by sleep Kingdom hearts 2 body feels more like birth by sleep floaty kind of movement I'm not a fan of the world , I really love the ending and I will say this is the third best kingdom hearts game,
    I loved it enough to get a Platinum trophy    … Expand
  3. kelonne
    Aug 27, 2019
    7
    Kingdom hearts iii is so so. I have played every title in the series.
    Kingdom hearts Iii story is somewhat boring, predictable. Story is a summary of many snap shots of the original movie/ story point jumps here and there (you probably wont understand if you haven't watch the movie before). Kingdom hearts iii explained and connect the gap between the series before.
    Story related game    Kingdom hearts iii is so so. I have played every title in the series.
    Kingdom hearts Iii story is somewhat boring, predictable. Story is a summary of many snap shots of the original movie/ story point jumps here and there (you probably wont understand if you haven't watch the movie before). Kingdom hearts iii explained and connect the gap between the series before.
    Story related game mechanics is interesting and new (robot riding in toy story, ship fight in pirate of the Caribbean) but very limited.
    There are a lot of mini games (optional), too many.
    There is not even many character from final fantasy series (compared to before, Cloud, Leon and so). I had this strong feeling this is a Disney only game.
    No arena and the fight with the must have legendary enemy Sephiroth is no more.
    Play till a point that I have to force myself to at least complete the story. Re-play value is low.
    Kingdom Hearts iii definitely doesn't worthy of 10/10 however it has many strengths and good improvement, definitely more than 5/10. My score is yellow region 7/10.    … Expand
  4. MonkiReviews
    Apr 24, 2021
    7
    A fun game, but it isn’t as good as I expected. I don’t know why, but I feel like the game play could be a little better. It is my favorite game in the series, but it isn’t my favorite game. It is fun, the story is good, and the characters are awesome, but it is missing pieces to make it amazing.
  5. SavageReviews1
    Feb 4, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have played every Kingdom Hearts game and i have been a fan since i was 11. After finishing the game i feel very conflicted. Every Pro i can think of has a Negative attached (I guess you can't have light without it casting a shadow).

    +Combat is frantic, varied, fun and flashy.
    -All the combat options makes the game way to easy on proud mode, enemies become punching bags.

    +The Disney worlds are mostly fun and introduce different mechanics.
    -The Disney worlds feel more tacked on in this game than In previous entries. Why is Sora even visiting these worlds? They feel less crucial to Sora's development and they don't really move the main conflict forward. The pacing in this game is off.

    +The final conflict was full of action and it was great seeing all the characters working together.
    -The final conflict also felt rushed, underdeveloped and introduced a ton of questions and plot holes. For example, the Final World did not make any since to me and the time travel elements were equally confusing.

    + The ending had all of our characters happy and reunited!
    -Sora and Kairi return but Sora pulls a Luke Skywalker without any explanation and it ripped the rug right from underneath me. It was discouraging to spend over a decade with this series and these characters just to have Sora not get a happy ending.

    This is where the darkness prevails...

    -Kairi and Axel had barely any development.
    -Cut scenes were way too long and the amount of exposition dumps were ridiculous.
    -No real surprises in the story (Besides the ending which felt more cheap than interesting).
    -Too much time wasted setting up a future for the franchise instead of developing the current story. (Ex: Maleficent and Pete searching for the Box)
    -The final Boss was super easy and anticlimactic.

    I had a lot of fun playing this game but the story was a mess and didn't resonate with me like the other games did. Raised more questions than it answered and the Disney to Square ratio felt uneven and poorly paced.    … Expand
  6. Ellessar
    Feb 24, 2019
    7
    It’s a fun game, but I could see how new players would find this hard to jump into. The story could have been done a bit better and they could have done a better job brining new players up to speed on the story. Overall a fun game with enjoyable combat and a decent story.
  7. FelleBanan_ygsr
    Oct 24, 2019
    7
    Pretty good game, but a major dissapointment. The story pacing is awful and the combat is either way too easy or way too hard. Still pretty fun to smash heartless and other enemies though.
  8. Connorcox1997
    Feb 22, 2019
    7
    Its been a long time coming, but its finally here for the mega-hype for KH3. But do you think it lived up to the hype? Because, in my opinion, the hype surrounding the game, was much bigger and better than the actual game that we got. Now don't get me wrong I don't think the game is terrible, in fact, its still a good game but is it that exciting I mean the gameplay is excellent as inIts been a long time coming, but its finally here for the mega-hype for KH3. But do you think it lived up to the hype? Because, in my opinion, the hype surrounding the game, was much bigger and better than the actual game that we got. Now don't get me wrong I don't think the game is terrible, in fact, its still a good game but is it that exciting I mean the gameplay is excellent as in previous KH game, the worlds are fascinating at, and the story is alright. But the story is where the real problem is; it feels very rushed with the story for the first few hours, side mission in the middle, and going back to the story for the final hours of the game. The proud mode which is supposed to be the hardest mode in the game, but instead it's too easy. The game was letdown man; the game feels it was rushed out the door so that was we can get our hands on the game already. The game is also way too easy, and I understand it, its a Disney game with FF mixed in, but we're all adults here and ever since we played the first ever KH game, we expect the game to be a challenging man. And there are like six worlds instead of like ten world from the previous KH game, but they're going to be DLC in the future, so I'm expecting other worlds to explore. It's still a good game, and if you loved the game that's fine, but I think this game could have been a lot better. 7/10… Expand
  9. AlvaroK95
    Jan 2, 2020
    7
    Después de tantos años esperando, la culminación de la historia de Sora no satisface aunque no es mal juego en general.
  10. somebody123
    May 24, 2019
    7
    The game is pretty good but Kingdom Hearts 2 was more challenging in my opinion. I always play these games on Proud Mode and KH3 was the most easy in my opinion. Sora is extremely over-powered in this one, most of my losses in the game were due to Mini-Games. The difficulty is a bit disappointing in my opinion.

    But I felt like game brought out the most of what I like about the series,    The game is pretty good but Kingdom Hearts 2 was more challenging in my opinion. I always play these games on Proud Mode and KH3 was the most easy in my opinion. Sora is extremely over-powered in this one, most of my losses in the game were due to Mini-Games. The difficulty is a bit disappointing in my opinion.

    But I felt like game brought out the most of what I like about the series, which was the crazyiness of the battles, it really feels like a cartoon or something.
    The thing that impressed me most was the graphics and cutscenes though, a lot of them feel exactly like the movie, it might be the best graphics i've seen, at least in terms of cutscenes.

    Its a good game but not the best in the series in my opinion.    … Expand
  11. Naedeslus
    Feb 18, 2019
    7
    Kingdom Hearts III has a strong opening, Sora is supposed to be weaker and while if you never played any game outside of KHI and KH II you will be a bit on the ‘lost’ side but the story so far didn’t feel overly complicated. It felt like it was taking it very safe as if they wanted it to be open to new players rather then giving those who have been a part of the Dark Seeker Saga since theKingdom Hearts III has a strong opening, Sora is supposed to be weaker and while if you never played any game outside of KHI and KH II you will be a bit on the ‘lost’ side but the story so far didn’t feel overly complicated. It felt like it was taking it very safe as if they wanted it to be open to new players rather then giving those who have been a part of the Dark Seeker Saga since the beginning.

    This isn’t overly a bad thing at first, the overall plot remains the same but there are noticeable pacing issues with the story. After the first two worlds, one being a very good world and a fan favorite and the other feeling too stilted and cut back from its inception in Kingdom Hearts II, the story takes a serious backseat. No longer are they really worried about taking out the main antagonist, instead Disney takes over. It’s obvious Disney probably paid Square Enix a lot to keep to the source material.

    It’s a shame because the other games didn’t really have this issue. Sure they usually followed the plot but they always worked in the overall theme of the games into the plot. The stakes were high, here it doesn’t even really matter that much. Don’t get me wrong, the Disney worlds are fun but a lot of them felt like filler.

    The other games, while having this issue to an extent made them quicker. You could do them pretty fast and get on with the story, sure you had to return to them but by then, you don’t’ feel like they’re overstaying their welcome. Their pacing was perfect, especially in the second game. The story does pick up at the last act but by then it feels like a lore dump. Here is where new players would feel the most lost because it waits to the actual last 4 hours or so to get good and it gets really good. The problem is, it should’ve built these moments up. The middle section of KHIII feels like a huge missed opportunity and I’m still wondering what Nomura was thinking. To be honest though, the last 4 hours are fantastic and well worth trudging through 18 hours to get there.

    So the pacing is pretty bad but how is the rest of it? The voice acting is top notch and so is the music. While I did miss the theme of the series, Simple and Clean, the new theme songs are actually not bad! They’re not as memorable as Simple and Clean or Sanctuary but they’re enjoyable. The remixes of previous games are great as well.

    The gameplay is fun but there are some issues. Sora is supposed to be weaker. You’d think that normal difficulty would present some sort of challenge, but it doesn’t. I didn’t grind at all, just fought enemies as I saw them, and it wasn’t hard at all. I died maybe 2-3 times and that was at the final bosses. I usually don’t mind easier games and tend to play them on easy mode if I find they’re too much of a struggle but here Normal felt like an Easy mode. I’d hate to see how easy Beginner mode really is. Even if you’re bad at games, Normal probably is the way to go since it gives you so many tools to win.

    There are these summons called attractions. While at first, they seem fine enough but there just isn’t enough of them and sometimes they feel like immersion breakers. I avoided them after a few times. They made the combat too easy and there really should be an update that lets you turn them off for the entire game. The combat is fun but I found the combat in KH2 better, mostly for reaction commands. Here it’s flashy but it didn’t have the great moves the second did. It does have super moves you can use but it could’ve used more. After using the same ones for most of the game it got a bit old. It would’ve been nice to have more to use. Still, not a bad combat system and I did like it.

    The worlds are a bit too big as I stated before. It would’ve been nice to have them cut off about an hour of content in the worlds. Some of them felt too open for their own good and the pacing hurt because of it. While this is a weird request but I feel if they had done this they could’ve expanded on the worlds that actually were too short.

    All and all, the pacing is pretty bad, the combat is easy but is it worth it? Yeah. It’s fun. That’s what’s important. It’s a good game, it’s just not the best in the series. If you’re a fan, play it. If you’re not, this won’t change your mind. If you never played a KH game before? I’d recommend playing a few and then checking this one out.

    All and all, it’s in a weird place review wise. It’s closer to a 7.5 than an actual 7 but still, it could’ve been better, but I don’t’ regret my purchase. I did enjoy it despite its flaws.    … Expand
  12. TheFirm34
    Feb 5, 2019
    7
    The visuals, the worlds, the characters and the combat make this game a 8/10. The convoluted story and awkwardly music-less cut-scenes here and there make this look and feel kinda dated and overly "Japanese". By Japanese I mean; those moments in Square Enix games where charatcers are on screen staring at each other and saying "Huh?", "Whaa!?" and "Ohh..."

    If you can live with some of    The visuals, the worlds, the characters and the combat make this game a 8/10. The convoluted story and awkwardly music-less cut-scenes here and there make this look and feel kinda dated and overly "Japanese". By Japanese I mean; those moments in Square Enix games where charatcers are on screen staring at each other and saying "Huh?", "Whaa!?" and "Ohh..."

    If you can live with some of the small faults, it's a super fun game. Just don't expect God of War or Last of Us level of storytelling and presentation.    … Expand
  13. steven310250
    Feb 3, 2019
    7
    Honestly, I expected more interaction with the characters reuniting. Nope, we don't get much interaction out of Xion, Roxas, Axel, Aqua, Ventus, Terra.

    They built up Kairi to be this bad ass keyblade wielder, promising to protect Sora this time, became the damsel in distress for the **** 3rd time. Story wise is ok, isn't the greatest story they're hyping it to be. Sora journeying his    Honestly, I expected more interaction with the characters reuniting. Nope, we don't get much interaction out of Xion, Roxas, Axel, Aqua, Ventus, Terra.

    They built up Kairi to be this bad ass keyblade wielder, promising to protect Sora this time, became the damsel in distress for the **** 3rd time.

    Story wise is ok, isn't the greatest story they're hyping it to be. Sora journeying his way to find the power of waking....only to not find it, but after saving Aqua and her fighting with Vanitas. Sora gets a call from Ventus from within telling him it's been inside him all this time.......You mean to tell me I went through all that **** and it's been in me all along?! When I could've been with Riku and Mickey saving Aqua as fast as possible instead of wasting my time saving a bunch of Disney movie characters....Just what the **** man.

    Xehanort doesn't even interact with the characters that much but instead his stupid butt ugly heartless, unverse, nobody minions and weeaboo cronies are doing the medling with Sora and his gang.

    Nomura then pulls a Naruto Shippuden and reveals Xigbar to be the "real" puppet master pulling the strings all along.

    Anyway, the story is just a complete 180 turn for the worst. It's not great, it's just a giant convoluted mess. Not enough character interaction, it tries to be about building characters and their story, but Normura just doesn't give enough time to flesh out these characters. After saving them, they're just "ok what ever, nobody cares for you anymore" type of ordeal.

    Well they're setting up for the next Kingdom Hearts game and I really want to see more interaction with the wayfinder trio, nobody trios interact with one another.

    Now story aside, the gameplay is fun, easy, hack and slash. Much easier than the other games. All of the bosses are an embarrassment to the other kingdom hearts titles. Wtf was that Scala Ad Caelum boss fight with the 13 darknesses. That hide and seek **** was stupid as hell.

    The game is very short compare to Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. I felt that this game was rushed. I finished it very quickly compare to the other titles.

    Oh and some of the lines felt very off to me especially Hiro in Big Hero Six world. The acting direction for him, just what happen to him? As I recall from watching the film, I don't remember him being way over the top. Speaking of which, there's barely interaction with the disney characters and Sora. Especially Frozen's world.

    Gummiship, hell no. I hated that part of the game.

    I had fun with the game, but the story, lack of character interaction, and ridiculous cheesy plot twists just sometimes put me off of the game. The gummiship too, it's just not fun anymore.

    Would I replay it again? Sure, but not for a VERY,VERY, VERY LONG TIME. I might come back in 8 years. When Nomura eventually gives up on convoluting this damn franchise and give it a proper ending. Then sure, I'd come back.    … Expand
  14. Mancin_D_Lucas
    Feb 14, 2020
    7
    the game is very pleasant, the disney worlds are finally full of details, the fights are pleasant, shame about the plot set aside until the end and then all in a hurry.
    Ridiculous level of difficulty.
  15. raul10murillo
    Feb 20, 2019
    7
    No ha sido lo que esperaba, tantos años esperando y al final nos traen esto.. han jugado con nosotros.. no es mal juego, tiene cosas buenas, pero no se puede comparar con el 1 o el 2, nisiquiera podria decir que es el tercer mejor juego de la saga, no tiene unos pocos fallos, tiene bastantes y de peso, lo bueno queda en un segundo plano, justo lo contrario de lo que sucedia con el 1 y elNo ha sido lo que esperaba, tantos años esperando y al final nos traen esto.. han jugado con nosotros.. no es mal juego, tiene cosas buenas, pero no se puede comparar con el 1 o el 2, nisiquiera podria decir que es el tercer mejor juego de la saga, no tiene unos pocos fallos, tiene bastantes y de peso, lo bueno queda en un segundo plano, justo lo contrario de lo que sucedia con el 1 y el 2, DECEPCIONADO… Expand
  16. cremadiscampi
    Jun 24, 2020
    7
    The graphics are good, especially in certain levels of the game.
    The soundtrack is great (Kingdom Hearts always deliver good music).
    The story is mediocre. The gameplay is pretty fun, but a downgrade from Kingdom Hearts 2 apart from some small details. The game definitely feels rushed and incomplete and the DLC doesn't really fix it. It's not the best game of the saga, but an ok game    The graphics are good, especially in certain levels of the game.
    The soundtrack is great (Kingdom Hearts always deliver good music).
    The story is mediocre.
    The gameplay is pretty fun, but a downgrade from Kingdom Hearts 2 apart from some small details.
    The game definitely feels rushed and incomplete and the DLC doesn't really fix it.
    It's not the best game of the saga, but an ok game neverthless.    … Expand
  17. AndyJane
    Jan 30, 2019
    7
    Don't listen to sad little man-children like metacritic user ONLYONEHERE. People like him, jump on metacritic on the launch day of any high profile game and rate the game 0/10. His 'reviews' all have the same structure, the same complaints, and it's blindingly obvious he hasn't played any of the games he talks about, just parroting the same rhetoric over and over. Very few, if any gamesDon't listen to sad little man-children like metacritic user ONLYONEHERE. People like him, jump on metacritic on the launch day of any high profile game and rate the game 0/10. His 'reviews' all have the same structure, the same complaints, and it's blindingly obvious he hasn't played any of the games he talks about, just parroting the same rhetoric over and over. Very few, if any games are worth 0/10 in the very same way as 10/10 reviews - it's illogical and childish to review things this way. Like many sad review-bombers, he has an agenda based around artificially altering the median user score. Metacritic do nothing to curb this kind of behaviour, and as a result, have become a laughing stock instead of a trusted review site.

    Kingdom Hearts 3 isn't much of a departure from previous games aside from missing some of the JRPG characters of the previous games. Colourful and bright visuals, RPG-lite gameplay, lots of varied locations. Fans' expectations are always inflated when a game is lost in development hell for so long so it's likely to disappoint some fans, but overall it's a solid game. Some people will of course give it 0/10 because they hide behind internet anonymity to behave like losers, and some people will , for the same reasons, rate the game 10/10 because they refuse to see any flaws and are in denial.    … Expand
  18. endofsea
    Jan 31, 2019
    7
    I hesitantly recommend this game, but only if you don't mind a huge cliffhanger. Half the plot was just advertising the next installment in the series. It's also incomplete in many areas, but that's just the standard these days. So yeah.
  19. OpusGamer
    Feb 1, 2019
    7
    I finished this very awaited title this morning. I really appreciated the experience, and it's also huge nostalgia for me. I remember being 14 years old when i got Kingdom Hearts 2 for christmas, and the gameplay and content was gold. Even though i really liked Kingdom Hearts 3 it feels like it was a bit rushed... and also lacked content in relation to retail price. I managed to finish theI finished this very awaited title this morning. I really appreciated the experience, and it's also huge nostalgia for me. I remember being 14 years old when i got Kingdom Hearts 2 for christmas, and the gameplay and content was gold. Even though i really liked Kingdom Hearts 3 it feels like it was a bit rushed... and also lacked content in relation to retail price. I managed to finish the main storyline in 26 hours and i am no pro gamer. I wil try to break the game down, with all its pros and cons.
    13 long years since the release of Kingdom Hearts 2 and i think we all have been very eager to get our hands on Kingdom hearts 3. The story feels well written even though a lot of things are very hard to explain, the relation between heartless, nobodies, the organisation and of course kingdom hearts. The story is very linear, and there are some extra content wich will keep you entertained besides the main story. But as i mentioned earlier i do lack content and elements from kingdom hearts 2, for exampel the wide range of equipment and the ability to craft objects. One other thing is that it felt like they had some problems with music rights. The pirates of the Caribbean arch does not have its original score and i think that there is one other world as well. I do also miss some characters that have been totally excluded, no final fantasy characters at all. Well it can not be easy for the developpers to meet the expectations, but again 13 years, so i definitely feel like they could have made improvements. The controls feels very sharp even though during some fights the camera angle really went bananas. But if you have played any other title in the series it will feel very natural. I do like the fact that they have included game mechanics from other titles such as kingdom hearts birth by sleep. The dialog is okay but nothing extraordinary, but it does feel like a rushed job at some points. It was a really bold move of the developpers to switch to unreal engine... which could be one of the reason to why it feels rushed and the lack of content. But visually the game looks really nice, the light and textures gives you a very nice visual.

    Pros:
    Nice visuals
    Sharp control
    Good game mechanics
    User friendly

    Cons:
    Lack of content
    Linear story
    Removed elements from earlier titles
    Short overall gameplay

    Well to summarize everything... Kingdom hearts 3 is a very easy game to set up and to play, there are lots of turtorials and the game is very forgiving. The story feels well written but everything feels a bit rushed and short. Since i am a huge fan of the franchise i felt it was worth the money, but honestly i don't think that it's worth 60 dollars for the approximately 30 hours of main story...    … Expand
  20. guybuzzcut
    Feb 4, 2019
    7
    (A lengthy-yet-hopefully-illuminating review)

    Okay, I'm going to start with this, however much it pains me to say it: Kingdom Hearts 3 is simply 'okay.' Unfortunately though, it falls short in multiple crucial dimensions that could have elevated it into a more comprehensive, satisfying, and structured game. I'll explain: I, too, was eagerly waiting the thirteen years for this game.    (A lengthy-yet-hopefully-illuminating review)

    Okay, I'm going to start with this, however much it pains me to say it: Kingdom Hearts 3 is simply 'okay.' Unfortunately though, it falls short in multiple crucial dimensions that could have elevated it into a more comprehensive, satisfying, and structured game. I'll explain:

    I, too, was eagerly waiting the thirteen years for this game. Having grown up with the KH franchise, with the original Kingdom Hearts easily being one of my favourite games of all time, I was not only excited to see how the story ended, but also how a next-generation console could evolve the worlds, gameplay, and combat to a previously-unrealized level. Just like Shadow of the Colossus' scale and beauty, for example, were brought to life by the PS4's capabilities, KH3 could fully realize the ambitions held by its creators.

    When it comes to combat, these abilities have created a definite success. The introduction of attractions creates a playful-yet-crucial mechanic that builds pace and power into each battle. The form transformations for each keyblade are all beautifully rendered and each feels distinct enough to offer enough variation for different types of KH3 players. However, the issue that arises here is that the enemies you face just don't live up to the depth and variation that we saw in previous games. Putting aside the point that there's no Olympus Coliseum in this game (which I feel is a major blow in its own right), most boss fights in this game feel like minor iterations of the same general concept, and the player can employ the same strategy in every instance. This makes for rather dull, anti-climatic encounters, especially considering, when you do win a battle, that's usually not how the enemy dies, but by some fluke cinematic after the battle takes place. This leaves you somewhat unfulfilled, and leads into one of the major issues with this game: the cutscenes.

    Personally, I cannot recall how long the cutscenes were in previous games, but rarely if ever have I experienced so many and such lengthy cutscenes in any game I've ever played. There's one particular cutscene mid-game that clocks in at a full fifteen minutes(!), and many are at least half that long. It leaves one to think you maybe be watching the actual movie the world is based on rather than playing KH. There is a real reason for why the cutscenes are this long though: the story's pace.

    We all knew the story of KH has been an ever-complicating pile for some years now, and KH3 doesn't attempt to remedy this. Off the bat, the game tries to introduce new players to the story with little success, and then throughout the game, distinct parties within the 'group of light' are so stretched out, that check-ins with each take up an increasing amount of time. Once I prepared and ate an entire dinner during a single cutscene of KH3, and I think we can all agree that's a problem.

    Furthermore, the pace becomes more and more disjointed as the game goes on. Little scraps of story are here and there, though they never really amount to anything until one finishes all seven (there's only seven worlds in this game! Scant compared to the previous two), and then it's as if it's all dropped on you in one moment. Interactions with different members of Organization XIII are only left to that––interactions––until a much later and unsatisfying point in the game. I won't delve into this, but will just say it leaves a lot to be desired.

    This erratic pacing really stifles the charm of KH3. We're never given enough time with each party to feel something for them. Kairi and Axel, in particular, become not much more than one-dimensional pawns that do little beyond standing a side. And this is a real shame because we were made to care deeply about Kairi up to this point, and it feels this wasn't acknowledged properly.

    All of these elements make KH3 feel like it had the bones, but little meat to survive off of. It felt more of a fan-provoked conclusion than an outright game for newcomers and series faithfuls alike.

    While there may be only seven worlds in this game, The Caribbean and San Fransokyo in particular show the scale and dynamism of what COULD have been. And reaching these worlds with the gummiship has become a lot more enjoyable and expansive. However, these are just shades of good thoughts that get bogged down by the poor pace, other narrow worlds, cumbersome cutscenes, and lack of satisfying enemy encounters.

    There is heart in Kingdom Hearts 3, it's just not full of it.    … Expand
  21. Bulb29
    Feb 4, 2019
    7
    I've played every game and played the first one when it came out in 2002. I know well the story and I can say without a doubt it really holds the series back. It's style carries the game where it's substance lets it down.

    The gameplay is okay although way to easy which means you never really feel rewarded for beating any of the games challenges. Sora is overpowered which is ironic as he    I've played every game and played the first one when it came out in 2002. I know well the story and I can say without a doubt it really holds the series back. It's style carries the game where it's substance lets it down.

    The gameplay is okay although way to easy which means you never really feel rewarded for beating any of the games challenges. Sora is overpowered which is ironic as he is supposed to be "Regaining his lost strength" and as a main character now is really one dimensional (simple in a bad way) and most of the main groups dialogue is hard to get through. Some cutscenes are so long winded, filled with exposition, and badly written that it kills a lot of the moments between fighting. There are really nice charming moments here and there (Tangled world has some great moments in particular) but over all it feels like a constant info dump.

    Sometimes Sora, Donald, and Goofy don't even really feel like they are apart of the world (Frozen in particular). The story just plays out like normal with the gang slightly off to the side saying things while the main characters in the world just do the same thing they did in the movie. Another problem is some worlds really make you rely on your knowledge of the movie (Tangled is really bad with this) and sloppily deliver exposition just to get people to understand why characters are doing things.

    The first game was truly simple and clean, it really had an identity. This game doesn't know if it wants to cater to the standard hero's journey that anyone can enjoy or be the complex multilayered story we've come to expect from a Final Fantasy game. It tries to do both and falls short.    … Expand
  22. KumanHong
    Feb 19, 2019
    7
    While it's not a bad game, it definitely is a disappointing one given the hype that revolves around the title. A lot of plot elements and gameplay mechanics are not executed coherently. For me, the biggest cons for the game are as followed:
    - Proud mode is not even close to being challenging. (I wonder if this is the artifact from the early days of the development where the developers    While it's not a bad game, it definitely is a disappointing one given the hype that revolves around the title. A lot of plot elements and gameplay mechanics are not executed coherently. For me, the biggest cons for the game are as followed:
    - Proud mode is not even close to being challenging. (I wonder if this is the artifact from the early days of the development where the developers actually did said that Sora is being too powerful towards the end of the game.) The only instance where I came across Game Over screen is when I lost the race against Luxord in Caribbean and lost few Gummiship fights against Schwarzgeist.
    - Attractions are too overpowered. They shouldn't be too generous giving us that in the combat tbh. Since all of the fights can be finished without the attractions, why bother adding them into the game as they are just optional like Links/Summons. (Honestly, the Links are more fun to use)
    - While most gimmicks added into each world are fun and unique, they did not grab the opportunity to enhance and balance the experience. For instance, they could just add weaknesses to the parts of Gigas so that when I defeated them they would be destroyed and not just stand back up. Too many of the Gigas after the battle just felt too redundant. Also, in Arendelle, they could just add Trinity Sled down the hills while Sora is exploring the North Mountain instead of restricting the sled to the minigame.
    - In terms of customizability and usability of the Abilities system (at least in the base form), it is definitely not as good as KH1 or KH2 (original). While many people complained about the floatiness of the combat in KH3 before the game release, the point is, while Sora can do as much in the air as on the ground, why bother differentiating Air Combo or ground Combo anyway since they don't make that much of a difference? If I wanna go berserk and have more hits while sacrificing my guard/dodge in the air, or following up ground combo with Air combo as soon as ground Combo finishes, these options are not available as the Combo modifier either hit the enemy into the air or closer to the ground just to lengthen the combo chain anyway. Customization of the Abilities just loses its focus in KH3.
    - The potential of flowmotions in exploration are underutilized. While they tone down the flowmotion attacks from DDD, which is a good thing, they should have use flowmotions in creating some good platforming puzzles and enhancing exploration experience. (Along with Airsteps).
    - They KILLED the exploration experience of Twilight Town and 100 Acre Wood. Twilight Town's potential for exploration is close to zero and 100 Acre Wood is a joke. (Let's not mention Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion is not even in the GODAMN GAME!!!). The other Disney worlds are huge and they nailed the verticality of Olympus, Arendelle etc and filled with something to do, but I still feel that the world is a little too big for no good reason beyond collecting ingredients, looking for treasure chests, lucky emblems and what not.
    - I would appreciate if they could at least add some more interactions between the party and the folks in each world like in Thebes, Common Tram, Town of Corona. There is no reason for the world to look lively but have little no interaction with Sora and co beyond reacting to Sora's break dance.
    - The pacing of the story is, by far, the worst in the numbered titles. Organization members did not actually poses any threat against the party in each world until the end of the game. While the party fights during the final battles are really good nonetheless, I rather fight them individually in each world before the end of the game as by that point, each organization member has already loses their focus. What a pity that they were just shoehorned into the Disney worlds' story, and just part like that. Also, towards the end of the game, a lot of plot elements and fate of some characters are not properly given any explanation and context (Time travel, Lingering Will, Demyx). Like some of the reviewers had said, KH3 essentially need a middle point to smooth up the pacing. The ending of the game is just too packed.

    *With all that said, I still think that people still should play this game to experience the game for yourself if you are totally new to the series. I believe all the negative stuffs I found were of the feelings of lack of satisfaction resulted from a long wait... that's it...    … Expand
  23. chrisdahfuh
    Feb 19, 2019
    7
    Ok, I never really put any reviews up for ANY game. But I grew up with kingdom hearts. I also I grew up with the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo. I was playing games way before multiplayer online gaming on a console was a thing. Kingdom hearts 1 and 2 were the reasons why I enjoyed single player campaign games. I loved the story from both of them. They left me with awe and an inpatientOk, I never really put any reviews up for ANY game. But I grew up with kingdom hearts. I also I grew up with the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo. I was playing games way before multiplayer online gaming on a console was a thing. Kingdom hearts 1 and 2 were the reasons why I enjoyed single player campaign games. I loved the story from both of them. They left me with awe and an inpatient desire to figure out what going to happen in the next game.

    I wasn't really a fan of the portable handheld spin offs but I played all of them and tried my best to keep up with the story. But Kingdom hearts 3 really seemed a bit of a disservice.

    It really was a great nostalgia playing KH3 and brought me back to my childhood. Maybe this is my problem with the game? Maybe because I was young and naive that I enjoyed these games so much?

    I had such high expectations for Nomura to finally bring me a great ending to this franchise but apparently here we are about 10 years after KH2 and we are learning that there is going to be yet another kingdom hearts game. I just can't. I just beat the game last night, and this morning I spent 3 hours looking up videos trying to explain the back story of the mysterious black box, The names of the original masters are based on the 7 deadly sins, why Maleficent is looking for the black box, what is the book of prophesies, Ventus is actually a **** time traveler, and that the Luxu is actually Xigbar. What the hell...this is ridiculous. I would not be this totally confused by KH when I was 9 years old playing the first game on the PS2. This franchise has changed so much.

    Here are my main points of likes and dislikes of KH3:

    + The combat system was cool, not amazing but cool. I liked the varied keyblade forms.
    + The visuals and effects pulled of the unreal engine was amazing. Cutscenes look like I am watching a movie, take Pirates of the Caribbean at the end of the world story example. That cutscene was epic.
    + Being able to play as Riku and Aqua was very cool, but could have had more potential.
    + Nostalgia is a big thing. Seeing some of the more recent movies released being in KH was amazing.
    + Musical Score was very high quality. I can't believe how much work went into the music.

    - I could no longer dual wield keyblades. This was THE COOLEST thing in KH2. Why take this away?
    - With 10 years in development you would think making Kairi and Lea be playable characters be actually a thing? I was hoping to see more characters besides Sora be a playable character. Playing as Riku and Aqua one time was great but could have been incorporated more.
    - The amusement ride combos were so annoying. I stopped using them. I only used them when I knew my HP was low and didn't want to die. But I detested using them. They lacked luster after using them throughout the game and I found them pointless.
    - No Drive forms. I am basically hack and slashing my way throughout the game. Forms are so easy to achieve. It was rewarding to turn into a drive form in KH2. You felt like a bad ass. KH3 game basically spoon feeds me Drive forms. Ridiculous.
    - Worlds are so large. Unnecessarily large. They bring nothing extra to the story.
    - Why was the game so easy? I played this game on proud mode and beat the final boss on level 47?
    - Why the hell does Sora not get his happy ending?

    Kingdom hearts was a great franchise until this whole story plot twists and convoluted time traveling. I really think this might have to do with Disney, and trying to milk the franchise as long as possible. Making fans wait a long time for a decent game isn't really cool, and then smacking us in the face with hints of another game is very anticlimactic.    … Expand
  24. mertyboi
    Feb 21, 2019
    7
    I spent a good number of hours researching the story so far with Kingdom Hearts and I began to vaguely understand what they were doing, but I just can't understand why they would want to make something so incredibly complex and attach it to Disney. The game play is pretty smooth and the graphics are pretty good in each world you are in. Eventually the combat gets pretty old and theI spent a good number of hours researching the story so far with Kingdom Hearts and I began to vaguely understand what they were doing, but I just can't understand why they would want to make something so incredibly complex and attach it to Disney. The game play is pretty smooth and the graphics are pretty good in each world you are in. Eventually the combat gets pretty old and the camera isn't the best, but it's the voice acting and the constant cut scenes that made this game just straight up hard to play through. This is coming from someone looking at the game with no nostalgia lenses. I'm sure for fans of the originals there will be enough here to make this a worthwhile experience, but for those of us with a smaller Kingdom Hearts background this may be more of a chore to finish.… Expand
  25. Keizert
    Feb 24, 2019
    7
    Kingdom Hearts 3 is the latest installment in the Glover franchise, where you play as Glover.
  26. StudMuffinOP
    Feb 24, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Game was beautiful in every aspect with mind-blowing graphics and beautiful soundtrack. I did however expect a lot more considering the wait though. Don't get me wrong I loved the game, I just expected more but that's just me. It did answer questions that I've had with the series and it also did make me question more about it after watching all the secret endings. I was just hoping for a more.. dramatic ending and ***SPOILER*** I thought this was the end of Sora's journey.

    The multiple trailers in my opinion did ruin a lot of my experience with the game considering the fact that I knew what was going to happen next but that was completely my fault on watching them.

    I did enjoy the game-play but some of the action commands didn't really seem to fit in some spots but easy fix to that is to not activate them. They just felt more like cut-scenes if anything during battles, especially the summons from previous games also.

    All in all I loved the game and I'm expecting to do a second game-play on a higher difficulty as I found Standard Mode to be fairly easy. The only reason i'm giving an 8 is because I just expected a little bit more from the worlds and the trailers shown. The secret endings definitely made my jaw drop and definitely felt some nostalgia after most things got answered throughout the game. Looking forward to the next DLC(considering one possible theory from one of the endings) or the next installment of the game. Lets just hope it doesn't take as long as it did though.    … Expand
  27. Harax
    Mar 1, 2019
    7
    The honest truth, that no one will tell you, is that this game was bad. The only parts of this game worth experiencing, was the ending, in which they finally close off some of the long-awaited mysteries of this series. other than that, the game was dry. The overall writing (aside form ending) was just bad.
  28. ultrageneric
    Mar 5, 2019
    7
    The game is visually stunning, the Disney worlds have never felt more living and breathing and the gameplay is fun and on par with the best I've seen from the series, even improving in some key areas like the magic system.

    However, there is a noticeable lack of polish that is uncharacteristic for what I've come to expect from Nomura and Square-Enix. The main story suffers from some    The game is visually stunning, the Disney worlds have never felt more living and breathing and the gameplay is fun and on par with the best I've seen from the series, even improving in some key areas like the magic system.

    However, there is a noticeable lack of polish that is uncharacteristic for what I've come to expect from Nomura and Square-Enix. The main story suffers from some glaring pacing issues, feels completely dissociated from the Disney worlds, and most of the main characters feel frozen in place while the main trio goes on their adventure (which is put in stark contrast when you remember the fluidity of KH2's storytelling). Speaking of characters, character development is at its worst here for the series. The motivations of each character seem flaky at best and downright inconsistent at worst. I assume the narrative goes for an attempt of the old "trust no one" scenario, but it fails miserably in its delivery which causes the story to appear nonsensical at times.

    I would love to say this game is one that fans will love while newcomers will find difficult to pick up, but I don't even think loving fans will be entirely satisfied with the overall quality of this game. My final impression is that this was the first draft of a piece that could have been perfected into a great game but was hurriedly released and is trying to pass as a final product.    … Expand
  29. excalibro
    Mar 8, 2019
    7
    I wanted this game my whole life too. I loved the trailers of it. And the excitement had me stoked to finally see my boy get his happy ending.

    It ties up the ends it needs to, but I feel like there was something missing. I liked it, but I didn't love it, and ten year hype can't ever live up to what I hoped for. I still recommend the game. But it wasn't the finale I hoped for. Still.    I wanted this game my whole life too. I loved the trailers of it. And the excitement had me stoked to finally see my boy get his happy ending.

    It ties up the ends it needs to, but I feel like there was something missing. I liked it, but I didn't love it, and ten year hype can't ever live up to what I hoped for. I still recommend the game. But it wasn't the finale I hoped for.

    Still. Have to admit. While some of it was bland, when it finally gets to the Kingdom Hearts portions, and not the Disney? That's when I had the most fun. It's just a lot of pushing through Disney to get there.

    Overall though? Good game. Get it.    … Expand
  30. tbilisy
    Mar 29, 2019
    7
    Decent game. It has some impressive graphics, details and music. The combat is fun but a bit problematic, and the story can be better. Not my favorite KH, but definitely in my top 5 KH game.
  31. ChumaGG
    Jun 21, 2020
    7
    no es una joya pero es bastante divertido.

    la jugabilidad es repetitiva hasta el cansancio, puede que despues de los primeros 3-4 mundos ya no sea nada novedoso. la historia esta fumadisima, pero aun asi es bastante buena, pese a todos los agujeros argumentales que tiene. el apartado grafico pese a ser bastante... mhe... encuentra la forma de aprovechar lo poco que tiene    no es una joya pero es bastante divertido.

    la jugabilidad es repetitiva hasta el cansancio, puede que despues de los primeros 3-4 mundos ya no sea nada novedoso.

    la historia esta fumadisima, pero aun asi es bastante buena, pese a todos los agujeros argumentales que tiene.

    el apartado grafico pese a ser bastante... mhe... encuentra la forma de aprovechar lo poco que tiene (TEXTURA,S COLORES, PARTICULAS, ETC) para que todo se vea con ese tono de fantasia que queda bastante bien.

    y sin duda la unica razon que hace de este juego una experiencia bastante divertida pese a todas sus carencias, es el factor nostalgia, si cresiste con disney te va encantar jugar esto. punto.    … Expand
  32. JesterTRT
    Dec 28, 2019
    7
    I'm not a huge Disney fan. But I started playing the first KH when I was young. And I decided I will finish the original trilogy.

    Although the dialog was pretty cringe most of the time, and I never liked Donald and Goofy as companions. The gameplay itself was actually pretty good. The story was decent. And it wasn't as bad as expected. I actually enjoyed playing the game. The combat,    I'm not a huge Disney fan. But I started playing the first KH when I was young. And I decided I will finish the original trilogy.

    Although the dialog was pretty cringe most of the time, and I never liked Donald and Goofy as companions. The gameplay itself was actually pretty good. The story was decent. And it wasn't as bad as expected. I actually enjoyed playing the game.

    The combat, fighting, magic system, equipment were all fun. And the open world, with no missable stuff was great! Overall, it was a pretty decent game.    … Expand
  33. Spainstrong
    Sep 20, 2019
    7
    Es bonito y la musica es genial. Aunque poco desafiante y los combates algo repetitivos. Es un buen juego 7
  34. Peacecraft01
    Nov 19, 2019
    7
    This game shines at moments, but in others I was disappointed. Some of the worlds felt unfinished and empty, while others were amazing. I have mixed feelings about the game. The story as usual is not that great. I enjoy seeing the Disney stories come to life and playing a part within them. I played the first kingdom hearts and really enjoyed it. This game felt like it didnt have as manyThis game shines at moments, but in others I was disappointed. Some of the worlds felt unfinished and empty, while others were amazing. I have mixed feelings about the game. The story as usual is not that great. I enjoy seeing the Disney stories come to life and playing a part within them. I played the first kingdom hearts and really enjoyed it. This game felt like it didnt have as many worlds and things to do, and felt short. I havent finished the last boss, started to lose interest now that all the Disney worlds are done. The Kingdom hearts worlds are the weakest and least interesting. However the toy story and pirates of the Caribbean worlds were amazing and I went back to replay those parts repeatedly. If only the whole game had the same quality and appeal.… Expand
  35. AndreyCloud
    May 4, 2020
    7
    Compared to all the other game in the franchise, this has to be one of the worst sadly. I love Kingdom Hearts and all the other games thus far with the exception of Re:coded. This game felt too Disney, and not enough of the story we all know and love. I felt like I was constantly in a Disney world when I really wanted to pursue the main story line and I got most of it in the last 4 hoursCompared to all the other game in the franchise, this has to be one of the worst sadly. I love Kingdom Hearts and all the other games thus far with the exception of Re:coded. This game felt too Disney, and not enough of the story we all know and love. I felt like I was constantly in a Disney world when I really wanted to pursue the main story line and I got most of it in the last 4 hours of the game. This game felt too short and not fulfilling enough for me at all, compared to kingdom hearts 1, 2, Dream Drop, Birth by Sleep is was a big flop. Sora felt looked like he was 2 years younger instead of older, literally no one grew in age like they did from KH 1 to 2, and some complicated plot elements flopped in the end. Overall I wish this game had more engaging plot elements of finding and helping more characters like Roxas, Xion, Namine, Ventus, Terra, but in the end it all just happened too fast and for a majority of the game I was stuck playing dumb mini games in Disney worlds. Don’t get me wrong, the Disney worlds were fairly well designed, but felt more meaningful in the other Kingdom Hearts games when we actually did things relevant the story in-between, like going to Twilight Town, Traverse Town or Hollow Bastion. The only reason I still give it a 7/10 is because it’s still very beautiful to see all the characters reunite and see a long story come to some kind of happy conclusion. Just felt like it could have been way better for a franchise that has been so good up to this point.… Expand
  36. Gaisericus
    Feb 1, 2020
    7
    It's not what I was waiting all those years for. It's flashy and colorful, but it stumbles over itself until a rushed final act that is what I was looking for. Unfortunately it's just a bit of a mess. No FF characters and no Colosseum was a crime, Nomura
  37. Tyler_Axl
    Feb 28, 2020
    7
    Kingdom Hearts 3 is a conflicting experience.

    The gameplay is top notch, the best the franchise has seen yet. With the most satisfying, flashy, and stylish combat to date. Magic is now more useful than its ever been as well. the main character Sora feels almost as if hes overpowered, even on the harder difficulty. Sora is very fast and agile, with the most movement options hes ever had.    Kingdom Hearts 3 is a conflicting experience.

    The gameplay is top notch, the best the franchise has seen yet. With the most satisfying, flashy, and stylish combat to date. Magic is now more useful than its ever been as well. the main character Sora feels almost as if hes overpowered, even on the harder difficulty. Sora is very fast and agile, with the most movement options hes ever had. being able to double-jump, fly, wall run, spin on poles, ricochet off walls at high velocity, lunge at enemies from a great distance to begin long crazy combos. And these are very useful because the worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3 are the largest ones the series has ever seen, offering tons of detail and exploration. Sora will unlock even more new attacks and abilities as the game progresses which makes the game even easier.

    In addition to the combat you can also do a number of other optional activities. in the form of collectable Game & Watch style mini games, special different "Flan" challenges in each Disney world for special ingredients you can can use to cook a variety of meals that offer you temporary boosts such to your health, defense, magic, strength, etc. Some of the Flan challenges can be quite fun, while others can be tedious and boring. There are also Lucky Emblems hidden throughout the game that you can take pictures of for rewards like items and equipment.

    The graphics are beautiful, recreating some Disney movies almost perfectly.
    The sound design is great, alot of detail went into making sure every action has a distinct sound. And the music is as good as its ever been. However there are some oddities, such as the main theme of Pirates of The Caribbean never appearing in its world. The main theme song, Face My Fears, is outstanding and perfectly conveys the weight and emotion of this final chapter of a nearly 2 decade long story.

    Now the story. Despite this game being the finale meant to wrap up loose ends, it feels incredibly lackluster, almost rushed. There are many plot holes, retcons, and Ex Machinas throughout. Making it feels like there was never an endgame in mind, like the writer was making it up as he went along. It also suffers from far too much fan service, and almost no sense of urgency until the last couple hours.

    The dialogue is absolutely abysmal. Not a single conversation in this roughly 25 hour story feels natural. Its on par with a bad fan-fiction written by a middle schooler. The voice acting feels as though every actor was recorded on solitude. There's no chemistry by any characters who are supposed to be friends. The pacing is very awkward, characters constantly respond to one another only after an uncomfortable pause. Some Disney characters are voiced by there original actors, such as James Woods as Hades, and Wallace Shawn as Rex. Unfortunately most of them are played by impressionists.

    The framerate is steady and is never experienced any drops, even in the most hectic moments. There was also no pop-in. The loading times are a little long at times, but not too bad. The cutscenes are very long. At times you might as well put the controller down because you'll be watching for up to 15 minutes. Luckily the game allows you to skip cutscenes if you so wish.    … Expand
  38. Renflexx
    Jul 6, 2020
    7
    Excellent graphics, excellent soundtrack and audio. The fighting is amazing, although too flashy sometimes.
    Although it totally fails to its prequels in terms of pace and dialogue.
    KH 1 and 2 are 9 or 10 out of 10. This one failed too much after so many years. Square Enix, focus more on the story and places that the niche of the series would like to see more explored instead of flashy    Excellent graphics, excellent soundtrack and audio. The fighting is amazing, although too flashy sometimes.
    Although it totally fails to its prequels in terms of pace and dialogue.
    KH 1 and 2 are 9 or 10 out of 10. This one failed too much after so many years.
    Square Enix, focus more on the story and places that the niche of the series would like to see more explored instead of flashy combat system and open world thats always the same over and over (like frozen).
    P.S The dlc made it slightly better.    … Expand
  39. SpeedFist
    Jul 6, 2020
    7
    STORY:
    if you haven't played all the kingdom hearts games now available on PS4 then the story will make no sense. However if you're a hardcore fan you might be disappointed with the pacing, a good chunk of the game is spent messing around in disney worlds that don't have alot to do with the story and 2 of which are just copies of the movies. However after a while the game's story really    STORY:
    if you haven't played all the kingdom hearts games now available on PS4 then the story will make no sense. However if you're a hardcore fan you might be disappointed with the pacing, a good chunk of the game is spent messing around in disney worlds that don't have alot to do with the story and 2 of which are just copies of the movies. However after a while the game's story really takes off and gets interesting, but thats because they stuff alot of the important moments at the end and because of that the end game gets very long.
    GAMEPLAY: Before all the updates had been added the gameplay felt very lacking because of how easy the game was even on proud mode and how there wasn't any real reason or ability to use creative combos, couple that with the lack of good bosses made the gameplay very boring, however with the new updates the game gets alot harder if you choose Critical mode and the new abilities added makes the game a joy to play through, unfortunately if you want some fun boss fights you have to wait until the end or buy the re:mind dlc which does include some amazing bosses.
    PRESENTATION:
    the game looks and sound great with some of the best music i've heard in games, though the frozen world does get a bit tiring to look at because of how the world uses the same color the entire time. Also the voice acting can be a bit of a mixed bag.
    Overall I had a good time with the game but as a long time fan I felt frustrated at the story for spending so much time doing nothing when we should've been getting to experience big story moments earlier in the game and the lack of fun and interesting boss fights (excluding the endgame) in the base game made me not enjoy it as much as I hoped.    … Expand
  40. FindersFees
    Jul 12, 2020
    7
    Waited years for this game to only have a story in the last 15 minutes, fun gameplay with way too OP super moves, no FF characters.

    Excited for KH4 hopefully it's better,
  41. WM25
    Jul 20, 2020
    7
    The game didn’t mature with the audience that played the original. KH2 was by far the superior game. But KH3 was kind of corny and childish. Sora should have been at least 17 or 18 years old but it seems like he’s 13 still. I found myself just wanting to get the game over with. This game doesn’t explain the convoluted story that spans across Kingdom Hearts. It’s not a bad game but it is aThe game didn’t mature with the audience that played the original. KH2 was by far the superior game. But KH3 was kind of corny and childish. Sora should have been at least 17 or 18 years old but it seems like he’s 13 still. I found myself just wanting to get the game over with. This game doesn’t explain the convoluted story that spans across Kingdom Hearts. It’s not a bad game but it is a title that most people will play just to get done with just to say they played it as opposed to games that make you want to stay… Expand
  42. Raado-san
    Jul 26, 2020
    7
    I'm not big fun of the new graphics of KH3 and the story is just messed up and the game was unbalance even after the update or you could say the DLC, the DLC felt ad you are playing one of the demons games, yeah it was challenging and fun but at least it should have balance, and that DLC it should be in the game from the beginning no need to cut part of the game and sell it separatelyI'm not big fun of the new graphics of KH3 and the story is just messed up and the game was unbalance even after the update or you could say the DLC, the DLC felt ad you are playing one of the demons games, yeah it was challenging and fun but at least it should have balance, and that DLC it should be in the game from the beginning no need to cut part of the game and sell it separately that's just stupid.
    I hope the next one have everything within the game no need for DLC    … Expand
  43. ZeroBacon
    Sep 3, 2020
    7
    Yeah it’s a disappointment. Combat is fun and visuals are nice, but the lack of actual pacing, the blandness of the worlds, and the lack of Final Fantasy characters besides the moogles just blows all of our hopes and dreams for the future of Kingdom Hearts.
  44. Elite_Soldier
    Nov 21, 2020
    7
    Terrible voice acting and sound direction, the dialogue is very cheesy. Characters in cutscenes behave like robots, most of the game is filler with the final part of the game feeling completely rushed. Combat is a downgrade from KH2.
  45. nietzfk
    Jul 8, 2023
    7
    It was nice to wander in his fun and colorful world. I went so far as to unlock all the achievements in the game. The combat system was good enough for me. The spaceship controls are weird, but it's over now :) The story is too complicated for me now, but it didn't seem as impressive as the second game. Maybe it's because I'm getting old.
  46. TeemoTime
    Feb 1, 2023
    7
    Um, let’s ask the final fantasy characters what they think of KH3...
    Oh wait, the reason I came to the series in the first place, is now an afterthought. Truly one of the Square Enix games of all time.
    Otherwise, game is ok... It has it's moments but the story is a mess, since half the time they are trying to recap all the spinoffs you haven't played that are intergral to the plot. The    Um, let’s ask the final fantasy characters what they think of KH3...
    Oh wait, the reason I came to the series in the first place, is now an afterthought. Truly one of the Square Enix games of all time.
    Otherwise, game is ok... It has it's moments but the story is a mess, since half the time they are trying to recap all the spinoffs you haven't played that are intergral to the plot. The combat is great, but doesn't feel as tight as KH2. The graphical detail is the highlight, and I hope they continue that improvement in graphics into KH4. Otherwise, fix the story and tweak the combat. That's a lot to ask though.    … Expand
  47. Kostas_Spirou
    Jun 5, 2023
    7
    Kingdom Hearts III feels like an amusement park, it's just a fun where you get to meet some of your beloved childhood heroes and go on a little adventure.

    The plot is indeed very complicated and didn't click with me, so I knew from the get-go that I shouldn't expect a great story. The biggest problem in my opinion, is the fact that the game is not aware that it's full of uninteresting    Kingdom Hearts III feels like an amusement park, it's just a fun where you get to meet some of your beloved childhood heroes and go on a little adventure.

    The plot is indeed very complicated and didn't click with me, so I knew from the get-go that I shouldn't expect a great story.
    The biggest problem in my opinion, is the fact that the game is not aware that it's full of uninteresting plot points, boring villains and overly long cutscenes that don't add anything to the story.

    On the bright side, I absolutely loved the magnificent worlds you visit throughout the game, they look gorgeous and every single one of them feels unique.

    The gameplay is a fairly easy, it doesn't require any strategy but it's enjoyable and there are many abilities you can unlock, making it feel fresh.

    And lastly, there are some surprisingly fun mini-games that add some charm to the game.

    In the end I was left satisfied, but there is some serious wasted potential here.

    Final Rating: "Good" ~ 7/10.    … Expand
  48. DarkwingSchmuck
    Mar 20, 2022
    7
    After 12 long years since the release of Kingdom Hearts II, the franchise returns with its wildly inconsistent third console installment. Kingdom Hearts III offers just as much fun action-packed gameplay as its predecessors, though its difficulty on normal setting is a joke -- this is by far the easiest game in the series.

    Kingdom Hearts III does have the best designed Disney worlds in    After 12 long years since the release of Kingdom Hearts II, the franchise returns with its wildly inconsistent third console installment. Kingdom Hearts III offers just as much fun action-packed gameplay as its predecessors, though its difficulty on normal setting is a joke -- this is by far the easiest game in the series.

    Kingdom Hearts III does have the best designed Disney worlds in the franchise thus far, with a more open structure that allows for more exploration. However, the story here is a complete mess. It's fine in the first two-thirds of the game when it's focused on the Disney elements, but the narrative becomes a slog in the final act. For a franchise that is known for being convoluted and pretentious, never has it been more apparent than with the nonsensical final third of Kingdom Hearts III.

    Kingdom Hearts III also offers a 30-dollar DLC that is drastically over-priced and lacking in substantial content.    … Expand
  49. Nightscape_
    May 17, 2023
    7
    It is definitely a good game. Not as good as KH2, but still worth playing if able to pick it up for $20 or so.

    I think this has the best fighting mechanics of all the games and like being able to change keyblades on the fly. Everything else is fine, but that is kind of my problem. It doesn't feel grander as they remove some feature for others and the stuff they removed I thought was    It is definitely a good game. Not as good as KH2, but still worth playing if able to pick it up for $20 or so.

    I think this has the best fighting mechanics of all the games and like being able to change keyblades on the fly. Everything else is fine, but that is kind of my problem. It doesn't feel grander as they remove some feature for others and the stuff they removed I thought was better. The content is not bad, just ok.

    How do you remove the colosseum!? That was one of the best parts of the series! And how come there are no Final Fantasy characters? I wanted to see Squall, Cloud, and the others. Also, once you finish a world, there really is no reason to ever go back, unlike in the second game where you were incentivized to see how things have progressed in each world after nearing the end of the game, you don’t have that here. The whole game just feels a bit lacking in comparison to what came before. The stuff that is in KH3 is fine, but I would rather have the coliseum than cooking (which the buffs it provides never really mattered in my hard playthrough).

    I do wish the story had more substance and had a bit of a better ending. Don't get me wrong, it is not bad, just not that amazing. The series is already infamous for the most complicated story in video game history. The devs just assume you played all dozen or so games, spent hours online watching story recaps and summaries, and simply look to finish the ending. I just wish the plot for the third game was more coherent and substantial. There are multiple main characters who do nothing but stand around and talk, such as Kairi, Maleficent, and Pete. I really wanted to see Kairi training and fight alongside Sora in the game; we get neither! The whole thing reminds me of the scene in Avengers End Game where the rat saves Ant-Man, It can be fun a game but the writing is just plain sloppy in places.

    I enjoyed the combat system and the quality of life mechanics they implemented and it is still fun to play alongside favorite movie characters, even better here now that you don’t have to pick and choose between them and Donald and Goofy, all of them are on screen now which is way better. Adding Pixar was great. In fact, I think the Monsters Inc. level is the best they ever made and wished all the worlds felt like a direct sequel to the movies. At the same time, though, I thought the writing for Rapunzel’s world was the worst in the entire series of games and thought the Frozen world was very boring as well. I really didn't enjoy sitting there and listening to the whole Let it Go song. It would have been fine if it had been like in KH2 where you get to play a mini-game with Aerial, but here you just have to watch.

    So, after a decade of waiting for this game was it worth the wait. Eh, I guess. They use pre-woke Disney and Pixar so that is great but do think they fall short of Kingdom Hearts 2. It's a good game and I like most of the content but it felt lacking a bit in all categories.    … Expand
  50. Hkeitz323
    Nov 8, 2022
    7
    Pros:
    - Rewards for exploration
    - Controls are fluid, and all types of combat are easy to use and very responsive - The game looks beautiful - Equipping items, abilities, and upgrades is easy - Engaging and challenging boss fights Cons: - Story is very convoluted and poorly paced - Most of the gameplay is over-simplified and too easy - The Disney park attractions add to the    Pros:
    - Rewards for exploration
    - Controls are fluid, and all types of combat are easy to use and very responsive
    - The game looks beautiful
    - Equipping items, abilities, and upgrades is easy
    - Engaging and challenging boss fights

    Cons:
    - Story is very convoluted and poorly paced
    - Most of the gameplay is over-simplified and too easy
    - The Disney park attractions add to the over-simplified game play, and add very little to the game besides spectacle
    - A lot of missions are either boring or frustrating
    - Gummi ship controls are slippery    … Expand
  51. aaronnmp96
    Jan 31, 2023
    7
    disappointment, but it is very funny, it can be better, much better but it is not a drama
  52. Combatking42
    Aug 5, 2023
    7
    To be truth, I love the art style and the characters. But the game is so confusing to play and the mechanics aren't my type of favorite although I do like this series, there were some wrong things that happened in this game that I honestly wished they were much better. But overall 7/10
  53. Spedattack
    Feb 11, 2019
    6
    After over a decade of waiting the result is a big disappointment. First, let me get the good things out of the way. The visuals are breath-taking and amazing to be hold. Classic scenes from Disney films are in some ways even better looking in this game than the films. The first half of the game is a blast to play, and you're given some cool abilities to experiment with. Some of theAfter over a decade of waiting the result is a big disappointment. First, let me get the good things out of the way. The visuals are breath-taking and amazing to be hold. Classic scenes from Disney films are in some ways even better looking in this game than the films. The first half of the game is a blast to play, and you're given some cool abilities to experiment with. Some of the mini-games are even surprisingly fun to play. This is where my praise ends unfortunately.
    The biggest problem with the Kingdom Hearts series has always been the ever increasingly convoluted, and at times, ridiculous plot. While the game tries a little bit more to make sense of things(especially for those who didn't play the spin-off games), the series has already dug itself into a hole that it can't climb out of at this point. The ending raises more questions than answers and feels rushed. While not as bad, it was a lot like the Mass Effect 3 ending. The whole plot just feels like it was rushed, and that they just wanted to move on to the next game. The performances are either hit or miss even with those who have reprised their roles, and the dialogue is extremely sub-par.
    The game does not become challenging until the very end. I said before that I enjoyed the first half of the game and loved the new abilities, but after a while the fun runs out because of how easy the game is. The whole game I died only twice, that's how easy this game is. The game also feels too short for a game that was a decade in the making.
    Overall, this feels awfully rushed for a game that was a decade in the making. While its not a bad game by any means, its extremely disappointing for someone who has been playing these games since the beginning.    … Expand
  54. Mandulum
    Feb 23, 2019
    6
    Haiku Review: A convoluted / story makes enjoyment lost / At least it's flashy
    Favorite Thing: The cutscenes are incredible and the combat is super flashy (though a little too much at times).
    Least Favorite Thing: I understood the story about as well as I understood Donald with the subtitles off. Bonus: I really disliked the combat at the end of the game. It was nothing but constant stun    Haiku Review: A convoluted / story makes enjoyment lost / At least it's flashy
    Favorite Thing: The cutscenes are incredible and the combat is super flashy (though a little too much at times).
    Least Favorite Thing: I understood the story about as well as I understood Donald with the subtitles off. Bonus: I really disliked the combat at the end of the game. It was nothing but constant stun locks.

    Date Completed: 2019-02-21
    Playtime: 28h
    Enjoyment: 6/10
    Recommendation: If you're been following along closely you'll no doubt play it. Anyone else, don't bother. You'll just be lost.    … Expand
  55. ziv741
    Feb 14, 2019
    6
    As a fan of KH series this game is a big disappointment

    -The game is too easy even on the hardest difficulty -There are no Final Fantasy characters -Only two original worlds (and Twilight town is even smaller than in KH2) -Combat is just broken all you have to do is press X to win -There are no secret bosses or anything like the coliseum only boring mini games -Too many boring mini    As a fan of KH series this game is a big disappointment

    -The game is too easy even on the hardest difficulty
    -There are no Final Fantasy characters
    -Only two original worlds (and Twilight town is even smaller than in KH2)
    -Combat is just broken all you have to do is press X to win
    -There are no secret bosses or anything like the coliseum only boring mini games
    -Too many boring mini games that no one is going to play
    -There's nothing to do after you've finished the story

    6/10    … Expand
  56. Anticles
    Feb 22, 2019
    6
    KH3 is... boring! And frustrating. There were very few highs, and many lows to the experience. Half the game is spent in cutscenes, a lot of which are complete rips from Pixar movies (though there's an interesting YT video explaining that the dev team actually recreated a lot of it). Half the worlds feel so empty, and you can get through almost all fights by mashing the X button. Finally,KH3 is... boring! And frustrating. There were very few highs, and many lows to the experience. Half the game is spent in cutscenes, a lot of which are complete rips from Pixar movies (though there's an interesting YT video explaining that the dev team actually recreated a lot of it). Half the worlds feel so empty, and you can get through almost all fights by mashing the X button. Finally, the bosses are all annoying with many health bars that test your patience more than your skill. Side note: I only played the first game 16 years ago, so not really a die-hard though the nostalgia weighs heavily in my heart.… Expand
  57. guiletheguiles
    Nov 16, 2020
    6
    I honestly wish I liked this game more than I did... But I just couldn't!
    Kingdom Hearts 3 may not be a disaster, but it's certainly a disappointment.
    Starting with the good things. The game is astonishingly BEAUTIFUL! I couldn't stop drooling over the graphics. The animations, different skills, sounds, music, the aesthetic and with just how smooth it played, despite a few hiccups    I honestly wish I liked this game more than I did... But I just couldn't!
    Kingdom Hearts 3 may not be a disaster, but it's certainly a disappointment.

    Starting with the good things.
    The game is astonishingly BEAUTIFUL! I couldn't stop drooling over the graphics. The animations, different skills, sounds, music, the aesthetic and with just how smooth it played, despite a few hiccups when the screen got too busy. It's going to be hard to look at the other games after this one. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was CGI and what was in-game! Just WOW!
    Aside from how gorgeous it looks, it's also a JOY to play. The battle system is what kept me going until the very end. The freedom of movement feels pleasant. New additions, like the Keyblade transformations are awesome. You can pull crazy combos with ease and the satisfaction of making Sora and his team stronger is addicting. The gameplay hook keeps you going, even if it's a bit too easy, at times. And it's not only great to slay enemies and fight creative bosses, but it's also great to play the mini-games. Not all of them are good. Some are quite boring, actually. But when they get it right, it'll hook you up.
    It's also nice to see KH finally trying to wrap a few plot holes up (trying, at least). After so much build up, it's good to see characters coming together and things climaxing. I wish Disney worlds felt a bit more important to the overall story, but it was nice to visit some charming new ones, like Toy Box and Monstropolis.

    Sadly, what I liked about the game didn't outweight what I didn't. The story and writing were the true enemies.
    A large chunk of it seemed irrelevant, clumsy and hollow. Worlds were cool to visit, but felt empty and lacked importance. Sora's final objective was supposed to be epic, instead, he spent more than half of the game going with the flow and seeing what happens. It was pointless and it took too long to ACTUALLY get going. By the time I got to the final areas, everything was thrown at the same time. It all happened too fast, while few things bothered to make sense. They even managed to open up more questions, instead of just ending it for good.
    Dialogues were dumb and VERY overexposed, emotional moments were lifeless, villains' goals were convoluted and death mattered not. It failed to grip me with any interest.
    On top of that, KH3 is short, nonsensical, Gummy Ship missions are a mess, the optional boss is a joke, there are NO FF characters and the difficulty is a walk in the park. I mean, DAMN! Mini-games were harder than the final bosses.
    The DLC tried to save the final moments from being an utter disarray of ideas, but rehashed too many things and failed.
    The ending and the Limit Cut Episode were great, though.

    I only recommend this game to huge fans of the franchise, like me. Other than that, you're better off replaying past games.    … Expand
  58. N1ghtwing
    Mar 11, 2019
    6
    Kingdom hearts 3 is disappointing in every way. There are three pillars that kingdom hearts has stood on, story combat and music. All three of core tenants don't come anywhere near the previous titles. Of these three the first one you notice being lacking is the music. The opening theme that sets the tone and the anticipation for the journey your about to go on is disjointed and soundsKingdom hearts 3 is disappointing in every way. There are three pillars that kingdom hearts has stood on, story combat and music. All three of core tenants don't come anywhere near the previous titles. Of these three the first one you notice being lacking is the music. The opening theme that sets the tone and the anticipation for the journey your about to go on is disjointed and sounds terrible. There is no soul or passion from it, Utada's stellar vocals are there but they are dragged down by the awful techno music accompanying them. This music does not inspire you and get you desperate to step into this world, it's annoying and you just want it to end. On it's own this theme is heart breaking when compared to the previous opening themes that were some of the greatest songs to grace video games; theirs a reason why kingdom hearts has an orchestra that performs its music. The other background music is not good none of it is memorable; why is frozen the only world that has musical numbers in it? It was weird and subtracted from the enjoyment of the world not add to it. There is still no background music during most cut scenes, it's weirdly quiet.
    Combat is dumber than any of the previous entries in the series by far. Even on proud mode there is no challenge at any point. The previous games in the series were all difficult and challenging in the best way possible. The camera is moved much farther back to try and show the increased scale of the levels but it destroys the close, personal, tight feeling of the combat. You can no longer make out individual characteristics of the different heartless they all look about the same because they're so far away. With that you can't really see any choreographed moves to let you know when an attack is coming from the smaller enemies. Just because there are disney characters in this game doesn't mean its solely for children. The attractions are overpowered get out of jail free cards that go on far to long and don't fit with the gameplay. I would suggest never using them if you can do it. The key blade forms are cool at first but don't hold a candle to the forms of KH2. They reduce your options and remove your ability to guard in most cases, this screams how they don't want it to be about strategy at all. It's all about it being easy and looking cool unearned. You could level up your forms in KH2 which made it addicting to use them as much as possible to make base sora even more powerful, now everything is handed to you. It was possible to miss final form entirely in KH3, now the developers make sure you'll never miss anything. A perfect example of what was and how much worse the combat is now is the rush of heartless battles. Both KH3 and KH2 have them, but KH3 doesn't want you to worry about it or stress over it, it's all for fun and to look cool. There isn't a counter of the impressive amount of heartless that you have to kill in the battle just a health bar of constantly spawning small groups of heartless while your surrounded by cosmetic heartless for the illusion of this being more. You don't even have to kill them on your own the developers don't want you to be overwhelmed and give you an attraction that is a free end this fight button. There is no more strategy in the combat, no more grind, or fun. You smash X until all the bad guys disappear. The game gives you an endless amount of cure usage if you want it, there is a skill that let's you use cure when your mana is recovering. It's worth 0 EXP so it's obviously optional but that's what the difficulty you had the players chose at the beginning is for. I don't want to set a game on the hardest difficulty and see that it's not suppose to be a challenge and if it's too hard you can turn on easy mode at any time.
    The story is also a disappointment, this is spoiler free so don't worry. It tries to bring everything together from the previous entries and it should be commended for that, but it does it horribly in a rushed fashion. Every lingering plot that was made to be a big deal is solved quickly and easily with no lasting impact on anything. Riku's arc over multiple games is no longer special or cool because everyone comes out of the darkness unscathed, why did you have such a problem at all Riku, everyone else was fine with minimum help and time. For a lot of questions answered there are more brought up about how exactly everything is working out, nothing new that happens is ever really explained. The big villains from the previous games no longer feel intimidating. The final fantasy characters have been removed completely and they were needed to balance out the disney happiness and love filled plot that gets a bit much at times. Now there's no Cloud to bring a little darkness to these happy disney worlds which was the original appeal of the games.
    Any fan of the series should go into this game expecting disappointment from every direction, that way the letdown won't affect you to much.    … Expand
  59. alexandermora
    Feb 10, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As an old time fan, the game was a huge dissapointment in content, story and even in gameplay.

    Is all flare and Flashiness without substance.

    Most of the time you are doing nothing but grinding levels, if you do a level 1 run is even worse.

    The game has no difficulty, it lacks critical mode, the post game is pathetic.
    There arent any tournaments to get cool prizes or new moves for sora or recipes or anything
    Synthesis is now a joke
    No final fantasy characters or super hard secret bosses other than a pethethic easy to defead heartless.
    The entire cast ends being useless even when they were suppose to be more experience or stronger than Sora, who by the way was nerfed to death in the previous game KH Dream drop distance
    The worlds are flat an unispired for the most part with a few exceptions like Arendel the frozen world was one of the most dissapointing world in KH history, same with Sanfrantokyo from Big hero 6 which can be finish in 20 mins and is only one Giant square with buildings in the middle.

    So whats the excuse? It has even less post game content than KH 1 and thats a game from 2002. Same with Kh 2 which is from 2006, if we compare them to The Final Mix ver is even worse, Kh 3 has no content, but not everything is bad.

    The engine run well, The introcting level The Olympus is pretty cool and impressive it really HYPES the player for whats next to come, which sadly doesnt pay off at the end.

    the Kingdom of corona is mostly forest and one small town but it was well made and it does give you a feeling of a living world and it has one of the only Disney villain in the entire game, mother gothel.

    having 5 party member was super cool but in most world you only have 4 character and after the kingdom of corona rapunzel lost her long hair and now you cant have her in your party anymore....what gives?

    The stupid atraction flows appear too often and break the flow of batttle and are also overpowered, instead of giving choices for what tools to use to deal with the enemies or problems at hand they game throws you everything and it turns into a mindless game of press triangle to WIN, is LITERAL press Triangle to win, even in PROUD MODE the game hard mode, is a cake walk, which wasnt the case in Kh 1 and 2. 13 years...i waited 13 years, played almost all the other games and collections in that amount of time only to get this?

    The game could be save, but only if nomura is willing to do so. The lack of the final fantasy Cast that were important friends to sora and even mentors in Kh 1 and Kh 2 are non existent, its like they don t have the right to even exist anymore but the disney characters that don t impact the story in any way do? Its nonsense and ****    … Expand
  60. KGBProjekt
    Feb 21, 2019
    6
    This game is just fine. It promised to close the Dark Seeker Saga and it did, but it feels rushed in so many ways: Many missing characters, many characters with no voice actors, scenes with no rhythm or coherence, missing Final Fantasy characters, very few worlds, terrible pacing, missing worlds shown in trailers (like Mysterious Tower)... Another problem is that if you saw all theThis game is just fine. It promised to close the Dark Seeker Saga and it did, but it feels rushed in so many ways: Many missing characters, many characters with no voice actors, scenes with no rhythm or coherence, missing Final Fantasy characters, very few worlds, terrible pacing, missing worlds shown in trailers (like Mysterious Tower)... Another problem is that if you saw all the trailers like many did, you pretty much saw everything the game had to offer. Nothing less, nothing more. That was extremely disappointing.
    But it's still fine, it plays nice, combat is flashy, maybe too easy, and there are too many mini-games and gimmicks IMO. But if you want some kind of closure, you'll get it. It just doesn't do much else than that, it could've been so much greater. KH2 feels way more larger in many ways than this one, and having more than 9 games building up to this game, maybe the expectations were too high.    … Expand
  61. Brandondwn
    Feb 19, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am not trying to ruin anyone’s view or time with this long awaited game, but overall I was pretty disappointed with Kingdom Hearts 3. Let me start with what I loved.. the game is beautiful! So awesome to see these characters in a better graphical engine. I really enjoyed Keyblade having forms, added bonus attributes and an ultimate attack. The gummi ship stuff is actually worth doing and fun this time around, in the past it’s always been such an annoying thing to rush through to get to the next world, it’s fantastic here. Now.. what I thought was bad. Well the rest of of the game haha. The controls for most of the game are so, so dated up until you get better mobility abilities. Worlds for the most part weren’t fun as they were in the past, they’re cut up in slices or given some half assed version of what came after the original story. Given the large gap in time between games most of the voices aren’t the original people due to contracts, other work and just not wanting to do it again (or ya know being dead! Thanks for taking so long Nomura..) A lot of the world’s feel pointless concerning a goal so it makes the game drag as what you want from III is the original content wrapping up. The end was obviously gonna be predictable, but there’s so much crap you have to go through to get to that point and even characters in the game say stuff that made it seem like a huge waste of THEIR time lol. END stuff, not happy about something that happened to a character, not happy about more vague stuff being thrown in and still some stuff not even being answered (so they can make more games… Expand
  62. gusman
    Jan 30, 2019
    6
    Me parece que la gente se guía demasiado por recuerdos en este juego... Como alguien que no ha jugado a los otros dos me parece un juego blando, sin historia y un gameplay de lo más genérico. Te tiran enmedio del juego sin contarte nada, asumiendo que conoces toda la historia, los personajes son... como decirlo... prepotentes? engreídos? De momento el único personaje que me ha gustado esMe parece que la gente se guía demasiado por recuerdos en este juego... Como alguien que no ha jugado a los otros dos me parece un juego blando, sin historia y un gameplay de lo más genérico. Te tiran enmedio del juego sin contarte nada, asumiendo que conoces toda la historia, los personajes son... como decirlo... prepotentes? engreídos? De momento el único personaje que me ha gustado es Hades y es el malo... Los gráficos buenísimos, la música impresionante, pero gameplay, historia y entretenimiento mínimo.… Expand
  63. artificeprime
    Dec 7, 2019
    6
    Kingdom Hearts 3 looks amazing. The presentation is top tier, I can't think of many better looking games. The visuals almost match up to a Disney movie. The sound design is also great, with a memorable sound track and quality voice acting. So why did I give it a 6? In-spite of its high quality production values, I found it to be a shallow and convoluted experience with boring combat thatKingdom Hearts 3 looks amazing. The presentation is top tier, I can't think of many better looking games. The visuals almost match up to a Disney movie. The sound design is also great, with a memorable sound track and quality voice acting. So why did I give it a 6? In-spite of its high quality production values, I found it to be a shallow and convoluted experience with boring combat that was often a chore to play through. I would describe it as an amusement park ride that goes on way too long. At first it is thrilling, there are so many amazing things to see but eventually it all just becomes a meaningless blur. The story is such a convoluted mess that I really didn't connect to any of the characters. The combat didn't seem to require much skill or experience. I mashed my way through most of the scenarios. Its not a terrible game, but it certainly could have been better.

    Gameplay - 6/10: The combat looks great and there are some very cool abilities but it seems like more of spectacle than an immersive experience. Most of the battles can be won by button mashing and a lot of the time I felt like I was playing the game on autopilot. Outside of combat there isn't much to do. I didn't enjoy the gummy ship sections at all. Some of the boss battles were really cool but compared to other games in the series, I found they required less strategy.

    Story - 3/10: I give the game some credit for attempting to give some explanation to all the madness but it was all so convoluted that I had trouble caring about anything that was happening. For the most part, the events in each of the Disney worlds has very little impact on the overarching story. I never felt like my actions were meaningful because most of the events came across as random. The ending seemed like a tidal wave of information that even the most hardcore fans would have trouble making sense of. While it does offer a bit of closure there are still some major loose ends that seemed to be tacked on for the sake of DLC.

    Visual Design - 9/10: This is one of the best looking games this generation. The visuals very accurately capture the look of the Disney worlds while also being distinctly Kingdom Hearts. It is very difficult to blend so many different worlds together and make it all look cohesive but the game does a great job. The FX and animations are also phenomenal. The only problem I had with the visuals were in the gummy ship sections, that part of the game looked significantly worse than the rest.

    Sound Design - 8/10: The soundtrack and voice acting are great. There are some really good new songs and also old ones that help capture the feel of the older games and Disney worlds. One weakness I found was that sometimes the soundtrack didn't fit the events that were going on. The battle music got a bit annoying and repetitive.

    World Design - 6/10: The worlds were a very mixed bag. They almost all looked great but the game play within them was mostly generic. Each world has a gimic or two that makes it fun at first but after a couple of hours I found I was bored by each one. Each world looks very different but the events within those worlds are not equally as interesting. A lot of the worlds looked really big but you are restricted to exploring small areas and straight forward paths.

    Characters - 5/10: There are a ton characters, and while they are all expressive and designed in an appealing style I didn't care about any of them. There are so many characters that all of the conversations are brief and void of substance. I never got to know any of the characters on a deeper level. The Disney characters seemed like one dimensional caricatures without any of the complexity that made them appealing in the movies. The original characters just seem to embody emotional superlatives. Sora has a lot of dialogue but it all seems shallow. Riku is just a dark broody version without anything new to contribute. Kairi once again does next to nothing. Nothing any character says comes across as novel or engaging. The game favors quantity over quality.    … Expand
  64. Xeliot
    Nov 12, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game is extremely easy, and the player is spoonfed like 90% of the time. Attractions absolutely ruin the flow of combat. Everything in KH3 felt grand-- fighting giant bosses instead of more focused and refined humanoid bosses in KH2. Sora's moveset in this game has a lot of unnecessary recovery on animations. Hence, the floatiness. Just overall bad combat choices by the Osaka team. And to think Drives were replaced by Attractions, which do nothing but be a 'press to win' button. The story at the end is doing some sort of checklist to tie in loose ends with no build up whatsoever. DISAPPOINTED!… Expand
  65. supermalik987
    Aug 10, 2020
    6
    As someone who grew up playing kingdom hearts , I just felt unhappy with this game . The team who made it also work on the handheld kingdom hearts game . I think me and a lot of people wish it felt like when getting KH2 back in 2006 . really did they had cut out raident garden for the not good movie retelling world . And i looking the game with outside re mind . The whole Point of gettingAs someone who grew up playing kingdom hearts , I just felt unhappy with this game . The team who made it also work on the handheld kingdom hearts game . I think me and a lot of people wish it felt like when getting KH2 back in 2006 . really did they had cut out raident garden for the not good movie retelling world . And i looking the game with outside re mind . The whole Point of getting re mind if you enjoy the base game sometime it can work but is hard to expect paying 30 extra witch most of the new is 3 hr after playing the same stuff in the keyblade graveyard .… Expand
  66. bcount23
    Feb 8, 2019
    6
    As a long time kingdom hearts fan I am extremely disappointed. This game is very boring with long drawn out cutscenes. The gameplay is the only reason I kept playing
  67. Lulcy
    Jun 27, 2019
    6
    Does thing well enough in many places and slighly improves in one aspect of either KH1 or KH2, which saves it from being average (or below), but never reaches a high point on any category and thus making it the weakest entry of the mainline games.
  68. ERRORCODE-20
    Jun 19, 2020
    6
    Kingdom Hearts 3 has some of the worst dialog and writing ive ever witnessed in a game. But its combat is a bit fun despite being completely braindead.
  69. UltiDK
    Oct 5, 2019
    6
    This was my first Kingdom Hearts game, but I watched several recap videoes before buying the game. Let's just say, I was disappointed. The game starts out pretty good, with the Hercules world. However, after this, it gets pretty boring. The combat can sometimes be fun, but is way to easy. Many of the worlds are pretty boring and not very interesting to explore, and the cutscenes aren'tThis was my first Kingdom Hearts game, but I watched several recap videoes before buying the game. Let's just say, I was disappointed. The game starts out pretty good, with the Hercules world. However, after this, it gets pretty boring. The combat can sometimes be fun, but is way to easy. Many of the worlds are pretty boring and not very interesting to explore, and the cutscenes aren't very exciting because of the very dull voice acting. The story doesn't seem to go anywhere, instead just sending you to different worlds, where you meet someone who needs help, you help them, and sometimes you meet the bad guys of the game, Organization XII, but most of the members just teleport away before you really have any interaction with them. In the end, I sold the game to GameStop.… Expand
  70. Xemnuz
    Sep 24, 2020
    6
    I cannot explain how much KH1 and 2 means to me, it's one of my most priced memories from when I was younger. Therefore waiting for this game and actually being able to play it was a long time coming(10-12 years?), I almost bought my PS4 solely for this, which I'm now glad I didn't. As I know from other games, nostalgia can have an effect on your mind which is not true, perhaps too strongI cannot explain how much KH1 and 2 means to me, it's one of my most priced memories from when I was younger. Therefore waiting for this game and actually being able to play it was a long time coming(10-12 years?), I almost bought my PS4 solely for this, which I'm now glad I didn't. As I know from other games, nostalgia can have an effect on your mind which is not true, perhaps too strong in the case of this game. To me that magic is gone, what used to be a rollercoaster of emotion, awesome combat, incredible music, nostalgia worlds, very complex story with parts from Final Fantasy and Disney made me want to play those games all day long.

    This however is such an exhausting grind, you could literally not have picked worse worlds, 2-3 of them I have not even heard of before and others were just such boring picks. Luckily the ending really came through with an extremely difficult boss fight (being low level at least) although I actually considered to call it quits midway. KH1-2 are masterworks in sound, visuals and the emotion they pour out, this is not that. Though the cinematics were beautiful and the gameplay pretty smooth. I'm suprised to see the other very positive reviews here but I'm pretty sure most of them are already KH fans and for a KH fan to leave a negative review is pretty difficult.

    I won't even begin with the special abilities, all of them either giving you motionsickness, ruining the atmosphere of the whole fight or being useless to the incredibly bad way it was designed.

    I would say 1st part 6-7/10, mid part 4/10 ending 7-8/10 = 5-6 / 10    … Expand
  71. Criticzuck19
    Jan 29, 2019
    6
    Going into this, I was hoping that I could finally get it. FINALLY I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE LOVE THE SERIES SO MUCH! But wait.. I don't really care about final fantasy characters.. and wait.. I don't really care for Disney much either.. and wait.. I haven't liked a single kingdom hearts game to this day.... Well this is awkward... Anyways.. after finishing KH3, I can officially say IGoing into this, I was hoping that I could finally get it. FINALLY I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE LOVE THE SERIES SO MUCH! But wait.. I don't really care about final fantasy characters.. and wait.. I don't really care for Disney much either.. and wait.. I haven't liked a single kingdom hearts game to this day.... Well this is awkward... Anyways.. after finishing KH3, I can officially say I cannot and will not ever care about this series. Is KH3 fun? Sure! Is the story okay if you ignore HOW MANY TIMES THEY GO ON AND ON ABOUT DARKNESS AND HEARTS?! NO! The story is a convoluted mess no matter how you choose to convince or receive it. Good luck hearing about any of the characters because it's almost as if they don't want you to care about them. Always being wrapped in a convoluted mess of a lore and story / world building. It's frankly a mess. The combat while fun gets mundane, you won't ever care about the next cutscene because... "Wait.. what's going on?? And why???" O.o
    For fans of the series, hey more power to you, but I can't say I'm here for the party. I'm just here to wait till I can sell it for a decent chunk of coin. Sorry, SE. Hearts, darkness, hearts, darkness, hearts, darkness, hearts, darkness, hearts, darkness, Disney, hearts, darkness, hearts, darkness, hearts, Disney, darkness, hearts, darkness, hearts, darkness, hearts, darkness... The end.    … Expand
  72. Erycus
    Feb 1, 2019
    6
    Unfortunately a clear step back from its predecessors - and it has nothing to do with expectations.

    Firstly this game is significantly shorter than KH2. Part of this is due to combat. Fights are far less memorable as it is completely unnecessary to learn the attack set of bosses. It's hardly necessary to even dodge that much since hits, even from the final boss, are not very    Unfortunately a clear step back from its predecessors - and it has nothing to do with expectations.

    Firstly this game is significantly shorter than KH2. Part of this is due to combat. Fights are far less memorable as it is completely unnecessary to learn the attack set of bosses. It's hardly necessary to even dodge that much since hits, even from the final boss, are not very damaging. I died a grand total of one time in my 30hr proud playthrough, even though I was underleveled for nearly every world. Getting what's essentially a drive form every 6 or 7 strokes of the keyblade is extremely overpowered.

    The plot development is poor. In KH2 there was significant buildup by first getting rid of sometimes massive heartless (pridelands) to eventually having a very difficult fight against each organization member boss battle. Even Demyx was a bit of a challenge. Here we go through a few world's for what's essentially no reason (they don't need saving or anything of the sort) all the while having no fights with organization members except for the short OP joke with Aqua against ...
    As an aside, there could have been much better buildup leading to getting back both of Aqua's friends, but there isn't. It basically just happens.
    Shortly after Aqua's battle we suddenly then fight multiple bosses who are rather weak, a joke compared to their versions in previous games. And then we basically end up finishing the game with an unmemorable final boss, not ever knowing what actually was beyond the world he sought.

    KH3 is beautiful and a decent end to many loose ends. But those ends are tied up too hastily, with us oftentimes barely having to put any effort in to fighting for tying up those ends. At the same time we are given content which has nothing to do with building up a conclusion to those loose ends, such as the extraordinarily long plough though Frozen.

    TLDR; Combat needs be seriously rebalanced, being more similar to KH2 or DDD. Plot buildup could have been much better than it was.    … Expand
  73. JustMangel
    Feb 17, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Antes de empezar a hablar del juego, quiero aclarar que he jugado a todos los anteriores (salvo los que solo estaban disponibles en consola portatil, aunque haya visto esa parte de la historia en videos)

    SPOILERS

    Lo positivo
    -Banda sonora: un KH sin buena banda sonora no es nada. Esta no es una excepción, aunque personalmente me quedo con la del KH2 (mi favorito de la saga)

    -Graficos: sinceramente, son unos graficos increibles, disfrutables aún más en una PS4 Pro. Es un juego nítido y el gran contraste entre personajes propios de la saga y los de disney se ha desvanecido.

    Mundos: hay gente que se ha quejado de este aspecto pero a mí por lo personal me ha agradado mucho. Hay mundos que no me han gustado mucho (como Frozen) pero de otros me han parecido muy interesantes y curiosos (Toy Story, en especial los juguetes)

    Nuevas dinamicas: el hecho de poder correr por las paredes, poder realizar diferentes combos y la facilidad de cambiar entre llaves espada y preajustes (magia, objetos, vínculos) me han parecido interesantes.

    Negativo
    -Dificultad: Este punto va de la mano con el siguiente, pero creo que es mejor separarlos. Sinceramente me ha decepcionado la facilidad del juego. Salvo alguna vez puntual (sobretodo al usar la antiforma sin querer y teniendo a Donald muerto) y en el jefe final, no he muerto ni una vez, pese a tener la máxima dificultad, yendo a un nivel inferior al recomendado del mundo y finalizando el juego al nivel 37. Me suena haber leido algo relacionado con que, los sincorazones y demás enemigos básicos no iban a ser tan faciles de derrotar como otras y, pese a que aumentan, tambien aumenta el arsenal de ataques. Y es que, cada 2 ataques, te sale o un comando de atracción, o un comando de Donald o Goofy o un comando de los personajes del mundo (en mundos como Toy Story luchas 5 personajes, algo excesivo).

    -Infantil: Y es que, pese a ser un juego con nuestros ídolos de la infancia, es un juego demasiado infantil, hasta el punto que da rabia (el momento de buscar a Olaf es insoportable). Si habeis jugado al juego, seguro que la frase "There might be some ingredients around here" de Donald la tendreis taladrada.

    -"Desarollo" de los personajes: Lo pongo entre comitas porque es insultante decir que hay una evolución. De hecho, salvo Sora y alguno más, los demás no se desarollan en absoluto. El ejemplo perfecto es Kairi. Tanto en el KH2 como en el KH3 da indicios de que quiere luchar, no depender de Sora siempre, algo que es bueno, ya que no solo daría algo de interés a un personaje que es más plano que una tabla de planchar y que su razón de existir es que está enamorada del personaje principal, si no que daría un referente femenino en una industria en la cual cada vez más mujeres pueden sentirse orgullosas de poder sentirse integradas. El resumen de su participación es, un par de escenas con Lea/Axel (alguna emotiva como la que le recuerda a Xion), estar entrenando durante mucho tiempo para que al final no derrote a ningún enemigo (ni siquiera a un mero sincorazón básico) y que Xemnas la rapte, para que luego Sora se sacrifique para rescatarla. Los demás personajes son o bien un carismático enemigo convertido en heroe para pasar a ser un peón payaso en KH3 (Lea/Axel), alguien que tenía encanto y ser intigrante según muchos a ser alguien plano y aburrido (Riku), o bien alguien que no varía ni un matiz ni cambia durante la saga (Aqua, Ventus, Mickey...)

    -Villanos: Simplemente son rídiculos. Xehanort es el ejemplo perfecto para ilustrar este punto. Aparece, le derrotas, revive, vuelve a aparecer, muere.... A más a más, sus motivos para ser los malos son estupidos. Salvo Xemnas en KH2, los demás son malos por curiosidad o por conveniencia del juego. Y eso por no hablar del refrito de otros villanos de la organización XIII.

    -Historia: Pese a que la historia de esta saga es simple, es adictiva. Luz contra oscuridad, buenos contra malos, el clasico duelo. El caso es que el final de este no me provocó nada. Me emocionó más ver a Xion, Roxas y Axel/Lea en la torre que ver a Kairi llorando por Sora. Y es que intentan venderte un final mediocre que, si se hubiese hecho trágico, la saga ganaría mucho más. Pero no. Ponen a todos felices salvo en un segundo donde miran a Kairi llorando. Llamadme simple, pero yo preferiría o un final feliz ( sin Sora muriendo ) o un final donde todos lamentasen el fallecimiento de este (aunque seguro que revivirá sabiendo como funciona esta saga, más aún tras lo visto en el final secreto).

    -Desaprovechado: El resumen perfecto para mí es este. Usan mecanicas como las de Riku y Aqua para una batalla, los personajes no interactuan antes de la batalla final, y juntan 3 jefes en un combate cuando, si los hubiesen puesto por separado después o antes de juntarlos sería mas entretenido.

    Lo recomiendo solo para los fans hardcore, no para alguien nuevo a la saga.    … Expand
  74. MasterZonix
    Feb 4, 2019
    6
    All Final Fantasy characters, Gone!
    Everything could be easily obtainded
    Reaction commands? Gone! Replaced by overpowered, shallow, Disney World ride attraction cutscenes. This game's over casualized combat system values flashiness over substance. Which is most likely there so 10 year olds and idiots can actually finish the game without too much effort. It's more of a show you watch,    All Final Fantasy characters, Gone!
    Everything could be easily obtainded
    Reaction commands? Gone! Replaced by overpowered, shallow, Disney World ride attraction cutscenes. This game's over casualized combat system values flashiness over substance. Which is most likely there so 10 year olds and idiots can actually finish the game without too much effort. It's more of a show you watch, than a game you strategically play.
    the camera control is pretty chaothic, that makes really difficult to hit the target with the new skills
    7-8 worlds, downgraded from 15-16 that KH2 had. Cutscenes every 5 minutes to pad out the 30 hour experience. Piss poor keyblade selection compared to KH2 and KH1.
    KH2 had over 60 boss fights, this game has less than half of that.
    It's like Square Enix forgot that the fans of this game are a lot older now and wrote the dialog the appease 11 year olds, but the story is still as convoluted as ever.
    I hate that everyone is over rating this game because they are scared to get down votes and mean comments from abysmal Kingdom Hearts fanboys.
    Truth is, it's a downgraded, that lacks a lot of the magic from the first 2 main games.
    it kinda feels empty , after all these years, they did a good job in the game "per-se" enjoyable for sure but is that a 10/10? absolutely not! It's seems made for the fan, but it's not! I don't know why but it seems an over commercialized product with no souls    … Expand
  75. dmusings
    Feb 8, 2019
    6
    Not worth the wait.

    Gameplay: As was the case in KHii, the game has a lot of options, that are largely meaningless. Basic combo+the occasional jump and/or block is all you need. Anything else is basically a 'remove challenge button. Characters: Simply awful. A terrible shonen main character who has no real character except for 'lul I'm an idiot'. And he's the best of the lot.    Not worth the wait.

    Gameplay: As was the case in KHii, the game has a lot of options, that are largely meaningless. Basic combo+the occasional jump and/or block is all you need. Anything else is basically a 'remove challenge button.
    Characters: Simply awful. A terrible shonen main character who has no real character except for 'lul I'm an idiot'. And he's the best of the lot. Cardboard, meaningless or single note versions of the disney characters.
    Story: A convoluted mess, as expected. But rather than being 'cheesy dumb' ala Bill and Ted, it's functionally dumb.

    Verdict: If you enjoy flat character less shonen, you may enjoy this. If you had actual expectations that Nomura and Square wpuld address actual flaws with the series to date, you'll be sorely disappointed. KHIII killed any further interest I have in the KH series.    … Expand
  76. flowergirl4151
    Feb 12, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Kingdom Hearts 3 is decent, not good, but mediocre at best. Why do I say this?
    - Game is a breeze through (even on Proud Mode)
    - Lack of Final Fantasy Characters
    - Floaty Combat (KH 2 and KH1 was not like this)
    - Twilight Town is smaller than KH2's version.
    - 90% of the soundtrack has been re used with only a few original songs they made.
    - Broken and Overpowered Disney Attraction ride attacks. Way too flashy and annoying.
    - Voice Acting is bad. There seems to be a pause every time the characters talk to each other.. not to mention the constant anime sounds these characters make which is also extremely uncalled for. The character Riku, now sounds like a robot whenever he speaks. It's just really terrible since the voice actors have a lot more potential, but the script they are given forces them to talk like that.
    - Confusing story that created a whole bunch of more plot holes.
    - Not to mention the ending was terrible and unsatisfying.
    - Kairi's character is still poorly developed. She was training throughout the entire game only to be captured and then murdered by Master Xehanort. If you couldn't tell, she's basically the "Damsel in Distress" throughout the entire KH series. It just shows that Nourma had no idea what to do with her character.
    - No motives for why the baddies are evil in the first place. But when you defeat them, they turn into good guys and are simply "misunderstood". The game tries to make you feel bad and feel sympathetic for the characters despite committing mass genocide in worlds.
    - Trailers pretty much spoiled most of the intense parts.. so it really lost that feeling of dread around the end of the game.

    5 years for this? I love the Kingdom Hearts Franchise but this one feels like it just doesn't belong. Hopefully Kingdom Hearts 4 will fix most of these problems.. but seeing this... it may not ever return back to it's roots as it once was.    … Expand
  77. BusyOrc
    Feb 14, 2019
    6
    This game isnt bad, but its disappointing. It tries so many new things to be like other games and ends up failing at it. It was fine with its combat but often than not you summon a disney ride by accident.
    The story is all over the place, I was glad to hear some context to the story but it got to the point where ot was just asinine.
    At the beginning I expected it to be corny and campy,    This game isnt bad, but its disappointing. It tries so many new things to be like other games and ends up failing at it. It was fine with its combat but often than not you summon a disney ride by accident.
    The story is all over the place, I was glad to hear some context to the story but it got to the point where ot was just asinine.
    At the beginning I expected it to be corny and campy, but this game took it on a whole new level. It was to a point where it was just creepy.
    The story isnt really complicated, its just a mess putting it together in this game. Graphics are good and so is the music. I had some gliches here and there like I was able to glide before I was supposed too.
    Overall if you were someone who just picked this game up and were under the age of 15 you would enjoy it, if you are over you would have to be poorly educated not to see the flaws in this game. The game feels like it was done with the idea "eh good enough" rather than the team putting their hearts into it.    … Expand
  78. Digiclone
    Jul 19, 2020
    6
    story: the story is almost non-existent throughout the game, and in the disney worlds it gets lazy assuming that the players watched the movies. the important parts were left for the final hours and were both confusing and anti-climatic.

    gameplay: the combat remained well done but easy, extremely easy, to the point that to have a challenge you must go out of your way to limit your own    story: the story is almost non-existent throughout the game, and in the disney worlds it gets lazy assuming that the players watched the movies. the important parts were left for the final hours and were both confusing and anti-climatic.

    gameplay: the combat remained well done but easy, extremely easy, to the point that to have a challenge you must go out of your way to limit your own gameplay. exploration has improved compared to the second game in the franchise.

    art: the game was already beautiful in past entries, but this game managed to use the maximum graphical power of the current generation of consoles to bring beautiful scenarios, characters and effects.

    music: yoko shimomura 10/10    … Expand
  79. Caleskaige
    Apr 10, 2019
    6
    Overall boring game. Long and drawn out cutscenes, The characters feel like they are dead inside. The gameplay kept me playing, that's it.
  80. DezJade
    Feb 28, 2019
    6
    Kingdom Hearts to video games is as Harry Potter is to books and ATLA is to tv shows for me- as in, it's a defining part of my childhood that has irrevocably shaped who I am as a person. I've played every game and been obsessed with the series since the first game when I was eight years old. That being said, I knew going into KH3 as soon as it was announced back in 2013 that I needed toKingdom Hearts to video games is as Harry Potter is to books and ATLA is to tv shows for me- as in, it's a defining part of my childhood that has irrevocably shaped who I am as a person. I've played every game and been obsessed with the series since the first game when I was eight years old. That being said, I knew going into KH3 as soon as it was announced back in 2013 that I needed to keep my hopes realistic. It's impossible for it to capture that same magic as when you're a kid and this proves true for almost every sequel and/or reboot made years later.

    Even with reasonable expectations, I was still disappointed in KH3.

    Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, I still cried at the beginning and at the end of the game. To be succinct, here's a list of my pros and cons:

    Cons:
    The combat. Way too flashy, as I'm sure many critics have said before. The game was far too easy. The attraction rides were stupid and unexplained and just...dumb.
    The story. Ridiculously convoluted plot. If this was the first game in a series (no prior established fanbase), the reviews for it would be far lower and a big chunk of this would be due to the insane story. Again, this is coming from someone who has played all the games and understands everything. I get it; doesn't mean it's still not stupid.
    The characters! This is what happens when you try to force a ridiculous plot: you bend and break the characters to fit it. This game did not FEEL like the others. For example, Sora, Riku, and Kairi's friendship is a huge part of the series and has been since the first game. But honestly, they barely interact in this! Riku has very little personality, Sora is just full of sunshine to the point where (with all the foreboding evil taking place at the same time) is almost unnerving, and Kairi is by far treated the absolute worst in this whole game. Even XEHANORT, the VILLIAN of the whole series, is treated with more compassion and dignity than Kairi. Kairi should be the coolest character in the entire game! Not only is she a Princess of Light, but she also wields a keyblade! They had a huge opportunity to make her a big-name character, setting her up to star in future games, but no. They went back a thousand steps and turned her into this no-personality damsel in distress who literally only exists to further the half-baked plot.
    The disney was also a huge let down too. Were the worlds beautiful? Sure? Was it awesome having multiple party members? Yes! But other than that? The words weren't that big, and most of the areas blended into one another. They weren't interactive in the same terms as the very first game (think of everything you could do in each area of each world. Wonderland alone was, literally, a wonder land, fun to explore to find secrets!). The worlds just felt like tasks you were supposed to get through to move on. You didn't get the chance to bond and learn from the characters (beyond the quick forced interactions). If you didn't watch the Disney movies, you'd have absolutely no idea what happened as you played the game. Rapunzel goes from saying Flynn to Eugene; what the heck is going on with Davy Jones? You're out of luck if you haven't watched the films, but hey, it's just as silly and unexplained as the rest of the game. We didn't get to really immerse ourselves in the world because all the stupid organization members no one cares about kept showing up to be annoyingly vague and mysterious on purpose. There were basically no Disney villains in this game, and the heartless were not catered to each specific world so honestly the whole experience was just very...disappointing, particularly compared to the other games.
    WAY too many cutscenes. You literally play for a minute before a 10 minute cutscene is triggered. I LOVE Kingdom Hearts but even I was tuning out for most of these because they were so stupid and boring and just plain unnecessary. Like what was even the point of Maleficent and Pete? They contributed absolutely nothing to the game. Honest to God you could cut 75% of the cutscenes from this game and not take away from anything at all. So much of this game was just unnecessary. They really needed an English Lit major on their team to go in and read their script and cut away all the unnecessary bs.

    Pros:
    The graphics. It really is a gorgeous game.
    The versatility. Sora being able to run up buildings and dive deep underwater was nice.
    I liked the magic. Though I prefer how it was set up in the first game vs the others. I really liked the effects too; because able to slide on the ice after using blizzard, Sora reacting to getting burned, etc
    Nostalgia. It's KH. I'd take a bad KH game over no KH game. I'm still ticked off about the game (don't get me started on the 100 acre wood), but all in all, I'm glad I played it. It's okay.    … Expand
  81. Kasvin
    Mar 2, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game that i hyped for the past decade is a let down.

    Yes, the graphics is amazing, the scenery is beautiful, every visual detail of the game looks amazing. None of the other predecessor could top it, even KH 2.8.

    But the combat and story is a total letdown.

    i'll compare my KH3 experience to KH 1/2.

    1. In the predecessors, when you land a hit on the enemy, will stagger them and open up a chain of combos. However, in kingdom hearts 3, they do not get interrupted majority of the time and you'll just get knocked back instead, taking heavy damage. It feels as though i'm being penalized for swinging the keyblade around.

    2. Guard is severely under-powered. Guarding in KH1/2 usually will stun the enemy on a successful block, allowing counter attacks and provides long invincibility frames. However, guarding in KH3 doesn't help open up a combo and instead, counter attacking after guarding will lead back to point 1., taking hits simply cause you cant even stagger with a counterattack. In KH2, You could cast reflect mid combo to protect yourself as a form of mid combo guard but with the removal of reflect spell in KH3, they should had made it possible to guard mid combo, similar to Limit Form. Yes, It is a good upgrade that you can use guard midair now.

    3. Removal of reaction command. Reaction commands was the essence that is what gave Kingdom Hearts 2 the depth of combat and environment interactions. Quick dodging a Neoshadow's dive, counter dashing a Soldier, grabbing claymores breaking Sai'x out of berserk mode, riding a whirlwind to launch into the air. You name it.
    Just a comparison in the similar fight of Saix in KH2 and 3.
    On 2, i can block his attacks with consecutive blocks or simply glide around to avoid, grab his claymore and break him out of berserk.
    On 3, I'm forced to run around casting magic on Sai'x in order to damage him simply because i had no way of landing a hit without being flung into the air and no way of breaking him out of berserk.
    The lack of RC dulled the fighting experience and added annoyance instead.

    4. Magic Abuse. With the melee being so difficult to hit land hits some times, as mentioned, i"m forced to spam magic. To put it bluntly, magic is overpowered here, able to deal heavy damage from a safe distance, just pop those ethers. Nice addition to make run casting possible.

    5. Attractions and Links. If you played KHBBS or KH2, I'm 100% sure you'll never use a summon or Link for fights in KH3 too. Attraction is too overpowered and broken with the long immunity time frames and heavy damage potentials.

    6. Form are locked to weapons. It locks out the flexibility of the form to use. The different mechanics deters me from using any other keyblade other than Kingdom key and Starlight.

    7. No way of recharging focus bar in combat without refocuser or focus orb.

    8. Lack of optional bosses. There's only 1 in this game. KH2 had 15 optional bosses and BBS had 5 at least.

    9. Shallow boss fights mechanics. The fights are just a bunch of barrages of attacks which some are so difficult to dodge or block that you become a punching bag.

    10. Lack of movement abilities till late game. Don't talk about flowmotions cause those are situational. Glide is received near the end of the game and Air Slide is ineffective in combat and replaced with Aerial Dodge, meaning getting into an encounter means moving slower. What happen to Quick Run from KH2's wisdom form growth ability?

    Now onto content and story

    1. So many worlds could had been part of this game. Radiant garden, Land of departure, Disney Castle could had been many of the potential worlds.

    2. If you have never watched the movies, some of the stories makes no sense and some has no follow-ups.

    in Frozen, they mentioned Anna went back to the country to find her true love, Hans, but if they have never watched the movie they would never had known the guy trying to kill Elsa was even him.

    Hayner/Olette/Pence agreed if there were any progress regarding details about Roxas, they would contact Sora, and yet, after the cutscene where they rescued Ansem the wise, they act as though nothing happened.

    Why did Flynn tried to walk away with the crown? The Stabbington Brothers never existed in this story.

    Lingering Will was fighting Terra-Xehanort and suddenly he disappear for the rest of the game as though he never appeared to begin with.

    Riku Replica sacrifice his new body and left it for Namine, but Namine was revived using the body delivered by Demyx so what did he sacrificed he body for?

    What happened to Demyx and Vexen? i know Vexen became Even again so what happened to Demyx who just up and vanished after delivering the replica body for Namine?

    Where are all the Final Fantasy characters? what happen to Cloud and Sephiroth? 3. Earning the Ultima Weapon is way too easy and low time consuming compared to KH1/2. 4. Lacked too much contents. KH2 had load of minigames and rewards unlike KH3.    … Expand
  82. Chaserbrown
    Aug 6, 2019
    6
    I've been a Kingdom Hearts fan since I was a kid, but never played all the games until recently. Over the last couple years, I played through all of the games through the I.5, II.5, and II.8 ReMIXes. As time's gone on, I've come to realize that this series isn't perfect, but the charm of the games, the music, the story, and all of that keeps me coming back.

    Kingdom Hearts III, for the    I've been a Kingdom Hearts fan since I was a kid, but never played all the games until recently. Over the last couple years, I played through all of the games through the I.5, II.5, and II.8 ReMIXes. As time's gone on, I've come to realize that this series isn't perfect, but the charm of the games, the music, the story, and all of that keeps me coming back.

    Kingdom Hearts III, for the majority of the game, has very little of what I used to love from these games. The entire middle of this game is genuinely pretty boring, and unless playing in Disney worlds is charming enough for you, the scenery rarely fixes that. The combat is pretty okay but stays relatively consistent throughout the game. There's no NPCs that make the gameplay more interesting, and ingredients are offered as a minor distraction. If you love Kingdom Hearts combat, you'll like most of this game, but if it's just alright to you, the middle of the game will be mostly boring to you.

    To be fair, I've usually found the middle of Kingdom Hearts games to be somewhat boring. I play the games for the Kingdom Hearts parts: Traverse Town, Twilight Town, Radiant Garden, Destiny Islands, and even some of the semi-Disney stuff like Yen Sid's Tower or Olympus Coliseum. Kingdom Hearts I and II usually had a fair balance of Disney and Kingdom Hearts elements, but III keeps this to an absolute minimum. It's restricted to the beginning of the game (minimally) and the ending of the game. The entire middle of the game is straight Disney. Not only this, but you have no connection to a real story. Just like before, there's no good motive for going to the Disney worlds, but usually you're at least somewhat connected to the story. There's a real sense of mystery or plot development. In Kingdom Hearts I you'd encounter Riku or Maleficent or other important characters. In Kingdom Hearts II you're unraveling the secrets of Organization XIII. In Kingdom Hearts III, you're either watching the story pass from other characters' perspectives during cutscenes between worlds, or getting minimal encounters with Organization XIII members (although there's very little mystery in it all). From the start, you know where the game's going. It's only at the end that it starts to get good.

    In my opinion, the ending of the game is fantastic. The music is great and the conclusion feels right for the series, teasing where it's going next. I've heard people disagree with me on this point, but the last 3-5 hours of the game are Kingdom Hearts magic. You see the characters fighting together to a phenomenal soundtrack and it really does conclude what it needs to. At the end, you feel good, like you just finished a great game. I don't want to neglect that -- it's the ending that I wanted -- but I can't just review a game for the final 5%. The other 95% is mediocre and really, really takes away from the game.

    Finally, I should state that I considered Birth by Sleep to be a better game than Kingdom Hearts III. I also played that game in the last year, so this isn't just nostalgia. The plot was better (even in Dream Drop Distance), and I was engaged for most of the time. I just don't feel it in Kingdom Hearts III.

    If you're a Kingdom Hearts fan, play this game. It does what it needs to by concluding the story, and the game is alright separate from that. But don't go in expecting Kingdom Hearts I or Kingdom Hearts II levels of charm. For me at least, it fails in that regard.    … Expand
  83. TricksterZero
    Sep 8, 2019
    6
    The gameplay is nice but I'm gonna be honest: 13 years ago I was super excited especially after clearing Kingdom Hearts II, but as time went on that excitement turned to indifference. I was 30 years old when it came out and I didn't feel as interested as I was when I was 16 going 17. It just came too late. Sure there were other titles in the middle but all I wanted was KH3. The story isThe gameplay is nice but I'm gonna be honest: 13 years ago I was super excited especially after clearing Kingdom Hearts II, but as time went on that excitement turned to indifference. I was 30 years old when it came out and I didn't feel as interested as I was when I was 16 going 17. It just came too late. Sure there were other titles in the middle but all I wanted was KH3. The story is still a lot of horse donkey and halfway through I stopped giving a s*** and that's a problem in an Rpg when the story is trash, to begin with.

    Oh well. It's a classic case of too little too late.    … Expand
  84. DjaySuzi
    Mar 11, 2021
    6
    While the gameplay, combat (aside from the attractions that are so repetitive and unnecessary), graphics, worlds, gummi ship missions, voice acting, and everything I can think of felt MUCH better than 1 and 2, it still wasn't enough to keep me from utter boredom on my way to platinum. I tried my best to pay attention to the cutscenes but they happen so often, and they're so long andWhile the gameplay, combat (aside from the attractions that are so repetitive and unnecessary), graphics, worlds, gummi ship missions, voice acting, and everything I can think of felt MUCH better than 1 and 2, it still wasn't enough to keep me from utter boredom on my way to platinum. I tried my best to pay attention to the cutscenes but they happen so often, and they're so long and uninteresting I was more worried about fighting off the impeding yearning to nap than what threats they faced. They could have all died and I would have been okay with that, and I love disney movies and anime. It's just this doesn't work for me. There's nothing gripping about the story. A lot of it is just rehashed from the movies like 1 and 2 were with bad writing thrown in. I guess this style of game just isn't my cup of tea despite my love for anime and the disney characters that are featured in it.… Expand
  85. leochacha
    Jul 1, 2020
    6
    Good graphics and music. Fun, but flawed, gameplay. (the cracks grow as the difficulty rises) Mess of a story. In my opinion the story is too simple for veterans and too convoluted for newcomers. The game really hinges on you caring about the characters, so if you don't it will be a huge drag. It takes a very specific kind of person to love Kingdom Hearts 3 and I'm one of them. But I amGood graphics and music. Fun, but flawed, gameplay. (the cracks grow as the difficulty rises) Mess of a story. In my opinion the story is too simple for veterans and too convoluted for newcomers. The game really hinges on you caring about the characters, so if you don't it will be a huge drag. It takes a very specific kind of person to love Kingdom Hearts 3 and I'm one of them. But I am not blind to its faults.… Expand
  86. JackStroke
    Feb 2, 2020
    6
    A painful backstabbing to the quality of the saga.
    Same goes for the DLC. Almost calling it a fraud.
  87. neko555
    Mar 1, 2021
    6
    Estoy bastante decepcionado con este juego. No es que no lo esté disfrutando, sino que tenían todos los ingredientes para hacer el mejor juego de la saga y los han tirado a la basura por decisiones absurdas. Hablo principalmente de la jugabilidad, de la historia no me pronuncio puesto que aún no lo he terminado.

    -En primer lugar hablar del sistema de combate. A mi parecer el mejor hasta    Estoy bastante decepcionado con este juego. No es que no lo esté disfrutando, sino que tenían todos los ingredientes para hacer el mejor juego de la saga y los han tirado a la basura por decisiones absurdas. Hablo principalmente de la jugabilidad, de la historia no me pronuncio puesto que aún no lo he terminado.

    -En primer lugar hablar del sistema de combate. A mi parecer el mejor hasta el momento había sido el de Birth by sleep, agregando un gran número de habilidades de final fantasy, haciendo los combates mucho más interesantes, versátiles y con posibilidades de diferentes estrategias. En lugar de seguir esa línea han optado por la de "machaca botones" y elevarlo al cuadrado con los comandos de situación. Ahora los combates son básicamente x,x,x,x,x,x,Δ,x,x,x,Δ...

    -En segundo lugar, es un juego totalmente pasillero. A veces te encuentras un área un poco más amplia, pero no es más que otro pasillo un poco más grande. Al haber hecho los mundos más largos, esta idea de pasillos los hace muy poco rejugables (y un verdadero hastío el buscar todas las marcas mickey, tesoros, etc), uno de los puntos clave en la saga.

    -En tercer lugar algo ya conocido por todos, la dificultad. El juego es ridícula e innecesariamente fácil incluso en nivel experto, más si tenemos en cuenta que no hace falta pasárselo en un nivel concreto para sacar el platino, esto junto al sistema de combate machaca botones no ayuda nada de nada. Para colmo su "solución" que básicamente pretendía acallar a la gente de la formas más rápida y barata, ha sido un completo fiasco, ya que ahora el modo maestro no es dificil, es simplemente frustrante. En lugar de aumentar las habilidades enemigas o la IA simplemente han aumentado una barbaridad el daño recibido. Esto solo consigue frustración, ya que puedes estar 1.5h jugando sin recibir ni un golpe y de repente el enemigo más tonto del juego te mata de un golpe.

    -En cuarto lugar la nave gumi. El sistema que han creado probablemente es el que más me gusta hasta la fecha, pero, una vez más, se lo han cargado con lo absurdamente fácil que es. Como puede ser que ya tenga la mejor nave si no llevo ni la mitad del juego?
    -En quinto lugar, y puede que una de las cosas que más me molesta. Sin ser malos, los gráficos no son ni mucho menos un portento para esta generación, como puede tener input lag (he jugado a 1.5, 2.5 y 2.8 en PS4 y esto no ocurría) y bajadas de FPS tan importantes que genera tirones incluso en los vídeos? Juegos como God of War, que está a años luz en lo que a gráficos se refiere no tiene estos problemas, como puede KH III fallar en ese aspecto incluso con las opciones más optimizadas. Esto creo que es algo imperdonable.

    La mayoría de los puntos que trato probablemente responden a decisiones de los dirigentes para hacer un juego más comercial y más "accesible", como a ellos les gusta decir. Sinceramente, dudo que ganen muchos nuevos fans de la saga con ello y lo único que consiguen es cabrear a los que ya lo éramos.
    Aún hay más errores y problemas, pero creo que estos son los más importantes y que más han mermado la calidad del juego. Si simplemente hubiesen reutilizado sus propias ideas en cuanto a combate y jugabilidad, diseño de niveles, mundos semiabiertos o abiertos con la potencia que les daba esta generación para poder hacerlo...    … Expand
  88. Tiimah
    Jan 28, 2020
    6
    Worst in the series after Coded. They had 10 years ... Extremely disappointed. It's very pretty though and the music is better than ever.
  89. fjose1987
    Feb 4, 2020
    6
    I have an bittersweet feeling with this game.
    1- I Really love all the Kingdoms and the dosing that the people from Square Enix has done.
    2- Graphics are freaking amazing. Animations of the characters, designs, scenaries, and a long etc of details that in merse you in the world. 3- But the worst part are the cinematics. I mean, they are well done, very well animated, but there are plenty    I have an bittersweet feeling with this game.
    1- I Really love all the Kingdoms and the dosing that the people from Square Enix has done.
    2- Graphics are freaking amazing. Animations of the characters, designs, scenaries, and a long etc of details that in merse you in the world.
    3- But the worst part are the cinematics. I mean, they are well done, very well animated, but there are plenty of them. Picture starting a new world. There are 20 mins of cinematics (no problem at all) but when you start playing, after 2 min playing, another cinematic that don't introduce nothing now at the story. This fact makes that the rhythm ofthe adventure decline. So on ,the game starts to be boring after and after all.    … Expand
  90. ThePSButton
    Apr 4, 2020
    6
    Visualmente es maravilloso, puro dulce directito a tus ojos... y ya. La jugabilidad peca de sencilla y se limita a un "presiona triángulo para ganar". La narrativa de KH nunca ha sido su fuerte, y aquí queda clarísimo que estamos ante una historia que se estiró con el único propósito de vender más spin-offs. Un final decepcionante para la saga de Sora.
  91. TheSpiral
    Apr 8, 2020
    6
    It started off so well with a very engaging first world that seemingly led into the game proper. A few of the worlds were very well designed with interesting mechanics (Toy Story was a particular high point!) but it soon devolved into a very lackluster experience. There is a certain homogenization that comes with the territory of using an engine such as unreal, the shaders and lightingIt started off so well with a very engaging first world that seemingly led into the game proper. A few of the worlds were very well designed with interesting mechanics (Toy Story was a particular high point!) but it soon devolved into a very lackluster experience. There is a certain homogenization that comes with the territory of using an engine such as unreal, the shaders and lighting system used don't really suit the aesthetic of the game and you end up with character models that look a bit weird. The music was a high point, I still find myself humming some of the world tunes now. The game forgets its roots, diving into the Disney aspect but forgetting the other half of the equation, it no longer feels like an imaginative, wacky crossover franchise and instead feels like a sterile Disney product. Mechanically something feels off, compared to the masterpiece that was KH2 especially. Everything feels very linear and as though you're ticking some kind of UI box. For me personally, this is the most disappointing game of the decade and I wouldn't recommend it, if you're a hardcore KH fan it will disappoint you.… Expand
  92. daniel_dbv
    Jan 6, 2021
    6
    Excelentes gráficas , sin embargo la historia del juego es muy plana , se nota que no pudieron enlazar la historia del juego con las películas de Disney las cuales se sienten sobrepuestas y sin vida , creo que la historia se les salió de las manos , solo lo recomiendo a alguien muy fan de la saga , no es un buen juego
  93. Antoniods
    Mar 19, 2022
    6
    Ho trovato il gioco da 6,5 non troppo duraturo rispetto a Kingdom Hearts 2 la trama è sempre la stessa. Non mi sono divertito molto perché troppi minigiochi e il suo DLC ingiocabile. Non è brillante rispetto a Nier Automata e Nier Replicant bruttissimo il DLC è un gioco troppo vecchia scuola. La miglior serie è Nier Automata è più rigiocabile affascinante e rigiocabile. Verdetto un giocoHo trovato il gioco da 6,5 non troppo duraturo rispetto a Kingdom Hearts 2 la trama è sempre la stessa. Non mi sono divertito molto perché troppi minigiochi e il suo DLC ingiocabile. Non è brillante rispetto a Nier Automata e Nier Replicant bruttissimo il DLC è un gioco troppo vecchia scuola. La miglior serie è Nier Automata è più rigiocabile affascinante e rigiocabile. Verdetto un gioco divertente ma troppo vecchio sia in termini di difficoltà e vecchio il combat System non è un gioco spettacolare spero che non esca un Kingdom Hearts deludente in futuro e macchinoso.… Expand
  94. AntonioDS94
    Dec 5, 2022
    6
    Il mio voto corrisponde a Sufficiente non ho trovato nulla di innovativo qualche mondo si che è bello la trama e sempre Sora come negli altri Kingdom Hearts poco originale ed ispirata rispetto ai primi due capitoli. Preferisco Nier Automata e Nier Replicant che hanno più carattere. Non è un gioco molto brillante. Spero che Yoko Taro e Platinum Games rendano il gioco molto Nier in futuroIl mio voto corrisponde a Sufficiente non ho trovato nulla di innovativo qualche mondo si che è bello la trama e sempre Sora come negli altri Kingdom Hearts poco originale ed ispirata rispetto ai primi due capitoli. Preferisco Nier Automata e Nier Replicant che hanno più carattere. Non è un gioco molto brillante. Spero che Yoko Taro e Platinum Games rendano il gioco molto Nier in futuro spettacolare e brillante come Nier Automata.… Expand
  95. ZangBang
    Dec 25, 2022
    6
    63/100
    Kingdom Hearts 3 offers players a stunningly wide array of rewarding, heterogeneous combat options taken from many previous installments, keeping the experience extremely fresh throughout, and adds new gamechanging mechanics such as the possibility to defend while airborne or switch Keyblades on the fly, which is a massive revolution allowing for more creative combos and a more    63/100
    Kingdom Hearts 3 offers players a stunningly wide array of rewarding, heterogeneous combat options taken from many previous installments, keeping the experience extremely fresh throughout, and adds new gamechanging mechanics such as the possibility to defend while airborne or switch Keyblades on the fly, which is a massive revolution allowing for more creative combos and a more fluid combat flow. Even after all of this, combat still greatly suffers from a restricted player agency due to the somewhat random and awkwardly time-restricted nature of Situation Commands, instead of the rewarding resource management on which KH2 relied. Nonetheless, just like KH2, KH3 offers a massive set of combat options, and while the main campaign is a little too easy with mostly simplistic bosses, the post-game content provides a wide array of challenging, deeply variegated bossfights with multifaceted movesets and interesting mechanics. Level Design is breathtaking, with huge open spaces developing in different ways in each new area. They lack meaningful platforming or environmental challenges, but they're packed with various collectibles, secrets and most of all minigames. KH3's greatest strength is in fact its gameplay variety and richness: on top of the tremendously upgraded Gummiship section, we find a staggering amount of polished, charming fun minigames and side-activities to enjoy and master, both self-contained and tangential to the core gameplay structure. The game's greatest weakness, on the other hand, is the story, especially as the finale of a saga lasted eight games. Most blatantly a horrible cutscene direction, with awkward silences between lines and stiff, slow action scenes. Most painfully, an unimaginative plot that tries to unravel the massive tangle of storylines built throghout the years in the quickest, simplest ways possible leading to a linear, bland story that disregards many previously established rules thus creating an embarassing amount of plotholes in a series that ironically prides itself on the importance of its story and complexity of its lore.    … Expand
  96. spizer511
    Feb 7, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So I beat the game a few days ago, clocking in at just over 28 hours. And that was even with several hours spent running around doing random side quests on previous worlds and/or galavanting in the much improved gummi ship experience.

    I enjoyed the game. Most of my gripes come from the quality bar set by such amazing titles as the Dragon Age series, Horizon Zero Dawn, Noir, etc. Where much like KH3 these titles were in production for 6+ years and the amount/quality of game they pulled off in such time was simply breathtaking. KH3? Again. I enjoyed, but compared to these other titles it is/was woefully found lacking.

    Prepare for the game:
    Either replay all the prior games or find a good 30 minute summary on Youtube. You'll appreciate about 90% more of the game that way.

    Pros:
    - The game knows how to make fun of itself.
    - If you enjoyed the other games, you will enjoy this game.
    - Every character and scene is drastically improved with the new implementation in the Unreal engine.
    - Only 10% of the cutscenes appear to be pre-rendered in lieu of using the in-game models.
    - Battle system allows for as much or as little strategy a you feel like. Though, get used to blocking and counter-attacking if you hope to be prepared for the final boss.
    - Donald and Goofy in battle appear in their most competent form to date!
    - Most of the worlds feel HUGE. And this is mostly a good thing, with only a few exceptions.
    - Zipper-fetish is still strong in the series.
    - Moogles are still adorable.
    - Little Chef is cute.
    - Theme parks rides are kinda fun.
    - Simba rules.
    - Customizing your shortcuts is KING.
    - My Gummiship featured a Shiba Inu and then a Corgi... **** win, mate. :D
    - Dialogue entirely voice-acted!
    - Some of the non-original voice actors are spot on!
    - Cutscenes are skippable... Which is good because.

    Cons:
    - Half of the game is cutscenes and not game play.
    - You have to listen and watch segments of the Frozen soundtrack (Which, if you look up interviews, you will find that the directors of the game thought would be a great thing that fans would want...). But don't forget, you CAN skip them.
    - The cutscenes that happen in-world have almost nothing to do with the plot of the overarching game. Which would be fine, except...
    - The agency feels forced. You show up, bad guys are being bad. You help the good guys out... And in return... Get a keychain for your keyblade (which isn't a part of the story, it just kinda happens). Beyond that? You learn more about the expanded definition of "heart", "love", and what they mean.
    - The cut scenes suffer from the same awkward pacing and weird pantomime caricatures as the rest of the series.
    - Several times throughout the game, the cutscene dialogue is... awkward. "Sora. Donald Goofy."
    - Many of the characters feel poorly representative when compared to the source material.
    - Some of the voices are just, just awful. I'm looking at you Mickey and you Xehanort (RIP Leanord Nemoy, they couldn't replace you).
    - And Pirates of the Caribbean which is... Kinda terrible on all fronts. I did enjoy the variety of the underwater battles, but everything else, including the cardboard cut outs of the characters felt poorly executed. What do you mean you haven't recently seen the movie that came out in May of 2007?
    - They did as little as humanly possible with Big Hero 6.
    - Plot devices/holes such as Replicas and Time Travel... Except for when it's inconvenient and you just need a character there.
    - Kairi is still 1 dimensional, but really important for some reason.
    - Sora has not matured at all from the first kingdom hearts, he's simply more powerful. His parents, er... Buddies, Donald and Goofy constantly have to correct him in the same manner as KH1.
    - There are references to FF characters, but aside from the Moogle? Not a single NPC pops up. No Cloud. No Yuffie. No Waka. No Sephiroth.
    - The backstory lore included with the game is woefully inadequate. If you have nothing else, it'll be just barely enough. Ultimately though, the game goes so far as to suggest to you just before the "final dungeon" that you should use your in-game "gummi phone" to read up on all these dozens of characters who've been thrust upon you... Ya know, in case you didn't spend hundred of hours replaying Kingdom Hearts - 1.5, 2.5, BbS, 358/2 Days, 3D and Re:Coded.
    - Kingdom Hearts, the entity is still... Murky in definition. There's been several iterations formed by different things (some are the hearts of people, the main one... I think. Is made up of the hearts of the worlds (aka anything that supports life that isn't people), and at the end of the day the one thing you can really accept it as being is "a vast source of power."

    Lesson:
    Play it for a good time, for nostalgia, and to enjoy the beautiful new graphics. Though as with the other games, do not play as a drinking game (using the words "heart" or "darkness" as a prompt will likely land you in a hospital).    … Expand
  97. Kenmei
    Feb 11, 2019
    5
    I feel like people are viewing this game with nostalgia-tinted glasses and are glossing over some major problems that came about with it. Firstly, the story is convoluted at best, and horribly written and paced at worst. Just because you played the game when you were younger and had great memories of the first two games in the series, doesn't mean that the game itself is super hard toI feel like people are viewing this game with nostalgia-tinted glasses and are glossing over some major problems that came about with it. Firstly, the story is convoluted at best, and horribly written and paced at worst. Just because you played the game when you were younger and had great memories of the first two games in the series, doesn't mean that the game itself is super hard to follow and, even the most diligent of KH fans who have played all the games that came out between 2 and 3, have to admit that the story is extremely hard to understand. And the stuff that is easy to figure out are very bland. There's so much content that the story has tried to force down your throat that anyone who claims they know what they're talking about with this game without having done a masters course about it, are probably lying. It doesn't help that Sora is about a dumb as a bag of rocks, and he makes it hard to root for him. This game has the same problem that I had with a few of the Tales games recently in that just because the main characters spout about love and friendship literally every conversation, doesn't mean they have a lot of depth and are fun to root for.
    I'd say the most redeeming quality the game has is the combat system that is fluid and fun, even though changing from attack to magic is a bit tedious. It's still the fun action-RPG style that I remember from KH 2, even if a few of the mechanics from that game were taken out of this one. I wouldn't say this does enough to save the game though.
    I'd say a lot of people will feel obligated to finish this game based on their history with it, not realizing that there were 3-4 full length games that were relased between 2 and 3 and have no idea what is going on at the beginning of this game. Just because people may feel like nostalgia pushed them towards playing this, doesn't mean it has the same magic that the first two did. Its a shame that the series ends on a very cookie cutter ending, stuff you could have seen coming from a mile away. Its, frankly, not a well written story and did nothing to draw me in. My play-though just consisted of me trying to get through it because I felt I needed to finish it after having waited 13 years since KH 2. However, my fun factor was severely lessened by how bad the story ended up being in the end. I'd say the biggest factor I'd say to people looking to play this is not to let nostalgia dictate how much fun you have with this. It's certainly not up to the quality I would have hoped to see here from this last game in this long running series.    … Expand
  98. FinalFantasyX
    Jul 7, 2019
    5
    Simple Review:

    Negatives: -Terrible Story -Felt like they were just checking off a list of stories to wrap up (terrible flow to the story) -Dialogue/Writing is even more corny and cringy than expected -Worlds feel dead and empty -lack of number of worlds -LESS THAN 30 HOURS to beat/complete EVERYTHING -When playing, definitely gave that feeling/vibe of "They are going to DLC the    Simple Review:

    Negatives:
    -Terrible Story
    -Felt like they were just checking off a list of stories to wrap up (terrible flow to the story)
    -Dialogue/Writing is even more corny and cringy than expected
    -Worlds feel dead and empty
    -lack of number of worlds
    -LESS THAN 30 HOURS to beat/complete EVERYTHING
    -When playing, definitely gave that feeling/vibe of "They are going to DLC the crap out of this game"
    -Although I never care about graphics..... whether you like the graphics or not, it's a fact that the graphics were inconsistent in this game. You could easily tell some worlds received much more special treatment than others.

    Positives:
    -Gameplay is phenomenal. 10/10 Gameplay, easily.
    -Music is good. I'd give a 8/10 here.

    That's about it.    … Expand
  99. Kai82
    Jan 16, 2020
    5
    While it is a good game it is also a disappointment and the weakest of the main games. It is more an underperformance or good things done halfway than a bad game. I want to mention that I am a huge fan of the Kingdom Hearts series and played KH1, KH2, BBS, DDD, CoM and KH2,5. Lets start with the good things: The graphic and soundtrack are really good. I cant imagine a Kingdom HeartsWhile it is a good game it is also a disappointment and the weakest of the main games. It is more an underperformance or good things done halfway than a bad game. I want to mention that I am a huge fan of the Kingdom Hearts series and played KH1, KH2, BBS, DDD, CoM and KH2,5. Lets start with the good things: The graphic and soundtrack are really good. I cant imagine a Kingdom Hearts without Hikaru Utada songs. The battle system works fine and left no regrets. “Small spoilers if even that”: I like the worlds from tangled (Rapunzel and her hair are the best companion), the Toy Story world with the Mech battles, the Pirates of the Caribbean ship combat and mostly the whole Big Hero Six, Monster Inc. and Frozen world and arc. I don't need to mention that I like our heroes and their friends (I wouldn't be a Kingdom Hearts fan if I hated them). Kingdom Hearts is about the power of love, friendship and overcoming the odds. At last the retro mini games are a fine bonus improved by nostalgia. Now lets get to the bad things: There is no Final Fantasy character in this game (except Moogles). This is madness and false labelling. We want to get our FF heroes back in action and the Sephiroth secret super boss fight as in the previous main games. The first world Olympus gave me boredom for the first time in any KH game. Then there is the lack of established content: There are no Colosseum battles. You visit all worlds only once story-wise (In KH1 and KH2 you return later for new story parts) which is a fitting transition to Pirates of the Caribbean. They left out Death Man's Chest and only do At Worlds End and even then you have barley a part in the story. Wasted opportunity (Good Davy Jones or Kraken fights and character moments for Jack, Will and Elisabeth). There was no Marvel or Star Wars themed world which is a big miss (I read that they had the rights to use both franchises. If not I apologize).Then there is the ending. For me while doing things right is an underperformance and partly unsatisfying (Issues are not resolved. Wont spoil but I bet there should be countless rants on the internet). They had also the nerve to not close the story line for DLC reasons. Overall I think that the game was rushed and they didn't know how to end the trilogy. While I enjoyed the game it was also a disappointment. I subtract 1 point for the DLC.… Expand
  100. Thilus
    Apr 7, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Unfortunately, this is not the game I've been all waiting for. It's still Kingdom Hearts, but there are many things that make it less than what I expected.

    First of all, the gameplay feels dated. It's very similar to Kingdom Hears 2, but KH2 was released in 2005, and games have changed since then. A lot.
    Secondly, the pacing is dreadful. The game plays very slow (though it's rather short at 30-35 hours), and truth be told nothing worthwhile happens for the first number of hours. As Sora we visit some worlds, but it feels pointless. The visits don't seem connected to the main plot apart from the fact the Organization wants to gather 7 princesses of light to counterbalance the 13 darknesses and... that's it. Going through each level is mostly tedious. In the meantime there's a bunch of cinematics that bring nothing new to the table in terms of plot.
    Thirdly, the combat system is both dreadfully dated and incredibly easy. I feel like the game plays itself. I had absolutely no trouble with any fight, and I'm really bad with the controller.
    Last but not least, the fact that I coudn't save the game whenever I wanted to triggered me a little. Why? Because the periods between the save points can be really long. At one point I wanted to stop playing, but I had to watch a cinematic, then there was an action scene, then there was another cinematic, and then another action scene - with no save points. I mean, WTF?! I had to spend another half-an-hour with the game before I arrived at a save point. Come on, that's just lazy development.

    All the above-mentioned issues make KH3 a disappointment for me. I've waited so long for this, and what we received is sub-par - a nostalgia trip wrapped in a pretty candy wrapper, but with a sour inside.    … Expand
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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

Critic Reviews

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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
  1. TheSixthAxis
    Jan 30, 2020
    80
    Kingdom Hearts III doesn’t go in the direction some RPG fans will no doubt have been hoping for. It’s unashamedly over the top in just about every way, from its barmy story and stunning presentation to its huge cinematic battles. There’s plenty of depth here too, though you’ll need to find your bearings first.
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  2. Gamersky
    May 31, 2019
    85
    There is no doubt that Kingdom Hearts III will make long term fans moved or even cry. As for those new to the franchise, I believe they also can be satisfied because of tons of classic Disney elements and solid combat system, even though they could barely understand the main story.
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  3. 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.
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