Kingdom Hearts 3 | Review | PS4
Developer/Publisher: Square-Enix
Platform: Xbox One, PS4 (Review Platform)
In my last Kingdom Hearts video it would be an understatement to say that I was pessimistic. Square Enix’s insistence on releasing games in the series so frequently on every platform imaginable, with massively fluctuating quality in aesthetic and gameplay terms, has left the series in the unfortunate position of having more bad games than good. But I thought I’d give Kingdom Hearts one last chance, knowing all along that if Kingdom Hearts 3 went the way of Final Fantasy XV (a buggy, ugly, unfinished train wreck) I could safely say I would never buy another Square Enix game again. Ever. So unlike a lot of commentators I’ve noticed on social media who outright bum every nonsensical story trailer or screenshot of one of Tetsuya Nomura’s ludicrous cast of Final Fantasy rejects, you can rest assured I’m about to give this game exactly what it deserves.
Perhaps more than other games, the title screen in Kingdom Hearts has to be just right...and lo and behold, Kingdom Hearts 3 nails it. The beautiful and iconic theme tune eases in and as you press to start or continue your journey, the expected twinkly tones lovingly embrace your eardrums. Goosebumps are practically obligatory. The gorgeous audiovisual experience is carried through to the rest of the game. First and foremost, Yoko Shimomura has really outdone herself this time. As Sora, Donald & Goofy travel through the various vibrant Disney worlds, there’s far greater pacing than before, with dynamic cutscenes whose music forms a bridge between the narrative & the action. Of course, there are also the looping themes unique to each world as well as their battle versions too which always have me humming along.
The reason a more dynamic soundtrack is so important this time is that the worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3 are much bigger than the previous games. No longer small rooms or corridors broken up by loading screens, these are expansive & varied worlds that bring back the verticality that was lacking from Kingdom Hearts 2...and then some. Whilst there isn’t much in the way of branching paths, there’s certainly a lot to explore and discover in terms of treasure chests and lucky emblems which need to be photographed with the new gummi phone gadget.
Another huge improvement in terms of the level design is that enemies, which include a mixture of heartless, nobodies and unversed, now occasionally have an effect on the environment, an example being the water elemental heartless that causes a river in Olympus to overflow until you've defeated them. It's a shame these are one time events as opposed to a fully dynamic system but it's a nice detail that once again bolsters the pacing of journeying through these worlds.
Now, the reason pacing is such a big deal in Kingdom Hearts 3, other than the aforementioned, is the number one element that holds it back and also the number one thing fanboys just don't seem to want to talk about. So let's talk about Kingdom Hearts 3's story. Firstly, there are the individual Disney themed stories featuring our 3 heroes & a slew of classic & modern Disney characters. Make no mistake, these sections are exactly the quality we should expect from a mainline Kingdom Hearts game. The writing is snappy, funny and the characters gel perfectly, especially the chemistry of Sora, Donald & Goofy who affectionately tease each other. Cinematography has also become a huge part of bringing these elements to life and invests the player into being more a part of the lighthearted Disney story that's unfolding. However, the second a single Tetsuya Nomura character enters the frame, the story and dialogue get bogged down by a stilted, lifeless and utterly nonsensical overarching story that makes Metal Gear Solid 4 look like Metal Gear Solid 1 by comparison. Hel, it makes A Dog's Life look like The Legacy of Kain.
‘Organisation Xiii,’ a group of antagonists that all died in Kingdom Hearts 2 are now back with no explanation whatsoever. The worst offender is Axel who had a very satisfying and emotional death scene in Kingdom Hearts 2, changing sides at the last minute to help Sora. Alongside Kairi, he is now learning to be a keyblade wielder, all so they can turn up right at the end of the game and do…nothing. None of the organisation Xiii characters have any real bearing on the plot, they are all seemingly there for the occasional attempt at self-aware humour by having the main characters be intensely irritated every time they show up. The cinematography that worked so well goes out of the window here too, these are all scenes of two static characters giving expository dialogue almost in desperation to salvage a plot that is so beyond redemption at this point we need to seriously consider banning Tetsuya Nomura from working on a video game ever again.
That's not to say that the other writer Masaru Oka is not without blame. As original scenario concept writer for Kingdom Hearts 2, it's reasonable to assume he had a hand in the whole idea of 13 characters that are technically 26 characters, all with different names but sometimes the same faces but then there are other characters that have the same faces for some other reason. I mean, do they really expect anyone to care about all these characters or feel any stakes at all when it seems that the only person who actually dies in this story is that random citizen of Traverse Town in the early game of Kingdom Hearts 1?
It's not even that Organisation Xiii were a bad thing in Kingdom Hearts 2 though. Each member provided a very memorable boss fight that gave a variety of tactical options within the battle system. Some of them were also incredibly challenging. Unfortunately that’s not the case with practically every boss in Kingdom Hearts 3 which is an even bigger shame for the slew of final bosses that flail around aimlessly while you simply hit the X button with the occasional triangle thrown in. The combat in general in Kingdom Hearts 3 is woefully easy, but this is mainly to do with the way enemy AI is programmed & less to do with Sora’s move-set. Take the large body heartless for example, a staple Kingdom Hearts enemy. Countless times I have seen these guys walking in circles or literally walking away from me (the worst thing they could possibly do.) This was something I noticed in gameplay trailers & is one of the main reasons I had my doubts that Square Enix could pull this off. In Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2, enemies would set the pace for battle, they would flank sora, teleport around & do a variety of telegraphed but effective attacks. At times, it made for some very challenging gameplay. None of that is present here, it seems enemies will randomly wander & occasionally break your combo with a very quick attack or even an attack from offscreen in some cases. There’s a cooking system in the game, a nice little addition allowing you to play minigames to cook food which gives various bonuses in combat, but let’s be honest, we didn’t really need a way to make the combat even easier.
Having said that, not all games need to be challenging, so in the pursuit of fairness a question must be asked as to whether Kingdom Hearts 3 is actually fun. The answer is yes, Kingdom Hearts 3 is extremely fun. The combat may be easy, but it is also a blank canvas on which to paint using a huge variety of creative tools. You could run up to an enemy and hit X a few times, or you could cast blizzard creating a trail of ice towards the frozen enemy, slide along that ice then knock them into the air, juggling them with a combination of slashes and spells. You could run up a nearby wall, (a new feature in Kingdom Hearts 3 useful for both exploration and combat) jumping down with a slam attack on a group of enemies then use the new ‘form change’ ability that allows your keyblade to change into various different weapons from a hammer, to claws, to dual pistols. There are also a variety of team moves including ones based off of classic Disney rides. All of this is delivered through a gorgeous array of lighting & particle effects. The magic especially is outright the best looking magic I have seen in a game. When you unlock the higher tiers (firaga, blizzaga etc.) you really feel the increased impact.
Then there’s the variety through simply traveling to another world, which again all have completely different feels to them but some of the best also offer unique gameplay features that are new to the franchise & also a completely unexpected & ingenious boon to the Kingdom Hearts experience. In the Toy Story world there are heartless that can drive toy mechs around which are fairly difficult to take down with conventional combat, luckily if you search the area there are empty mechs that Sora can commandeer himself that have a variety of cannons & special moves that can turn the tide of battle. Then there’s the Pirates of the Carribean world which, in terms of concept & level design is flat out the best world we’ve had in Kingdom Hearts to date. Not only do we see the return of underwater combat similar to that of Kingdom Hearts 1 but there’s also a sailing system similar to Assassin’s Creed along with ship-based combat. You can use your ship to explore a handful of gorgeous islands & swim around at your leisure, discovering underwater caverns & sunken treasure. This world ticks all my boxes, that’s for sure.
Gummi ships are of course a returning feature too. This time we are treated to a clever amalgamation of both Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2’s gummi systems. The possible design combinations on offer this time are much expanded, with special paint jobs for individual blocks and more shapes than ever before. The main part of using the gummi ship is now a free-roaming series of 3 different star systems, it’s fun to navigate around the bizarre collection of meteorites & plastic-looking blocks & there are some treasures to be found, but once you’ve visited a world you can always teleport straight there if you wish.
When the simple act of exploring and moving around as Sora is so enjoyable on its own, it’s incredibly hard not to love Kingdom Hearts 3. Especially when so many elements seem so varied, well thought out & beautifully presented. But the bad elements of Kingdom Hearts are so in your face obvious that disappointment was utterly guaranteed. A story with a concept that boils down to ‘light vs darkness’ does not need to be the most complex story ever told & now the team has painted themselves into a corner (even more so with the conclusion of Kingdom Hearts 3 which not only props up one of the worst characters as far more important than they need to be, it is also incredibly derivative of the other, much better works of Yoko Taro and Akihiro Hino.) In many ways this is the best Kingdom Hearts game there is but that doesn’t mean we can’t acknowledge its flaws.
Pros:
A fun & creative combat system.
Exploration is back with a vengeance.
The Disney elements are spot on.
Cons:
Far too easy.
The AI is somehow worse than previous games in the series.
Overarching story is utterly abysmal & Nomura’s characters are toss.
