Kingdom Hearts III Adds Just Enough Innovation To Familiar Gameplay

Thirteen years is a long time but after all the build-up, side projects, concerts, and nigh-infinite amount of spinoffs, we are finally here! Kingdom Hearts III has finally ascended from its hallowed perch and out to the masses.

This review is more of a first impression given the length of the game, I will be focusing primarily on the technical aspects.

Kingdom Hearts III is similar to its predecessors, with hack and slash combat, Director Tetsuya Nomura noted back in 2014 at that year’s E3 that new gameplay elements are the “skeleton” of the game, saying, “When creating a Kingdom Hearts game, we start with a gameplay system that I think would be a fun element, and once we have an idea of what kind of gameplay or system we want in place, we flesh out the story around it, surrounding the basic concept of what kind of fun we’re going to have with this new installment.”

One of the significant changes of this game is that magic performs differently in underwater sections of the game, with Kingdom Hearts III introducing a new spell, Water. Team-up attacks are also featured, which combine Sora and various party members into one attack. Players can equip various abilities for Sora and his party members, with the system to do so “an evolution of sorts” from the system used in Kingdom Hearts II.Character summons make a return from previous entries, this time known as “Links,” where an additional character joins the battle to assist the player with specialized attacks.

Sora faces Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed in the game, with a whole slew of variants of these enemy types appearing.

Each world offers a specific gameplay element, such as first-person shooter Giga mechs in the Toy Story world, downhill sledding in the Frozen world, and underwater, and aerial combat in the Pirates of the Caribbean world, which also features numerous smaller islands at sea which can be explored. The Gummi Ship also returns as a means of travel between the different worlds of the game. The mechanic has been split into two phases: exploration and combat. Exploration has been likened to being more open-world without a fixed travel route as in previous games, while the combat has increased its scale from previous games, with more enemies present. Gummi Ship customization also returns, with more options available than in previous Kingdom Hearts games.

This game looks amazing in HD, showcasing exquisite colors both in-game as well as with cut scenes.

The music is as sublime as ever, making full use of the Xbox One and PS4’s hardware to deliver a masterful orchestral performance. Voice acting is of the caliber that fans of this franchise have grown accustomed to.

All in all, Kingdom Hearts III has been worth the wait, so much that I refuse to stream it initially and just experience it as a fan. I can’t wait to see how the end of this journey plays out, but I do highly recommend going down the rabbit hole on this one.

I give Kingdom Hearts III a 4 out of 5.