5/5 ★ – AzulAzuril's review of Kingdom Hearts III.

This game was one of my most anticipated games of all time- there is no other game that I waited until midnight to start playing or that I skipped work to play. I beat the main campaign in less than a week and have replayed it multiple times since. I love Kingdom Hearts and I love Kingdom Hearts 3. Graphically, the game looks stunning, and the updated textures and detailed environments really make this game pop. KH3 is a game that is just fun to walk around in and explore, as you really feel like you’re in these environments and worlds. Climbing Mount Olympus, exploring Andy’s room, and dancing with Rapunzel all feel so fun and vibrant, and KH3 brings the magic and whimsy of Disney in such a great way. The lighting is stunning, and the music is godly (as always). Character models look great and there’s significantly more animation than past games. The world selection (while smaller than KH2) has some great picks and the addition of Pixar worlds really made me excited for the future of the series and what worlds we can expect. Gameplay wise, KH3 adds a ton of fun new features. Sora can now use shot locks and the free running mechanics make world exploration more interesting than ever. The attraction flow mechanic is a little weak and has no context explaining it, but it’s enjoyable in some moments. Switching key blades midbattle and keyblade transformations are really fun though. The overall feel of combat is a little floatier than KH2, but the game still has some really intense and good fights. There are a lot more enemy encounters with many enemies on screen, and there’s a number of fun boss fights, although I wish there were more against Disney characters. The post-game content and fights are nuts, and they’re some of the most difficult and challenging fights in the series. The story for this game is all about concluding the entire KH that’s released up to this point. There are many plot threads that tie together and there’s conclusions to the arcs for many characters. There are a few very interesting ideas introduced in this game, although I do find part of the game relatively confusing and unclear (the Power of Waking has never made sense) which is unfortunate. I do think the game tries to do too much to set up or leave mysteries for the rest of the series, when I was personally hoping for more a clean break narratively. I don’t have an issue with the narrative structure of the game, but I do understand that many dislike how much is revealed at the end of the game. I think that KH3, regardless of any faults in the narrative, does an excellent job in hitting the emotional beats it needs to. There are some scenes in KH3 that still make me cry many years later, which show how deep some of the emotional beats hit. KH3 is not a perfect game, not by any means, but it is fun, whimsical, and emotional. Playing KH3 is one of my favorite gaming memories, and regardless of how satisfying it may be, I will forever be grateful to have played it and experienced the magic that is Kingdom Hearts.