riku is my favorite kh character so i think it stood to reason that i'd love this one's story. i can get people not liking how it kind of just goes off the rails here or some of the mechanics of the game, but i think nomura just taking shit off the rails with xehanort clones is incredibly charming and is an effective if not silly way to raise the stakes, and i think other than the drop system and dive minigames being implemented poorly the game feels about as good as you could ever make a command deck kingdom hearts. dream drop distance also has my favorite set of disney worlds in the series by a pretty decent margin (especially if we ignore the grid) even if some of them end a bit too soon. i do kind of wish this one got more of a focus on riku, but sora's stuff here is still really good and i think a lot of the more emotional moments between the two wouldn't have worked if he was taking more of a backseat. overall a really good game and one that maybe doesn't get praised enough, even if it doesn't quite live up to some of the other games in the series.