I recently beat Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance for the first time! I had heard VERY mixed things about this game, but it always seemed like such an oddball so I was actually really looking forward to it, and honestly? It lived up to my expectations, and in certain areas, surpassed them. Full spoiler warning ahead!

Started: May 13th, 2024
Finished: June 2nd, 2024
Playing: Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD
Via: Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
Console: Xbox One S

From all that I had seen and heard, this game had some WEIRD choices for disney properties, but I was SO for that. I’ve always thought that KH spin-offs should focus on more obscure properties that wouldn’t make sense to include in a numbered title, and this game really leaned into that. It’s not perfect with it, admittedly the choices feel… unfocused, unlike BBS where it focused on older properties (mostly), and, a few GREAT examples aside, it doesn’t always use them as creatively as they could’ve. This game had the opportunity to have every world feel like Timeless River or Space Paranoids in KH2, but instead they felt more like Port Royal. The novelty is great, but past that… it’s what you’d expect? The game is also significantly smaller and shorter than I thought. I honestly thought I was at like the halfway or two-thirds mark before the credits hit. That’s probably my biggest issue, I feel like the game had more to show.



So let’s move into specifics. I wasn’t sure where to put this, since it’s equally gameplay and presentation, so I’ll just stick it here. Dream Eaters, they exist. I like them well enough, no strong opinions honestly. Being able to create your own versions of enemies to have as allies is very fun. I was worried that having to manage them would take up a ton of time and be super annoying, but it really never interrupted me much. Just occasionally check in and use up link points, pet them a little, mayyyyybe do a mini-game if I felt like it (The balloon one was my favorite :D) It was…. Extremely silly, RIDICULOUSLY silly, and I still can’t tell if I genuinely or ironically enjoyed it. Regardless though, I still enjoyed it. Being able to name them was 100% my favorite part. But you can’t name them Poopfart, screw you game >:(. I could name them Obamna though so that was fun. Also just… naming a giant, fiery T-Rex after my dog, Joy, was SO freaking great. It was… eerily in character for her haha! Felt like she was really in the game. Looking over and seeing her violently swinging an enemy around in her mouth, EXACTLY like what the real Joy does with her toys, was absolutely hilarious. That was a highlight of the game for me.

I think the fact that they take the place of party members is kind of a shame. There were multiple points in the game where it felt like I should’ve gotten a character as a party member, but I didn’t. It definitely felt like something was missing because of that. I also don’t like how they handled abilities, which you get from dream eaters. Having stat boosting abilities only be obtained by having that specific dream eater in your team, actively discouraged swapping them around, which other parts of the game encourage. It kinda felt like they were punishing me, because each time I swapped out my party, I suddenly got WAY weaker until I could level up those new dream eaters. That tripped me up multiple times.



I like their designs. They’re certainly not as versatile as the heartless, but having each one themed around a different animal lead to some fun designs. The frog knight, chef and king were absolutely my favorite ones. That, combined with their bright color schemes also lent itself to the ‘dream’ aesthetic really well. They felt like weird visions you’d see in a fever dream, that vaguely look like a type of animal. The kinds of animals used are varied too. Reptiles, dinosaurs, mythical animals, birds, fish, and of course mammals. They did a good job with them! Equal part cutesy and unsettling too.

Okay, now into gameplay properly. Holy cow, I freaking love flowmotion so much. When they first introduced it by having Neku, a character from a different Square Enix game, do it, I assumed that was something from his game, and I was like “Boy that looks fun, I’d love to be able to move around like that.” Then the game’s like “Ah! But you can!” and I start going “YOOOOOOOO!!!” Being able to just bounce around the levels, climb up walls, slide on rails or spin around poles, it lets you not only move, obviously, but also interact with the environment, which just PERFECTLY appeals to me. It definitely took some getting used to, it wasn’t until the halfway mark that it truly clicked with me (Before I was kinda just spamming stuff and hoping it’d work) but when it did? HOOHOOOOOO!!! OHHHH I FELT LIKE AN ABSOLUTE MASTERMIND!! I love how much control I have over it, it takes skill to pull off. I remember having a complaint in KH2 where a lot of Sora’s abilities LOOKED cool, but were incredibly basic in actually doing them. This is the best of both worlds, it looks cool and FEELS cool to do. It REALLY contributes to both combat and ESPECIALLY level design. I hope they bring this ability back in future games so much. I would love to see how they could expand on it, since I do feel like there’s room to improve. Maybe a way to bounce off floors, just more ways to gain height other than the jumps.

One issue I had early on, that occasionally messed me up, was accidentally activating flowmotion when i’m trying to run away. You can still be damaged while in flowmotion, and can’t use any other abilities, which is good, keep that. But, when I’m trying to run away and heal, activating flowmotion prevents me from doing that until I hit the ground, which costs me precious time. I HAVE died because of this. My suggestion is to just make flowmotion tied to a different button, rather than the dodge/slide button. Sliding into a wall and being able to bounce off of it does feel REALLY good, but it causes problems sometimes. Maybe let you cancel it on command too, I don’t think that’d be too OP.



One last thing on flowmotion, when it isn’t preventing me from healing, it feels SO FREAKING GOOD, TO BE ABLE TO TURN MY RETREAT, INTO AN ATTACK. Rolling out of the way, activating flowmotion, and suddenly being able to wipe the floor with my enemies in retaliation… oh my gosh, it never got old. I also appreciate how it isn’t overpowered. It’s simply another tool I can freely use without feeling like I’m cheesing something. It’s balanced!

Next, the combat!! Oh boy did I love the combat in this game. First off, the command deck from BBS returns, but it’s been drastically simplified. I really enjoyed the command deck in that game, and aside from the simplifications, it’s more or less the same. It gives options to a ton of different abilities and encourages good use of them. It opens up a ton of customization in strategies. All the stuff about leveling up commands and combining them to get new ones have either been removed or moved over to managing Dream Eaters. I’m okay with that, if it had been kept, it might’ve been too much to manage, but it does mean that I wasn’t really encouraged to swap out my command decks and try new ones. Once I found the combination and strategies that worked for me, I just kept that. So, a little was lost, but the effect the decks have on isolated combat encounters wasn’t hindered. I really appreciate the variety it offers! Also the Balloon magic feels REALLY freaking satisfying to use. I love spawning it right on an enemy and just popping them.

Something else this game offers you, is reality shifts. They’re unique to each world which is cool, and sometimes add a very fun extra element to take advantage of, and are sometimes used to interact with the world in fun ways. The Grid absolutely had the best one, being able to hack into things felt super cool. It was versatile, and kept up the pace of battles. Unfortunately, Traverse Town probably has the worst one. It wasn’t that interesting and it slowed the pace down to a screeching halt. But that was the only one I didn’t like, all the rest were good at worst! A nice little fun addition.



Okay now for the movement options. Obviously, flowmotion gives you more than enough movement, but you can’t always use it. Dodge roll is the same, though you do get a slight upgrade to it which was cool! It felt a little stiff but was still nice. Air slide returns. It’s not as good as in Days, since it has a lot of start and end lag, but it still feels good! They bring back being able to slide more than once, which is GREAT. They also give you a big swinging attack you can do right out of it, which feels REALLY freaking good to do. I love how it immediately flings you at whatever you're locked onto, allowing me to slide away to escape and then retaliate. Again, I think that aspect was done better in Days, but Days’s air slide with this added attack? AW MAN, that would be perfect. There were a few other similar additions, but I didn’t find any of them that influential. They kinda gave you the reversal command from KH2, but only when an enemy is about to attack. Shockingly, I don’t remember ever getting to use it. Also! Sora and Riku’s running speed was drastically improved. Gone are the days of dodge rolling being the fastest method of travel, and THANK GOODNESS! I love dodge roll a ton but just being able to run fast feels REALLY GOOD!

You might be able to pick up from all that I’ve said, that the game gives you SO many options while in combat. Flowmotion and its whole host of abilities, the command deck with its hundreds of options, normal attacks, reality shifts, movement options and attacks out of those. I didn’t even mention you can link with Dream Eaters to enter a powered up form. The only thing I wish it had was how KH2 let you press different buttons to perform different combos. No matter what, at ANY point in the game, you have more than one method of attack. My GOODNESS does that feel good! And they’re all balanced well too! I never could just rely on one ability to spam over and over. It made fights feel so much more dynamic, it made me feel like a mastermind when I’m able to use all of them effectively. It helps make me feel like *I* beat the fight, instead of just “I did what the game wanted me to do”. It opens up so much freedom in how you approach any given opportunity. And thankfully, Proud Mode was hard enough to where I was encouraged to learn how to use all of these abilities. Seriously, it was the PERFECT difficulty level. This whole aspect about how many options the game gives you, is probably my BIGGEST praise for the game.



Another thing that kind of builds off of that, was the pacing of fights. It feels very brisk and fast. There’s never a dull moment, there is CONSTANTLY something I can be doing. The only times I remember having to just wait around for something, was waiting for my Cure to reload. Even then though, I had a ton of movement options to avoid attacks. Everything feels… slightly sped up, in a really good way. It also makes some fights feel REALLY stressful, which I love. So much happens in such a short period of time, every split second really counts, and I feel SO skilled pulling it off. I remember the final boss of Sora’s route particularly being incredibly fast paced, yet somehow I was doing really well, weaving in and out of attacks and stuff.

UNFORTUNATELY, the wonderful pacing gets interrupted VERY often by enemies just deciding to play a game of hot potato with you. Unfortunately again, I do not mean that literally. There’s a BIG issue in this game of enemies just juggling/comboing you. You get hit by one attack, then by another, then by another, etc etc. There’s often no way to get out of these combos, your stun time is just too long, you just gotta sit there and take it, and try to get out as soon as you can. It slows the pacing down to a COMPLETE, IRRITATING SCREECHING HALT! This is legitimately my biggest issue with the game, it got me REALLY mad at times. It’s super fun for like 80% of it, but every once in a while there’s just like 4-6 seconds where you can’t move. I’m not even quite sure what causes this. Some enemies like the bats feel almost DESIGNED to do this, but usually it just feels like an accident. And of course, these attacks come out far too quick for you to reasonably avoid them, especially when you’re surrounded. The “Second Chance” and “Once More” abilities definitely help prevent dying from this (There were a number of times I died from full health because I got stuck in a combo, it was rare, but it did happen) but the issue of the pacing still lingers. Even then, those abilities are unlocked WAY too late. I was basically at the final world and final boss respectively when I got them. I also think Sora/Riku should’ve gotten more invincibility frames after getting hit. Currently, it feels like they don’t have any. At least prevent you from getting stunned. I’m okay with taking damage, I’m not okay with getting stuck in place. One of the last few bosses had a move where it froze you in place and sapped you down to 1HP. That’s fine, I can deal with that, but then they were able to attack BEFORE YOU EVEN UNFROZE so I would just instantly die. It was only one fight but BOY did that piss me off. (It used that attack constantly too, and it was VERY quick coming out.)



One last little thing on combat, that’s not so much an issue, so much as it is a personal preference, but it’s kind of hard to do aerial combos on grounded foes? I think they made it so if you’re too close to the ground, only your first hit is an aerial attack, and then the combo just continues on as a ground one. In like, any other game this would be a MASSIVE complaint, but I think they made it so your aerial and ground combos are equally fast, so it kinda doesn’t matter. Still though, I would like to have the freedom of choosing. Maybe have the grounded combos be slower but stronger, while the aerial combos are faster but not quite as strong, so you’re incentivized to use them both in different scenarios.

Okay, past combat. Let’s talk LEVEL DESIGN!! OOOOO I LOVE THE LEVEL DESIGN IN THIS GAME SO MUCH!!! I feel like it’s FINALLY broken free of the KH2 curse and actually lets the levels have depth and be interesting to explore. It gives me a lot of hope that KH3 will be similar. I still prefer KH1’s level design, since it tends to be more compact and interactable, not to mention rooms having more than one way to enter/exit them, while in this game they’re still a little too static and progression too linear for my tastes. However, that is like a footnote for me honestly, I mainly just REALLY loved it. I loved entering a new area, opening the map, and it just being HUGE!!! SO much ground to cover and explore. Each area may only have one entry/exit point, but there is usually a TON of nooks and crannies packed into that huge area, so not a whole lot is lost. I’ll mention specific areas I loved when I go over each world, but the Solar Sailer in the Grid and the Opera House in the Musketeer world were absolutely the highlights for me. And there’s also a ton of verticality to it thanks to flowmotion. Chests actually feel rewarding to find! I love looking up and seeing little ledges or finding little hidden paths. Big, sprawling levels also help boost flowmotion, and flowmotion helps make these levels quickly traversable so they don’t feel overbearing. Any time I needed to rush through an area, I could get through it in a few seconds relatively easily, but I could also easily spend like 20 minutes or more exploring the whole area. It just feels so free and satisfying.



It scratches this itch I have to just look around and explore, even if there’s nothing super interesting to find. I’ve been realizing lately how much I absolutely LOVE exploration in games. No doubt that it came from Epic Mickey where exploration is like the crux of the gameplay. If it’s not the praises I had for the combat, THIS is my biggest praise for the game. It just makes the game feel good to play, I love just walking around these areas and taking it all in. Again, could be better, but it’s still GREAT.

Now onto something that is not so great. The drop gauge might be one of the single stupidest game mechanics I’ve ever seen. Not necessarily because it’s that bad, but just because it’s so worthless. It contributes NOTHING to the game aside from the occasional annoyance. The drop gauge goes down naturally throughout the game. It’s basically a timer, but different things can slightly affect how quickly it goes down. When it’s empty, you’ll automatically be pulled out of the game, and switch to the other character (Sora or Riku). Sora and Riku have their own routes, sort of like BBS. I like that part, but having the game just randomly decide “Okay time to stop. Do this now” is just… horrible game design. It actively discourages me from taking my time in an area, which is exactly what I want to do because there’s so much to see. Maybe if it emptied when you took hits or something like that, something that was YOUR fault, I could see it working. But no! It just goes down naturally. Why? Because I don't know, screw you I guess. So why is this not my biggest complaint with the game? Because the game gives you tools to just completely ignore it. That being the “Drop-Me-Not” items that refill the gauge. They’re super common and super cheap. Which just… completely confuses me. On the one hand, it RARELY ever affects me, so I don’t mind too much. It still bugs me now and again when I need to use one of those items, but that’s bearable. On the other, WHAT’S EVEN THE POINT THEN?!!? It still just adds this unnecessary voice in the back of my head that I’m wasting time and resources just by playing the game, it’s not fun. At the beginning of the game I was so sure this would be one of my biggest complaints, but THANKFULLY, it doesn’t affect the game much, it just baffles me.



That also naturally brings me to talk about the routes split. I usually did the world as Sora, then dropped and did the world as Riku. I like this well enough story wise, though I do feel like BBS did “Different characters going through the same world” better, since they often interacted with totally different characters or parts of the story, while there’s either a little overlap between Sora and Riku’s stories, or one of them (Always Riku) gets the short end of the stick with a lackluster story. Gameplay wise, it sometimes resulted in Sora and Riku having to go through the exact same areas, which made it feel a little repetitive. But overall I think they did a pretty good job at giving Sora and Riku totally different areas to explore. Like in the story, Riku often felt like he got the short end of the stick with shorter, less diverse routes. I kinda wish they had made it so you were encouraged to consistently swap between Sora and Riku. Make the process basically instant and have it so actions in one route affected the other, as if Sora and Riku were journeying right alongside each other, but on different sides of reality. That could open up some fun puzzle opportunities, and help speed the game along as you basically do both routes at the same time. I don’t mind the different route system, I like how it lets both Sora and Riku be the main focus, but I do feel like it could’ve been better.

Also, last gameplay thing. Dive modes replace the gummi ship routes. I’m gonna be honest, I did not like these. The ones that were more of an obstacle course were decent but any boss was usually kinda bad not gonna lie. It’s a small part of the game but I figured I should mention it. They looked cool, though.



Now onto the presentation! Unfortunately, I feel that this is where the game mostly falls flat, at least as far as the story goes.
First of all though, I REALLY love the sleeping worlds as a concept. Worlds trapped in a dream of a specific time, replaying the events of that time over and over till they can be woken up. It opens up the ability for the game to have much weirder and creative world choices, which as I’ve said, this game DEFINITELY takes advantage of. I would LOVE to see another game play with this concept. Unfortunately, I feel like they wrote themselves into a corner with it, and now trying to have more sleeping worlds in a future game would require some convoluted, probably retconning reason for their existence. They shouldn’t have specified that there were only seven of them, they should’ve said Yen Sid only wanted them to visit seven.

I like the dream-like atmosphere/theme a lot. I feel like it helps excuse a lot of the normal KH nonsense and actually have it feel cool, rather than just stupid. The atmosphere in the game as a whole is pretty nice, not the best but I enjoyed it. Overall, aside from maybe CoM, this is ABSOLUTELY the game that feels closest to KH1 to me, which is absolutely a compliment. I think it reminds me of KH1’s atmosphere more than it actually is KH1’s atmosphere, but that’s certainly better than not feeling like KH1 at all. Atmosphere is important to me in games. It’s got this air of wonder and uncertainty to it. You never quite know what to expect, and everything just feels a little weird (in a good way) which really contributes to the dream-like feel. I’m not sure how much of that is intentional, but it’s definitely there, even if it could be better.

I also feel like the game has this… optimistic outlook to it? I’m not quite sure how to describe it, but I REALLY love it. I instantly felt it after watching the opening cinematic. (Which was REALLY good by the way. Tangent, but that was the first time one of their ‘anime intros’ actually worked for me. I think the orchestral music and the fantasia Mickey silhouette is the main reason why. The abstractness of what was going on felt more artsy than.. weird.)



I love how the opening gave you this sense of “YEAHHH! WE’RE GONNA WIN THIS THING!” That combined with how upbeat this version of Dearly Beloved gets in one part of it, and the ending, gave the game this lightheartedness to it. It felt more optimistic and upbeat, which I think REALLY worked, especially in contrast to how bleak things started to look when the villains got the upper hand. Also in contrast to BBS and Days, the last two games I played, that did not have happy endings. It was like “Here’s where all that turns around!” which I think the game had a GREAT opportunity to really lean into, but definitely missed it.

Onto some specific characters. Starting with Sora, of course. I… I don’t like how Sora was handled in this game. While Riku has a clear plot and character arc, Sora feels… unfocused. I don’t feel like Sora had any emotional involvement in the plot, aside from like two scenes at the end, one of which he wasn’t even in. Honestly throughout most of the game, mainly just the disney worlds, Sora felt… way dumber than he should be. I realized it was weird seeing him without Donald and Goofy, so maybe that had something to do with it, but I’m not gonna lie and say he didn’t annoy me a little sometimes. He felt… kinda whiney and oblivious. I’m struggling to think of any specific moments with him, aside from a few at the end, that I REALLY liked. I do want to sing the praises of those scenes though. Particularly the one with Xemnas and young Xehanort at the end of his route. Seeing him finally verbally fight back against them, and almost mock/call them out over their horrible morals and view of hearts/people, felt SO satisfying after them essentially screwing with his mind throughout the entire game. Even if I don’t feel like Sora learned a whole lot in this game, I feel like he got a better understanding of who he was fighting, and what he believes in, which IS great, I just wish it didn’t feel isolated into one scene. Also just, the scene with him at the very end, having a tea party with Donald and Goofy had me laughing out loud. WHY WAS HE WEARING THOSE GLASSES!?!? IT MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD. Especially in contrast to how serious Riku’s story just was, it was such a nice scene showing that there was no need to worry.



Next, Riku. Oooo I really like how Riku was handled. Throughout the whole series we’ve seen Riku be unsure about himself and guilt-ridden over what he did in KH1. This is the game where he FINALLY breaks out of that. While Sora let Xehanort get under his skin and mess with him, Riku was more mature and finally realized “Wow this dude is just speaking a load of nonsense”. He was hardly even phased. I absolutely LOVE how his story with heartless Ansem ended. That guy has been messing with Riku for the entire series, tempting and manipulating him into giving into darkness. Seeing Riku finally go “No, you know what? I’m not gonna turn to darkness, I’m gonna turn YOU to light!” and then seeing Ansem basically panic and go “Wait no you’re not supposed to do that” REALLY worked. It’s legitimately kinda funny, and I LOVE THAT!!! I love making the heroes' victory sorta humorous while still being incredibly cool. It’s a balance that REALLY appeals to me, and I had been wanting KH to do stuff like that more often. I think it suits the series REALLY well. I had always been worried Kingdom Hearts was gonna try to justify Riku giving into darkness because he was “helping his friends with it” but I’m SO glad that’s not what they were building up to. The payoff here was GREAT. If evil people are gonna try to twist good things into bad, then you should try to twist bad things into good.

There was this whole plot behind the scenes that I’m really only putting together now of Xehanort desperately trying to get to Riku, and Riku just laughing him off, forcing Xehanort to turn his focus over to Sora. It worked really well. I really wish Sora had a stronger story here, but maybe they’re saving it for KH3? I don’t really care, there still should’ve been something here, but that would make it better.

There’s really not much to say about other characters. It was super cool seeing some of the organization members become human again. But now I need to unlearn Axel’s name and start calling him Lea lol. But Lea was still great as always. It was cool seeing a lot more of Yen Sid too. Mickey… is still Kingdom Hearts Mickey, so not that great, but he did get a chance to show a wide range of emotion so that’s VERY welcome. The scene with him getting choke slammed into the wall was worth the hype. The actual Xehanort only had one scene but all my praises for him from BBS are still true, he’s funny and casual, while still feeling well put together and threatening. Young Xehanort… is weird, I don’t really see why he was here but okay. He was kinda boring, not gonna lie.



Now, about the plot as a whole. Starting off, I am really torn on how the beginning was handled. On one hand, my goodness that made absolutely zero sense and I had to piece together what was even going on throughout the entire first world. It was just NOT an effective mode of conveying information. On the other hand, I feel like it established that dream-like feel pretty well. So, I think I’m just neutral on it lol.

After that though, there’s really not that much plot. Sora and Riku are taking the Mark of Mastery exam, which is a great setup, but that and Riku’s story is really all there is that gets wrapped up. There’s a lot that it establishes, and a lot that it seems like it’s slowly building up to, but… none of it goes anywhere, it’s all just buildup for KH3. It’s good buildup, I feel sufficiently prepared for what KH3 is gonna be, I feel like the ‘end is near’ so to speak, but it leaves this game feeling unfinished. The end really only deescalates the conflict. All the stuff with the original Organization members, Maleficent and Pete, and the various Xehanorts, kinda just end with a “to be continued.” Which is… fine I guess? But all the other KH spin-offs have self-contained stories that work on top of their relation to the overall narrative, this one being the only exception. Basically, every story bit before the final world feels like a start with no ending, which makes everything before the final world feel… unfocused. It just feels like I’m working towards seeing the plot, rather than actually seeing it.

I suppose that’s a pacing issue, but I do appreciate how they gave me a plot-relevant cut scene after every world, something that KH2 desperately needed. Normally I’d say those cut scenes should’ve been integrated into the gameplay, but I think this game has a decent excuse. Sora and Riku are in a different realm, and getting to see what’s happening outside of that realm is nice. But they feel like drops or crumbs, enough to keep me going but not enough to make it feel satisfying. And again, a lot of those scenes don’t build up to anything in this game. All of this comes together to just make it feel like there really wasn’t much plot. I didn’t even notice Riku’s story until the end, since most of it was happening subconsciously in Riku or behind the scenes with the villains. So the Mark of Mastery plot is really all that was there, and that feels more like an objective than a plot. I also wish it was handled better. I don’t remember Yen Sid ever saying only one of them would become keyblade masters, and he never said why Sora didn’t pass. Sora not passing sounds great, but… give a reason for it. I don’t really have strong opinions on this game’s story honestly, it’s not bad, but I struggle to say it’s good, either. Parts of it are good, though, again, like Riku’s arc.



I had been drastically lied to by this ONE screenshot I saw of Sora with all the other main KH characters behind him. The disney trio, Riku and Kairi, the Days & BBS trios. I assumed that this would be the game where they all come together. No, this is the game where they tell you they WILL all come together. That screenshot was of a two second shot, completely taken out of context. It was still a cool scene but nothing like what it looked like. I think that sucks, because having THAT be the plot, having the plot be Sora and Riku trying to rescue the Days & BBS trios, sounds REALLY freaking cool! I would LOVE that! I don’t know what KH3 has planned, so maybe I’ll see why that wouldn’t work, but man this game’s story needed some kind of extra hook. Something to give this story an identity outside of just “it's the one where you explore the sleeping realms.”

There’s a good deal of extra lore added in this game, thankfully most of it is self-contained. Aside from the sleeping realms and dream eater stuff, they spend a weird amount of time explaining the rules of time travel, and I feel like the only reason why was to explain why a bunch of different characters could come together and have a meeting, while not being able to just take over the world right then. It was like, they had an idea for literally one scene, and jumped through a ridiculous amount of hoops to justify it. And I mean, yeah it was a very cool scene, and I do feel like they justified it, but they had to spend so much time just exposition dumping on me to do it. It was… decently interesting, and I’m grateful they just came and spelled out the rules, rather than trying to be ‘cool’ about it and not explaining it well at all, but also, show don’t tell, guys. That’s a basic rule of writing, and when your lore is so convoluted that there’s no way to explain it without long exposition dumps, I think you should take a step back and realize there’s a problem here. I do kinda like how they tied it into something in KH1 though, without retconning something or being weird.

I also like how they established that Nobodies sorta do have hearts, but they’re like weird temporary ones. That no living thing can exist without a heart, so the body will try to replicate one in its absence. With that comes how Xemnas and Xigbar were deceiving the entire Organization into thinking they didn’t have hearts. I think that adds to the Organization’s tragicness, that they were so desperate to obtain a heart, completely unaware that they already sort of had one. I’ve heard some people call this a retcon, and yeah a little bit, but I think it just kinda adds an extra layer. They don’t have TRUE hearts, they’re still incomplete, they still don’t truly exist.



Everything I’ve said aside, I did really like the ending, even if I don’t think it was a good… ending… if that makes sense. The reveal that Xehanort had hijacked the Mark of Mastery helped tie up a bunch of seemingly unrelated scenes, which was good. I also appreciate how well they established, not only Xehanort’s plan and goals, but also his worldview and why he’s doing what he’s doing. He views hearts as “bottles on a shelf” as Sora put it, and just completely lacks any kind of empathy or value of human life. He doesn’t see ANY issue in manipulating someone or replacing their very being with his own. That… makes him terrifying, really, despite being an old man. I could see this guy just, outright erasing someone from existence with ZERO hesitation, remorse or delay. He’s a very well written, scary villain that contrasts Sora wonderfully, I’m excited to see him in KH3.

I really love how Riku and Mickey BARELY escaped the Xehanort meeting, it gave a great sense of danger that sets the villains up as REAL threats. I loved the scene with Riku in Sora’s heart, that was like the beginning of KH1 with Roxas, Ventus and Xion asking him questions. Then the scene with Ansem the Wise where he was basically saying that Sora’s innocence and kindness make him wiser and more powerful than he or the villains could ever hope to be, aw man, I loved that so much. That sort of message is something I feel passionate about so seeing it here was just great. This and Riku trying to turn his darkness into light, REALLY contributes to that “optimistic” atmosphere I mentioned. The game just ended off on such a happy note, despite how foreboding the villain’s plans are. If the plot had been stronger, I could see this ending REALLY hitting hard in just the right way! :)

Also, Disney worlds are usually even more just rehashes of the movie than in KH2? Like there is ONE exception where it isn’t just the movie plot but with Sora added in (And even then, that exception is Fantasia which doesn’t have a plot so you could argue it is just that.) Riku SOMETIMES has something unique, but usually it’s very lackluster. But, I think it still does more to connect the movie’s plot to the main story than KH2 did. Even if it’s just going “hey look, here’s a connection! Anyway…” Like Xehanort showing up to mess with Sora or Riku, or Sora or Riku interacting with characters in a way that ties it to the overall series. So I guess I’d take the movie plots with some random connections over kinda dumb, slightly original plots that are mostly just the movie plots with no connections. It’s… kind of a step in the right direction? More like an inch.



Final things to wrap up the presentation! I like how the music in this game is typically more orchestral, it contributes to the optimistic mood a ton and makes the game feel more grand and artistic. Wow, KH music is good, what a shock!

This game visually looks REALLY good for a 3DS game, if anything I’d almost say the graphics have improved since the PS2 ones, maybe with slightly worse lighting. Character animation looks significantly better I found, much more expressive, much less awkward movements. There was even a few times they had Mickey’s ears face the camera, which I never thought they’d try to do. Still waiting for them to do his ears how Epic Mickey does them, but I get that’s its not that important, and hard to pull off. Also, I swear like, every character had a rigged face, rather than some just being stuck without one, and they used the rigged faces significantly more often. Pluto and the Beagle Boys are the only ones that come to mind who only use textured faces. (Give Pluto a rigged face, dang it!)

The game adds these new things called Mementos, which come in either flashbacks or chronicles. Flashbacks show you bonus scenes with some additional information. They feel… lazy, like an excuse for not integrating that information naturally into the story. The scenes themselves are good, but the integration isn’t. A lot of them are also often either super short or just a recreation of a scene from the movie. Chronicles are just recaps of past games. How is this the first game to have that? I guess just because it was tying all the previous games up. But like, KH2 should’ve had something like that to explain Chain of Memories for the people who didn’t play it. Anyway, they were nice! A very welcome addition, even if I personally didn’t really need them. Was nice to get a recap.

Next, I want to go over each world. I did this for both KH2 and BBS, so might as well continue the tradition. I already talked about my overall thoughts in the introduction. Good picks, kinda basic execution. Also just… There's only seven worlds in this game? Give me like, literally one more, and it’d be fine. Seven just isn’t enough. It’s weird, too, they say there’s seven sleeping keyholes, yet two of them are in Traverse Town. I feel like they probably had time/budget constraints. But I should say, I found none of these worlds bad! That’s really not saying much since KH2 Atlantica is the only KH world I actively dislike, but still worth mentioning. At worst, I like these worlds. I’ll also be saying whether I preferred Sora or Riku’s routes, with a >,<, or =. I’ll also be ranking them out of seven. 1 being the best and 7 being my least favorite.




Traverse Town: Sora = Riku. 1/7 (Favorite!)
I FREAKING LOVE TRAVERSE TOWN!!! YEAHHHHHAHAHAHH!!!!!!! Traverse Town is my favorite area in any video game, and that’s INCLUDING Epic Mickey so that’s really saying something. The vibes are UNMATCHED!!! It is SO freaking cozy. It’s fun too, it brings to mind memories of the disney parks, and also areas I’ve been to in dreams, which certainly fits this game well. The NEW areas added to Traverse Town here are JUST as incredible. My minor issues with the level design still do apply, but so do my praises. The fountain plaza area was so FREAKING cozy that, I am not joking, I probably spent a solid 5-7 minutes just staring at the place, thinking about how amazing it’d feel to just roll around on the floor. I felt so immersed that I could practically feel the cold, slightly damp paving stones on my skin. I want to go there IRL so freaking bad I don’t care if I get mauled by a Meow Wow. Oh and the Fourth and Fifth districts… SFSDFSFSFS I LOVE THEM SO FREAKING MUCH!!! Not being able to go into the buildings definitely hurt the fourth district, but being able to jump around all the rooftops and climb to the top of the lighthouse 100% made up for it. Again, I FREAKING LOVE TRAVERSE TOWN!!! RAHHHHHH

Area aside, the characters from ‘The World Ends With You’ appear here. I am COMPLETELY unfamiliar with that series so I knew nothing about them going in. But I really enjoyed them, they had fun personalities and dynamics! I really liked Beat and Rhyme’s dynamic in particular! It’s also nice to see getting overly philosophical and confusing is just a Square Enix thing lol. I would not mind checking the series out honestly, I’d probably enjoy it.

The Hockomonkey was a great first boss. For some reason I just kinda latched onto him as a boss I really love, he has celebrity status in my mind now and I don’t know why. I got weirdly excited later when they gave me a keyblade themed around him. Also, Traverse Town is home to this game’s secret superboss. Freaking JULIUS from freaking RUNAWAY BRAIN! I didn’t get to beat him, but my GOODNESS do I love everything about this. For starters, picking some random, very obscure Disney character to be the secret boss? Oh HECK YES!!! GIVE ME MORE PLEASE! Imagine the Shadow Blot from Epic Mickey as a secret boss… oh that’d be so cool. Second of all, the fight itself is both hilarious and TERRIFYING!! He’s modeled and animated beautifully, and his attacks are incredibly goofy, but he is SO fast and SO strong that he induces so much panic into my heart. 10/10, I loved it.



La Cité das Cloches: Riku > Sora. 7/7 (Least favorite, but still good)
This world is based on the Hunchback of Notre Dame, a movie I’ve seen but not super well versed in. It’s… kind of the most basic KH interpretation of a movie I’ve seen? It’s not the worst but… Idk… I appreciate how Frollo’s self-righteousness made him believe that the monsters appearing around him, monsters that were quite literally demons, were actually “gifts from above.” I think that part captured his character and some of the movie’s themes very well, while integrating KH stuff into it. I also like the connections between Quasimodo and Riku. Both of these are why I prefer Riku’s route, even if it was shorter. On Sora’s side, wow was his relationship with Quasimodo completely non-existent. Sora spoke to him once, stalked him basically, and then started acting like he was his best, lifelong friend. Had an actual relationship been built, it would’ve been really sweet, but it… wasn’t.

The town area was INCREDIBLY complex. I really loved exploring this whole world, but after realizing that’s true of every world, it’s not worth mentioning much else. The search for the Court of Miracles went on for like, one area too long, but minor complaint. Also, no fight against Frollo in any fashion? Really? I could totally see Frollo attempting to kill Riku in a frenzy of rage, even if I doubt he’d put up much of a fight. Don’t make it the main boss, but like, a pre-mini boss.

Prankster’s Paradise: Sora > Riku. 6/7
Themed around Pleasure Island from Pinnochio. I have a big issue with this world that almost eclipses all the good it has, that being that wow the atmosphere is COMPLETELY off. Pleasure Island is a HORRIFYING place where little boys are trafficked and turned into donkeys so they can be sold into slavery. WHY DOES IT FEEL SO MAGICAL AND WHIMSICAL HERE!?!? I could MAYBE see it if it started out that way, and then when Sora realized what this place was, the atmosphere completely shifted, but no. Aside from Jiminy telling him that ‘boys who stay here turn into donkeys” (Or, “jackamules, as he says lol), no attention is ever drawn to what this place actually is. The circus area is vaguely unsettling, but other than that…

The rest of the world aside from that is actually really good. The underwater segment felt very faithful to the movie, I remember that scene vividly and I think they REALLY captured it. Both Sora and Riku’s interactions with the characters were fun, unique and genuine, I remember some fun connections being drawn. It was cool having Monstro return, even if the areas feel way too open. The world still felt… a little basic though, I just wasn’t that excited throughout it compared to other worlds.




The Grid: Sora = Riku. 5/7
Based on Tron: Legacy, making it sort of a sequel to Space Paranoids in KH2. I found Space Paranoids to not only be the best integration of a disney property into KH, but also to be outright better than the original film. This world definitely isn’t as good, but it’s still super cool. It’s still super neat aesthetically, even if I prefer the original. The areas feel deep and complex with a TON to interact with. As mentioned, holy cow was the Solar Sailer fun to explore!! It’s just… all around very cool. I have not seen Tron: Legacy, but I really want to now. The story intrigued me, it was really funny and surreal seeing such a serious action flick story in a Kingdom Hearts game. Not gonna lie, I didn’t want it to end, there’s something weirdly satisfying about slightly low poly, almost hyper realistic humans baha. I got decently invested in the plot. Also! Getting more of Sora and Tron’s friendship was NOT something I was expecting, but BOY is it welcome! I ADORED their friendship in KH2. Even though this is a completely different Tron who’s now a villain, I got way more invested in Sora’s struggle to get through to him than I expected to. I wish it had a more satisfying ending, but also I get that the game’s setup kinda prohibited that, so it’s alright. Also the scene where Xemnas just casually pops in and gives Sora an existential crisis was kinda funny lol.

I do wish they had done more to integrate the world into KH’s lore, like how Space Paranoids did. Mainly just, have you enter the Grid through a computer, in the world where Flynn is originally from. Just like, one area, that’s all I need. It’s implied that the Grid is a world within a world, but just… make it more clear, it’s cooler that way. Also as mentioned, WOW is this world’s reality shift fun!! It adds a LOT to the overall feel of the world. It’s the only reality shift that feels canon and not just a gameplay mechanic.




Country of the Musketeers: Sora > Riku. 4/7
Based off of ‘Mickey, Donald & Goofy: The Three Musketeers’. I LOVED this film as a kid, I watched it a lot. Getting a world based off some random Mickey & Friends project? Oh HECK yes! I will take this ANY day of the week. The idea of this world feels specifically targeted at me, it got me so excited! Unfortunately, it’s a very basic adaptation, once the novelty of it wore off, it was just… fine. The novelty of it is still enough for me to absolutely adore it, but it could have been so much better. My biggest complaint is how little it tries to tie the movie into KH lore, and the teeny bit that it tries, makes it even more convoluted. Honestly I think it would have been better to just say these are completely different versions of the characters. Something more unique that reworks the movie to fit KH would be best, but the weird middle ground here just… isn’t it. Use it as an opportunity to show how Mickey became king or something.

Still though, just seeing Sora in a recreation of the movie was still super hype. The movie is obscure, I don’t mind seeing it retold as much as I do famous films. Again, it should've been better, but I still loved it. Getting to PLAY through the movie was ESPECIALLY great. The tower sequence and the fight against Pete were particularly great! Riku’s route was very short and lackluster, but the backstage area felt like a liminal space so I really loved exploring it. And also, goodness the Opera house Lobby was a blast to explore!! I just wish I got to explore more of the city. This world’s music is GREAT, the prison area had a great atmosphere, just, gameplay wise this area was a BLAST, and absolutely lived up to the hype. Ooo and the reality shift, themed around the comic motif from the movie, absolutely genius, I had completely forgotten about that but instantly remembered upon seeing it. This version of Pete is animated REALLY well for some reason. So expressive… Also, total missed opportunity to not give Sora a Musketeer outfit, I would kill for that. Getting to fight the Beagle Boys was also great! I want more Ducktales characters in Kingdom Hearts so badly.



Symphony of Sorcery: Sora > Riku. 3/7
Based off of freaking Fantasia. What a GENIUS integration of this film. I would’ve never thought this could work but they got super creative with it and it really paid off. Having the different segments be worlds inside of music, gives a great explanation of their existence and why they are synced to the music. Using the Sorcerer’s Apprentice as the ‘anchor’ or gateway into having the other segments is perfect, since that segment can totally be canon within KH. I also love how they tie the theme of music into the message of the world, which ties into the greater KH narrative. Just… just so much praise. I haven’t even gotten to the gameplay yet. I love how they muted any and all voice lines while in the musical scores, it REALLY adds to the atmosphere and flow, making the music feel the most important. I appreciate the attempt to have notes play whenever you attack, but the notes feel totally out of place. Overall, I think they could’ve done more to get the gameplay to sync up to the music, like change enemy attack patterns, have the notes that play when you attack blend into the music better, add notes when you use flowmotion. (Also, why is the reality shift not synced to the music??) But, despite that, there were a LOT of times where the fight DID sync up to the music by chance, and that ALWAYS made me SO freaking hyped. I should make it very clear, they did a GREAT job at making the music feel important and center stage, the feeling of just playing through this world was INCREDIBLE!

The visuals of the world are stunning too! I especially like the atmosphere in Riku’s area, but it’s shorter and the boss sucked so I like Sora’s route more. Speaking of that, they really made one of the coolest KH worlds ever, and went “This looks great, make it like half the length of the other worlds.” It’s Timeless River all over again, WHY IS IT SO SHORT?!!? GIVE ME MOREEEE!!!! The Spellican fight on Sora’s side was REALLY freaking good. It had a ton of different attacks that were super tricky, but possible to dodge. Whenever you’d start getting up-close and it would start dishing out super fast attacks, the music would swell up, and BOY HOHOHO!! OHHH IT FELT SO FREAKING GOOD! I never expected the Sorcerer's Apprentice to be such an INCREDIBLE boss theme. But uh… wow did that Chernabog fight suck. You’re telling me the literal devil gets bonked on the head three times by a kid and just dies?!? I get flight isn’t a thing in this game, but like… have you climb up the volcano… I had an idea of how it could’ve been done, if anyone’s interested. Also, seeing Sora and Riku begin conducting a melody, and having Dearly Beloved start playing… oh boy that hit hard. Gosh I love this world…



The World That Never Was: Sora > Riku. 2/7
I was really disappointed by this world in KH2, because I was REALLY looking forward to getting to explore it, and KH2 just did not let me do that. So having this world come back with ACTUAL level design!?! Oh mama, oh it was REALLY good. It gave so much more depth to the area and REALLY conveyed the utter scale of it. I have so much praise for the level design in this world in particular. It felt like I finally got closure on something, if that makes sense. And the atmosphere is PERFECT, I particularly REALLY loved that dream sequence with Sora. I was completely confused throughout all of it, until I finally realized “Oh wait this is a dream” and suddenly it was SUPER cool. Got the mood of a weird, unsettling dream down PERFECTLY, not to mention how it ties into/foreshadows stuff. The bosses were great, Xemnas was ESPECIALLY fun. Though Riku’s boss really got on my nerves, but the Ansem fight after it was great.

I went over most of the plot when I talked about the story, so I don’t really have much more to add. It was just a REALLY good time. Getting to climb up all the buildings with flowmotion was super satisfying, and I love how trippy everything is. If it wasn’t for how short Symphony of Sorcery was, (and if Chernabog was better and the music synced up more), I would’ve probably enjoyed that world a little more than this one.

Now to start wrapping up. So overall, this game’s gameplay is definitely better than the story. Gameplay wise, I’d say this might be my favorite KH game, but there’s definitely certain aspects I like more in KH1. Presentationally though, I like it more than BBS, I guess? So… second least favorite I suppose. I briefly considered if I liked this game more than KH2, which is probably going to get me shot, but nah, KH2’s story was mostly, significantly better, even if I prefer this game’s gameplay considerably, which is also probably going to get me shot lol. I think this game is a better prequel to KH3 than it is its own thing. Unfortunately, it should be its own thing.



Gameplay: Gives you access to an INCREDIBLE amount of abilities that make fights feel SUPER dynamic. Flowmotion particularly being an absolute blast. The pacing of fights is absolutely a highlight, being exhilaratingly quick and cinematic. The level design is great, and it always feels SO good to explore. It is dragged down a little though by enemies juggling you, which slows the pace down to a screeching halt.

Presentation: Riku’s whole story is great, it really feels like the culmination of his entire arc throughout the series. The game builds up to KH3 beautifully too. Xehanort is well re-established, he’s a great villain, and his plan is very clear. And there were some REALLY good scenes at the end. Oh, and the atmosphere was nice, being kinda silly but also decently cool. Unfortunately, the plot feels flimsy, Sora’s not done very well, and all-in-all, the game feels kinda unfocused.

I feel like this game needed a stronger identity. I’m sure I’m gonna remember a lot about this game, but I kinda doubt I’m gonna remember that it’s from this game. Every KH game so far has had a strong identity of its own, outside of its connection to the series. This game feels like the one exception where it feels like an odd mis-match of KH1, KH2, and some hints of BBS. It’s got a lot of charm and good to it, again, I like the dream-like atmosphere and theme (Dream-like as in weird, not beautiful). Overall, I really like this game, despite all my criticisms. Its parts are way better than the sum of them.

Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jl7kssEEVKu_Ks2IWvdrJOt8StGOT4ydlY1ak4QB94c/edit

The final thing I have written in my notes is: “And so DDD ends. A weird, fun time that I thoroughly enjoyed far more than I expected. After a short stop at 0.2 though, I can finally say, onwards to KH3!”

I recently beat Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days for the first time. What a weird little game, and I mean that in the absolute best way possible. As always, spoiler warning ahead for… everything.

Started: April 15th 2024
Finished: May 10th, 2024
Playing: Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Console: Nintendo 3DS

So I had watched the remastered cutscenes in the Remix collection before this, and I liked it! I thought it was great. I loved Roxas and Axel’s relationship especially. But, I really did not get much out of Xion. The actual game completely blows the movie out of the water in like, every aspect. WOW did the movie not do the story justice, ESPECIALLY Xion. Gameplay wise though… it has highs and very low lows… I had heard that the game purposely makes its gameplay feel long and drawn out, to help you sympathize with Roxas who feels similar things throughout the game. I can REALLY respect that. Unfortunately… I don’t think that’s exactly the case. There were plenty of times when Roxas was happy in the story but the gameplay was still just as tedious. Thus, anytime it does work, it feels more like a happy accident rather than intentional. So, if the game had been more careful about when to be fun and when to… not be, I think it could’ve pulled it off. I can see how some people might take issue with that regardless, but as someone who plays games FOR the stories and characters, I welcome the idea with open arms. I like games because they can add ONTO a story, adding another layer of depth to play with when designing one. That’s where my passion lies and I think this game does a BEAUTIFUL job at immersing me in the story, regardless of gameplay issues.



So, now to actually go over the gameplay. I’m gonna start out with my biggest issue, the thing that REALLY brought down the experience and made it feel so long and drawn out…. oh my gOSH WHY DO THE ENEMIES HAVE SO MUCH FREAKING HEALTH!?!?!? IT DRIVES ME ABSOLUTELY INSANE!!!!! EVERY SINGLE ONE TAKES SO FREAKING LONG TO DEFEAT THEY ARE DESIGNED TO BE AS LONG AND ANNOYING AND AWFUL AS POSSIBLE!!! So many enemies are just giant HP sponges. They take VERY little skill to kill, they just eat up so much of my time for NO reason. I FREAKING HATE SAPPHIRE ELEGIES WITH A BURNING PASSION!!! THE WAY THEY TELEPORT EVERY TIME YOU TRY TO HIT THEM MAKES THEM SO. FREAKING. INFURIATING TO FIGHT! THEY HARDLY EVEN ATTACK!! THEY JUST RUN AROUND ANNOYINGLY AND THE GAME SPITS SO MANY OUT AT YOU AND WANTS YOU TO KILL THEM ALL AND OH MY GOSH I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT. Sorry, had to get that off my chest… But, yeah that’s how a lot of fights feel. Not all of them, but a lot. Simple, easy to defeat enemies that take ages to kill for no reason.

And the bosses, HOOH BOY THE BOSSES!! The Leechgrave and King of the Sky fights LITERALLY TOOK ME AN HOUR!! EACH!! A FREAKING HOUR!!! An hour of pure pain and suffering. Needlessly long, repetitive fights that just aren’t that interesting. The latter fight was more interesting, but also significantly longer, to the point where my FREAKING THUMB WAS HURTING!! It was also really difficult which meant I died a few times WHICH MEANT MORE REPETITIVENESS! The boss at Beast’s Castle was pretty cool though, very fun actually, and the Final boss was beautifully simple while still being somewhat difficult. It could’ve been better but the emotion surrounding it was strong so I don’t mind. It felt like I had to use all my skills to overcome it which was great!

My second biggest issue, is more of a pet peeve I suppose, but MAN do I hate how this game expects you to BACKTRACK to previous missions to 100% them. The game has a linear progression, it is day by day, it makes no sense to go back. Not to mention, it is INCREDIBLY infuriating putting in the effort to 100% a mission, only to discover that I can’t complete it because of like, one or two things out of reach. It’s even worse because the game really rewards 100%ing missions, and this aspect actively takes that away through no fault of my own. I never went back and replayed a previous mission, I just cut my losses, but I was trying to 100% them as best I could my first time through.



Now onto good stuff! I really love how Roxas feels to control. The game feels like a great mix of KH1 and KH2 in how it plays. Roxas and Sora play identically so keep that in mind. The game still keeps that simple, “underdog” feel that Sora had in KH1 which I LOVED, while adding in some new abilities like in KH2 to add a little more complexity and strategy. Roxas just feels good to attack, jump and move around as, controller issues aside. When enemies weren’t boring HP sponges, they were REALLY fun to fight, even simple ones. Aerial combat in KH is so fun and this game absolutely keeps that. I love having to do a small hop and time my attack right when trying to hit targets close to the ground, it’s so simple but satisfying to pull off.

The game also gives you a lot of REALLY great movement options and abilities outside of attacks. I freaking LOVE Air Slide in this game. Letting you slide more than once is INCREDIBLE!! OH ITS SO FUN! I can slide away to dodge an attack then slide right back to waste no time attacking! It’s SOsatisfying. Ohhh I want every KH game to have it. By far my favorite movement option in any KH game. Glide and dodge roll are still here, you can add more attributes to them which is super neat! Float was a cool ability, never got to use it but I like the idea. It’s fun to add more little abilities like that. I want more movement options instead of more attacks. cough cough KH2… I feel like I used Block a LOT more in this game than I had previously, which was really fun. Again, you can add attributes to it which is great! I’d LOVE to see future games allow you to upgrade abilities like this, rather than just “Oh it gets better/stronger.” I also loved Limit break, it feels like a more interesting version of the forms in KH2. I love the risk and reward for needing to be at low health to use it, and how you have to manage your use of it well, in case you need it later.




Some issues do come up with the actual controls though. I think it’s just because it’s on a DS (3DS in this case), but yeah it is kinda clunky trying to do… anything. The DS doesn’t grip into my hands like a normal controller does, so it feels like it’s constantly slipping out of them. The camera is also an issue. Type A controls using the touch screen gives great control over the camera (and is satisfying to do, with kid Icarus Uprising controls) but, completely impractical since I can’t swap between the buttons and touch screen while in a tense battle Type B controls using the L&R buttons fixes the practicality, but limits camera movement, and messes with Lock on, which uses the same buttons. The latter is FAR better but still.

Other than all of that though, I am IMPRESSED by how well they ported KH gameplay onto the DS! It still feels roughly the same to control, you’ve got all the same abilities. It’s really cool! That goes for every aspect. The music, the visuals, the special effects. If you blur your eyes, you almost can’t tell without comparing the two. Very neat! Very impressive too! The colors feel a teeny bit muted but other than that, it’s great! This is actually my first DS game so I don’t know the standard, but it’s better than I thought it’d be.

Another issue is that there was a big problem in the game’s combat where Roxas's combos were so long that sometimes I couldn’t dodge enemy attacks. Obviously I could preemptively guess their pattern, but, for the most part, I could ONLY guess. The attack patterns aren’t solid and repeating, there’s variation (which is good), but the issue is that, I’ll be attacking, see the enemy charge up an attack, stop attacking and try to run away, but because his combos are so long, Roxas is just stuck there, helplessly swinging before taking the hit. I should note that each Keyblade has its own attack pattern, so maybe I just needed a different one, but I wanted aerial combos, and the one I was using was the only one I could get that Enhanced that. KH is primarily aerial combat. So, combine that with how gruelingly long even simple enemies can take to kill, and the result is that, despite the INCREDIBLE amount of satisfying movement options the game gives you, I was often just tanking hits. Maybe I’m just bad, but the ability to stop your combos on command would’ve been VERY helpful. I like the idea of a ground pound. Think Sora’s down air in Smash Bros. You can use it at any time during a combo to shoot to the ground, so you can avoid attacks better. You still need the skill to use it though, it just gives you more control over Roxas!



The panel system is interesting. At first I didn’t see the point in it, but after awhile it really grew on me. I was really worried it’d just feel limiting, but they consistently gave you new slots to install panels so it really just felt like an EXP system where you’re consistently getting stronger, but you also have the option to sacrifice something for more of another. It’s not limiting, it almost feels like you have more control! It’s a lot more “what combination of panels fits best?” And a LOT less “what do I need to give up to use this new ability?” The puzzle of trying to fit the panels together most effectively is really fun! I like those sorts of puzzles. Anytime I thought I’d have to sacrifice something major for a new ability, I spent some time rearranging panels and I ALWAYS managed to fit them in. The only exception being the ability upgrades, which did kinda suck sometimes. I was particularly concerned at first about having your levels be tied to panels, but the addition of level doublers, triplers and quadruplers completely fixed that. Never did I get a level up panel I couldn’t use.

I do have two gripes with it though, one minor, one major. Gripe #1, I don’t like that they limit you to one accessory panel. If I want to sacrifice other stuff for more accessories, I feel like I should have the freedom to do that. Nerf the accessories, of course, but still. Gripe #2, the big one. Oh my gosh I hate the magic system. Magic is WAY too easy to accidentally waste. Happened SO many times, especially when fighting a speedy enemy. It was always incredibly frustrating. Making you have a VERY limited number of spells just was not fun. They basically turn into items. I think it would’ve been WAY better, if instead of magic panels, you had MP panels, and an MP bar. More MP panels, the longer your MP bar. Maybe make you equip one panel of any given spell you want to bring. That way, accidentally wasting a shot isn’t the end of the world.



Level design is mostly just taken from KH1 or 2, mostly the former (thank goodness) which does lead to some puzzles and exploration now and again, but it’s nowhere near as good as it was in KH1.But, I do enjoy the variety of missions you can get, even if some are a little infuriating sometimes. Recon missions are especially fun, having to pay attention to environmental storytelling and use logic to find answers. Trying to find that last point of interest was sometimes tiresome but the rest of it made up for it. The story aspect was particularly fun. Collect badges missions sounded REALLY fun on paper, but the backtracking thing I mentioned completely ruined it. There was never a reason to try. Shadow Globs and the various stealth sections were pretty fun, though the latter could be very tedious at times, just having to wait for something to move.And of course, boss and collect hearts missions, which suffer from the enemies issues. I think a lot of the missions could be improved by them telling you if you’ve collected everything there is to collect in any given room. Would make looking for that last heartless or point of interest far less tedious. There were also plenty of miscellaneous missions, usually tied to the story, so the missions didn’t feel too samey.

Some miscellaneous things… I like how the game has different elements based on the different Organization members. Little sad you can’t actually use them all but I get that finding uses for all 13 elements would be… tough. I was surprised by how many enemies there were when I first opened the enemy files. Eventually I realized that most were just variants of other heartlesses which was sort of lame (Especially since a lot were only color swaps with like, slightly boosted stats) but I get it, time and hardware constraints.




Now, onto the presentation! My GOODNESS is the start of this game strong. It does a BEAUTIFUL job at putting you in Roxas’s shoes. Having to get used to using a new controller (not to mention KH gameplay in general since it’s been so long since I last played) and just, game setup, made me able to REALLY feel with Roxas as he discovers… life, for the first time. All the basic controls and common sense. As they joke about, Roxas was sort of a zombie in the beginning, he just came into existence, everything was foreign to him. So they did a wonderful job letting me feel that with him

Feeling with the characters is ABSOLUTELY the game’s BIGGEST success! I remember this once scene where, after Axel and Xion had a huge, actual fight, not gonna really explain the context too much but, Xion had confronted him, and Axel started talking to her as if she were WORTHLESS! He sounded just like the other members of the organization and I was SHOCKED! I felt SO betrayed, I was APPALLED that he would be THAT CRUEL and awful to her… and then he COMPLETELY turns it around and essentially says “I know that's what people think of you, but I don’t care. You are MY best friend and nothing can come between us.” and just FSJJSJS GEEZ AXEL! YOU REALLY FREAKING HAD ME GOING THERE!! The amount of immediate relief I felt, it was insane. There were so many moments exactly like that where I really felt like I was right there with them, like I was best friends with them too. It was crazy. Be it happy or negative emotions, I felt it. That’s REALLY impressive and hard to do.

The character writing is just… so good, both in the little moments and the big picture. Conversations feel so casual and genuine, the characters have well defined personalities without being one note. They feel so real. It’s so… simple, too. Such a WEIRD contrast to the rest of the series. I’m not sure how to properly describe it. It’s just… genuine, and I feel VERY passionate about making characters genuine. I particularly loved the vacation day, and seeing how the three of them handled it differently. Particularly Axel just wanting to sleep, it adds a new layer to his slyness, I just really like it lol.



But despite the writing being simple and ‘slice of life-y’, the narrative in the game is SOOOOO deep. There is so much to talk about. I absolutely adore how innocent all three of them are, even Axel. They want simple things, just to be together, but because they’re stuck in the Organization, it’s constantly stolen from them, every step of the way. It’s REALLY tragic seeing such innocent people getting stuck in something so evil. That juxtaposition is SO well done. It’s something that’s so prevalent in the real world, too, which makes it hit particularly hard. Not to mention all the stuff surrounding Xion’s story completely throwing a wrench in things through no fault of their own. These three people do not deserve everything that happens to them, and that narrative is achieved beautifully.

I love how many times the three of them get into arguments or drama with each other, and you think “oh boy, here’s where the rift between them starts” But EVERY time (aside from the end), they forgive each other, and come back as even stronger friends. Their friendship was built up so naturally and well. I absolutely would’ve overlooked having them go through multiple arguments throughout the story to build their friendship, if I was writing this. It’s so freaking well written how the heck is this a Kingdom Hearts game?!? Seeing them trying to figure out such basic concepts as friendship or love, was both cute, funny and tragic, or them trying to figure out how to process and deal with their emotions. All of this just created a REALLY interesting atmosphere and tone that is INCREDIBLY unique.

And that’s not even mentioning CHARACTER ARCS!! All three of them are EQUALLY well done, which is INCREDIBLY impressive. I am SUCH a sucker for good character development, and WOW does this game deliver. The way their dynamics and roles shift and change, and not always for the better, was done so seamlessly.



I’m gonna start with Axel, I remember thinking he was REALLY well done in the movie, and he only got better here. I love how in the beginning, Roxas, (and thus, I the player) view him as… a mentor I guess? Any questions he has, he goes to Axel for the answer. But slowly, throughout the game, Roxas starts to realize he doesn’t know everything, and suddenly his character starts to shift from ‘the mature one’ into arguably ‘the LEAST mature one.’ As everything around him begins to crumble and fall, we get to see as his sly, cool-headed persona he puts on, crumbles right alongside it. Revealing not only his deep emotion for his friends, but also, that he’s sorta cowardly. Constantly running from confrontation and responsibility, and actively getting mad at Roxas and Xion whenever they tried to disrupt their simple life in search of a better one. It’s something that was built up to the entire game. He’s scared of the Organization deep down, and unlike Roxas and Xion, doesn’t overcome it. At least, not soon enough. Had he acted differently, he might’ve been able to prevent some stuff that happened. At the end of the game, he just completely loses it, and seeing him finally collapse out of both physical and mental exhaustion… DANG… That carried so much weight.

I also REALLY want to highlight the scene in Neverland where Roxas convinces Axel to fly. Having Axel’s belief he could fly, come from not trust in the pixie dust or tinkerbell,or even just believing he could, but from his trust in Roxas, and how he wouldn’t lie to or betray him, did so much for both his character and their relationship. It also made later when Axel refuses to trust Roxas out of fear of the organization just REALLY hit hard.



Next is Xion, who has the opposite arc. Seeing as she develops as a person through her friendship with Roxas, in the same way Roxas developed through Axel, was so sweet. Her removing her hood for Roxas for the first time REALLY hit, which was so cool. She’s just so…. Innocent. She doesn’t know much about the world, she’s just following Roxas, and he doesn’t know much either. So seeing that innocent, simple character, learn more and more about who she is and how she came to be, and seeing her MATURE, OOOO IT WAS SO WELL DONE! Seeing her seek out the truth, taking responsibility and initiative. She starts to outgrow Roxas, no longer needing his advice and instead evolving to be sharing advice with HIM. She grows brave enough to defy the Organization and sacrifice herself for the greater good. She grows into a character I can respect which is just so neat. She didn’t have to, but she did.

And then, ROXAS! Oh boy I love him even more now! He’s kinda the same deal as Xion. Seeing him develop through Axel was so sweet, and then seeing him take that and pass it down to Xion was both adorable and funny. I absolutely loved seeing him innocently try to figure out who he is, and his role in the organization. I loved seeing him learn about morals and virtues through the Disney characters, and then look back at the organization and go “huh, weird, they don’t practice these things...” And he doesn’t know which one is right so he’s just kinda confused. For the longest time he just kinda, went along to get along, not really sure what he was doing. He didn’t know what anything he was feeling meant, he just knew he enjoyed being with his friends so he kept doing that.



Then, watching as Axel and Xion pretty much outgrow him… it made Roxas seem so much like an immature kid by comparison. He just wanted to be with his friends and have ice cream, and he can’t figure out for the life of him why life isn’t that simple. I was actually kinda shocked, I remembered him being more grumpy rather than… timid I guess. I remember really feeling like Roxas was being SO left out and abandoned, that no one was telling him anything. AND THEN!! AND THEN THE GAME GOES “YUP THATS HIS CHARACTER ARC!!” AND IM LIKE YEAAAAAHHHH!!!!! No one WAS telling him anything. They were treating him like a little child at best and a slave at worst. So FINALLY Roxas freaking SNAPS and goes “WHY AM I DOING ANY OF THIS?!?” AND I'M LIKE YEAHHHH QUESTION THAT EVIL ORGANIZATION!!! MATURE AND STAND UP FOR YOURSELF!! TAKE INITIATIVE AND SEEK THE TRUTH!!. Ohhhh it was BEAUTIFUL!!! Oh so well written and conveyed, AND PACED!! Seeing him fight for what he loves and believes in, seeing him stand up to Axel who kept keeping secrets from him, it was both satisfying and tragic. I honestly wasn’t expecting Roxas to… grow that much. Mature that much. It was kind of sudden but I was FEELING that tension build up inside him and seeing it finally boil over… oh I could keep talking about it for days man…

I absolutely love how well Roxas running away from the organization was set up. The entire game they talk about how ‘no one can leave the organization or else they’ll be killed’ so finally having that moment of leaving that main room for the final time, the room you ALWAYS return to, hit very hard. Then getting to run through the castle… I was filled with both determination and anxiety, which I just KNOW is what Roxas was feeling. Beautiful! Roxas’s Diary also adds a LOT to the experience, they really help you understand his internal thought process and they all feel so naturally written. They feel like things he would realistically write down. That final note of him just writing, and I quote, “I AM DONE WITH THIS” had so much weight behind it.



I hope that the amount I’m able to analyze these characters, their relationships and character arcs, just REALLY conveys how INCREDIBLY well written this game is. These are REALLY deep and complex characters. Every aspect of them is fleshed out and ties in together. These three feel as complex as real people, which just…. GAH!! IT’S SO IMPRESSIVE! How the heck did this team go onto make freaking Birth by Sleep, which had a VERY similar set up for it’s story, yet REALLY fumbled it. And I’m yet to even mention how CLEAR they make all the crazy Kingdom Hearts lore and stuff. This is by FAR the clearest explanation of what the actual, in-lore Kingdom Hearts is. I also had no trouble following Xion’s whole plot, or the Organization’s motives, or what was going on with DiZ, Namine and Riku. It was all crystal clear to me. Aside from like, one or two scenes, I never felt lost. Wow. Again, how is this a Kingdom Hearts game!?

Some miscellaneous things to wrap up with. Other organization members were written well as always. I particularly love Demyx. Luxord also shocked me by how much I like him. He was actually pretty kind, which I wasn’t really expecting. Xemnas was still as threatening as ever, he wasn't there much but every line out of his mouth showed so much of how despicable he is. The Disney worlds were very simple but enjoyable. Loved seeing Roxas and Xion meet the Genie or try to figure out the story of Beauty and the Beast. Seeing Roxas become friends with Phil and Tinkerbell was sweet too! I actually really loved how the Cheshire Cat was used, I don’t have much to add onto that, I just really enjoyed him in this game. I also love just… the setup of the game. Going day by day, showing their daily life. It works so well to convey their internal struggles. I would love to see like, an indie game, take this same setup of the game being split up into days in order to show someone’s whole life progress. It’s super interesting and unique.



Now, to finally wrap up. Like I said to begin with, wow what a WEIRD little game this is. It feels so unlike the rest of the Kingdom Hearts series in a REALLY refreshing way. So many issues that I have with the series aren’t prevalent in this game. That mixed with the fact I managed to beat it within a month (Something I’m NEVER able to do) just came together to make it feel… surreal, like a dream. But I mean that in a good way. The humorous yet tragic undertones of watching the characters figure out emotions and life, REALLY resonated with me. Yet… I don't know why, but I struggle to put it up among my favorite games. It just… feels like a weird dream, but again I mean that in a good way. I don’t know how to describe this game man, I just have the same feeling I get when I wake up from an interesting dream. It’s as if my brain hasn’t registered that this game is even real.

That aside, to recap…
Gameplay is overall… good. Roxas feels great to control and the variety of abilities you get adds SO much. If it wasn’t for the clunkiness of being on the DS, this would be my favorite KH game in terms of how it plays. Unfortunately, enemies feel poorly designed, having WAY too much health without having interesting enough attacks to JUSTIFY such a long fight. Missions could also just be kinda aggravating, so mixing the two made the game feel like SUCH a slog at times.

Presentationally though, WHOLE other story. The amount of complexity these characters have, and the seamless, easy to follow, journey they go on is ridiculously incredible. They grow and evolve, their dynamics shift to accommodate their change, they have realistic emotions and struggles. The narrative is so well constructed, paced and executed. I might just say, this is the best story I’ve ever experienced in a video game. I struggle to say the best characters, because there’s some REALLY harsh competition, and I've found many others more entertaining (Which is NOT at ALL a dig against these three). Most impressive characters though, yeah definitely.

As for how it ranks in the series… gosh, I hate to put it below KH1 and 2, but I think I am. I don’t know why, I just think I have more fond memories with those two. It absolutely beats out BBS and CoM though, easily.

If anyone wants my notes, here's the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/128I3Wra8-GyvedLrW6KnXb4bW6lzL755OlETm_9sY4M/edit?usp=sharing

And so, in conclusion, the final thing I have written in my notes is:
358/2 Days have passed, and I won’t be forgetting this experience or the friends I feel I’ve made ANY time soon. Onto Dream Drop Distance!