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.

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.