Game Over: Kingdom Hearts III

Mike finished a game

- Mike Crewe

Kingdom Hearts is a franchise that many have fallen in love with since its inception back in 2002, whilst others have lost touch with the multitude of spin-offs, prequels, mobile games and what seems like hundreds more. I was enthralled by the series from the start; an action RPG with some of my favourite Final Fantasy characters mixed with a heavy dose of Disney? Sign me up!

Fast forward almost 20 years later and the series is still going strong. Whilst it doesn't quite have the same magical grasp on me as it did when I was young, I can't deny the fact that Kingdom Hearts III had me feeling that sense of childlike wonder all over again.

Tale As Old

As Time Right off the bat it's worth mentioning that Kingdom Hearts III is not recommended for players new to the series. Its long, convoluted plotline can confuse even the most die-hard of fans. Over the past two years or so I revisited every prior game in the series, which was easily done thanks to the numerous remasters all available on modern consoles. Some games, such as Nintendo DS exclusive Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (one of many unusually named titles), are remade essentially into movies. The campaigns were reduced to cutscenes to highlight the important story aspects which, as someone who was planning to play the full series, I didn't mind too much.

So, onto the story. Kingdom Hearts III takes place after the 3DS exclusive Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (I told you the titles were unusual!) and sees our hero Sora on a quest to regain the powers taken from him in the previous game. It's one of those plot devices that ensures you don't start the game as a level 99 beast and fly through it decimating everything in your path, but at least it makes sense within the lore of Kingdom Hearts.