Release: 2017
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: Action, RPG
Gameplay Stats: 3 hours, 28/51 challenges
This is essentially Square Enix's demo for the long time coming Kingdom Hearts 3. For reference, Kingdom Hearts 2 came out in 2006, and I'm not bitter at all about the wait. There have been several other games in the series since Kingdom Hearts 2, and this game does meaningfully add to the plot, but they made it known that this game was at least in part a demo of sorts for the proper sequel. It was their first foray onto the PS4 though, so I think the demo was at least in part, warranted.
Visuals: This game is easily the prettiest in the series. Of course, that isn't saying too much since this is the first game to come out on a modern console. This game maintains the visual, cartoony style of the previous games while updating the textures and shadows so that they are more in line with modern video games. The whole game takes place in the Land of Darkness, so we didn't get to see anything outside of Mickey, Yen Sid, Donald, and Goofy for evidence of them being able to bring a Disney world into modern video game consoles. You do revisit an area from Birth By Sleep and Destiny Island, and they look very noticeably better than they did before.
Audio: The music in this game is pretty solid, but there weren't any tracks that particularly stuck out in my mind that I'm eager to revisit. The sound effects are noticeably better than they were in previous games. Particularly the magic sound effects. Enemies all still sound distinct and the voice work seems to be pretty good. It'll be interesting to see how the characters all sound in KH3 when it does come out since it has been so long since the previous entry came out. Hopefully none of the voice actors died in the intervening decade!
Plot: The plot of this game mostly made sense, which says a lot about the Kingdom Hearts series. There was a bit at the end that seemingly contradicted something from Dream Drop Distance, so we'll have to see how that plays out. The series is no stranger to Ret-Con, so I'll be interested to see if anything makes sense when KH3 finally comes out. That being said, the plot for this game is pretty straight forward. It's only a couple hours long, so it couldn't be too convoluted!
Gameplay: This is the real question! The game plays really well. It's a nice mix of KH2 style gameplay and a lot of the additions made in the later games. The tight fighting system is still in tact and feels good. When I made a mistake and got hit it felt like my fault, not the game's which is always a good thing. Aqua did feel a little slippery in her movement, but it was really good in fights. I felt more maneuverable and able to dodge attacks without using the dodge roll, but I also slipped off a couple edges while trying to platform. Talking with my brother in law, it just sounds like I need to spend a bit more time with the game, which is understandable. They included several of the Flow Motion type moves from KH3D which is definitely nice! It makes traversing areas without baddies feel so much faster and nicer. The biggest improvements seem to come in the combo finishers and the magic. They took the combo meters from BBS and made their transformations and finishing moves optional entirely. This is really great since sometimes the transformations were too slow for particular enemies and you had to run away. The magic seems to have received a huge graphical overhaul! It's bigger and shinier all around! It doesn't seem a whole lot stronger, but it seems more climactic than in previous entries for sure.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this game to a fan of the series. If you're looking at becoming a fan, I would recommend a rental or borrowing from a friend. Not that the game isn't good, its just that without the proper background information the game might not make very much sense. Like most games in the series, it's fun to play but the plot is kind of junk. It's got that Metal Gear Solid disease! [7.5/10]
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