Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

Celebrating 10 years since the release of the first game, Square Enix has finally released the long awaitedKingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Kingdom Hearts is a series that captured the hearts of people around the world with their beloved combination of Final Fantasy and Disney. Square Enix introduced us to a crossover that we never knew we wanted and would love so much. Fans have waited for the next main game patiently for years and now that it's here, did this game go the distance and meet the expectations fans had for it? Even though it has its problem, KH3D did go the distance and was an excellent game. Though it may not be considered better than its predecessors, it still was a fun and exciting game that lived up to the name that Kingdom Hearts has earned.

KH3D brings back old mechanics of the game and old characters, but it also introduces plenty of brand new mechanics and characters. Some new characters are those from another popular role-playing game known asThe World Ends with You For the first time, these characters are fully voice-acted, which is sure to please anyThe World End with You fan. However, while the series introduced these characters, the Final Fantasy characters were put on the back-burner, never really being mentioned within this game. But the game still carries that "Disney magic" with it as it introduces new worlds based on Disney movies such asThe Hunchback of Notre Dame,The Three Musketeers, andFantasia.

This game follows the stories of our two key blade wielders, Sora and Riku, as they fight to pass their Mark of Mastery exam and be declared key blade masters. Master Yen Sid sets Riku and Sora out on a task to find seven sleeping worlds. They must awaken these sleeping worlds by finding the keyholes and unlocking them. Should they pass, they will be declared key blade masters and earn a new power that will help them in their final fight against Xehanort. But should they fail... Well let's just say things won't turn out very well for the worlds. Players are able to control both Sora and Riku, periodically switching between the two boys through a new system called the "drop system".

The drop system was a bold and risky move on Square Enix's part; it can be quite shocking and inconvenient. With the drop system, players are given a drop bar near their health bar. The drop bar will slowly decrease over time and after about twenty minutes, players will be forced to switch characters. If you're playing Sora, you will go to Riku. If you're playing Riku, you'll go to Sora. If players are not watching the drop bar, they can be abruptly ripped from gameplay and forced to switch characters. When a drop occurs, players can spend "drop points" collected during that time and use them to benefit the next character. You can choose to do such things as increase your strength for the duration of that drop or even buy an item. However, players can also choose not to take advantage of this and skip it. Players can also manually drop by pausing the game and clicking the big pink "Drop" button on the lower screen. It's up to you how to utilize the drop system.

The drop system can be both bad and good; it depends on how each individual player looks at it. The drop system can be very inconvenient and aggravating; it can force a switch at the worst possible times. The system can drop you in the middle of a boss battle if you are left without any Drop-Me-Nots, new items that will extend your time before you are dropped. By being dropped in the middle of a boss battle, you are forced to start all the way from the beginning of that battle when you take control of that character again. However, this can also add a sense of urgency to the game, convincing you to focus on defeating the boss quickly before you are dropped. The system can also be used to ensure that players are convinced to treat both Riku and Sora's stories equally and not neglect one of them. It is advised you do not neglect one character's story because to understand the game, you must play through both stories and the game can get confusing if you fail to do this.

But even with bad mechanics such as the drop system, KH3D has some very excellent mechanics like flow motion. Flow motion is a new movement and combat mechanic that lets you use your environment to your advantage. You can use flow motion to bounce from wall to wall at dizzying speeds to get around worlds quicker. You can also use flow motion during combat. You can launch your character off a wall, slingshotting them towards the enemy before launching into a series of Deck Command attacks for some nice damage. You can also use flow motion for a quick escape if you get overwhelmed by your enemies. Flow motion makes combat exciting and fast-paced. Once you get the hang of flow motion and master it, you are sure to enjoy it.

KH3D also brings with it new enemies known as Dream Eaters, but the new enemies have a twist. There are good Dream Eaters and bad Dream Eaters. The bad ones are known as Nightmares and you must defeat them. The good ones are known as Spirits and you can befriend them, they can become your allies and pets. You can go to the Spirit menu to feed them, play with them, paint them, and strengthen them. Spirits do replace Goofy and Donald as your companions for this game. Even if the Spirit menu doesn't add much to the game, it's quite adorable and can be treated as a fun little mini-game. Coming with the Dream Eaters is another mini-game called "Flick Rush", where you can pit your Spirits against others Spirits in tournaments to win medals to spend at one of the Moogle Shop. Flick Rush can keep certain players entertained for hours on just that mini-game.

Another new mechanic for the game is called "Reality Shift", which is used to bend and shape the world around you. Throughout the game, you will encounter moments when a pink circle appears around your enemy or an object. Reality Shift utilizes the touch screen and each world has its own unique Reality Shift, so what you have to do to use this depends on which world you are present in.

The story-line in the game is a bit messy and it can be very confusing from time to time. It requires paying attention to really know what's going on in the game. The game features "flashbacks", which are extra cut scenes that you can view for a look at what happened before Sora/Riku got to that world. These flashbacks are optional and you can skip them if you're not interested. The game also has "mementos", which are brief overviews of what has happened during the previous games. This feature is excellent for newcomers to know and understand what has happened in the series thus far so they don't get too confused. Like flashbacks, mementos are optional and you don't have to read through them.

A returning mechanic for the game is the "Deck Command" feature that was first introduced in Birth by Sleep. While some players may find the Deck Command clunky and inconvenient, if you stock it with the right Commands, it can mean the difference between win or lose in a boss battle. Learn to master the Deck Command and you can use it to your full advantage.

The graphics on the game are excellent as always and the voice acting is superb. Square Enix needs little to no help in this aspect. After the game, players are given a secret ending as always. But, for this game, players are also given a secret message that hints about the next Kingdom Hearts game. Overall, KH3D is a decent game that I recommend any Kingdom Hearts or RPG fan give a chance. While it falls short when compared to the games that came before it, it was still very exciting and reminded me why I fell in love with this series. It has its problems and it has its strengths. There is still room for improvement for this series, but it still earns a 8/10 from me.

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