Kingdom Hearts 3 – A Game for Disney Fans?

As we ramped up to the launch of Kingdom Hearts 3, I had a Twitter conversation with some media folks in Canada, and ultimately made the statement that Kingdom Hearts really isn’t a game for Disney fans, arguing you have to have a better appreciation for the franchise to truly appreciate the game. My stupidity is below for your enjoyment. Ultimately, I was very, very wrong.

Here is the reality. You definitely need to have an appreciation for video games, but a decent like for adventure games. But that really is about it. You don’t need to necessarily appreciate Japanese RPG experiences, or RPG experiences as a whole. If you like Disney, if you like video games, this is definitely a game you will enjoy.

I do feel you can't JUST be a Disney fan and hope to enjoy this…

— Adam Roffel (@AdamRoffel) January 14, 2019

My wife, who wasn’t playing the game, just enjoyed watching me play, commenting on how Square Enix and Disney were able to get various characters to reprise their voice roles from older movies, and guessing which characters were voicing for the first time. Some voices have changed over the years, but the familiarity is still there.

And as each Disney character shows up on the screen, Disney fans such as myself get more and more excited for what is ahead. It was first Donald and Goofy, then Hades stopped by, followed by Pete and Maleficent. Then you meet Hercules, Meg, and Phil, before saying high to Zeus up on Mount Olympus. Top that all off with running into Mickey within the first hour, and finding hidden Mickey heads strewn around Thebes, and you will be knees deep in Disney magic long before you enter your second playable world.

It’s not just the characters and locations, but the battle animations as well. When teaming up with your companions, you can unleash ‘attraction’ attacks themed after various (Disney?) attractions, including a train ride, a rocking ship, and of course an attack that mimics riding Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. There is so much to love as  Disney fan, and only sleep was able to wrestle the controller out of my hands.

If you own an Xbox One or a PlayStation 4, you are doing a disservice to yourself not picking up Kingdom Hearts. It’s a game all Disney fans will definitely enjoy!