Kingdom Hearts 3
Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Nintendo Switch. It is the third main installment in the Kingdom Hearts series and the twelfth game overall, and serves as a conclusion of the “Dark Seeker Saga” story arc that began with the original game. Set after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, returning protagonist Sora is joined by Donald Duck, Goofy, King Mickey, and Riku in their search for seven guardians of light as they attempt to thwart Xehanort’s plan to bring about a second Keyblade War. Their journey has them cross paths with characters and visit worlds based on different Disney intellectual properties, being also the first game in the series to include content based on Pixar productions.
Concepts for Kingdom Hearts III began as early as 2005 after the release of Kingdom Hearts II in Japan, with the game’s development not being officially announced until 2013, following years of rumors and speculation. The game features recurring gameplay elements from the series, while expanding parties to five characters total, introducing new “Attraction Flow” attacks that incorporate various Disney Parks attractions, and including minigames inspired by classic Mickey Mouse cartoons in the style of 1980s LCD games.
Setting
The story opens with the final scenes of Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage, and serves as a conclusion of the “Dark Seeker/Xehanort Saga” that occurs in most preceding games. Most of the worlds featured in the game inspired by Disney properties are new to the series, including the Kingdom of Corona (based on Tangled), Arendelle (Frozen), San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6), and the Pixar-based worlds Toy Box (Toy Story) and Monstropolis (Monsters, Inc.). Two new original worlds created specifically for the game also appear: a limbo for dying hearts called the “Final World”; and Scala ad Caelum, a “seat of power” for past Keyblade wielders, where the game’s final battle takes place. Returning Disney worlds include tutorial stage Olympus (Hercules), the Caribbean (Pirates of the Caribbean), and the 100 Acre Wood (Winnie the Pooh), while original worlds include Twilight Town, the Dark World, the Land of Departure, and the Keyblade Graveyard. Worlds such as Yen Sid’s Mysterious Tower, Radiant Garden, Disney Castle, and the Destiny Islands appear exclusively via cutscenes. The “Classic Kingdom” mini-games are inspired by classic Walt Disney Productions Mickey Mouse cartoons, including Giantland, The Karnival Kid, Musical Farmer, The Barnyard Battle, The Klondike Kid, and Mickey’s Mechanical Man.
The Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and Big Hero 6 worlds feature original stories, with the former set between the events of Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, and the latter two set after the events of their respective films. This is different from previous worlds in the series, which have often loosely followed plot lines from the films on which they were based, including the Tangled, Frozen, and Pirates of the Caribbean worlds. On the amount of worlds featured in the game, Nomura noted the development team focused on creating “rich gameplay in an individual world… designed so players can take their time and enjoy the gameplay that’s available” opposed to having “multiple different little worlds”.
Characters
The main protagonist and playable character of the game is Sora, a 15-year-old boy who uses a key-shaped weapon called the Keyblade to battle the forces of darkness. Sora is accompanied by Donald Duck and Goofy, the royal magician and knight captain of Disney Castle, respectively. The three are supported by other Keyblade wielders, several of whom they must rescue in preparation for their final confrontation with Xehanort, the series’ primary antagonist, as “guardians of light”; Mickey Mouse, an experienced Keyblade Master who is Donald and Goofy’s king; Riku, a Master and Sora’s best friend; Kairi, another of Sora’s friends, a Princess of Heart and a novice wielder; Aqua, a Master trapped in the realm of darkness; Ventus, a comatose boy whose heart has merged with Sora’s; Terra, a young man who was possessed by Xehanort; Axel/Lea, a former member of Organization XIII and fellow novice with Kairi; Roxas, Sora’s Nobody, who merged his existence with Sora’s; and Xion, a replica member of the Organization whose existence was erased from her friends’ memories.
Plot
Yen Sid begins preparing seven Keyblade wielders as guardians of light to counteract Xehanort’s plan of forging the χ-blade. Sora, accompanied by Donald Duck and Goofy, resumes his travels across other worlds to regain his “power of waking”, the ability to restore lost hearts, which he lost after nearly being possessed by Xehanort. Sora’s group is antagonized by Organization XIII, who target the seven Princesses of Heart as substitutes for the guardians while seeking their thirteenth and final member. Meanwhile, Riku and King Mickey search the realm of darkness to retrieve Aqua, while Kairi and Lea train as Keyblade wielders.
Throughout their travels, Sora and Riku are contacted by former Organization member Ienzo, who uncovers research notes from Ansem the Wise, revealing the hearts of Roxas and two others—later identified as Ventus and Xion—are dormant within Sora’s heart. Sora suggests implanting Roxas’s heart in an artificial Replica body made by Vexen, one of the Organization’s reserves, after learning that the Organization’s time-traveling members are using the same method to exist in the present. Meanwhile, the Heartless Ansem abducts Ansem the Wise from the realm of darkness, but Vexen rescues Ansem the Wise. Revealing himself as a double agent, Vexen enlists fellow reserve Demyx to deliver a spare Replica for Roxas to inhabit.
Riku and Mickey are attacked by Aqua, who has become corrupted by the dark realm’s influence. Discovering Eraqus’s Keyblade on Destiny Islands, Sora uses it to enter the realm of darkness and aid his friends, defeating and restoring Aqua. Aqua then travels to awaken Ventus at Castle Oblivion, which she transforms back into the Land of Departure. When she is attacked by Vanitas, Sora rediscovers his power of waking and revives Ventus, who fends Vanitas off.
The seven guardians arrive at the Keyblade Graveyard to battle the Organization, only to be consumed by a swarm of Heartless summoned by the possessed Terra. Sustained by Kairi’s power, Sora awakens in a limbo realm called the Final World, where a Chirithy guides him in restoring his fragmented body. He then uses the power of waking to revive his friends and travel back in time to the moment before their defeat, which is averted by the appearance of Terra’s lingering will. In the ensuing battle against the Organization, Terra regains control of his body and reunites with Aqua and Ventus, while Roxas and Xion—the latter of whom was duplicated as the Organization’s final member—regain their hearts from Sora and reunite with Lea.
After the other Organization members are defeated, Xehanort provokes Sora into attacking him by destroying Kairi’s body, allowing Xehanort to acquire the χ-blade and unlock Kingdom Hearts. Sora, Donald, and Goofy hinder Xehanort by transporting him to his boyhood home of Scala ad Caelum, where they eventually defeat him. In Xehanort’s dying moments, Eraqus’s spirit emerges from Terra and convinces Xehanort to surrender the χ-blade. After sealing Kingdom Hearts, Sora uses the power of waking to save Kairi, despite warnings of grave consequences for doing so. Afterwards, Sora’s allies gather at the Destiny Islands, where Kairi stays beside Sora before he fades away.
In a post-credits scene, Organization member Xigbar summons the Foretellers and reveals himself to be Luxu, their fellow Keyblade apprentice. In a flashback to their youth, Eraqus and Xehanort—having finished a chess game reminiscent of Sora’s final battle with Xehanort—begin a new game that predicts a battle with Luxu and the Foretellers.
Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind
Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind is a downloadable expansion set during and after the climax of the game. It is divided into three separate scenarios—”Re Mind”, the “Limitcut Episode”, and the “Secret Episode”—which are unlocked in sequential order after the original game is cleared.
The titular scenario depicts Sora’s rescue of Kairi during the game’s ending scenes. Assuming an incorporeal form, Sora travels back in time to the battle between the guardians of light and the Organization, passing through the guardians’ hearts to reach Kairi. Despite his initial failure, he finds and assembles fragments of her heart in Scala ad Caelum before his past self’s final battle with Xehanort, restoring Kairi. After revisiting the Final World to invite Chirithy to the realm of light, Sora visits his friends’ worlds with Kairi before his disappearance.
The “Limitcut Episode” is set one year after Sora’s disappearance; his allies have since led an ongoing search for him, while Kairi has entered stasis after volunteering as Ansem the Wise’s test subject to help Sora. During a visit to Radiant Garden, Riku analyzes digital copies of Sora and the Organization’s members programmed into Cid Highwind’s computer, hoping to uncover clues to Sora’s whereabouts through their battles. After the analysis proves inconclusive, Riku is approached by the Fairy Godmother to meet with Yen Sid, who has determined a method of finding Sora through Riku and two others.
The “Secret Episode” focuses on Sora, who has become trapped in the Final World since his disappearance. There, Sora encounters Yozora, who claims to have been requested to save Sora, but questions Sora’s identity and battles him atop a skyscraper in a modern-day metropolis.[f] If Sora wins, Yozora fades away before Sora returns to the Final World; if Sora loses, Yozora crystallizes him and goes to the Final World instead. Afterward, regardless of who wins, Yozora awakens in a car while a closing narration ensues in his and Sora’s voices, with the battle’s victor saying, “None of this makes sense to me.”
