


Watching a river raft cause water to cascade across the battlefield and damage all the enemies in its wake, or a massive pirate ship as it swings back and forth with dangerous momentum and sends Heartless flying is not only a crowd-control savior but an astonishing light show that would leave Disneyland Main Street employees jealous. The new summoning system, called Attraction Flow, is a particular favorite of mine because it allows you to call in Disney park-like rides into the midst of battle. It’s a little complex at first, but there’s a rhythm to nailing down each individual aspect and using them in conjunction with one another, to bombastic effect. Smacking Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed around with Sora’s keyblade is the main method of mayhem, but new elements help make battles into spectacles that keep them varied and fresh even several worlds into the adventure. After following the series for so long, I expected to be emotionally invested in Kingdom Hearts 3’s story, but I didn’t expect to fall so deeply in love with the real-time action combat. “Part of what helps the pace overcome these issues, not just in the early moments but all the way through the about 27-hour story, is the wide array of combat options that mixes moves from past Kingdom Hearts games (with some modern revisions) and some exciting ones that are entirely new.
