We’d already seen Toy Story as a world from the trailer
back in July, which showcased Olympus Coliseum from Hercules as well. This
time, it was Monsters, Inc. to have that spotlight. Seeing these worlds and the
interactions with characters are great, and is exactly what I’m expecting when
I get into it for myself. The trailer which revealed Toy Story showed off some
great combat and movement, which the latest trailer expanded on. World-specific
combat options are great, and seeing a bit more of the Toy Story world as well
as a boss from that world have me wanting to experience it a whole lot
more than I already had been from the July trailer. The Monsters, Inc. world is
also a place I’m down for exploring. The trailer also showed off the Tangled
world a bit, and while I haven’t seen the film, that’s true for most of the
franchises that have been represented in the past games. As I’ve always said
though, for me the interactions are the driving force to any story, and seeing
characters exploring these new worlds is where most of my enjoyment comes from.
The fact I’m the one exploring the worlds is a bonus that helps with immersion.
We’ve yet to see the Big Hero 6 world in action, but the interactions within
that world are sure to be great for me as well.
As for the gameplay itself, I was hooked on KH2’s control.
Dream Drop Distance took a little while to get used to. Not with the flowmotion
mechanics – which I instantly got into – but the fact the commands menu is not
the best thing to try operate on a 3DS. I haven’t played 0.2 or any of the HD
remasters to get me back into console playing, but I shouldn’t think it would
be a problem. The games are pretty similar in control scheme [exceptions being
the DS games for obvious reasons] that when I get into KH3, it should be
familiar to me. The new addition of keyblade transformations have been seen in
the trailers, producing a variety of different attack options. The gummi ship
also returns, though this time moving away from an on-rails shooter to become
something more open – which I am more than happy with. The gummi ship sections
weren’t exactly a favourite of mine, so I’m hoping this new form of them will
prove a valuable addition.
As for speculation, I’m hoping somewhere they saw fit to
include a third Pixar world. While The Incredibles would be a bit too similar
to Big Hero 6, I could see maybe Finding Nemo becoming a world with an original
plot-line, or maybe Wall-E being set after the events of the first film with
the Heartless trying to disrupt the efforts of the humans to restore their home.
What with a certain franchise being bought by Disney five years ago, I wouldn’t
be surprised if something Star Wars related made it into the game. People have
said it often, but a lightsaber keyblade could be awesome to wield. The setting
is important with this, though, what with the Star Wars universe spanning many,
many years. I think a key idea here would be something completely original, but
with enough familiar elements that you couldn’t mistake it for anything other
than Star Wars. Having another world based on one of the main Disney characters
– including the return of Disney Castle – would be an interesting way to
explore the KH-universe versions of these characters more. We know Goofy is
captain of the royal guard of Disney Castle, but could his character be
explored more? Even in such a simple concept as Organisation XIII trying to frame
the Guard as trying to overthrow Mickey and Minnie as King and Queen.
Last of all, I just want to say that with the Switch
selling like it has, I want to see the HD collection of games make their way to
it in the future. Nintendo handhelds got most of the spin-offs, so to see the
main series on the Switch – along with remastered versions of the games Nintendo
did get – would be an absolute dream. As unlikely as it seems, having the third
game on Switch – even if it has to come a year or more after first release –
would also be welcome.
When Kingdom Hearts 3 releases this year, I'm sure my Xbox will be recording many hours of playtime on it and that I'll be returning to it as much as I did the second.