Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom Hearts III, an action role-playing game from Square Enix, hit shelves in January 2019 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It wraps up the "Dark Seeker Saga," a storyline that kicked off with the very first Kingdom Hearts game, and stands as the eleventh main title in the series overall. The plot picks up after *Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance*, following Sora, Donald Duck, Goofy, King Mickey, and Riku as they hunt down seven guardians of light to stop Xehanort from sparking a second Keyblade War. Along the way, they bump into characters and explore worlds pulled from Disney properties, with this being the first game in the series to feature Pixar content.

The game’s combat sticks to the series’ hack-and-slash roots, but director Tetsuya Nomura described it as "pretty frantic" and "flashy," with smarter enemy AI. Sora is the main character you control, joined by Donald and Goofy, and now you can have up to five party members—up from the usual three in earlier main games. Riku and Aqua also take the spotlight in certain sections. Magic gets a boost with a new, powerful tier for each spell, plus a brand-new Water spell that functions similarly to other spells in water environments. Team-up attacks let Sora combine moves with his allies, and summons—now called "Links"—bring in extra characters for special moves. New enemy types appear, including giant bosses that give Sora more room to move and experiment with "Attraction Flow" attacks, which are inspired by Disney Parks rides like Mad Tea Party and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, as well as a pirate ship and carousel. Sora can also hop onto certain enemies shaped like vehicles. A refined movement mechanic, "Athletic Flow," lets him use the environment to reach new areas, a tweak from the "Flowmotion" system in *Dream Drop Distance* that players found too hard to control.

Ideas for *Kingdom Hearts III* first surfaced back in 2005, right after *Kingdom Hearts II* launched in Japan, but the game wasn’t officially announced until 2013 after years of rumors. Development kicked off with a focus on a "fun element" for gameplay or systems, with the story built around that. Nomura noted that handheld games in the series let him test combat mechanics, and popular ones could make it into this title. The team also aimed to "always try something new," tweaking old mechanics to fit this game.