I used to be waaaaay more cold on this game quite honestly.

I played it all the way back on the 3DS and could not finish it cause it caused really bad hand cramps for me (do your wrist stretches everybody) to the point where I could play it in fairly small bursts until I eventually gave up because I just wasn't enjoying myself all that much with it.

So I waited for a remaster or cutscene compilation given the remasters steadily coming out at the time, plus 0.2 cause like hot DAMN that shit is fire I cannot wait to write about that one.

So eventually I picked up the 2.8 collection but didn't really finally get around to it until KH3 was almost out which in hindsight was kind of a stupid decision. I was rushing the first real playthrough of this game so that I'd be ready and prepped for 3. I feel like I wasn't quite the most charitable to this game in my excitement and overall more direct want of 3 which sucks but sometimes ya get caught up in the moment ya know!

Something about this game didn't really click into place for me at the time, everything with Sora annoyed me initially, I had at the time felt like the game meandered a bit too much, I didn't really love the worlds, the one thing I DID majorly love was the ending mainly because of how much it goes about setting up for 3.

So going into this I had my worries and concerns about it given the last time though I was still open to trying to really give it that second look and I'm really glad I did especially after playing 3+ReMind.

Dream Drop Distance is such an improvement over Birth By Sleep from a gameplay standpoint that it's kinda fuckin wild that this is seemingly from the same team. They clearly learned a loooot of really good lessons from developing that game and its systems. The movement and feel of the game feels a lot faster and looser, the addition of flowmotion as a system has ya bouncing and zooming around levels like nobodies business, the way it flows into the combat and meshes with how you tangibly interact with the game even brings back a tiny bit of that 1 style exploration and curiosity of its landscapes in my eyes though not to the full degree it could. Honestly I think 3 does that better but again still not to the 3D platformer experimental way that 1 specifically did it.

Dream Eaters are such a good choice for both allies and enemies here. They cute, they hunger, they attack, they heal, they defend. They're really cool and I like them! I like that you can name them whatever ya want and really make them your own. KhimarisSon was a real one and got me through many a battle by the end.

The level scaling this time works pretty well as the game goes on, at no point did I ever feel like I was behind after finishing a location, I felt like the game gave me more than enough in each world to do in terms of battles that by the end I felt properly leveled and ready for whatever was going to pop up next.

The real only gameplay downsides are that some bosses still have the Birth By Sleep problem of just not being able to get hitstunned or any kind of real major knockback at points, making you essentially wait for your turn to do anything before waiting 5 minutes for your next swing which is a bit lame! I know this problem is fixed in 3 at least but it was still pretty annoying to deal with and I feel like this problem more-so only majorly popped up near the end but it was absolutely still there in a way that annoyed.

As for the narrative, I dig the dual split drop in style of the entire thing. This dual perspective seemingly parallel world perspective of both Sora and Riku's adventure. I remember the first time I played through this I was confused on how exactly the world split stuff works even though the game quite literally tells you multiple times so that was on me!

I also used to think that they made Sora WAY too dumb in this game for his own good and to at least be fair to that, he still kinda is for like the first half of the game. I feel like while Sora has always been a real one who takes to other people really easily, there are multiple times here where he almost feels like a parody of himself at points. Maybe that's supposed to play into something of the dream logic kinda weird vibes going on but idk it felt too off in a way that felt wrong at points. Tron onwards though I feel like that problem goes away for the most part at least which I was thankful for.

Sora is dealing with an insecurity about his connections with others that has been deep in there but hasn't really been dug out until now. This tends to be reflected within all the worlds in some capacity ESPECIALLY TRON but especially given that most of the worlds are about some kind of outcast trying their best to connect with others in some kinda way, trying to get some kinda recognition or some kind of value. The pain that others in his life are facing and how much he wants to help them from having to feel any of that pain or despair. It's real good!

Riku's story is a continuation of his arc from the other games, his insecurities around falling to the darkness and the fear it inspires, his want to keep distance out of fear but others not letting him, him learning to rely on others and especially the one he looks up to the most, him choosing to fight on despite the deepest despair he could possibly fall into, seeing others fall prey to similar situations that ailed him and going out of his way to stop them from going through the same. This game has him really look in a mirror again and really dig through a lot of what he's done and was manipulated to do again and really find that groove within himself.

There's a really good moment near the end that's a callback to 1's beginning questionnaire with him and I really think it's a perfect tail end to his entire story within this game and all the games that led up to this point. I think Riku's half of the story is the best part of the game and that while Sora's half is also very important, he's the real protagonist of this particular story with everything that it's doing by the end especially.

If I had any major story complaint, it's that some of the world's (MAINLY TRON) sometimes don't give Riku much of anything which is a bit strange. Tron especially feeling like Riku's section gives more to the movie while Riku kinda hangs around which is a bummer and a bit of a problem with 1 or 2 worlds in 3's case.

Also I just wanna say, the end of this game is absolutely fuckin BONKERS dude, like you've probably seen some shit floating around from it at this point, the reveals, the setup for 3, mickey mouse getting slammed against a pillar like a DBZ fight, it's all here.

Things setup all the way in the first game are reintegrated in order to be paid off or used in a completely new way, characters reveal themselves, new mysteries are setup, seeds are planted, it's so fuckin cool, I genuinely think the end of this game narratively is up there with KH2's in just how much it throws at you and how much it pays off by the end. It's fuckin rad as hell.

Also we wanna talk banger fuckin music. Holy F U C K they brought it hard yet again. That fuckin violin man. An absolute treat of the senses from beginning to end, I really gotta make an OST ranking list for this series on here at some point. 2, 3, DDD and BBS are all a bit tied though so I dunno lol.

This is my constant reminder that I finally need to play The World Ends With You sometime I love the cast here.

Dream Drop Distance is a game so mystifyingly poorly outlined in narrative scope and creative ambition that I have a genuine confusion as to its existence as a title. There's a lot of legitimately interesting lore packed into the latest moments of this game that players jumping and tentatively becoming uninterested would have no earthly idea of its existence.

What sees you as both Sora and Rikku world hopping from select Disney properties eventually involves some of the entire KH story's most important figures and integral plots. Not only was the story pacing misaligned, but difficulty and overambitious mechanic additions muddy what could have been a rather interesting title.

Whatever compelled Nomura and company to add another confusing and unnecessarily obtuse mechanic in its Chao-Buddy-Pal Thing system is a mystery to me. Just because you're adding another game in the series doesn't mean you need to reinvent the wheel on combat... just make it playable. DDD adds an entirely new layer and forces the player to learn it for no additional value. Couple this with routine gimmick boss fights and you have a beyond frustrating game to actually... play.

Enemy design is again repetitive, but what is most worthy of scorn is once more the inundated placement of monotonous foes throughout each realm you visit. It's one thing to fight the same group of enemies, its another when you are doing so at every single clearing/zone possible, and its another when you're doing it twice over as the game sees you re-tread each world you visit as both Rikku and Sora. I don't understand the infatuation with the KH dev team to force the player into physically playing the same locations (this is twice in a row now with Birth By Sleep) just to soak in some extra narrative. They explain it in DDD, but could and should have easily been bypassed through other means. It's alright to do things once... sort of, but making you run through everything you've just seen to move the story along is inexcusable.

Dream Drop Distance really could have been something interesting if it pressed the story that makes KH actually interesting into the earlier elements of the game, drip feeding it throughout, instead of waiting until the last moments of the title to do so.

Whilst I’m not exactly one who enjoys being combative about how other players tackle something, after replaying Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (which, for the sake, of brevity, we'll just call DDD) with some restrictions attached on both Proud and Critical, I found myself thinking about that the negative receptions this game has garnered feel a bit unwarranted. You could make some point about how Kingdom Hearts as a series has produced a fandom that spends too much time arguing about game quality comparatives instead of emphasizing how said series made for children is accessible to any age or any level of player across the board - that instead of paying attention to how each entry experiments and plays to its own strengths, they punch down at one game for not doing all the right another does - and I would wager that factors into how this one has been received.

Because, while I definitely think that DDD is a game with an acquired taste necessary to maximize your enjoyment of it and is not in the same quality I hold the three mainline entries to, I see many comments that make me wonder if they didn’t try different tactics that aren’t basic melee attacks or spamming the balloon spell to buzzsaw through sections. You definitely can do those things, yet just simplifying the game down to that either/or binary when there’s evidently more going on sells the title short.

What worked for me as far as appreciating DDD was viewing it through the lens that it’s an action title more in common with KH1-styled maximizing RPG mechanics. That is to say, if you’re going to focus upon blocking and melee alone, you might not get the best out of the combat system. Rather, thinking outside the box - i.e. experimenting with enemy weaknesses/gimmicks - is, for my money, the best way to find value in this game.

Like any of the KH games, you have your general abilities, emphasis on combos, defensive options (blocks, counters, dodges, air dashes), et cetera. To augment those features, DDD has a number of additions in how it handles optimizations with party members and environmental movements.

Starting with the latter, flowmotion allows your characters to bounce off of walls or use poles to attack enemies offensively or to gain some aerial defenses. Moreover, with sturdier enemies, you can even dash into them to trigger a grab to toss into other foes - because this ability will cancel out any of those enemies’ committed attacks, it’s one of the go-to options for crowd control. The only real danger with flowmotion is that smaller arenas with walls (e.g. Traverse Town’s Third District) can lead to a player using flowmotion without meaning too, but that can be mitigated by turning the associated abilities off or with some basic situational awareness.

Dream Eaters are the second major crux of DDD’s system and it’s where the RPG concepts emerge to align with your playstyle. Instead of characterized party members, the Dream Eaters (or DEs) are synthesized through collected loot drops. Once made, you can select which ones will serve in your party. In combat, they add to your playstyle in several ways:

-One, directly attacking enemies to build meter. Once their set meter is maxed out, Sora or Riku can activate unique special abilities. In Sora’s case, he can use Link Attacks, where he becomes invincible and can deal extraordinary damage to anything on the battlefield. Riku, comparatively, absorbs the Dream Eater to get a buffed, specialized combo moveset - in exchange for the lack of invincibility, his Link Styles specials last longer.

-Two, certain Dream Eaters will have specialized kinds of support. Some may fight directly alongside you, others may have certain unique buffs they can cast on your character, and, arguably the most essential facet, depending upon what Dream Eater you have, they have a unique kind of support abilities the player can equip. As the game progresses, it becomes invaluable to pay attention to the Dream Eater’s skill tree, seeing what kinds of ancillary defenses they offer to decide how to stay safe and proactive in combat. However, with how these skill trees work, you have other things to consider, namely what kinds of permanent, additional abilities you can obtain.

That is to say, constantly using links or fighting alongside the DEs is incentivized in order to unlock better abilities. For instance, one Dream Eater offers an omnidimensional block for Riku, but another may provide the player iframes when they heal. All of these cost points, and those points are only obtained through combat interactions. Personally I’m not keen on the Dream Eaters conceptually nor using skill trees, but thinking about what to obtain in relation to what Dream Eaters will offer the best support by encounter adds nuance to your decisions

(I’d be remiss to forget that the other way to get link points is through a pet simulator series of games with the Dream Eaters. Since this is a game for children, I don’t think this is something you can be upset about, but, if you don’t want to interact with it that much, giving treats or auto-entering and exiting minigames will build up link points quickly.)

Furthermore, the command deck established from Birth by Sleep is in full utility here - and it’s where the game’s combat fully incorporates RPG-stylized mechanics. At the player’s discretion, you can organize your deck with spells, powerful attack options, et cetera. With how potent each ability is, the cooldowns are necessary to prevent players from being too strong. While you can actually stack the command deck with the same commands should you have multiple copies of them in ways that can break that aforementioned balancing act (e.g. the balloon tactics many use), but that choice to do so remains your own. Operating a successful, versatile command deck and willing to change it according to your party allocations and the enemy encounters is how you’ll get the best out of DDD. Like any RPG, whatever you chose or chose not to use is entirely up to you - you create your own build and fun that way.

It’s probably important for me to say that, with two playable characters, keeping some differences between them to affect some playstyle was essential. I’ve already covered the link-based offense, but generally speaking, I would say Riku holds more versatile attack and safer defensive options (especially as far as maneuverability), yet I’d argue he’s not capable of dishing out the punishment Sora’s combo-based abilities. Riku holds an omnidirectional counter, but Sora’s counter is longer and can transition to more offense based upon proximity. You can structure similar command decks and party layouts, though the distinctions between both characters close and open some doors on what to think about.

(The drop system is an interesting touch because it keeps you on a time limit to switch between characters. I don’t think it’s inherently a negative to pay attention to your progression and, even if you aren’t into said system, being able to drop back whenever you’re not in combat manually makes it sort of a non-issue personally. It’s more a gimmick than a positive or negative the way I see it.)

With enemy design, I don’t personally think the regular mobs will stand out in a series known for producing foes like Large Bodies or Sorcerers, though they do distinguish themselves enough and have the teeth to be very threatening if you aren’t being proactive. You’ll have enemies that will launch projectiles, employ some grabs, or even cast status ailments on you - there’s a lot going on to keep you aware. For example, a late game enemy has the ability to cast Stop, you’ll want to probably stay away or take them out. One tactic is launching them, another is using your own stop magic (by the way, you can cast status ailments on enemies too, it’s all fair game) to keep them pinned while you prioritize other threats. Recognizing these things is important with mob control in any action game - how you handle it is up to you and means having the willingness to play around with your arsenal to maximize rewards. I, again, don’t think I can qualify DDD’s enemy design as a standard bearer (and there are some projectile or grab-happy enemies whose hitboxes almost certainly need some tweaking because of how easily you get stunlocked) yet it does it’s job enough.

Bosses in DDD are perhaps the most interesting topic because the popular consensus is rather negative. To be completely honest, it’s a sentiment I disagree with. Perhaps the biggest misconception is that these bosses operate randomly as far as stagger rules. This isn’t the case, although how it does actually work is fairly niche. Specifically, bosses have a set resistance value to being hitstunned - that is, they can take a set number of hits before their poise disappears. Once said resistance value is depleted, depending upon the boss itself, they become punishable. Giant bosses will kneel down into a passive state temporarily, allowing players to wail on them. Humanoid bosses are even more interesting because they do stagger, but certain ones will stagger only for a set amount of blows, even sometimes just one time. The question is, why? What does it teach?

If I had to guess, it’s tied into how each boss has a set weakness or exploitation. For instance, an early game boss, Rinzler, only attacks in melee. You can parry and counter his telegraphed moves, though his resistance and stagger values are at 1 point each. The trick to understanding Rinzler is recognizing that he’s a boss you have to play a hit-and-run game against and that he’s weak (like many enemies in his level) to Thunder. Ergo, equipping your command deck with attacks that let you counter or get out of dodge quickly works wonders - even better, you may have early game commands like Thunder Dash or Spark Dive, which do the above whilst dealing Thunder-based damage. Every boss has a trick like this with their weaknesses or what sorts of attacks they launch at you, you just have to find them (and yes, there are bosses who can be afflicted with status ailments like poison or slow).

I can assure you though, it’s not the RNG that many players insist to you - how things work is incredibly consistent for the vast majority of these bosses. While their aforementioned gimmicks may not be for everyone, I don’t think I can, after two playthroughs, believe there’s a boss without some thought put into how they work. In particular, the endgame gauntlet particularly shines, being home to some of the most intense fights of the series. The penultimate boss is among my all-time favorites, having some unique gimmicks that make it a hell of a rewarding test to figure out, and even demonstrating how some humanoid bosses in DDD have similar pattern-based openings to being staggered like Kingdom Hearts 3’s acclaimed Data Organization.

Asking about DDD’s story is its own conversation best left to others than myself, though it’s best seen as a /transition to set up the final act in KH3. The substance lies in giving one of the main characters one of their greater lows to bounce back from and the other a moment to show just how far they’ve come. So long as you look at it that way, I think it does its job.

I want to emphasize that again that, while much of this writeup can be construed as a personal defense of DDD, I’m, again, not about to pretend it won’t be for everyone and that choices here will come down to preferences - and I think that if it doesn’t click, it’s fine. There certifiably are better games in this series and there are aspects of DDD that just don’t click for me personally, such as the dedicated time to Dream Eater interaction, some of the aforementioned enemy issues, certain hitbox and hurtbox inconsistencies, and so on. Having said that, I definitely maintain that this one has an undeserved reception. Maybe it’s just me and my obtuse desire to make the most out of every title I play leaving me blind to shortcomings, but I’m not going to apologize for it. In my view, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance is a functional, fascinating game that you should respect for its willingness to play with established mechanics and add new ones without necessarily achieving the critical acclaim the best of the series does. I would give it more of a chance to appreciate it on its own terms.

Last notes:
-For both playthroughs, I intentionally played around with my lineups and options to ensure that combat was never strictly the same. This included some restrictions, such as limiting usage of certain commands to one slot (or not at all), intentionally avoiding flowmotion-based attacks in some bouts, or even practicing some fights with minimal uses of commands. In the process, I discovered several useful AI loops and aforementioned, specific enemy weaknesses.
-Like every game in the series, the OST is always fantastic. The final act in particular has some of my favorite tracks in the franchise. Symphony of Sorcery is basically a nonstop orchestra ensemble.
-Lowkey, I find DDD encourages far more offensive-based playstyles than the majority of the franchise. That is to say, between mobility, balancing link meter, and powerful commands according to mob control and boss stagger, being proactive and constant with offense is important. You’re only going to get hurt if you aren’t being selective with said offense.

this is an odd one a real odd one a really really really odd one in any single department and i mean that in a good way i think like re chain of memories was odd in a bad way this one is gonna be odd in a good way

after the 358/2 movie and the re coded movie (i will get back on these games tho i want to experience them like they were intended to for better or for worse… and thats simply because i love axel lets be real) and apparently i was already halfway through this marathon without even realising it but its fine i guess kingdom hearts is more gripping than i thought

NOW getting the real hot hot hot hot stuff in here first

following the complete annihilation of xemnas xehanort is revived for some reasons unbeknownst to me but at this point i just go with the flow if you ask me to tell you the intricate little plots of KH you would be met by my blank face and confused look so i just enjoy the superficial narrative of this wicked masterpiece series and that being said sora and riku are to take the mark of mastery that if you have played birth by sleep WHICH YOU SHOULD HAVE AT THIS POINT thats the real ass exam to take to become a full fledged keyblade master (it was easier when sora was the only keyblade wielder in the entire universe but ok i like to see other people with keyblades because keyblades are cool af albeit a dumb ass concept) to counter the return of daddy xehanort into this world because hes been reconstructing the organization xiii or something evil haha whatever he looks ugly hes ugly i hate that guy i want sexy ansem or xemnas back

to pass the exam sora and riku have to save 7 sleeping worlds from dream eaters which are YET OTHER ENEMY TYPES ok actually not all enemies theyre divided into spirits which are good dream eaters and theyre the most awesome stuff to have ever happened to kingdom hearts theyre soooo ….. did you see the first doggo spirit you get……… best boyo out there BUT theres also nightmares which are bad boys dream eaters and you gotta beat their asses into oblivion (realistically spirits and nightmares have the same models ingame but nightmares are black because woooo darkness scary)

so anyway same old story you just travel with both riku and sora (more on that later) and lock or unlock ? the keyholes i never understood if theyre supposed to lock them or unlock them but whatever its fine its not like i fully understand anything in this series anyway and while they travel into these worlds theyre met with ansem and xemnas (double penetration umh who said that) and also a young xehanort dont ask me why the 3 of them are out and about because i cant give you any type of answer ever only wrong ones

but whatever when you get to the world that never was oh btw this is all SPOILER TERRITORY maybe its too late umh……………… ok its fine this series makes no sense ok so its revealed that xehanorts master plan is actually to get 13 vessels to put his heart into and then creating clones of himself and then have like some bacchanals idk this sounds like a very narcissistic type of behaviour and ½ chance its getting into orgy territory but whatever THEN make these vessels fight against the warriors of light to recreate the χ-blade my god its an obsession this thing please let it go you dont even know what its supposed to be like

so what happens is xehanort wants to make sora his slut i mean vessel but hes then saved by his besties and also axel/lea my man my boo i love him here comes the boi hello boi welcome there he is

BUT hes in a comatose state so its up to his boyfriend to dive into his heart to release him from his woes (ventus funnily enough) and going back home safe and sound to have steamy hot sex with dearly beloved in the background

the end

oh also axel is now a keyblade wielder and the people in this VR chatroom dont even understand how happy it makes me that im gonna get more axel content likeeeee just like that gratuitously showing me fap material thank you square

point blank considerations: this story is kinda stupid

im sorry its true but im too into kingdom hearts now yknow what suspension of disbelief means my fellow reader ? well thats literally what i do playing this series like i will just accept everything they spew in my face will it either be leaking gold or smoking shit

half of the enjoyment that i received playing this game comes from other stuff not the story but its a nice topping so i wont deny that i still enjoyed it somehow + its more of a base for the next events i guess because fundamentally nothing happens in this game its just setting the looming threat of xehanorts 13 playboy bunny girls army

NOW people i was not expecting to enjoy the gameplay as much as i did but apparently if im talking about it it means that its GOOD

new mechanics are here and theyre fun as all hell and you can imagine it from the title like dream is the dream eaters drop is the main mechanic and distance is umh . the distance umh between sora and riku idk umh how do you delete in google docs

DROP MECHANIC so i already said that you play as both riku and sora and that means that you have to go through all 7 worlds with both of them (i know kind of repetitive but its not too vexing like birth by sleep i assure you) but on a single condition basically in the UI theres a meter that decreases slowly and when it drops to 0 the character youre currently playing has a stroke and levitates and enters nirvana so while this happens you will switch to the other character the meter refills itself until it goes again to 0 rinse and repeat and i saw some people here saying it sucks to play as a character for 20 mins for it to drop dead but i enjoy it ?????? like too much for my own good

you cant control this apart from some objects and bonuses that will make it faster or slower but as far as i know it will get to 0 in one way or another i mean you can also manually drop to the other character whenever you want but whats the point also to advance you have to finish worlds with BOTH sora and riku so if you dont want to backtrack just play with both and shut up bitch


they added some other old stuff like the command deck from birth by sleep (kind of different in a way and also you cant fuse abilities . v sad but its here) and new stuff like flowmotions and these are COOOOOOOOOL cooooool they add a lot of acrobatics in the movements and also theyre super useful in the battle department like youll just do some pole dance and kill the nightmares like theyre ants pop off gogo dancer then theres the link system which is basically adding dream eaters (you can synthesise them and give them rubs on their heads its too cute honestly my fav one is the little cat obviously if you had known me youd have seen that coming) to your team and using their abilities i mean its cute and fun and all but i didnt use it that many times because i just forgot it existed since you have to push right on the dpad or else it wouldnt show up in the ui like how am i supposed to remember theres that option whatever and FINALLY the reality shift which is umh like a special move to use on the battle field i cant give you any more explanations than that

oh also dream eaters got some ability grid that i completely neglected until the endgame and i realised it gives more abilities to the character wow BOMB i played the whole game with like fire and strike raid but its fine i guess its fine its not like i died like a stupid ass or anything no im full of joy please dont repeat my mistakes

OH ALSO WHEN YOU DROP YOU CAN USE SOME LOOT (dream something dream cum drips idk i mean youll know) TO ADD ABILITIES TO THE OTHER CHARACTER . COOL !

and whenever you enter a new world youre met with the dive mode which is pretty in theme now that i think of it because they DROP from the sky omg square you prankster but whatever theyre kinda a substitute for gummi ship segments and are pretty mid for me at least maybe theres somebody out there who loves them and its also the same person who orgasms at the thought of the amala labyrinth diving segments in shin megami tensei III

this time around i didnt pay too much attention to the ost apart from the outstanding remixes from the world ends with you oh yeah theres twewy people in this one i didnt tell you ok anyway you know now and the mix for calling ? takes the cake for me yknow actually theres probably good stuff in here maybe i was too absorbed by the gameplay to listen to the ost but i mean yeah you wont get my music score infodump opinion this time but its fine i know youre getting annoyed by me but thats my entire personality

all in all ? great game

good stepping stone for kingdom hearts III wait WAIT IM ALREADY AT KINGDOM HEARTS III WHAAAAAAAAAT IM ALSO DONE DAMN this marathon was too fast what what hello what im so incredibly confused but ok

umh i was saying good enough forerunner of kh3 and im really really excited to play the latest installment for this series so youll hear from me soon

bye besos

yknow they had no reason to completely pop their pussy off to this intro movie but they really its too fucking good i love the little fantasia mickey in the foreground while complex plot unravels in the background

the real thing to talk about here is that I want to fuck beat twewy like its the last thing I do in this life I'm not joking he's so hot and FOR WHAT

i cant believe how many people are inside sora at this moment NO THAT SOUNDS SO WRONG DELETE DELETEWWWEEE

I think i slowly began to like riku it took me like 6 games or something but we did it

i have no idea what this plot is trying to convey to me why is kingdom hearts so confusing at this point

AXEL I LOVE YOUUUUUU PH MY GODOOOOODODODOFJDON

THE STUPID MASK THAT SORA HAS ON OH MY GOD WHATS THIS GAME

umh actually sora hugging riku ?????? i didnt know i needed this until now literally the first display of affection ive seen these 2 share and its kinda warming my heart what is this is this love

KAIRI HAS A KEYBLADE WHAT THE FUCKING HELLLOOOOOOOOOOO um yes queen skinny legend versace boots the house down slay queen hunty mama and oop daddy work charli xcx snatch my wig

It's got some neat ideas and worlds, but it also has a lot of really rough aspects that feel trickled down from earlier games. Going from the command deck in Birth by Sleep, which I thought was fine, to this was kind of weird in my opinion. That coupled with the main gameplay mechanic being a weird pokemon/smt/ buddy sim, this felt like the kingdom hearts where I really stopped thinking about combat and just mashed. Birth by Sleep using the command deck to make themed decks that turn into different command styles is a pretty fun feature. Here its just kinda slapped in with little payoff and any duplicate spells you get go into a creature creation process I didn't pay much attention to and didn't feel too much of a need to do so playing on normal mode. Also flowmotion is a super fun to use mechanic, too bad it almost feels like it just shits on any attempt at level design since you can just do stuff like infinite wall jump up to high up locations and disregard any rails or other platforms leading up to it. It was incredibly funny getting glide 80% of the way in despite the fact there's so little need for it when you just have the most insanely implemented movement mechanic in kingdom hearts right from the first world.
Story wise its still that kingdom hearts brand stupid-fun-enjoyable-cheesy amalgam the other games are but this game did make me have an epiphany. I no longer care about any prospects of Sora getting into smash. I want Riku instead that guy's pretty cool. Really glad this game gives you the chance to play as him in a game that isn't Re:CoM. (sidenote: it didn't take me until I was almost done finishing this review that I remembered twewy characters were in this, really odd they're here for like <10% of the game ngl)
Also a lot of the post-game completion just seems really redundant. Probably one of the easier games to 100% skill wise but takes a lot of time with regards to how skills work, special portal drop chances, buddy raising, etc.
Lastly, fuck flick rush.
It's still a pretty enjoyable time with some good fan service thrown about, but a lot of the new mechanics charm wore off after the first few worlds or so, leaving me kinda disappointed.

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance does a lot to improve on the flaws of Birth By Sleep, but it also takes steps backwards on other areas, resulting in a game that is on par with Birth By Sleep, albeit for different reasons. Let’s get started!
On the positive side of things, the gameplay has seen some improvements. The combat still sticks to the command deck formula of its predecessor, but with improvements.The attacks this time around are faster and more fluid and keyblade attacks are made more useful now. The balancing is also much better done here, although it immediately vanishes once the balloon spell enters the mix, so it is still not quite there yet. Separate command levelling and synthesis for abilities are also gone, which are good changes in my eyes. Flowmotion is an excellent addition, both in combat and outside of it for exploration. It’s basically superpowered parkour and i love parkour so yea. The boss fights are a massive improvement over birth by sleep, with almost all of them being great, except for 2-3 bosses at the end being extremely cheap and terribly designed. It still has flaws though. “Enemies stunlocking you “is at its worst in this game and it can become frustrating in encounters with multiple enemies at once who can combo you to death simply by continuous stunlock. Even after all that, the combat is a big step-up from Birth By Sleep and it is more fun this time around, but it still doesn’t reach kh2 levels. The presentation is pretty great. If birth by sleep looked like a portable kh1, then dream drop distance looks like a portable kh2, with the character models, animations, graphics and texture quality being on-par with that game. The cutscenes are great looking too, with png faces being almost non-existent. The world design has seen tremendous improvement as well. Not only is the world selection far more interesting, but the worlds themselves are also some of the best designed in the series. They’re bigger and more packed with platforming and treasures to take full advantage of flowmotion and it is extremely fun to explore them and get rewarded for it. My only gripe is that the selection is short, but is fairly excusable because of the sheer size of these worlds. I found the music to be more memorable as well. The world themes are all great and the battle themes are bangers, with boss themes being exceptional. Highlights include Calling Kingdom Mix, Twister Kingdom Mix, L’Impeto Oscuro, Access The Grid, Night On Bald Mountain and the more jazzy remix of Traverse Town. Side content is also there, but not to the degree of its predecessors. There is only one single optional boss this time, which is tough as shit, but well designed this time around. You can also revisit previously defeated story bosses, which are now much tougher, defeat them again for a special powerful keyblade. Each world has different portals, where you can either partake in battle challenges to be rewarded with different items or call on the help of dream eaters (more on that later) as reinforcement. One world…ok fine it’s Tron Legacy’s world has a really fun Light Cycle minigame. The main attractions are definitely the Flick Rush minigame and Dive mechanic, which i’ll explain more below.
Now for the mixed bags and negatives, which oh boy. The story is one of the weaker ones in the series. This is the point where kingdom hearts got complex for the sake of complexity and not for an actually deep and engaging plot. It delves into overcomplicated with how many terms, retcons and concepts it introduces, all the while it does so with a terrible pacing, multiple plotholes and a villain that has all the potential to be good, but quickly gets shelved or its spotlight stolen by far better villains of the past that suddenly return here. Sora is at his worst here writing wise, acting far dumber than he ever has with seemingly no good excuses as to why. It removes him of any depth he previously had. This is in direct contrast to Riku, who is at his best writing wise, being given even more depth and seemingly turning into the true protag of the game, instead of Sora. Dialogue and voice acting is also fairly hit and miss. If it’s not compelling or funny, it is cringeworthy or unintentionally comedic.
Overall, just not a good story.
The three new gameplay mechanics that this game introduces are dream eaters, dive mode and drop mechanic. The dream eaters are basically chao garden, with abilities and commands being locked behind caring for them and getting link points by playing with them or having them in your party. The execution is extremely hit and miss. Not only are they not good as party members, but the actual chao garden portion is either boring as fuck or just meh. It is a better method over the command board of birth by sleep, but it’s now even more mandatory which can be a dealbreaker for those who don’t like pet simulators. I personally didn’t mind these, so i was fine, but it’s a warning. They are also used for the flick rush minigame, which is like the chao tournaments WTF IS WITH THESE SONIC ADVENTURE INFLUENCES????? Anyways, these tournaments consist of essentially rechain of memories-like card games with dream eaters, where you win by eliminating the other team. Thanks to how reliant on RNG it is, it can be either boring or frustrating thanks to the AI of the opponents. Dive mode replaces gummi ships and it now revolves around characters “diving” into worlds and completing certain objectives to be granted access to that world and it is…eh? It’s fairly mindless and not even a challenge (seriously i got A ranks on my first go in pretty much all of them). Not sure why they bothered, since Birth By Sleep did perfectly well not having any world accessing minigames at all. And then the drop mechanic…who the hell thought of this???? Basically, there is a timer between Sora and Riku that automatically puts them to sleep, forcing you to switch to the other characters and stopping progression of that character dead on its tracks. Wh…huh…uhh…???????? WHAT IS THIS SHIT?!?! THIS IS A GLORIFIED TIMER THAT MAKES YOU RUSH YOUR SHIT INSTEAD OF TAKING YOUR TIME! This aspect can be completely nullified if you purchase potions that extend the gauge, which are dirt cheap. In that case, WTF WAS EVEN THE POINT WHEN YOU CAN JUST IGNORE IT ALL TOGETHER FOR A COUPLE OF MUNNY?! Seriously, this is dumb! Character switching plays a big role in the game, but there is also no point in them, since outside of different usage of dream eater links (which i never used in the first place), Sora and Riku play almost the exact same. It just serves to pad out the game and make the pacing worse at this point.
Overall, despite the complaints, i still had fun with the game. If it weren’t for the far more fun combat, great boss design, memorable music and amazing world exploration, this game would have been significantly lower in terms of rating, thanks due to the many dumb design choices (drop and dive mechanics), the bad story and writing, dream eater chao garden fuckery, poor pacing and padding. This game really is a dream and a nightmare combined at once.

Another very good Kingdom Hearts game.

Maybe one of the better collection of worlds in the series mixed with a modified (slightly less fun) version of the command deck makes it fun to play.

But more importantly, the story/lore additions are all very exciting. I swear this has been such a thrilling series to go through and invest myself in. Nomura really takes me on such a trip. I love it.

For all the things I enjoy about this game, the music, the later worlds, and the idea behind Spirits, everything for me just ended up feeling unsatisfying. The combat never felt great, there's not as much incentive to experiment with commands as there is in Birth by Sleep, and the story while I didn't outright dislike I felt didn't explore the idea's it introduced and made the journey feel like a slog until the end. I like the idea of Spirits, but they never had a major impact as party members, and basic combat skills being locked behind certain fusions means I was just never going to have the combat flow I wanted unless I went out of my way to grind. The Drop gauge is another cool concept on paper but it should of been used as a narrative tool more than a random 30 minute timer. The world's you visit didn't last long enough to leave an impression, which wasn't helped by the back and forth of the drop gauge meaning I was doing each world twice at almost the same time. The latter worlds in the game I felt did this better, but by then I was pretty burnt out. Don't think I want to revisit this one.

this would be 5 stars if it weren't for some of the issues i have with the gameplay. i really love the concept of ddd, but there was a lot i didn't like and, well, it all had to do with gameplay. the grid is the worst kingdom hearts world literally ever, and honestly a lot of the worlds were lacking besides traverse town, symphony of sorcery, and of course twtnw. dive sequences sucked. i hated a lot of the bosses, too. this kind of takes away from replayability, but upon beating the game, i loved it. loved the ending, loved playable riku, loved the music especially. i'm very fond of this game looking back on it, but wasn't always while playing.

Dream Drop Distance follows the suit of the gimmicky portable Kingdom Hearts games that use a command deck and some things are alright but it does way too much, adds too much, a drop mechanic that sounds good on paper but sort of ruined the pacing of the overall game.

As with every KH game, the story and music is decent here. The worlds here are more akin to classic Disney media like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Fantasia which was my favorite world here due to the story and music and them bring The World Ends With You characters in the first world which made the slow start much bearable. The gameplay albeit a bit simplified due to the original release of this being for a portable is still standard KH at the end of the day. Flowmotion is probably the best addition to the series this game provides but it does sadly add some problems that I'll go into in the next section.

What I didn't like is that this felt like the most gimmicky KH to date. Dream Eaters as companions felt disappointing considering Birth By Sleep had normal temporary companions at times. The systems might be fun for some people but it felt clunky to use and adding more bloat into a game that really didn't need it. Enemy design is pretty lazy here as most Dream Eaters share the same color scheme and it rarely is hard to tell if you're fighting something different since after 10 hours I just didn't care anymore and I just focused on size at that point. The story albeit being decent sort of felt like it slogged a bit because of the drop mechanics and the two players perspectives which I can somewhat appreciate them trying to do something different but it's also kinda sad when Riku really just steals the whole damn show and Sora looks a bit lacking in brain cells here. Flowmotion being a great addition here is really easy to abuse and sort of made the game pretty easy in the end and removed almost all the platforming since you can wall jump infinitely with Flowmotion as well.

In the end of the day, it's a KH game and KH fans will probably think it's good or bad here and it depends what you like here. It just felt like it had some good ideas and some bad ideas that cancel out the enjoyment of the new good ideas. Nothing horrible but nothing impressive either here.

“Dream Drop Distance” is correct because I want to dream drop distance myself from this game. Dream Drop Distance has numerous mechanics that I do not like. The game’s fatal flaw is the drop system. There is a meter by your health bar counting down. Once it hits zero, you are forced to switch to either Riku or Sora. This alone is the most bullshit part of the game and the main reason I will not continue playing. There is an item called “Drop-Me-Not” that can restore your gauge, but that is not enough to satisfy me. You can drop whenever you want in the pause screen or the world map, so this forced drop mechanic infuriates me. I learned that you can drop mid boss. MID BOSS. That has not happened to me, but what were the people at Square Enix thinking?

Another mechanic I do not like is the inclusion of Dream Eaters. The Dream Eaters are your companions that can be equipped in your party and they can help you out in battle. Why do I not like the Dream Eaters? The only way to get abilities is from the Dream Eaters and you get them via a board spending Link points. You get link points by petting your Dream Eaters, doing mini games, and leveling them up. This sounds tedious and the novelty of the petting and mini games wore off quickly.

Finally, you need to complete a world twice as both Sora and Riku. The problem is these worlds are gigantic. Dream Drop Distance is the complete opposite of Birth by Sleep. Both use the command deck, DDD has faster and better combat than BBS, but BBS has smaller world design while DDD went overboard. I understand that Square Enix wanted the players to use the new mechanic Flowmotion and explore everything, but this is too much. After completing a world with one character, I am already drained and dread doing it again with another character.

From what I played of DDD, the combat is better than BBS, the story does not seem bad so far (I did hear horror stories about how worse the story gets later), and music sounds great. The drop system is mostly at fault here. The Dream Eaters are tedious, but I can tolerate them. I cannot tolerate the drop system. That alone ruins the game for me and I refuse to continue.