Gameplay-wise, this game is a lot of fun. It's definitely more floaty than King Hearts 2. It takes a little bit from every game, like the magic system from KH2, the movement from Dream Drop Distance, and Shotlocks and Command Styles from Birth by Sleep. The pacing of the plot is absolutely abysmal. It feels like nothing is really happening in the first 80% of the game, and then absolutely everything happens in the final 20%. They shoehorn important plot elements from the dreadful mobile gacha games. When the ending SHOULD have been just a clean finale to the characters of Xehanort and Organization 13, they instead go for an infuriating last second plot twist and cliff hanger that has all but killed whatever interest I had in continuing to follow the story.

A seriously flawed, but highly under-rated, RPG. While the combat encounter design featured uninspired waves of enemies spawning out of thin air, the combat controls felt undoubtedly snappier and more impactful. While the heavily recycled environments often led to frustration at all the repetition, the decade-long story being told within those environments was a nuanced one; that waxed on the nature of choice, and how even a legendary hero can't stop the inevitable. This game is worth a play, even if just to see how devastating an effect stringent publisher deadlines can have, on even legendary studios in arguably their prime; and how in spite of all of it, some of the magic still shines through and creates something that many people love.

The rushed production and slashed budget really shows in this game. While much of the writing is emotional and impactful, the number of dialogue choices is severely cut down from ME2, harming the roleplaying aspect severely. Characters that you think should have much more prominent roles, end up barely being in the game at all. The combat is another big improvement from ME2, and the weapon variety is the best of the trilogy. The rushed development really comes to a head with the infamously bad ending. While the free Extended Cut DLC does soften the blow a bit, the ending is still loaded with nonsensical leaps of logic that contradict the themes of the story, and a giant Deus Ex Machina, all while providing shockingly little closure for the characters you truly care about.