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.
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.