Kingdom Hearts 3 is the Best Direct to Video Sequel
If you asked me if Kingdom Hearts 3 was a “good” video game, I wouldn’t know how to answer. Well, that’s not entirely true. In extremely Caitlin fashion, I’d tell you: “no, but yes, and here’s why.” Those who are at all familiar with me know I’m notorious for loving Disney sequels more than their arguably better, and definitely more polished predecessors. Are those movies good? No, but yes, here’s why: Disney sequels are a shot of pure sugar, right in the arm. The stories are often fairly threadbare, and overly earnest, but god is it nice to just turn your brain off for a while and enjoy some sweet, heartfelt bullshit featuring your favorite childhood characters.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is a Disney sequel. Of course, I mean this literally. It’s a sequel to the other KH games, which heavily feature Disney content, and often dive into side stories of those universes. But I also mean it as a genre. Kingdom Hearts 3 is a continuation of a series that does little to nothing to advance the storyline so many of us have come to love so deeply. It’s full of shiny gimmicks, and heaps of fanservice, with little actual expansion to speak of. But, like those movies I so adore, it provides a shot of sweetness and closure that fans have been starving for for years.
Ever since I lost my save data (that I ATTEMPTED to back up) on Union Cross, I’ve completely lost interest in the mobile game, so most of the references to it and lore from it I’m aware of has come from listening to the very good Got It Memorized podcast. But seeing that shoehorned scene of the billions of keyblades helping Sora in his hour of need while people’s usernames flashed across the screen is the most Disney sequel ass, fanservice shit I’ve seen in my life. And while it didn’t hit home for me, I know it punched quite a few people who were invested in the mobile game right in the feels. Was it nonsensical? Yes. Did it lack the proper context to give it significance if you hadn’t played the mobile game or at least caught up on the lore? Yes. Was it the kind of moment that made fans forgive all the sins of the series, past and present, because it was ridiculous and cool as fuck? You bet it was.
Disney Sequels, as a genre, distill the parts of their predecessors that fans loved, remove the nuance, the tension, the coherent plot beats, and give you a serum of pure, thought-free joy. Moments like the keyblade storm are quintessentially that. And while that particular moment didn’t do much for me, there were plenty of others that did. Take the intro. I absolutely sobbed as the new Utada x Skrillex song played and I watched young Eraqus and young Xehanort play weird chess. That scene wasn’t particularly moving, but it was the start of a game I’ve been waiting for since I was a literal child, and that was enough.
I didn’t really experience that again until I got to the Toy Story world. When Woody told Young Xehanort that no one had ever loved him or ever would, I fucking lost it. That is not a moment you get in the mainline, not something the likes of a pure Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty would have, but god is it something that would happen in a sequel. Remember when Cinderella got to time travel? Wild shit like that usually only happens in direct to video movies, and yet here it is in the canon third installment.
Ultimately, I think the KH team knew they wouldn’t be able to deliver a story that the majority of fans would be happy with, so they leaned into a tactic that has been proven to work time and time again with these films: lean into the parts that are fun and silly, and the sentimentality that you know the fans keep close to their hearts.
When the trios were reunited, particularly the ice cream trio and the BBS trio, it didn’t matter that the story leading up to that point felt rushed and underdeveloped. My babies, the characters I’ve come to love so much finally, finally got some fucking relief. And it was so cathartic. Kingdom Hearts 3 is the only 2019 game that managed to make me cry multiple times, and it was mostly just from relief. I didn’t get the full story I wanted, but I got these solid chunks of joy and catharsis, and that made the journey worth it.
When I put Mulan 2 on after a hard day, I’m not looking for a cinematic masterpiece. I’m not even looking for something good. I’m looking for a little slice of fantasy levity to make my reality easier to bear. Kingdom Hearts 3 is that as a video game. As a game overall, it’s messy as hell, and its quality as a KH game in particular is arguable at best. But in a year that somehow managed to be worse than its predecessor, I can’t say I’m upset about having some sugary sweet comfort food to fall back on.
