Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Review

Great Use of the 3DS Features
One of the great ways to play the game is with a Circle Pad pro as it will make moving the camera around easier. For those who don’t own one, that’s okay as the game will still play perfectly regardless if you’re using one or not. With so many great features the 3DS has, Square Enix makes great use of them. If you are fond of using the touch screen, you will be using them often in Dream Drop Distance. Spirits are like pets in the game, therefore, you will need to pet them by rubbing their tummy or their head via the touch screen. The more time you spend with them playing around, the more experience and items you will get. In terms of battle, you will be using the touch screen to do slinging of enemies, tracing dots to do attacks, and many more.

NOT

The World Feels Empty
Due to the limitation on what the 3DS can do, you will feel the emptiness of the seven worlds within the game. Unlike in the console titles where the worlds truly feel alive with a lot of things going on, you will see in Dream Drop Distance that they’re bland. The areas are linear and there is no way for Sora or Riku to go into on top of the buildings and fully explore the town. With this limitation in place, it’s somewhat a degrading experience. Expect to find some inconsistencies to level designs and environments. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks phenomenal but it’s not on par to the other Kingdom Hearts games of the past.

Dropping In & Out
Another feature that has been implemented in Dream Drop Distance is the drop in and out options. Since Sora and Riku are separated from one another, the game will put some sort of a time limit on how long each of the character can play the story. Once the time is up for Riku or Sora, the character will go into sleep, and it will go to the next character. Pretty much, you will be playing both characters on and off but don’t worry- they have some uniqueness when it comes to the story between the two.

Few Worlds & Short Game
The biggest disappointment that I have in Dream Drop Distance is the amount of worlds that you can get to. Instead of having more than 10, like in previous games, there will only be seven worlds, including Traverse Town. While that may sound bad, the amount of time you will be spending in each world will even be worse as it will take you an hour or less to finish them. The story within the worlds are great but they feel short overall.

Platforming is Very Limited
Aside from going through the worlds in the Kingdom Hearts game, doing the platforming is another reason that makes it fun. Since there are limitations on what the hardware can do, fans of the series will notice that there are less platforming in the game, but more on battle. Don’t expect that you can explore the areas well because you will just find yourself having an invisible wall in front of you.

VERDICT

Fans of the series might look down upon Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance for its shortcomings, but it sets up the next title in the series. While the game does have some flaws, fans of the series will enjoy the story and I found myself enjoying it towards the end. Naturally, it’s not the best Kingdom Hearts game, but it is still a step forward from previous Nintendo releases.

[Editor’s Note: Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance was reviewed on the Nintendo 3DS. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]