Kingdom Hearts III? No thanks..

Now, it doesn't take a lot of browsing in our lovely, beatiful forums to find the latest example of what I'm talking about. Recently, Disney have asked Square Enix to consider making a third Kingdom Hearts game. This was met with both approval and disapproval by a lot of gamers, notably those of our forums. [Thread] I think this needs a bit of clarification - why should it really never, ever come into existence?

Kingdom Hearts was enjoyable. Kingdom Hearts II, although I'll admit to never having played it (at least not yet) sounds like fun too, but like all games, the Kingdom Hearts series has its faults. The battle system gets repetitive and perhaps boring, the character design can be pretty unimaginative from one character to the next, etc. But with these two games, for most, those faults are tolerable. Even the Atlantica world seems to be survivable twice over - but the problem - as I think is the problem with alot of games, is that a third game will simply ruin the series and the name of Kingdom Hearts.

I can only speak for myself and a few gamers who I know in person, but I think the general feeling about the Kingdom Hearts battle system doesn't differ too much. At first it certainly is fun - run around, hack, slash, kill, enjoy striking that X button with all the might of your right thumb. Get to a certain part in the game, and you can unlock exciting things such as double-jump, glide, or any of the driveforms (KHII). This helps keep the battle system interesting for that extra bit longer - it always was fun playing with Ars Arcanum right after you got it, wasn't it?

The fault with this battle system though, does lie in the durability. By the end of the game, players are simply frustrated at the constant X mashing, uselessness of magic spells, and the unhelpfulness of Sora's companions, although I'll admit Donald did save my bacon a few times. Depending on how big a fan you are, you may have stopped playing the game after once through, twice through, three times through - whatever - but each time I'll be willing to bet the battle system got a on your nerves. I certainly couldn't muster my way through the game a second time.

Of course the battle system isn't my only pickle with this game - although I do think it is one of the bigger reasons why a third Kingdom Hearts would just be a game I'd have to buy because "It's KH". (Yes, I'd buy it - I know that I'm not definitely right, although I'm pretty certain that I am) For one, the way the plot is constructed is annoying. As I remember the big boss (That's Alex, Don of RPGSite) saying, the Final Fantasy/Disney combination really doens't work at all in terms of plot. Disney are pathetically protective of their licenses, leaving Square to just retell the same old story again through the various Disney levels in Kingdom Hearts. Then, as you would come to expect from a team that's used to working on epic Final Fantasy games, Tetsuya and his crew try to cram as much of an epic storyline in there as they can. The result is a great story, told in dishearteningly annoying CHUNKS, which are separated by completely useless Disney 'sub-stories'.

Lastly, and quoting the 'Don' yet again, the warped, weird, bastardised versions of favourite Final Fantasy characters is positively nerve-wrecking. It was cool in the first version of the game to meet kid Tidus and Wakka, to fight a renamed Squall, and buy Gummi Ship parts from FFVII Cid - but from the look of the KHII screenshots, whatever Nomura's done to characters like poor little Vivi, I don't like it. Final Fantasy characters are more and more simply being plonked in the damn game to increase popularity among the fans of a certain character - their appearance in the game being utterly useless and easily replaced with any other character from anywhere. But alas, I've moaned at the Kingdom Hearts games for long enough.

The thing is - all these things are forgiveable over the course of two games. I'll still buy and play KHII, and I'll expect all the faults from the first game, and I'll be impressed at the realisation that some of those faults have been fixed, taken out, whatever. But a third time, that's when it gets tiring. Of course the die-hard fans will strongly disgaree with me, but Kingdom Hearts III will, simply put, spoil the very name of KH. As good as KH and KHII are (I know this article spends most of its time picking apart all the negative points, but really, KH and KHII are really really good games), KHIII will have to be one masterpiece to impress people who hold my same view, and let's face it, that's not the likeliest of scenarios at all.

My conclusion - please please please Nomura, don't ruin a good series now. Leave Kingdom Hearts as it is, with just the two games to its name. And for clarity's sake - I'm not saying Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II are bad games, just that they have faults which if continued into a third installation, (and let's face it, its likely they will if KHIII ever came to be) would simply ruin the name of the franchise. Kingdom Hearts deserves to be laid to rest, because a third game would just overkill it completely.