Kingdom Hearts III (PC) Review
Although it might not have launched on PC in the way that many players might've wanted, Kingdom Hearts has still, nevertheless, made the jump over to the platform. We thought that Kingdom Hearts 3 was an excellent addition to the series with our original review back in 2019, but how does the PC port stack up in comparison?
Kingdom Hearts III Requirements and Performance
MINIMUM:
- Windows 10 64bit (ver. 1909 or later)
- Intel Core i5 3330m (3.0GHz) 4core/4thread, AMD Ryzen 3 1200 (3.1GHz) 4core/4thread
- 8GB or more of RAM
- 75GB or more of Storage
- DirectX 11 required
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (VRAM 2GB), AMD Radeon R7 260X (VRAM 2GB)
RECOMMENDED:
- Windows 10 64bit (ver. 1909 or later)
- Intel Core i5 7500 (3.4GHz) 4core/4thread, AMD Ryzen 3 3100 (3.1GHz) 4core/8thread
- 8GB or more of RAM
- 75GB or more of Storage
- DirectX 11 required
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB VRAM), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (8GB VRAM)
Kingdom Hearts III PC comes with quite a slew of graphics settings. Players can run the game at both 4k and high framerates (120hz), the game can run in windowed, windowed fullscreen, and exclusive fullscreen mode - additionally, the game includes a render scale option for players that want to run the game at a lower resolution than their screen's native resolution. The only complaints I might have, and these really are nitpicks, is that there is no FoV slider available for players to utilize, and the render scale setting isn't arbitrary - you simply have to deal with the presets that the game offers you.
As for performance - what else can I say, other than it's fantastic? My Ryzen 9 5900x/RX 6900xt desktop is more than a little overkill, but nevertheless, I was able to manage 100+ FPS at nearly all times at High settings with a few choice options, like LoD, set to their max options, on my 4k display. Unsurprisingly my 9750H/1660 ti laptop had little issues running the game at 1080p/60+ max settings, normally hitting closer to 100 FPS on its end as well. You shouldn't have any trouble running the game on any modern rig.
Control Options
Another slam dunk for Kingdom Hearts III's PC port, the game supports full controller remapping and key rebindings for keyboard and mouse. The game even goes out of its way to offer presets for users playing with non-QWERTY keyboards - a neat little touch that I don't think I've seen in any other PC port that I've played. Players can even play the game with either PlayStation button prompts, Xbox button prompts, or generic gamepad icons. A simple toggle lets players choose which button they'd prefer to use for confirmations in menus, too.
While you could, conceivably, ask for Nintendo Switch Pro Controller button prompts to truly round out the package, KHIII's options already blows away the vast, vast majority of games on the market.
PC Specific Content and Bonuses
The one, and only, piece of PC-exclusive content is the new Elemental Encoder keyblade. It's an arguably overpowered choice for players, as it will frequently proc Grand Magics on its own. While not a bespoke feature of the port, players can - of course - expect a healthy modding community for the game.
While the price might be asking a lot for a game that can now be purchased for significantly less on consoles - or even downloaded on Xbox as part of Game Pass! - whoever was in charge of the Kingdom Hearts III PC port has delivered not just a fantastic PC version of the game, but one that is sure to become the benchmark for Square Enix PC ports going forward - for good or ill.