#kh3spoiler

​What made me fall in love, even more so as I got older, were the characters. Besides Sora, I loved almost all of the main characters, from Riku and Kairi, to Ventus and Aqua and everyone in between. In fact, Xion is my all time favorite character. Her story is so sad, and she struggles so hard. The Sea Salt Trio are my favorites because of everything they've been through and their strong, unique personalities.

Now, I mentioned Sora because through all the games, he has been the most static. Sure, he may be fun, and a good guy, but he suffers from the "generic anime protagonist" syndrome where he's very one dimensional and never really develops in any meaningful way. He's not awful by any means, but I find him boring compared to the rich depth of everyone else.

I wanted to give this little backstory to my own opinions before talking about the third game in the series. Now, obviously, these are all my opinions, and if you like Sora, great! I'm glad. I really am. This is a great series and I'm glad you derive joy from the main character.

All that being said, I was very disappointed in Kingdom Hearts 3. Don't get me wrong, the main gameplay was fun. The game was gorgeous, with vibrant colors, fun locations, and absolutely amazing music. This game also did a good job of integrating main story issues in each world, so that the Disney worlds didn't feel like filler as they have in past games.

However, for me, what really hurt the game was the final zone, when all the payoffs were supposed to happen. That brings me to my first, huge issue. There were a ton of stories that the game had to wrap up, and as such, all of them weren't given the time or explanation that they really required. 

First, we had saving the Wayfinder Trio, and while a good deal was spent on Aqua, I was really saddened at the lack of emotion when she saved Ventus. I wanted them to hug, or cry, or something. It was all very anticlimactic and underwhelming. Aqua had wanted so badly to save her friend, and we didn't see a grand reunion or anything.

As I said before, Xion has been my favorite character since she was introduced, and sadly, her return was handled poorly as well. I didn't understand how she was restored, or why she was with the organization. Don't get me wrong, I loved her and Roxas' return, and the music during that boss fight was overflowing with emotion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUmbVXor2kw That's the link to the song, seriously, it was incredible. 

But, because there was no explanation as to how she was there, or anything, I felt her return was cheapened slightly. I feel this, like the return of Terra and Namine (more on that later), were glossed over because there was just too much material to go over, and the writers spent too much time on other, less important (in my opinion) plot threads.

Speaking of plot threads, another thing that bothered me, was that they introduced a number of ideas, such as the black box Maleficent was searching for, and the girl that Lea and Isa wanted to help, that they never really did anything with, instead introducing them for the sole purpose of leading into future games.

Going back to Namine, and them glossing over ideas, her return felt like an after thought. We only saw it briefly in the ending cinematic, and didn't really get to enjoy the joy and happiness of her return.

There are so many fantastic characters here, but we spend all of our time on Sora, the most boring (again my opinion.) I wanted to see more of Roxas and Ventus freaking out because they looked so much alike. More of Isa and Lea, and really looking more into their bromance. 

One of the worst offenders was how they handled Kairi. I was so excited when she was training with Lea. I wanted to see that, and I also wanted to see the fruits of their training. But we never did. Instead Kairi did almost nothing, only to become a damsel in distress and get "fridged". They wasted such a great character.

I could go on and on, but I just want to touch upon one more point. The very end, with Sora sacrificing himself to bring Kairi back should have been emotional. I should have cried. I should have felt anything. But I didn't.  That plot point was introduced so late in the game, and was a prime example of why you want to show rather than tell. It felt like an after thought. "Oh by the way, Sora went off and saved Kairi, but we aren't going to show you that. It just happened."

I that I've rambled on a bit here, and if you've made it this far, thank you for sticking with my thoughts. I'm just, very disappointed. I wanted to see so much more emotion. I wanted to see each character get the time and spotlight that they deserved. I'm sad because I know what they're capable of with their storytelling, but it felt like, at the end, they rushed to tie up every plot point possible.

I still love this series, and the characters that I've grown up with. I still have faith for the future, and am eager to see what the next chapter holds. I just hope these characters are done justice.