nbmartino

*THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE

I normally NEVER write reviews but playing this game has compelled me so much to chime in and stop others from supporting Disney, and such an awful game. As a passionate fan who has played every kingdom hearts title since 2001, this was a massive letdown in so many ways and it broke my heart to see Square Enix/Disney ruin such a beautiful franchise. This is by no means to say this game is downright terrible, as it's clear from the overall presentation a lot of time and money went into the development (three years on an older engine, then completely scrapped an re-animated by Disney's request in favor of Unreal Engine 4), but there are so many glaring issues with the gameplay, story, and music that it makes it very difficult for me to recommend KH3 to anyone, even someone who loves the series rabidly. Part of the problem is that the series started to go downhill with the release of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (after KH2/385/2 Days), and ultimately Birth By Sleep and the other three installments that were released after (Re:Coded, Union X, Dream Drop Distance) play a huge part as to why KH3 is so bad....But, I digress.

Kingdom Hearts, for those of you who haven't played the games, tells the story of a young boy named Sora, who is striped away from his peaceful island after a group of mysterious enemies threaten the existence of the world. His journey consists of saving characters from various Disney worlds which tie into the overall overarching story of the main antagonists. The beauty of the narrative was that the first game had one title in between before the release of Kingdom Hearts 2 (Re:Chain of Memories), which creatively expanded upon the lore of the previous two titles while still adding other features to gameplay to make it fresh and exciting. KH2 successfully wraps up those plot points and offers a beautiful ending to characters who have gone through so much. Since the release of KH2, however, five titles have been introduced to expand the story, and this in itself lies the hugest problem; the writers have attempted to wrap up the story of five titles into this one installment, which causes the narrative and pacing to be all over the place. Square's biggest mistake was trying to connect all 5 stories to KH1/Re:Com/KH2 after the fact and then try to wrap it all up in KH3, resulting in a convoluted mess of story that defies logic and motivations that were previously established in KH1/Re:Com/KH2. Before, there was a clear reason Sora had to journey to all the Disney worlds, but here, his journey lacks direction. No explanation has been given as to why it's necessary in KH3; additionally, his actions do not effect the outcome of the characters and worlds he visits as it did in previous installments. For this reason the finale is crammed into the last three hours of the game and it feels contrived. The new villain's motivations are also not explained, and characters who had graceful deaths which helped Sora succeed previously are brought back which cheapens the sacrifice they all had to go through...and, to add insult to injury, all at once! Additionally, Sora's love interest Kairi is handled terribly; there are small scenes that set her up to have an important role in the story only for her to have no additional scene time. The ending itself is absolutely terrible and offers the viewer no satisfaction. KH2 felt like an epic finale to which had been a long journey, KH3 on the other hand is a muddled joyride.

Animation, music and gameplay are also a mixed bag. The animation by far is the best the game has to offer; you can clearly see how vibrant, colorful, and creative the designs of the worlds are. The Disney worlds look crisp and new and the animation is so close to their Disney movie counterparts I swear I was in the theater. The original characters are also animated to blend in so seamlessly with the Disney counterparts. I had so much fun playing through the worlds which felt epic in scale compared to the previous games (despite the story being awful), That being said, not much originality went into the music or gameplay. Music tracks from previous installments were re-played constantly. "Don't Think Twice," the game's main theme, while beautiful, seems out of place in context to the game's story. The music in previous games tugged at my heartstrings but there wasn't anything of note here. Additionally, my biggest gripe after the story is that there is little to no post game content. Where was the Olympus Coliseum tournaments, summons, drive forms, secret bosses, and synthesis missions? Where were the side stories with final fantasy characters, like Leon, Cloud, Aerith, etc? (They played an important role in the story in previous titles, yet they were totally absent In KH3!)? The Hundred Acre Wood, which offered fun, relaxing gameplay in previous games, only lasted thirty minutes...why? These were all things that were pre-established in KH1/KH2 so their absence in KH3 was extremely disappointing. The gameplay itself was also too easy: with a weakened "Proud Mode" and a lack of "Critical mode" difficulty, I breezed through the game in a week. Sora's "attraction flow" battle commands also the game too repetitive.

Overall KH3 feels like an incomplete piece, too many ideas were crammed into one narrative to the point where other areas felt rushed. This can partially be blamed for Square attempting to tie it in to other installments, KH3's 13 year long development hell (started in 2006) and Disney's demand for Square to rebuild the engine from scratch, but there is absolutely no excuse for a game we all waited so long for to be this muddled. KH2 felt so epic in scale in comparison to this game which was supposed to be a grand finale to close the trilogy. Yet ultimately KH3's ending left me with more questions than answers, which is absolutely unacceptable. I read several development articles that stated Disney was not heavily involved in the creative process of Kingdom Hearts until post KH2 (because KH2 broke sales), which makes absolute sense to the way each installment has turned out thus far. I believe Disney's increased involvement is what ruined Kingdom Hearts; their films as of late show the direction the company is moving towards...a film company with no creativity, tight restrictions, and a mindless, safe product. That is what KH3 is, and it is an absolute disgrace to the fans of the original trilogy (Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hears: Chain of Memories, & Kingdom Hearts 2...385/2 days is borderline passable, but I still recommend it to get Roxas' Story. Xion's character was totally unnecessary though). Beautiful animation alone cannot save a lackluster story, sloppy gameplay, and unoriginal music. Do yourself a favor and AVOID THIS GAME AT ALL COSTS, otherwise it will break your heart.

PROS +Phenomenal Animation that mirrors its Disney movie counterparts +Great world design; worlds are long to explore +Sora's more powerful then ever; creative new battle commands +Option to upgrade weapons to be more powerful +Fun new minigames, such as Lucky Emblem hunt, Cooking w/Remy, Flan games, etc.

CONS -Terrible story that ruins previously established character motivations -Newly established plot points contradict that of previous installments -Female characters, while strong, have no screen time -Ending does not wrap up story in a meaningful way -Old music tracks are constantly reused, little original orchestration -No post game content -Lack of extra content that were present in KH1/KH2, such as Olympus coliseum tournaments, Winnie-The-Pooh, Summons, Synthesis, secret bosses, etc.

There is a lot to love about Miraculous Ladybug. As a rabid lover of animation since the 90's boom of TV animation, I can tell you right now that it is perhaps one of the most phenomenal cartoons I have seen in an extremely long time. Combing a plethora of genres, from action, to comedy, to fantasy, and romance, "Miraculous" is an example of a series that is not afraid to take risks and defy common conventions of the genre in order to maximize quality, something that has been absent from modern television for a decade. At first glance it may appear like a typical magical girl/lame superhero program, but do NOT let the kiddy ladybug image fool you. It has such a high enjoyment value that you will forget that you are watching someone fighting monsters every week, but rather, live through the experiences of a not-so- typical high school girl whose life has been changed forever.

The premise itself is fairly cliché for the genre: a klutzy, happy-go-lucky girl named Marinette finds a magical pair of earrings and begins a quest alongside a cute creature that gives her the power to transform into "Ladybug," a superhero with the powers to seal "Akumas," demons that pray upon wounded hearts. Hawk Moth is the villain behind this phenomenon and it is her ultimate mission to stop him. However, the series gets largely complicated with the introduction of the deuteragonist (and Marinette's crush), Adrien. He also has a similar experience and can transform into Cat Noir, Ladybug's polar opposite and her partner on this mission to destroy Hawk Moth. But there is a catch: the both of them are forbidden in revealing their true identities while working together. Adrien is madly in love with Ladybug (not knowing that she is Marinette), whose heart only beats for Adrien in real life (also not knowing he is Cat Noir). And to Adrien, Marinette is just a girl in his class.

This love-quartet serves as the basis for the central theme of the series as their feelings for each other (and their alter egos) change and develop immensely. Additionally, the series focuses on Marinette and Adrien's struggles with their families and friendships. We learn about Adrien's troubled past and why it justifies his current actions. And while Marinette has a loving family and is sweet, kind, and pure by nature, she is also is shown to have her flaws, being cocky, selfish, and judgmental. There is a natural progression of events without using contrived plot elements such as deaths, love triangles, cheesy friendship drama, etc. We see that these kids have real flaws and are extremely relatable. The supporting cast consisting of Marinette's classmates are interestingly developed mostly through inferences and vague symbolism. This is a nice change of pace.

It should be noted at how impressive the animation is as well: a product of four major animation studios coming together, Miraculous boasts an 12 million dollar budget and it clearly shows here. The animation is gorgeous and the action scenes are very smooth. The music is nothing short of stunning, and the Paris-inspired soundtracks will easily get stuck in your head! I usually prefer hand drawn animation but the CGI here blew me out of the park. Also, those who are fan of Japanese animation will notice the references and similarities pulled from the magical girl genre: we have the magical transformations, the cute sidekicks, Japanese "akumas," etc. It's clear the creator was inspired by older anime classics such as Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor sakura, and Phantom Thief Jeanne, which some will appreciate.

That being said, Miraculous is definitely not without flaws. The story is episodic in nature and the fight scenes are extremely predictable. There is also not a lot of background information on how Marinette and Adrien got their superpowers. Hawk Moth is like a cut-and-paste villain with no clear reasoning. His one of those bad guys that just wants to 'take over the world' just because. But if I believe there is still enough to look past this. Seasons 2 and 3 are currently in development and they may or may not shed more light on these mysteries.

All and all Miraculous Ladybug is a heartwarming tale that children and adults will enjoy alike. While not quite flawless, it's a consistently high-quality, entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking show that proves there is a correlation in storytelling between creativity and quality. There is something for everyone here, and there are valuable lessons for our children about the human condition mixed in with the fantasy/action aspect of the show. I can only pray that Nickelodeon gives this program the respect it deserves given it's track record with "Avatar" and "Winx Club" over the past few years. For those of you who love this show, please, please support it!