Kingdom Hearts III
"Kingdom Hearts III" was released worldwide in January 2019. Upon release, the game was met with generally positive reviews from critics.
Kingdom Hearts III
Caty McCarthy of USgamer felt "Kingdom Hearts III" was "an all or nothing sort of game". She said, "So many modern JRPGs look only ahead or get too trapped in the past, but "Kingdom Hearts III" is comfortable in straddling both lines; moving onward where the series needs it, but hanging back in ways that would make it feel untrue to the system that birthed it." Regarding the story, McCarthy said the game "knows how to both hold the hands of players not familiar with the past 17 years of the series, as well as respect the knowledge of diehards" with all of the games in the series and various plot threads getting "some sort of nod". However, the reliance of frequent cutscenes led the game to feel "a tad outdated, pacing-wise". While the larger scope of the worlds were "more welcome" to McCarthy, and she enjoyed the designs of San Fransokyo, Kingdom of Corona, and The Caribbean, Monstropolis and Olympus "[fell] flat", with Monstropolis "largely just a bunch of boring hallways and factory rooms" and Olympus having "a bit of a 'been there, done that' vibe". Calling the combat "chaos", McCarthy noted there was enough variety in it to distinguish itself from other entries in the series, but felt the Attraction Flow attacks were "the weakest new addition" and playing the game on "Normal" mode was not much of a challenge overall. Writing for "GamesRadar+", Rachel Weber said, "Whatever the flaws, there is nothing quite like "Kingdom Hearts III", and it's a wild, wonderful ride as a result." She added, "no battle, no matter how big... or small, is ever boring" but called the Gummi Ship sections "the blandest part of the game". One of her favorite parts was the cooking mini game with Remy from "Ratatouille" and, conversely, felt the "Pirates of the Caribbean" world was "joyless" and "the only time the magic [of the game] failed".