Rating: 3.5/5
It has been 15 years since the last numbered entry in the beloved Disney/Final Fantasy mashup franchise Kingdom Hearts, and Square Enix has had no qualms exploiting fans’ quiet desperation while we wait for the fabled Kingdom Hearts III. The horrifically titled Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue follows a handful of spin-offs and remasters, offering three separate but connected adventures within the Kingdom Hearts universe.
The most exciting of these is A Fragmentary Passage, a new, roughly three hour adventure following Keyblade wielder Aqua. Continuing on from the events of the PSP title Birth By Sleep, we play as Aqua struggling to make her way through the Realm of Darkness as she searches for her friends, Terra and Ventus. The most surprising aspect of this game is just how stunning everything looks. A Fragmentary Passage runs on Kingdom Hearts III’s game engine, offering us a glimpse at the potential graphical improvement that title could be from its predecessors. Some of Disney’s worlds offered in previous spin-offs have felt quite small and empty; here we have even less time with those worlds but they leave a heavier impact. In the Realm of Darkness we find pieces of worlds from older Disney films, such as Snow White and Cinderella, smashed apart and stuck in time, creepily lifeless with floating debris implying the world’s destructive end. Aqua weaves and beats her way through enemies both new and old in a very satisfying, ballet-like manner and effortlessly executes powerful finishing moves, avoiding the familiar trope of a sequel’s protagonist becoming suddenly powerless after previous adventures.
Unfortunately the joys of combat pretty much end there, as no depth is really offered. While Aqua can unleash a few different movesets, there is no advancement to speak of, none of the addictively satisfying ability creation of Birth By Sleep. This is no doubt due to the short playtime, but the lack of satisfying gameplay damages the game’s longevity and leaves its entertainment value almost purely to the visuals and narrative. Obviously intended as a plot-hole filler as well as a teaser, A Fragmentary Passage does tie the events of Birth By Sleep directly into the original Kingdom Hearts in a hugely satisfying way. This is a welcome love letter to the fans, but unfortunately would be incomprehensible to anybody not already well versed in the convoluted Kingdom Hearts lore.
The second piece of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is an HD remaster of the 3DS spin-off title Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. There’s no new content to be found here, but fans have been begging Square Enix to bring the whole franchise to PlayStation for the longest time, and this is finally almost a reality. Fans of the series who haven’t had a chance to play Dream Drop Distance will find a lot to like here, with a handful of new worlds to explore as well as familiar worlds that have been reimagined and expanded. Taking place after Kingdom Hearts II, you take control of both long-time protagonist Sora and his childhood rival Riku as they undertake the Mark of Mastery, an elaborate exam designed to test their skills with their Keyblade weapons, in preparation for a conflict with series villain Xehanort. Once again, the plot becomes very convoluted and is almost impossible to unravel without a deep understanding of the franchise’s story, but does manage to weave together two parallel stories in a way that rewards longtime fans.
The handheld entries in the series have long been used as an opportunity to experiment with Kingdom Hearts’s game mechanics and Dream Drop Distance is no exception, for better or worse. Traversing worlds is exciting and satisfying thanks to the addition of ‘Flowmotion’, allowing your character to nimbly skate and dash from place to place and seamlessly flow into combat. Unfortunately, your combat abilities are tied to your party members, spirit creatures that mostly feel like unlikable Pokemon rejects. In the end, Dream Drop Distance does distil a healthy dose of familiar Kingdom Hearts magic, despite some awkward game mechanic choices.
Lastly, the collection also features Kingdom Hearts X - Back Cover, an hour-long animated film tie-in to mobile game Kingdom Hearts X. It looks beautiful, as the visuals are rendered with the same engine as A Fragmentary Passage, but beyond that there’s really nothing to enjoy here. Taking place long before the events of any other Kingdom Hearts title, Back Cover is a trudge through dull characters, duller dialogue and plot threads that, once again, are impossible to unravel without both prior knowledge and, assumedly, the rest of the story in Kingdom Hearts III.
Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a convenient collection for the more dedicated fans of the series, but casual fans with only a passing knowledge of Kingdom Hearts I and II will likely find more frustration and confusion than entertainment.