The Dumbest Game in the Series - Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Critique

[@snowarmth]

00:00 Introduction 02:30 Exploration and Rewards 19:50 Gameplay and Progression 31:34 Drop System 34:31 Dream Eaters 47:36 Worlds 49:16 Story and Endgame 1:06:18 Postgame 1:12:34 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage

[@silentjoker45]

Thank you

[@ryanb4940]

You’re the best kind of person ❤

[@onecrunch5308]

I absolutely hate how stupid the Mark of Mastery exam for Sora and Riku is crazy hard, long, and convoluted compared to Aqua and Terra's little spar and hitting balls of light. Completely idiotic.

[@pn2294]

You know the Terra-Aqua Exam was just a formality, right? Eraqus wasn’t planning on testing them until Xehanort suggested it.

[@flappletarts]

@@pn2294I don’t know if this fact makes it worse or not?

[@ForrestFox626]

​@@pn2294Doesn't that make it worst?

[@renoslash1890]

Just for clarity.. what exactly is the Mark of Mastery exam again?

[@pn2294]

@@renoslash1890 the “Mark of Mastery” is proving to your teacher that you’re worthy of being a master. It’s not a standardized exam

[@Flufferpup]

I think the intention behind the drop mechanic is one that was designed around its original platform, the 3DS. As a handheld console, you're likely to take it out of the home and have quick bursts of play, so I think the drop mechanic was implemented to encourage players to keep their play sessions brief. "Oh, I dropped, guess I should stop for now and get on with my day," something like that. Of course, it wasn't exactly implemented well, so the original intention doesn't really matter.

[@ForrestFox626]

Just have save states

[@elolawynladriel]

You better believe i dropped like 100 times for the trophy, to get the materials to make all dream eaters, to fight the special portals AND to get the RANDOM command that can only be bought after dropping.

[@zachwise476]

You mean the bumbest So Far

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

Truuuuuu

[@serentira]

Your audio and script reading has gotten amazing, keep it up! Thank you for the video!

[@NicoDamiani-vj4ie]

Allegedly Tron world in this game is not a sleeping world because "data cannot dream" Young Xehanort says. He explicitly says this just to hint Sora that "he has no idea where he is" meaning they somehow hijacked their mark of mastery exam worlds route. If this is true, though, it also implies that Sora exits the Realm of Sleep and reenters it before/after the events of the Grid. How this works and how it makes sense I honestly have no idea.

[@MemeinAndDreamin]

The world that The Grid resides in is currently sleeping, but data does not sleep so The Grid continues to operate normally. While there is no official explanation, we can assume that Sora sealed the Sleeping Keyhole of The Grid's host world through The Grid. So think of it as Sora diving into the host world, but sort of continuing into The Grid. Same thing for exiting, I suppose. Easier explanation for Riku as his version of The Grid is still within Sora's dreams.

[@MrDexSat]

There's also the fact that the Grid and Space Paranoids are two different systems. No, really, the Grid's Tron is an entirely different person, because Sam and Ansem had two different copies of the system. Rinzler never once was the Tron Sora met, it'd be like if you took my 3DS and expected your miis to be there without transferring any data between the two consoles.

[@humzaqazi6551]

Been waiting for you to tear DDD to shreds since I first watched your BBS vid (which was masterful btw)! Thx for all your hard work!

[@h_works2965]

Dream Drop Distance is a complicated one for me. It was kind of what got me into Kingdom Hearts. I’d just gotten my 3DS and wanted stuff to play on it. So when I saw it’d be getting a KH game soon, that motivated me to get caught up with the rest of the series. As such, it was the first time I got to experience a new release alongside the rest of the fandom. And yet despite that nostalgia it gets harder and harder to go back to every time. Much of the same problems with the Command Deck gameplay remain. Some issues are improved, others are worsened. But ultimately it’s still a huge step down company to KH1 and 2. I’m glad to finally see the first KH game since 1 where the levels don’t feel like hallways. But Flowmotion utterly invalidates the combat AND the platforming. Likewise, it’s cool to have a KH game where you can assemble and build your own party members. But tying really important skills for your character to them is such a baffling decision. It flip flops between pitifully easy and frustrating difficulty spikes. And the story…god. We arguably already jumped the shark with Birth By Sleep. But DDD’s story is so shallow and stupid that it irks me a lot more. The twists serve to weaken a lot of character and thematic stuff from the earlier games. Because, as you put it, Xehanort kind of sucks as a villain and the more the story stretches to revolve around him, the weaker it gets. And I really hate what this game does to Sora and Riku as characters. Sora is so horribly flanderised here. Seeing my favourite character in the series reduced to this doe eye one note idiot who exists to get strung along by the plot is just sad. And for as much as people hype this up as ‘Riku’s game’, he’s not much better. It was really vindicating when you pointed out how the game just repeats his development from the past games. I really don’t get why people praise Riku’s ‘development’ in this game. It’s such a big pile of nothing. Sora becomes more annoying, Riku becomes more boring. There are some nice scenes that highlight their bond but that’s about it. The dream worlds are such wasted potential too. Like…it’s a dream. You have so much potential to get weird and abstract with a set of worlds where the laws of reality no longer apply. And they kind of do this with Traverse Town’s split world or Prankster’s Paradise looping the same point in time but then nothing else does anything interesting with it. Alternatively, you could go full Psychonauts, and explore our characters dreams to dig into their thoughts and fears. But we only get a tiny bit of that at the very end. What could have had so much potential ends up being a mere stop gap. People rag on KH3’s story a lot. And there’s definitely some huge problems there. But much of it comes from the fact that DDD was such a weak lead in that set up an extremely shallow ‘everyone is here’ spectacle and nothing more. The characters are just chess pieces at this point, getting pushed along to make the plot happen with only a shred of their former characterisation. Revisiting the KH spin offs over the years is eye opening. Realising there’s only a handful of a handful of games in the series I actually still enjoy playing, and large swathes of the story that I know but am not terribly invested in. The series still means a lot to me and I am still keeping up mostly (even if I refuse to play the mobile games) but idk. It’s just kind of disheartening.

[@seseame7184]

I love these videos, I watch them while playing the absolute slog of a game named 358/2 days

[@starmangalaxy2001]

44:35 I'd wish to point out that Dispositions and what dream eaters you're using are super important for Critical mode since you do 50% damage vs Prouds 75% damage. The Spirit Roar ability that certain dream eaters can use massively increases your damage and make the Spark series you mentioned one of the best damage spells (Though who cares because Balloon) and if you use physical combos, the Combo Assist ability makes physical combos do upwards of an entire health bar on Critical, it throws the Dream eaters to the otherside of the scale where they're just as OP as Shotlocks and makes the horrible and RNG filled Dream eater management required. Spirit Roar and Combo Assist are locked behind certain dispositions which as you go on to mention isn't told to the player at all and are pretty much RNG.

[@nixuniverse5240]

58:42 That was when the X-Blade was in one piece, so all it took was one light and one darkness to summon it. As a result of that battle it breaks into 20 pieces (which is Nomura’s excuse to use his two favorite numbers, 7 & 13).

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

Where is that stated?

[@nixuniverse5240]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall If I remember correctly it was in the secret reports in one of the games I honestly don’t remember which it’s been a while since I heard it 🥲

[@nixuniverse5240]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFallWait never mind I got it wrong! In BBS it was stated that Xehanort used a shotty method of creating the X-blade (most likely because he was rushing things due to the fact that he’s old) That’s why it looked fine from Aqua’s perspective in the fight with Evil Vanitas infected Ventus (idk what to call that form) but from Ventus’ perspective inside his heart the X-blade is chipped and looks weird. After that plan failed Xehanort decides to do it the correct way by using more pieces of light (7) and more pieces of darkness (13) so the X-blade can be completely functional through and through.

[@trevorrawlins6025]

I feel like if kh2 wasnt as loved as it was, the kh series would be forgotten in the wind. People would be like "remember that one series square did with disney? What was it called? Kingdom farts?" 😂

[@TeamTowers1]

Honestly I kind of think 2 is the worst of the number games. And I'm saying this as someone who got into the franchise through KH2.

[@skeeplebop]

​@@TeamTowers1wild ass take my boy.

[@Xpwnxage]

CoM is the best game in the series. No I'm not joking. Best story and battle system, at least on the GBA. ReCoM is stupid easy. But yeah Kingdom Hearts is genuine trash, specifically narrative wise. The gameplay is the glue that holds the dumpster together. I still love the series, always will tbh but it's so bad.

[@TeamTowers1]

@otdreamer193IRONFIST-yx6gn Keep in mind that worst is a relative term but. From a gameplay standpoint there isn't really anything to do in any of the world's beyond fighting and don't get me wrong the fighting is important, but KH2 lacks the sense of exploration and atmosphere that 1 and 3 have. From a story standpoint, I think most the things people complain about with KH3 are just as applicable to 2 if not more so.

[@invasive835]

@@TeamTowers1 i agree with you, but i just wouldnt put 3 into that category. 3 had what 1 had in common with the exploration without any of the mystery or atmosphere. You spend most of the game doing disney shenanigans which arent nearly as well done as 1 or 2 and we're suddenly thrown into the final battle after some of the most boring activities. The disney worlds had nothing to do with like anything even if some nerd is gonna comment in the future they were meaningless. Xehanort was terrible. All that buildup and the conclusion wasnt even good. It left me with no hope for kh. The whole nobody have hearts retcon also ruined the depth that kingdom hearts desperately needed. Xemnas fight for existence and killing your first organization member who cries out. It makes you pity them in a way. They have good motivations. Ansem is darkness. Xehanort is like your typical time traveling mcu villain, and all our favorite characters come back because of course they do, but xemnas was like a damn philosopher giving us questions about existence after non exustence and while 2 is missing elements 1 had you know what its not missing? Consequence. I felt the consequence and weight of game 1s ending. I felt like everything was over and it honestly made a pit in my heart. 2 also made me feel these things. Come 3 i jus wanted it to be over. It was fun to fight the bosses but otherwise its very fanservicy. It was like dragon ball heroes its junk food. 2 is my favorite if it werent obvious but i really appreciate 1 a lot and if it werent for how janky it was it just mightve been my favorite. Anyway that's my opinion but yours is okay to have dw about kh fans they are super weird LOL

[@UTgohan]

You get to play as Riku, that alone is a great reason to like this game

[@orlandofurioso7329]

Yeah, but without the dark moves that made him cool in com and kh2, yeah you get dark firaga (or a lesser version of it) and the dark claw style but he is mostly a Sora clone in gameplay

[@TheDarkKnightTonight-dr6cw]

@@orlandofurioso7329 He actually can get them back, including Dark Aura. It’s just stuck behind the awful upgrade system.

[@LuizPrower]

i can easily explain the tron thing. Its the same thing in KH2 where the Twilight trio somehow somewhat recognize Sora, but don't, because of Roxas connection to their digital selves. The Tron from that world feels it too, because that Tron isn't the Tron from KH2, as the Tron from KH2 was a copy made by Xehonort.

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

i suppose that could work. actually, i like that. its a shame that the game couldn't explain it that way

[@joshtheryuk]

One thing i can say about this game: at least the gameplay isn't as clunky as BBS. It's much smoother, plus Balloon is much more fun to spam compared to Thunder Surge. It's so broken it's hilarious.

[@TeamTowers1]

Honestly Balloon can be pretty fun to use if you like breaking the game. So I don't really see an overpowered ability like that as a detraction in of itself. i would say the real problem is that all the enemies are such a pain to deal with that Balloon ends up being the only way the player can avoid the more frustrating aspects of the combat.

[@brotbrotsen1100]

I went from KH 2 directly to BBS. I instantly noticed how unsatisfying movement as a whole was in BBS, especially the jump fells like it utterly destroys all momentum. DDD is better simply because walking around felt good.

[@Pooky1991]

Storywise BBS is one of my favorites, but gameplay wise? Yeah, it's definately one of the weaker ones and is one of the ones I didn't even bother trying to get the ultimate weapon/100% in.

[@The_UltimateL1feform]

@@brotbrotsen1100that’s how I felt I didn’t even wanna play bbs since the controls were throwing me off so much but I got used to it over time

[@DanielLopez-sn9po]

let's freaking go! Thanks for your hard work bro

[@KhunShawn]

Good video!

[@lauraroberts3520]

Also thank you for the story analysis! This game to me I must confess is where Kingdom Hearts story shattered into something that can sadly never be fixed to me. I will always love the characters but sadly, it lost all its stakes and that precious feeling that I treasured all the way up to this point. You absolutely nailed why it fails and I really appreciate how you analysed it. It really helps me in understanding why i feel the way i do about it. Thanks so much for all your hard work! ⭐️

[@hypernovagamingstation]

Being one hit away and forcefully dropped was actually what happened when I fought ChillClawbster! I needed to surround Monstro in a bubble and if that drop system could have been one second slower, I would have won. Then that thing started to become the most frustrating boss because all boss fights in this game are absolute dog water! Unfair isn't even enough to describe this absolute abomination of game design.

[@_B_E]

Shame the game doesn't give you any items to restore the drop timer. If only they added something like that, maybe call it a Drop Me Not or something just for fun.

[@hasshenjo6416]

Anytime I see someone complain about the drop system I just consider it to be a skill issue cause there's literally an item that increases the timer for you

[@tylercafe1260]

53:28 Why do you think the Drop Gauge is there? Why Riku and Sora keep seeming to be falling in and out of Sleep randomly? Gameplay is storytelling my friend. Sora's been passing out the entire gameplay and cutscenes. That's not just a fancy character transition. Then look at the Weather Forecast at the "World That Never Was" it always makes you Drop faster. That's why they led them to that World. It's deatils and things like that make me still love the games despite the glaring flaws.

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

i can accept that for the first time in twtnw because of the visual similarity to when it first happens in traverse town, but its never implied that its a normal drop after sora fights xemnas

[@tylercafe1260]

​​@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFallWhat's a "normal drop"? They were never supposed to be split up so they would never Drop in the first place if they didn't. They only split up due to Xehanort which in turn makes them Drop.

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

@tylercafe1260 where is that stated, that they were separated specifically becausenof xehanort?

[@tylercafe1260]

​​@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall The first set of cutscenes already supposed to show us something is off with Ursula sinking their boat and Robed Ansem saying his ominous words as he's seen above the water. Which then leads to them being separated. Ansem (SoD) explains how Riku unknowingly dived into Sora's dream where he would be no help to his friend unless he accepts Darkness. Basically a final attempt added in to overtake Riku once again but this time more definitively with actual gameplay and not cards lol. The entire test was rigged in every single way with Ansem interfering ever since Destiny Islands.

[@Ashtonyss]

So... Nomura's writing style is 100% to just borrow ideas from whatever he's into at the time, right?

[@jasonmurdoc9533]

First was legend of Zelda, then it weirdly turned into Star Wars.

[@ForrestFox626]

Explains a lot, doesn't it?

[@elolawynladriel]

This game could have been the right time to bring back the gameplay of that secion of Hollow Bastion on Recoded in which Sora lost the kayblade and had to rely on Donald and Goofy. This time Sora can still use the keyblade but he needs the help of dream eaters to fight. The command deck might as well be filled with dream eaters's attacks and every time you use them, the dream eaters attack the enemy. Like V in Devil May Cry 5.

[@loganlowe2021]

I accidentally locked myself out of playing sora while riku didnt have the final boss available only the super hard secret boss. I dont know if theres a way to switch it and that was back on the 3ds so ive replayed it since

[@tehawsumninja]

I'm about 30 minutes in and so far, although I disagree with a lot of the takes, I do appreciate how in-depth you are. I'll be honest, DDD is still my favorite KH game. I personally just love what it does for Riku and I think it's a great concept that sets up a lot of Nomura's story telling flourishes that continue throughout the series, especially taking KH3 into consideration. The drop mechanic, although controversial to many, is one of my favorite parts because it plays into the idea of Riku and Sora finally becoming equals and supporting one another, literally taking turns and finishing up where the other left off. I like games that try and do something thematic with their mechanics that play into whatever theme, plot, symbolism they are going for, even if it's not always fun or it falls flat. Still, a very comprehensive look into the game for sure though and there are a few points I would even agree with. Very well made video even if ultimately I disagree. Great job explaining your outlook on the game.

[@ForrestFox626]

Can Nomura actually tell a simple story?

[@mrhuman5092]

​@@ForrestFox626 no

[@markm4952]

What is the name of the anime at 51:30? I couldn't hear it properly and it looks good, I want to try it out.

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

Vivy: Fluorite Eyes' Song, 9/10 would recommend

[@markm4952]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall oh I did hear it right then, hahahaha

[@Shadowy_Tigress]

15:12 I agree. As much as I don't like the Grid, it WAS Riku's best world visit.

[@AmaryxYT]

Anyone else feels like this game is the hardest in the franchise? Chain of memories was really hard but this game on critical is stupid hard for no reason with all the cheese that goes on with this game 😂

[@SteampunkGentleman]

Well your videos and KingKs has me in the mood to go back and play the old games, namely this one because i rather enjoyed DDD when it came out. I had been so hyped from from Days, BBS and Re:Coded so a fully 3d game with smooth graphics on a console i could carry around in my pocket was so hyped

[@blues4509]

31:25 "It's not the job of the player to have to fight to get a balanced game out of their Kingdom Hearts. It's an insult for Osaka Team to force them to do so." This was so cathartic to hear. I have been expressing this sentiment for a long time now when I criticize/complain about overly powerful mechanics in context to the difficulties a game presents. Not just when it comes to KH but with Pokemon and Modern Zelda as well. You have no idea how much I hear "Just don't use it", "You can ignore it" or "It's no big deal" in response to pointing out poor balancing. These are never good excuses and do not address the inherent issue, perfectly captured in a quote I'll leave below. "Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game." - Soren Johnson

[@saryakan]

Having played KH3 recently and DDD just before that, the series seriously NEEDS more inspiration from metroidvania like key-lock design. In the first game EACH world upon completion gives you a reason to backtrack to older worlds. Either by unlocking a new trinity color, or by having a new magic, which interacted with the environments or by giving you access to new chests via mobility abilities. While they "fixed" flowmotion in KH3, the leveldesign and the floatiness and air dashing from level 1 means that you never have to backtrack in KH3 as well.

[@zenronez1158]

I never thought a man would Actually go psychotic over a spirit. I love it. Great video, I watched your BBS video and waited for you to talk about the KH game I own on my 3ds. I like hearing your opinion on the game and shining light on parts of it I didn't consider. Mainly the level design and command system. Also finally I feel vindicated. These bosses suck! I gaslighted myself into thinking they were "fair". Also I disagree about your thoughts on the music calling it mid. The World That Never was theme is amazing. It's hypnotic, Erie, sad and it feels like you're going through the aftermath of the climax of KH 2, with all of the destroyed buildings and the green bluish aura around the city. While the only thing alive aside from the enemies are you.

[@zedorian6547]

24:30 i find the command deck system to be my absolute favorite in the series and its not even close regardless of the enemy design. I find it to be fun to play with and lets me make my own personal build of how i want Sora to be. Yes there are objectively better abilities but I'm not a slave to the meta.

[@aubreyskipper9642]

1:02:56 I have no idea why that's a talking point, releases of anything will always have expectations, the thing about KH is that people have their expectations waaay too fucking high for an extremely frivolous franchise of games. Also the Union X/Dark Master Saga literally started right after DDD, I would argue that prequels still add and continue a story, even when the 'present' of the story is at a halt. DMC > KH

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

@@aubreyskipper9642 it's a talking point because the expectation of console consistency, news of new releases, or that the series wouldn't devolve into mobile gatcha slop aren't waaay too fucking high, they're basic consumer expectations considering the market at the time.

[@aubreyskipper9642]

​@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall You're discussing the japanese equivalent of Disney here. Squeenix doesn't understand it's own properties due to being a business. If you care at all for KH story, cool, but you have to admit it is SO hard to recommend without sending a playlist of Everglow's KH timeline.

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

@@aubreyskipper9642 I honestly wouldn't recommend this series to anyone anymore

[@MrVIB113]

Idk if this is something worth mentioning for your upcoming 0.2 video (which I look forward to) but let's remember that when the 2.8 collection was being advertised one of the biggest deals for that collection was being an older KH title, DDD, that ran at 30fps on the 3DS, would be re-releasing not just in HD, but also in 60fps. This happened BEFORE the PS3 HD KH Collections would be re-released for the PS4 in HD at 60fps, because when they originally released on the PS3 they ran at 30FPS. If you also recall the PS4 Pro had also just been released at that time. When they bundled 0.2 in with DDD, they told players that unless you had a PS4 Pro. Not the standard PS4. 0.2, and eventually 3. Would only run at 30fps. Meaning a majority of PS4 owners at that time, like myself. Was experiencing the next generation KH entries at 30fps. So let's put this together. 2.8 hyped up that DDD would be playable in HD and ran at 60fps. But they bundled in a tech demo to give you a taste of the new generation entries at 30fps for PS4 owners. You were getting a better experience from the remastered OLDER title then the Tech Demo meant to showcase the new KH3, unless you owned a PS4 Pro. Let that sink in when talking about scummy business practices.

[@DragonSkies0211]

8:20 This is where I was somewhat grateful not knowing how flowmotion worked in my first DDD playthrough. The most I engaged with it were the poles in front of the church in Notré Dame, thinking it was a unique action and not a mechanic. This forced me to get at the game at a slower pace, actually being able to appreciate the world design, among other details you mentioned here. I’m also grateful for not knowing how Balloons worked, as both it and flowmotion would have ruined any sense of challenge I expect on a first time casual play through. Instantly made the game more fun to take these aspects away.

[@haleyxx5030]

I HATE HATE HATE the drop mechanic lmao i have not played this game in so long because I don't have enough time to beat that stupid bird boss in Yen Sid's book area. Now that I know your hack, I'll revisit the game! Thank you!

[@onmas909]

I am here to tell you... once you get past the bird you will be wishing that he was the hardest thing you've faced

[@BlueKunai]

I'm of mixed mind on the level design in DDD. While the level design is definitely a lot more varied and fun to explore than any of the previous handheld titles, many of the areas are a little TOO spacious to accommodate the Flowmotion. It especially feels that way in Traverse Town and Monstro where you see returning locations mixed in with new ones that are the most jarring a transition. Though my secondary issue is how Flowmotion desperately needed growth mechanics like movement abilities in KH1 and 2. In DDD it's stupid overpowered from the start while in KH3 it felt a bit too nerfed to the point I wondered why they even bothered bringing it back.

[@fridaylambda3494]

For me, DDD's level design is basically empty sandboxes that serve little to no purpose. The problem with making exploration a focus of your level design is that it needs to have substance to back up said exploration. DDD's exploration though even using the required parts of the world is more tedious than purposeful. More for show than substance. The zones feel like large empty fields similar to KH2's pride lands but with equally as much content. I like playing the game and it is fun for the most part, but I think the idea of making huge worlds was a terrible one as it doesn't make exploration any different than KH2's level design. I'd rather have substance than size which is an issue that Kingdom hearts has long suffered from.

[@pathfinder9401]

​@@fridaylambda3494yeah Breath of the wild can relate to that lack of substance issue 😂

[@fridaylambda3494]

I think for Breath of the Wild the substance issue is more so that they focused too much on mini-dungeons and enemies vs. a variety of tasks. Most of the side quests are surrounded by that concept and it tends to make the game more repetitive than innovative. It's not a bad design choice in theory, but I think too many times developers focus on the scope of the project. As a result, they ended up limiting themselves on what they could do vs. what was possible. It was the same even to Tears of the Kingdom which suffers from a similar issue. Still does at least a semi better job than DDD which is just huge rooms of enemies which is the same as small rooms in KH2 which is why it falls apart as it looks better but is pretty much the same.

[@christopherhogeland3682]

I thought the Riku perspective was done on purpose. He’s in soras dream since the beginning and the focus is on sora. That’s why Riku gets way more organization encounters, he’s more or less behind the scenes

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

@@christopherhogeland3682 they get more or less the same amount of organization encounters, actually, which is to say, one or two per: riku has ansemnin Notre Dame, Sora has xemnas in the grid, Sora has young Xehanort in symphony of sorcery, etc

[@pikachufrankie]

I take back what I said about Birth By Sleep being the worst. This game easily takes the crown as the worst (non mobile) Kingdom Hearts game. An even more nonsensical and bad story than BBS, flowmotion obliterating world design and progression, and overall just not being as fun to play as BBS. It’s like the devs learned nothing from BBS when they made this game. Birth By Sleep had some awful bosses and enemies, but they were so easily cheesable that you never had to engage with them more than once in your lifetime. Dream Drop has even WORSE bosses than BBS, and without the ability to shred them within seconds using Shotlocks. Bosses and enemies still don’t stagger properly, and they still randomly break out of your combos. There is a single fun boss in DDD, and that’s Xemnas. BBS had at least 2 fun bosses, so that’s a step down. Not to mention, Young Xehanort is one of, if not the worst final bosses in the series. How to get abilities: BBS: arbitrary melding system that nobody would know without a guide DDD: arbitrary dream water level up system that nobody would know without a guide + you have to play bad minigames to level them up Osaka team dropped the ball so hard with DDD it’s not even funny. Awful game with almost no redeeming qualities, aside from the music and flowmotion being fun in certain areas.

[@kimberlyfrye8116]

I love this game

[@ForrestFox626]

​@@kimberlyfrye8116I like the game play

[@PixelHeroViish]

I'll mention this right away and might edit later, but when it comes to making Dream Eaters, there's a weird glitch in the HD Remaster where you can "save" a selected Dream Eater recipe by pressing R1 or L1, this lets you create the most powerful ones with the earliest recipe, so long as both recipes are onscreen at the same time. This also means that you can't do any Special Portals or collect large chests AT ALL just to do that right. In other words you need to start over from scratch and keep that in mind constantly, so y'know, how likely is THAT? 💀 Ohhhh let me TELL YOU the buffs get even worse when you consider that not only do they depend on the disposition mechanic you can't control, ontop of them actually BEING CAST also being something you can't control: You can obtain Vanish as a command in this game too, I believe, meaning they could've turned Haste, Spirit Roar, Protect and whatnot into Commands and innovate the Command Deck system in a genuine way as well as removing RNG from something as basic as buffs, but instead we got a "May I be buffed pls?" "Hahaha......NO" situation that means you either blitz a Boss with a Spirit Roar Firaga Burst or wait a random amount of time to really get going, for as amazing as Spirit Roar is, that kind of stuff is unacceptable

[@AudreyGalaxy]

ok but ddd introduced necho cat so i forgive it

[@AudreyGalaxy]

AND FROOTZ CAT HOW COULD I FORGET

[@A-Spoto]

It's funny, because I really enjoyed 0.2 despite the lack of story. But that was almost certainly shiny new graphics bias since I'd never played any game in the series with graphics better than PS2 at that point.

[@cloudshines812]

Never expected you to return to this franchise after the BBS vid but once again you gave a very joyful and great analysis. Can’t wait until you anhiliate KH3 (the worst one imo) to shreds

[@zedorian6547]

Going based off the title alone I will disagree. I loved DDD to the point that it is probably my third favorite game in the series tied with BBS. Sure there are things that arent great but none of the games are perfect…except for maybe KH2

[@isiahduran2041]

Bro don't you dare bash this game, it is glorious 😢

[@GrandAngel8000]

And very stupid. Coming from a diehard KH fanboy.*

[@Wigmeister]

Been having a shit week at work and this vid dropping turned it around just a lil bit so, thank you sir and I await more KH and any other essays 😁

[@PopstarDracula]

This is easily the worst game in the series. Its not even close. The story is worse than even something like Re; Coded which was merely pointless because its actively stupid instead, the mechanics are just plainly broken (it was very easy to ACCIDENTALLY 1 shot groups of enemies with flowmotion), the balance between Sora (invincible super modes with gigantic variety) and Riku (non-invincible super modes with no variety) was just sad, the pets were so bad you had to actively not play the game for them to contribute anything all on top of copying BBS by having enemies just randomly ignore hitstun when they want and letting you just spam intentionally overpowered spells to instantly win every fight Command deck is such a terrible goddamn system, but they keep using it

[@Loner098]

Why do you think it is worse than KH3?

[@jordirapper]

I don't like the dream eaters locking skills behind their boards. You either experiment or use a guide and grind grind grind. To put in perspective, you CANNOT guard unless you have a spirit with guard...

[@MemeinAndDreamin]

It's a shame how many people dislike DDD. I really do believe most people just don't understand it. I think it's absolutely one of the strongest in the series and has a lot going on narratively with some fantastic character development and underlying themes. A really fantastic world selection, too.

[@kimberlyfrye8116]

Fax

[@Celebi50]

A lot going on and good things going on are 2 different things

[@Carlisle-mn3fv]

Cringe.

[@ForrestFox626]

And it does it be retconning the hell out of this story

[@elolawynladriel]

I think the traverse town exclusive features that allow them to see each other might be just taken from The World Ends With You or might be related to Yoshua's presence. That or they suck at writing.

[@coatguy2990]

I’d watch a 2-3 hour video from you about kingdom hearts 3. kH3 ain’t a bad game. It’s just not a good kingdom hearts. Neither story wise, nor gameplay wise

[@SimplyJakeee]

I love all your KH videos. Keep up the great work!

[@HansAlRachid]

By the time I finished with BBS, I was already not exactly feeling the direction the series was heading in anymore, but then I played this utter debacle. Saccharine, pointless babbling for hours and hours, interspersed with aggressively unenjoyable, remarkably repetitive combat. There have only ever been two games that annoyed me quite as much as this one - RE6 and, fittingly enough, KH3.

[@HeyShotgun]

I’m sorry you don’t like Pokémon

[@SteveCrafts2k]

Just to clear things up, there is no "Dream realm". ' Each world takes place in the Realm of Light, Sora and Riku are physically travelling to each world, each world is split in half to accommodate them (Sora gets one half, Riku gets the other, which is connected to Sora's, since he's his Dream Eater), and each world has phantoms of past events. Also, Tron doesn't remember Sora. He sacrificed himself for him because his purpose is to protect the user, which Sora is.

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

From the KH wiki DDD story recap: "Sora later returns to Traverse Town in the Realm of Sleep, where he finds himself alone, but is immediately reunited with all of his Dream Eater Spirit friends"

[@SteveCrafts2k]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall In Japan, "realms" are referred to as "Sekai" or "world". Realm of Darkness would be "Yami no Sekai (Dark World)". Realm of Sleep would be "Yumemiru Sekai (Dreaming Worlds)." Localization's weird.

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

@SteveCrafts2k was i playing the Japanese version?

[@SteveCrafts2k]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall No, but localization would muddy the waters a little.

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

@SteveCrafts2k No 'buts'. I am relying on the information given to me by the game that I played. In it, there is a dream realm (ignoring that every source I found confirmed this anyway). If the translation is incorrect, then that's still a flaw with the game, and all criticism laid against it is still valid. Trying to correct lore for the sake of correcting lore doesn't further any kind of meaningful discussion of the series, proven resoundingly by almost 500 comment circle-jerk lore discussion you started on my BBS video that went nowhere and didn't resolve anything. Let's avoid the same thing happening here, and instead focus our efforts on discussing the game as it is presented to us, rather than being petty and trying to correct translation, lore, or wording.

[@soulsolis3096]

It makes me sad to remember this was my very first time playing a KH game as the Nintendo Fanboy I was...

[@MrProg-ey3tl]

Ah, my least favorite game in the series. Yes, I hate it even more than bbs, though that may be because I have spent more time with DDD than BBS when growing up. I had a 3DS well before owning a PSP or the releases of the HD remaster collections. I hate almost everything about this game. The large worlds are just tedious to navigate, the way you gain abilities is annoyingly linked to Dream Eaters, Dream Eaters are just soulless abominations, physical combos are the worst they've ever been in the series (they do no damage and they are painfully slow and laggy) the story ruined Kingdom Hearts lore, on top of being a bad narrative anyway. There is just so much to hate. I could probably go on and on.

[@onthedre]

I hate when people complain about the drop mechanic because it was literally never an issue for me. Drop me nots are Uber common even during the early game. I got so Far in Sora's story that I was 2 worlds behind as Riku at one point.

[@CQCorruptionQuest]

42:18 I got an ad that said you buy or build a custom PC. And I thought it was a joke you implemented

[@keenanjackson2668]

I didn't find flowmation that much as a problem considering that u can take it off

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

1: The game expects you to use slow motion. 2: anecdotes don'ts mean much of anything to the arguments made in the video. 3: thank you for watching and taking the time to comment, I appreciate it

[@Thechaosmaster1997]

Ironically, this was only the third Kingdom Hearts game I played, and I really enjoyed it. Everything about it was fun. Honestly, I might want to play that before I play the other games, simply because I like the chaos, hence, my name, but, I want to see if the HD version is as fun as I remember the 3D version. Or,if it's bad now that I am older.

[@lauraroberts3520]

Thank you! I’m glad someone else agrees that Xehanort is a terrible villain! It makes me wish he would’nt come back anymore. I’m sick of him!

[@TheUnseenPath]

I mean Kingdom of Corona was alright, but you spend 99% of the level in that damn forest and almost nothing in the Kingdom.

[@blujguitar6520]

The disposition of a dream eater doesn't only affect AI. It actually does what you said by unlocking specific hidden ability paths.

[@victormorales5813]

Like your other negative Kingdoms Hearts reviews I don't really understand your complaints. I just finished the game and really enjoyed it. Could it simply be you are not someone who enjoys the franchise? That is the vibe I get from your videos. The only part I found somewhat annoying was petting the companion Dream Eaters. (aka Spirits) I don't enjoy pets IRL either so I definitely don't want to take care of digital animals. That however wasn't enough to seriously detract from my overall enjoyment.

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

I literally explain my complaints and provide visual examples of them. You can enjoy it all the same, but it sounds like you just don't understand that other people have different perspectives and want different things from their media than you do.

[@victormorales5813]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall Understanding that people have different opinions and understanding why you have a subjective feeling are two different things. I find your reasons lacking. It just seems to me that if you dislike it then you shouldn't be playing the series. Save yourself the headache. All I did was respectfully disagree. No need to get your undies in a bunch. P.S. You should edit out your spelling errors if you are going to highlight your reply to my comment. 😉

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

@@victormorales5813 When you spend a month or more on a piece designed to explain how you feel about something, and then someone says that 'you just shouldn't play it' it naturally annoys people. Your argument doesn't solve anything or help anyone in regards to the video.

[@victormorales5813]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall When you, the non proverbial you, spend a month or more to make a video shitting on something hundreds of thousands of people love you have to expect some push back. Your video adds nothing to the zeitgeist. It is just complaining for clickbait. Also, I thought content creators wanted people to comment on their videos. You know, people expressing their feelings about the video. Aka a comment section. If respectful disagreement melts you like a snowflake you should probably disable comments or better yet not make videos.

[@victormorales5813]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall You deleted my reply. What a coward. You complain I said negative things about your video when your entire video is you shitting on the work of the game designers. So you are not only a coward but also a hypocrite. I assume you will delete this as well but you and I will both know the kind of person you really are. Even if you present yourself in a different light through censoring me. Goodbye Mr. Snowflake. 🤪

[@TheUnseenPath]

BBS does affect the lore via retcons. We were led to believe that there was only THE keyblade, not A keyblade. Implying more than one. there was mystery to it and to find out there's a whole society of them cheapens the weapons as a whole. CoM was crap I hate card based systems.

[@brotbrotsen1100]

That wasn't even the case in KH 1, much less in 2. In 1 we saw that mickey has a keyblade and Riku was the original user of the kingdom key and later got the keyblade of heart's, Triton also mentioned keyblade wielders and wasn't fond of them. In 2 we saw that riku has now his own one and Kairi gets another one, additionally xigbar mentions keyblade wielders before riku and sora. So by the end of 2 we had 4 active keyblade users Sora, Riku, Kairi and Mikey. From the very beginning we didn't had just THE keyblade.

[@brotbrotsen1100]

Would be also worth to mention that we saw the lingering will in KH2 who also uses a keyblade and the secret end showed us the keyblade graveyard which hints towards the possibility that there were many keyblade users in the past. That was years before BBS

[@zaqareemalcolm]

Thats a fumble of english localization. The main precedent for that was Sora given the moniker of Keyblade Master in KH1, but in actuality the title was more along the lines of a hero who used a keyblade (kibureido yuusha), rather than a or "the" Keyblade Master (kibureido masuta, which only starts appearing in later entries), there was no implication of him or the weapon being the only one. It was inconsequential at that point of the story because the only other precedent at the time for another Keyblade was Ansem assembling the hearts of the princesses into one (a special case), and Mickey's Key from the Dark realm (treated as a dualistic counterpart)

[@ng6635]

Imagine dream drop distance was as smooth and fluid and re:coded

[@JabamiLain]

I like it. Except for the part Riku doesn't suffer as much as he should, but I like it. Well, that, and except for the Nobodies retcon. Even Sora's attitude here is understandable. After the whole Roxas ordeal, he doesn't feel he has the right to judge, especially when he doesn't want more enemies than the ones he already has, which are pretty terrifying already.

[@3dsfan2002]

This is a bad game, really, this look great as a 3ds game

[@Tshombee]

Only thing i disagree with is the magic balloon series is op

[@mimikingdom2518]

When is KH3 vid coming out???????

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

@@mimikingdom2518 when my computer gets fixed

[@orlandofurioso7329]

This game was the last drop for me, no pun intended. 358 days and bbs, while having questionable gameplay had a coherent story with the saga. Kh2 had a perfect ending and re coded was unironically a great sendoff, a great tribute to the story of the full saga with a great ending for Namine. After DDD everything broke so much with time travel and parallel timelines, i played kh3 but now i have no more interest in the series.

[@TeamTowers1]

TBH I always found the criticisms of KH3 from KH2 fans to be pretty hypocritical. Everything bad that can be said about KH3's story is present in KH2 and if anything actually worse in 2. Also the time travel stuff is really stupid I agree there, but there are no parallel timelines in KH, so I don't know were you got that from.

[@TheUnseenPath]

Why shouldn't it be hard? It should. It's a game. KH1 was pretty hard after you got to a certain point and you needed to grind in order to stand a chance. This game, as you said, is only hard because of bullshit. Yeah, that's dumb, but it should be hard the KH games have a problem of being too easy. Yeah, but you could still spam reflect repeatedly for damage so it is still broken.

[@ForrestFox626]

Hardness of a game is relative

[@thedancingsousa]

The reason characters you know in DDD, like Jiminy, dont recognize you is because they arent real. The dream worlds you visit arent the worlds that are in darkness themselves, theyre dreams that the sleeping sorld's heart is having. The world you meet jiminy in isnt actually the world, but the dream of the heart of the world jiminy came from. Also the grid isnt space paranoids, but rather the original system it was based on. If you remember, Ansem basically hijacked the ROM and hacked it for his own server in Radiant Garden. The tron there isnt our tron, but because hearts are weird this tron who is from a dream version of the world that originally housed the system is linked to the tron we met in KH2, similar to how the real twilight kids remembered roxas because of the data copies of themselves

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

Right, obviously... because that's explained clearly and concisely in the game itself...also there's like twenty people who commented before you that disagree with you, because the lore isn't set in stone or explained well and is just dogwater anyway

[@kimberlyfrye8116]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFallI mean it's kingdom hearts what did you expect

[@ForrestFox626]

​@@kimberlyfrye8116Nomura should stick to character design

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

Riku used Dream Eater… it wasn’t very effective.

[@TheUnseenPath]

So Osaka team sucks at their job because they keep dropping the ball and creating more mistakes in these games that feel like they were not fully tested or the team didn't care. God I miss the og team. The AI looks like it sucks like they don't do anything they stand there and attack occasionally from what it looks like. Also, of course Xehanort's plan never changed, why would it? He never lost in BBS as everything went according to plan so there isn't anything to change. Kh1 gets away with it because of the mystery of the game. We had no idea who was behind it all so the revelation was a mindfuck.

[@margock3213]

can await your opion on kh3 and since ff7 remake i hate sqareenix

[@davidtimmer596]

What about the Prince of Persia trilogy?

[@manmojo9531]

21:29 man said: best ability in the game "circle raid " balloonra: I'm I a joke to you

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

@@manmojo9531 it's a joke from the streams lol

[@manmojo9531]

@@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall ow ok I got you 😂😂😂

[@tylercafe1260]

Something that got me a little confused about DDD was the Sleeping Worlds. When I saw Tron and Mickey I was confused if it was even a Dream anymore. But as long as you remember this is The Realm of Sleep and know the people we see are figments of that World you'll be fine. That's Dream Tron not real Tron. That's how we have Mickey being a Musketeer as replacement of his Keyblade training and Pete as the Evil King. It's all just a Dream but it's still connected to the Real World. Which in turn means "Dreams are Real". I hope I just saved someone a huge headache. It's also why Mickey shows up twice and still unaware who they are and doing a completely different story each time. The Worlds are simply Dreaming. Those Nightmares cannot exist in the Real World so it's safe to assume none of those stories even happened since a large part of them revolve around Nightmares and the Bosses. The only one we're actually left to think happened was Pinocchio's World Story. I kind of assumed at first it was all because of "Time Travel" but it's because of combining Time Travel and Dreams Xehanort could do his plan. I wasn't quite grasping that concept for a while because I kept ignoring "It's all a Dream".

[@zaqareemalcolm]

That's actually not correct regarding Tron. Unlike the other sleeping worlds, The Grid isn't in a dream state stuck looping events because it's a computer and data can't dream. Becoming a Sleeping World just isolated it and allowed Dream Eaters into it, but the events happening on Sora's side were real and with real people, not figments of a Sleeping World. The reason why Tron is there is because The Grid is the current state of the computer that Ansem/DiZ had copied to his own system in Radiant Garden; the "Tron" we meet in KH2 is a copy of the original which we meet in KHDDD

[@tylercafe1260]

​@@zaqareemalcolmNo that's Young Xehanort messing with your mind. No idea what anything you said even means. "Looping State"? You're just making up stuff

[@CaptainOfTheLeviathan]

Lowkey, I keep forgetting DDD exists but somehow I never forget things nobody talks about like CoM on the GBA and Union X on mobile ^~^

[@SunWarrior155]

All you have to do to survive in the Grid is use Guard (and Counter Rush/Counter Aura)...

[@AA-sw5pb]

Dumbest in the series? I think you forgot the mobile games existed

[@Felixman128]

Me watching an hour long video on a game franchise where I have no idea wtf is actually going on 🔥 (Honestly the whole complaint about KH having a confusing story is on the people who don't take the time to actually consume it, not the games)

[@Flufferpup]

I believe the x-blade in BBS was an incomplete version of it, hence why it broke very soon after it was created. How xehanort found out that he needed 7 lights and 13 darknesses to clash, who the hell knows, nomura just likes the numbers 7 and 13 so that's what he wrote it as.

[@cillbipher2613]

Pretty much exactly this. In BBS, the Ven/Van x-blade was incomplete not just because it wasn't the 7/13 method but also cuz their fusion was also incomplete, and in DDD Master Nort said the Ven/Van attempt was just that. A shortcut attempt to make the thing as he was eager to get it done. It was a failure because one of the components rejecting the fusion was enough to destabilize the whole thing and make it so on the outside one person was able to break it.

[@Guyfrom2001]

I really struggled with combat and movement in KH3, however that doesn’t make it bad. The movement in KH3 and This game look fun, but unfitting for Kingdom Hearts gameplay. If anything I think making certain traveling abilities like jumps and dashes part of magic would have been better, that way they couldn’t get spammed too much. That’s just a random idea though, that kinda stuff needs a lotta testing.

[@Slater2113]

Well I liked it

[@soraryukasuke1836]

The only person to ever complain about it being too easy to get around a kh game. I dds is the only game the worst part of isn’t going from point A to B in. And yes I still got the full scope of the level design and such.

[@X_Gon_Give_It_To_Ya]

I dropped this game because of the Drop system. It pissed me off.

[@FrancisL4D]

The series ended at kh2 for me.

[@jackmortu3802]

To be clear, I think ddd is a bad game, but there is just one thing that I love and that you didn't understand. The grid isn't space paranoid. It's the world from which ansem stole the data to create space paranoid. He copied a part of the code of the grid including tron code. In Tron heritage, it is supposed that tron is a proto-ISO (the sentient AI). So there is two interpretation to why he try to grab Sora's hand : 1 : Rinzler/tron in this world DOESN'T know sora. He can't. But, with the power of the keyblade, Sora open Tron programming, destroying the Rinzler (a rewriting of his personality). As we know in Space paranoid, Tron is a kind, well-mannered and intelligent program. Free of his shackles, he tried to get help from his fall, too little too late. 2) same as 1, but in kh, if two person have the same heart (memory), they are kinda link together. So if space paranoid's tron know and likes Sora, the grid's tron will at least have a good feeling for him. Great video nonetheless!

[@orlof507]

Why would chain of memories be disliked? It had a pretty compelling plot when it didn't yet turned into a complete shitshow after the ds and psp games. It was my first kh game also

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

go down in the comments and you'll see plenty of people that dislike it lol

[@elolawynladriel]

DROP time!

[@Ironicicle1990]

Was Kingdom Hearts III worth the wait in the end? Debatably-

[@WhereIStandIsWhereIFall]

perma banned lol

[@XehanortX2]

Little preachy but yes i agree with most of this video. I think Nomura was getting tired of rhe Xehanort saga and just wanted to get it over with. KH3D is def my least favorite in the series gameplay wise and story wise. They really didnt give a fuck with this one lol

[@Shnzmnky41]

Ok… didn’t mention Coded or Re:Coded in the summation of all these… I would rate 358/2 over Coded. But again you didn’t mention it in the preamble. Sooo…

[@slavicgaming]

I absolutely love all of the kh games except this one. The dream eaters, flow motion, level design, story, soras stupidity, drop gauge... make me despise this game

[@JuhMall01]

15:38 Brutal list lol

[@IanInAction]

This is my third fav game in the franchise after bbs and kh2