Just as the title says. Nobody can deny that KH3 has its ups and downs, so let’s list some of the ones in the Disney worlds. I’ll start:
Olympus
Pros:
>We fight all four Titans (albeit as one first and three second)
>No tired formula of Hades using a FF character.
>Cloud and Auron made a nice cameo
>We get to explore Mt. Olympus itself
>Air Soldiers are brilliantly designed to look Greek
Cons:
>No actual obstacle courses (Phil doesn’t even speak)
>No FF characters at all
>Zues’s appearance was wasted
>No Coliseum-esque…anything
Toy Box
Pros:
>Creative concept
>Creative enemies
>Side characters like Slinky are mentioned
>No stupid gimmick where you pretend to be a toy when people walk by (let’s be honest, it’d just be an annoying excuse to extend the playtime)
>Nice FFXV self-parody
>Neat callback to Toy Story Before Time
Cons:
>Nightmares would thematically make better enemies
>No fight against a possessed Zurg doll
>Yozora is unironically gonna be used in the story
>No mission where we break Buzz free from Young Xehanort’s control
>Jessie and Bullseye don’t even appear, for…some reason?
Kingdom of Corona
Pros:
>Rapunzel and Flynn’s abilities are used creatively
>The little pit stops along the way are adorable
>We……sorta fight Mother Gothel through Grim Guardianess?
>The music changes when we enter the Marsh
>The dance minigame faithfully recreates the part where Maximus boots Flynn into the dance
>Powerwilds are creatively used in the Chaos Carriage miniboss
Cons:
>We don’t get to ride Maximus nor reside Flynn
>We never find out what Gothel’s eyes turning mahogany has to do with keeping Rapunzel
>And spearing of which, Gothel’s longevity thanks to the flower that helped Rapunzel grow her hair isn’t even mentioned, nor the flower itself (would’ve made for a cool Nobody boss, and it could even have a lesser Heartless helping her)
-Honorable mention to Rapunzel no longer being a party member when we finish the world. It sucks, but it’s at least true to the movie.
Arendelle
Pros:
>Elsa isn’t forced to be a party member for no reason, with Marshmallow taking her place after we fight him
>Larxene is brilliantly used as a parallel to how she treated Naminé
>The ice labyrinth is a nice consolation for not being able to explore Arendelle
>Picking Olaf back up is fun when you know where to go
Cons:
>We climb up a mountain three times, needless to say
>Hans doesn’t appear until the last 20 minutes, and we dint even fight him
>Unversed would thematically make better enemies
>Elsa is a PoH alongside even though she harbors as much darkness in her heart as light (thanks, Disney.)
>Also the last time we visit a PoH’s world
Monstropolis
Pros:
>Unversed are the enemies, and the ones who appear fit perfectly
>Put That Thing Back Where it Came From or So Help Me is changed for context’s sake so it isn’t brazenly shoehorned
>Randall is a major antagonist
>Scream Strike has the gang making funny faces during the parts where you fill up Boo’s laughter gauge
>Sora does the funny face he does in KH1
Cons:
>No fight against Randall or Vanitaseven though I liked the scene with the Yeetus Vanitas
>Only three types of non-Flood Unversed in this world (two of which are the same species, just with different colors, sizes and effects)
>Sully doesn’t even attack in the two parts where he protects Boo
The Caribbean
Pros:
>Best looking world in the series
>Jared Butler’s Jack Sparrow sounds more like Johnny Depp and less like James Arnold Taylor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi
>Sora remembers his encounter with Barbossa
>Davy Jones is a boss
>Beckett and Tia Dalma appear
>Rightfully to skip over Dead Man’s Chest
>The Kraken is resurrected by Luxord as a Nobody
>The sea and islands can be freely explored any time
Cons:
>The ship combat is more tedious than it needs to be
>Dalma’s importance is just about rendered moot when she turns into crabs
>No “He’s a Pirate” anywhere
San Fransokyo
Pros:
>Baymax says “oh no” when attakced
>The beginning is battle after battle in true crime-fighting fashion
>The Bug Blox appear as enemies
>Big Hero 6 take notes from Sora’s abilities and weave into their own
Cons:
>The Metal Troll is literally just a modernized Rock Troll (his journal entry literally describes him as a hangry Rock Troll)
>Unversed would thematically make better enemies
>Aqua-not-a-Nort would thematically make a better antagonist (Dark Riku could be on the side if necessary)
>Big Hero 6 aren’t party members
>Bug Blox aren’t even acknowledged as Donald and Goofy’s past enemies even though Goofy himself mentioned the Datascape
>Snipers? Really? No Reapers or Ninja
>No TWEWY cameo of any kind
100 Acre Wood
Pros:
>It’s nice to see Lumpy in a KH game
Cons:
>You play the same minigame three times
>Lumpy just says repeats what Roo says
>The total playtime is 20 minutes
>All that…just because Pooh forgot all about you
Olympus
Pros:
>We fight all four Titans (albeit as one first and three second)
>No tired formula of Hades using a FF character.
>Cloud and Auron made a nice cameo
>We get to explore Mt. Olympus itself
>Air Soldiers are brilliantly designed to look Greek
Cons:
>No actual obstacle courses (Phil doesn’t even speak)
>No FF characters at all
>Zues’s appearance was wasted
>No Coliseum-esque…anything
Toy Box
Pros:
>Creative concept
>Creative enemies
>Side characters like Slinky are mentioned
>No stupid gimmick where you pretend to be a toy when people walk by (let’s be honest, it’d just be an annoying excuse to extend the playtime)
>Nice FFXV self-parody
>Neat callback to Toy Story Before Time
Cons:
>Nightmares would thematically make better enemies
>No fight against a possessed Zurg doll
>Yozora is unironically gonna be used in the story
>No mission where we break Buzz free from Young Xehanort’s control
>Jessie and Bullseye don’t even appear, for…some reason?
Kingdom of Corona
Pros:
>Rapunzel and Flynn’s abilities are used creatively
>The little pit stops along the way are adorable
>We……sorta fight Mother Gothel through Grim Guardianess?
>The music changes when we enter the Marsh
>The dance minigame faithfully recreates the part where Maximus boots Flynn into the dance
>Powerwilds are creatively used in the Chaos Carriage miniboss
Cons:
>We don’t get to ride Maximus nor reside Flynn
>We never find out what Gothel’s eyes turning mahogany has to do with keeping Rapunzel
>And spearing of which, Gothel’s longevity thanks to the flower that helped Rapunzel grow her hair isn’t even mentioned, nor the flower itself (would’ve made for a cool Nobody boss, and it could even have a lesser Heartless helping her)
-Honorable mention to Rapunzel no longer being a party member when we finish the world. It sucks, but it’s at least true to the movie.
Arendelle
Pros:
>Elsa isn’t forced to be a party member for no reason, with Marshmallow taking her place after we fight him
>Larxene is brilliantly used as a parallel to how she treated Naminé
>The ice labyrinth is a nice consolation for not being able to explore Arendelle
>Picking Olaf back up is fun when you know where to go
Cons:
>We climb up a mountain three times, needless to say
>Hans doesn’t appear until the last 20 minutes, and we dint even fight him
>Unversed would thematically make better enemies
>Elsa is a PoH alongside even though she harbors as much darkness in her heart as light (thanks, Disney.)
>Also the last time we visit a PoH’s world
Monstropolis
Pros:
>Unversed are the enemies, and the ones who appear fit perfectly
>Put That Thing Back Where it Came From or So Help Me is changed for context’s sake so it isn’t brazenly shoehorned
>Randall is a major antagonist
>Scream Strike has the gang making funny faces during the parts where you fill up Boo’s laughter gauge
>Sora does the funny face he does in KH1
Cons:
>No fight against Randall or Vanitas
>Only three types of non-Flood Unversed in this world (two of which are the same species, just with different colors, sizes and effects)
>Sully doesn’t even attack in the two parts where he protects Boo
The Caribbean
Pros:
>Best looking world in the series
>Jared Butler’s Jack Sparrow sounds more like Johnny Depp and less like James Arnold Taylor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi
>Sora remembers his encounter with Barbossa
>Davy Jones is a boss
>Beckett and Tia Dalma appear
>Rightfully to skip over Dead Man’s Chest
>The Kraken is resurrected by Luxord as a Nobody
>The sea and islands can be freely explored any time
Cons:
>The ship combat is more tedious than it needs to be
>Dalma’s importance is just about rendered moot when she turns into crabs
>No “He’s a Pirate” anywhere
San Fransokyo
Pros:
>Baymax says “oh no” when attakced
>The beginning is battle after battle in true crime-fighting fashion
>The Bug Blox appear as enemies
>Big Hero 6 take notes from Sora’s abilities and weave into their own
Cons:
>The Metal Troll is literally just a modernized Rock Troll (his journal entry literally describes him as a hangry Rock Troll)
>Unversed would thematically make better enemies
>Aqua-not-a-Nort would thematically make a better antagonist (Dark Riku could be on the side if necessary)
>Big Hero 6 aren’t party members
>Bug Blox aren’t even acknowledged as Donald and Goofy’s past enemies even though Goofy himself mentioned the Datascape
>Snipers? Really? No Reapers or Ninja
>No TWEWY cameo of any kind
100 Acre Wood
Pros:
>It’s nice to see Lumpy in a KH game
Cons:
>You play the same minigame three times
>Lumpy just says repeats what Roo says
>The total playtime is 20 minutes
>All that…just because Pooh forgot all about you