Why is KH3 already getting so much hate?

[Buttercup Camera 229]

The hype surrounding Kingdom Hearts 3 has been pretty big ever since it was announced all the way back in 2013. Now that the game is out, people seemed rather pleased with the game and all the reviews seemed pretty shiny.

 

A few weeks in after the game came out and many known websites and big channels on YouTube have started to share their thoughts, and it seems like people, in general, are jumping on the hate bandwagon and trashing Kingdom Hearts 3. The hate just seems to be against the series as a whole for being a storytelling mess while others claim that they have been waiting over a decade for this game and it failed to live up to the expectations.

 

It's rather sad to see the final entry of this arc being dragged into the mud like this.

Edited February 10, 2019 by Buttercup Camera
Typo.

[light1150 0]

Two things 1) it has a 8.1 user rating on metacritic (higher than RDR2) which suggests that more than likely, most people either like of love the game 2) if a person has a complaints bout the game, it is for good reason.

Edited February 10, 2019 by light1150

[ocean's rage 772]

no matter how popular something is there always gonna be people who hate even for no apparent reason its a shame but its their loss

Edited February 10, 2019 by ocean's rage

[Movies798 1,358]

Pretty much some KH fans had high expectations of KH3 before it even came out. Some pretty much hype themselves up and then once they play the game some fans feel disappointed because the game didn't succeed their expectations. They are other people who feel real disappointed about KH3 because they only play KH1 & KH2 and completely ignore the other important games. They think the non-number titles were not important and they're mad because they really think KH3's story is hot mess because it has a bunch of story arcs they never heard of from the previous games. And they are some people have some issues with KH3. I for one have my own issues with KH3 but I definitely love KH3. Yeah KH3 did live up my expectations but at the same time it didn't live up my expectations. But that's fine because all great games have flaws, KH3 is definitely a flaw game and I wish the third act was better paced. But overall I love KH3 very much and I still love this series. And I'm still wiling to buy more Kingdom Hearts games and see what's the next saga!

Edited February 10, 2019 by Movies798

[Xalpacs 0]

Well the reason KH3 ist hated by some people is because nowadays hating is easier than just enjoying a game. Okay the story of KH3 has some issues but it is still a GAME not a MOVIE. So just enjoy and let the haters hate. 

[VisitJoan 2,713]

Because some people have nothing better to do than hate.  The fact is, the game is not gonna please everyone, and some people just hate on things that don’t live up to their expectations.

[Potato head harvey 70]

I don't think it's fair to call it a bandwagon. The game is filled to the brim with flaws. In my opinion, this is one of the worse kh games with kh1 and 2 beating it in most regards.

[Aile 273]

I really don't know what people expected from this game? When I read some people were ready to leave the franchise before the game came out I was expecting a garbage game with a garbage ending but I did not experience this myself. Sure, the game had some flaws. All the KH games have flaws, but people suddenly act like 3 is the only one for some reason. But overal I enjoyed the game a lot.  
If people don't like it, welp, that is their opinion. But don't shame others for liking it.

[Zimomo 143]

Because the game is flawed, both in gameplay and story. Now, those who call it a "bad game", I don't know what they played. But it's undeniable that KH3 could have been handled in a better way. I think it's still the second best KH game, right after KH2FM, but...

if you see no problems in how they brought back Xion or, to a lesser extent, in how Kairi was treated (I still think that people are overreacting about her, I don't know what they expected her to do)...

I don't know what to say. I loved the game, really, and I can ignore its story flaws all I want but... they're there. 

[KH4Real 749]

They are hating cause of the lack of the story I have platinumed the game and I really loved it.
I think Square will need to release new game plus and critical mode quick.

[corpiman 26]

55 minutes ago, Zimomo said:

Because the game is flawed, both in gameplay and story. Now, those who call it a "bad game", I don't know what they played. But it's undeniable that KH3 could have been handled in a better way. I think it's still the second best KH game, right after KH2FM, but...

  Hide contents

if you see no problems in how they brought back Xion or, to a lesser extent, in how Kairi was treated (I still think that people are overreacting about her, I don't know what they expected her to do)...

I don't know what to say. I loved the game, really, and I can ignore its story flaws all I want but... they're there. 

Spoiler

 

What do you mean about that? Kairi I sorta understand, but she was never built up to be a fighter, her main point is that the is the one who motivates Sora to keep going ever since KH1 which is what she does in this game, she is literally the reason he manages to not disappear completely, yea all that "she is training with merlin to be a keyblade wielder" amounted to almost nothing, but if she had stayed as just a princess of heart (which was stated that she didn't lose that power) there would've been no reason for her to go to the battlefield, her true reason to exist is to be Sora's guide, and she was, plus it would've been even more ridiculous that she would've suddenly be able to take down Xemnas, even if she trained, but as you said, people are overreacting

and Xion, what's the problem it makes sense that she is there, it is shown multiple times that the new organization is lacking members and if Xehanort believes that he can bring known traitors  like Marluxia and Larxene why wouldn't he bring back Xion, they had Vexen working the replicas for them and she is the first success after Riku replica, she seemed to be quite obedient to the bad guys until her heart reacts to Axel and Sora/Roxas

or do you mean how they brought her back to the good side? it is stated that even "puppets" can develop hearts with enough nurturing and the way to help a heart return is via a connection so in that moment he was surrounded by one of her best friends and Sora who is where she came from and who has her heart inside her, TL;DR the way they brought her back makes sense

 

 

[Tyranto Rex 277]

You have to remember though that people are usually more vocal about disappointments then they are with what they were pleased with. Most people I have seen are a little more complex with their feelings then just loving or hating it. But I know personally I like to get the stuff I was disappointed with off my chest first so it does not get bottled up and I end up straight up hating the game. Now yes I feel people can go overboard and people can get really nitpicky. Not to mention people proclaiming it's the worst Kingdom Hearts game, or even one of the worst games all together. That's a bit dramatic. But still not as bad as Star Wars fandom.

Not to mention some flaws people have with KH3 could be said for like every entry in the series, but apparently people just noticed now or have the other games on a pedestal that you ignore their flaws as well. Gee....kinda like Star Wars....

[Raphael Millon 87]

Mostly because people were expecting KH2FM 2.0 and that their own fan-fictions would happen in the game. Yeah.

 

People are bashing KH3 the same way people did bash KH2 when it first came out. And seriously, I love KH2 with all my heart, but I'm starting to dislike it every single day I see Skyward's twitter doing his daily "Let's bash KH3 while exalting KH2".

The difference is, at least for me, that KH3 has a much better story and much better level design (not that hard considering KH2's corridors)

Edited February 11, 2019 by Raphael Millon

[Neoshadow99 31]

I know what you mean about the strong amount of negativity. The Kingdom Hearts subreddit has been a real roller coaster of positivity and negativity for this game. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm very close to the endgame, in that I'm about to begin the final series of battles. I have been loving most of what the game has to offer, but have also been disappointed by how lacking the original worlds are, in playable content. That said, most of the Disney worlds have been very satisfying to explore, especially with the awesome new mobility/traversal mechanics. I would have to say that KH3 has some of the best designs for certain worlds in the whole series, and Square Enix definitely demonstrated the great potential of the Unreal Engine.

[Karxrida 154]

1.) General hype backlash

2.) Gameplay lacks depth

3.) Tons of story issues even by KH standards

 

I personally enjoyed the game a lot but it sure as hell ain't perfect.

[ocean's rage 772]

personally cant say ive noticed story issues 

[VocaloidLover13 165]

Even if it has flaws, it is rather difficult to understand and strange that the hate coming from people who rated it "8/10" as if it was a bad rating. For me it was a solid 9/10 and will most likely get up to 10/10 if they add more replay value and a critical mode. 

Most people who complain about the unanswered questions are forgetting that they're the focus of the next entry, so they don't be answered now. For the other questions, much of them are pretty much answered on the reports or on forums around there. Though it'd be great for them to simplify the story more, I still feel like its difficultness to understand is great since it influences us to think about theories in group, which strenghtens our community ties. A KH without Nomura and his complicated plot can't be called KH. And much of the magic comes from it.

KH2FM added the Cavern of the Remembrace which was the greatest thing with all those data battles, so I highly hope they do something similar in the DLC for KH3, if its production gets confirmed *cross fingers*

[Eternalsleep 175]

My main problem with the game is mostly the story. The game just felt rushed & idk if I’m alone here but for a game labeled as “the end of the xehanort saga” I’ve learned nothing new about master xehanort. What initially made him turn to darkness? At what point did he get no name? How did he discover how to summon kingdom hearts? This game left A LOT of questions unanswered & it was disappointing. Also really  small nitpick, after awhile the attraction flow mechanic stopped being pretty & just became annoying. Seriously walking to a chest hitting triangle & summoning the blaster all the time is just annoying so the option to turn them off would’ve been appreciated. Just saiyan ??‍♂️

[Novayon 192]

I really haven't seen much hate outside the occasional silly twitter post or a couple of posts here. Maybe I'm just not seeing it?

Like I said before, just because someone is only giving criticisms, doesn't mean they hate the game. It might just be they see no need to point out the positives because 1 million other people already have.

[light1150 0]

5 hours ago, Raphael Millon said:

Mostly because people were expecting KH2FM 2.0 and that their own fan-fictions would happen in the game. Yeah.

 

People are bashing KH3 the same way people did bash KH2 when it first came out. And seriously, I love KH2 with all my heart, but I'm starting to dislike it every single day I see Skyward's twitter doing his daily "Let's bash KH3 while exalting KH2".

The difference is, at least for me, that KH3 has a much better story and much better level design (not that hard considering KH2's corridors)

I respect sky, but heavily disagree with his ratings (he gave kh2fm a 7.5/10) and his overall views on CoM and kh1

[Fates Chance XIII 307]

The hype and wait for this game was so high and the wait (seemingly) so long that hate was kind of inevitable. 

But at the same time, no game or anything is perfect and yes, KH3 have some very significant flaws. And with so many people having celebrated the lead up to KH3 with marathoning streams or even replaying older KH games, the merits of the old game to compare to this one are fresh in a lot of peoples mind.

I dont agree with out right bashing of any of the KH games because they all have good and bad points, but at least from what I have heard of the (coherent and civil) complaints a lot of them I see where they are coming from and many I even agree with. I put 40hrs into KH3 on my first playthrough and yeah....it has problems. Some are big problems. And I can see where peopl would be super disappointed with it. 

But they cant just remake the game and story, so this is what we've got and we need to reach a place of acceptance with what we got and realize it is what it is. But people need to get that anger and frustration out of their systems first and so here we are. 

This has happend with other KH games too (it was particularly bad with Days- oh the flame wars *flashbacks*) and it goes through a cycle.

The ship wars, the story bashing, the character bashing, the gameplay bashing, the lore and why-god-why-is-this-game-so-dang-convoluted bashing, the failure to meet expectations bashing it's all here and gonna happen.

But afterwards things will kind of settle down a bit a well be able to collectively discuss without out right bashing (mostly)

Give it time, it'll be over soon. 

[Dave 5,715]

There's always the slight chance that maybe the game actually had issues, and a negative reaction might be justified after applying critical thinking, and that "just enjoy it" mentalities lends itself to nothing but blind consumerism.

 

Or, you know, haters gonna hate. Whichever you prefer.

[Merilly 438]

On 2/11/2019 at 9:36 PM, Eternalsleep said:

My main problem with the game is mostly the story. The game just felt rushed & idk if I’m alone here but for a game labeled as “the end of the xehanort saga” I’ve learned nothing new about master xehanort. What initially made him turn to darkness? At what point did he get no name? How did he discover how to summon kingdom hearts? This game left A LOT of questions unanswered & it was disappointing. Also really  small nitpick, after awhile the attraction flow mechanic stopped being pretty & just became annoying. Seriously walking to a chest hitting triangle & summoning the blaster all the time is just annoying so the option to turn them off would’ve been appreciated. Just saiyan ??‍♂️

While I get the desire to know more about the motivations of the antagonist, I sometimes don't need to know everything because each answer can make new questions surface into an endless cycle, like a child asking 'why?' for every answer given and demanding even more detail. At some point we just have to accept that not everything can and will be answered without drifting off into territories which are simply not important anymore.

To be honest, I am absolutely fine with Xehanort not needing a motivation but rather hearing a story and a prediction for the future and wishing to fulfill it. Might be simple, but not every villain needs to have a terrible past to justify their behavior. Sometimes it's the characters who do things just because they can that are the most interesting. Not to mention that it wouldn't surprise me that he knows about those means through the stories his master told him. No Name was basically hanging on the wall, too. I don't need to know how it got there in detail, considering Keyblades can be passed down.

Still, I also wished to have more here and there, especially for those parts which are likely not going to get picked up again in the future.

 

I agree though that the hate is very excessive and not all of that seems justified in my opinion. I saw a lot of hate which wasn't formulated in a way of legitimate and civil criticism but rather just ranting about every single little flaw while praising the glorious KH2. I love KH2 but I find it hard to criticize KH3 for something and then proceed to compliment KH2 for the same procedure in the very same sentence. It's nonsense to insult one game for empty areas but claim they were so much more alive in the other when in reality, they weren't. I remember people complaining about exactly that issue back in the day and suddenly KH3 is that much worse? Just to give an example.

Every game has flaws. I have no issue with addressing them or seeing them addressed, as subjective as most of them tend to be. But what KH3 is suffering from are the high expectations and all the fan ideas what the perfect conclusion should look like which is simply impossible to achieve.

Which is not to say that KH3 doesn't have flaws galore. Just as all the other games had. Speaking for myself, it's not actually worse or better than the rest of the franchise but simply falls in line with what Kingdom Hearts has always done, both in negative and positive aspects.

I think most of the hate stems from overblown hype and expectations and a huge blindness resulting from nostalgia. A lot of fans compare it to the numbered titles which they have first played years upon years ago and quite frankly, nostalgia is a powerful force which lets us forget the issues we would have seen if we were to play it now for the first time.

There are things I don't like, things I would have most certainly done differently, and there's no denying that they may have tried to do too much and lost focus of what they actually wanted to accomplish, but for me, the game is still a Kingdom Hearts title at heart. 

But no one can tell me that they hated every minute of it. And that's where good reviews can be told apart from bad ones. Regardless of score, they should always mention the good and the bad. No game is perfect but in this case, I find it hard to believe there weren't any enjoyable parts either.

I hope that what some of the others are saying comes true and that the initial disappointment because SE/Disney didn't cater to a lot of people's overblown demands dies down a little and that they can see things in a little more diverse fashion. Flaws as well as some opinions can't be changed and I won't blatantly disregard them either, but views do change over time in all directions for the more subjective points.

For example, the pacing of the KH titles will forever be off for me as I structure my stories differently, but I still enjoy what we get, despite longing for more coverage of the original plot lines and character exposition.

I personally decided not to take part in too many discussions and just keep my enjoyment quietly to myself and my closest friends. I won't let my overall positive feeling be crushed by unnecessary hate which completely ignores the same issues in other KH titles. One does not have to be ignorant of the flaws to ultimately enjoy something after all.

In the end, most KH games had their outrage. A lot of the fans have just forgotten what they initially disliked about the other games they celebrate even more now and I think the same might happen to KH3.

Or do I have to remind everyone of all the complaints the extremely long prologue of KH2 received? The barren rooms at times? How disconnected some Disney plots were from the overall plot? Atlantica? How a lot of fans criticized mashing triangle for fancy moves they otherwise had no control over? Or how the story also only picked up more around the 50-60% mark? Cutscenes following after taking a few steps for things which really weren't all that necessary? And so on and so forth. I remember that clearly. But a lot of that criticism apparently is now forgotten with acquiring a new target.

In the end I'd say let the people hate the game as much as they desire. Just like you can't tell others to see the flaws, you won't change anyone's opinion if they have made up their mind. For those two extremes, there's seemingly no option for a civil discussion and I'd rather not get involved with unnecessary bashing or over the top glorification. In the end, it only matters what you personally thought of it. There's always the possibility to take other opinions into account to look at it from different perspectives but if you feel uncomfortable about it, there's no use in trying to talk something worse that wasn't bad to you just to fit in.

After all, likes and dislikes are personal and if you enjoy something, I'd hold onto that. There are tons of bad news and stressful situations out there that you don't need to deliberately ruin something for yourself just to understand those who hate on the game, especially when you were mostly content. It yields much more enjoyment to prevent needless arguments and just love the games you do and only discuss it with those you feel comfortable with. Games are made to be fun. If it wasn't, then too bad but at some point, it's easier to move on if it only upsets them.

There's little pleasure to be found if they can only talk about the bad and that's why it's sometimes easier to just indulge in your own fun and keep away from negative outbursts. As much as I cherish the franchise, it's still just a game and I don't need to get into arguments over this if a friendly discussion is impossible from the start.

Edited February 13, 2019 by Merilly

[drew0594 19]

On 2/11/2019 at 4:01 PM, Aile said:

I really don't know what people expected from this game? When I read some people were ready to leave the franchise before the game came out I was expecting a garbage game with a garbage ending but I did not experience this myself. Sure, the game had some flaws. All the KH games have flaws, but people suddenly act like 3 is the only one for some reason. But overal I enjoyed the game a lot.  
If people don't like it, welp, that is their opinion. But don't shame others for liking it.

Pretty much this, but it happens with every big release. KH2 got a similar reaction in 2006 and now the sentiment is completely different. It's annoying for sure, but not surprising.

Edited February 13, 2019 by drew0594

[SweetYetSalty 330]

LOL! It's funny that a game based on friendships, pure hearts, and light has generated so much hatred and darkness. Maybe this was Xehanort's plan all along XD

In all seriousness I've said in another post that I have my share of problems with KH3. This was not a masterpiece, but I also really loved some of the things they did in the game too. I think the reason I'm not raging or ranting is because most of my issues can be fixed with either a Final Mix or some patches showing additional cutscenes. Perhaps the days of KH explaining some of it's lore in report notes are over and they should verbally explain from now on. That would fix one of the complaints I've heard some are confused about.

Again I have some issues with the game myself and somethings I wished were handled better. But this certainly doesn't taint my love for Kingdom Hearts. I'm already dreaming of KH4. I'm in this for the long run!

Edited February 13, 2019 by SweetYetSalty