GO WITH THE FLOW
As I have already concluded before, the Kingdom Hearts series features some of the most baffling writing I have encountered in any form of entertainment. At this point, however, that very excess has begun to work in its favor. The dream logic is so overpowering that I simply disengage. I stop trying to understand what I am seeing, wait for the cutscenes to pass, and allow the gameplay to speak for itself.
Unexpectedly, this has made Kingdom Hearts more enjoyable.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD is a PlayStation 4 remaster of a Nintendo 3DS title, and it holds up remarkably well. High-resolution textures and large, playground-like environments give the game a sense of space and charm. The soundtrack is lush and emotive, while combat feels faster and more demanding than in earlier entries.
A major reason for this improvement is Flowmotion, a new traversal system that allows you to slide along rails, rebound off walls, and chain movement into attacks. Exploration finally feels fluid, and platforming—once a persistent frustration—becomes an extension of combat rather than an obstacle. It is the most meaningful mechanical addition the series has seen in years.
The story, unfortunately, remains incoherent even by Kingdom Hearts standards. But here, that hardly matters. Instead, the game’s real strength lies in its Spirit system. Spirits are collectible companions that fight alongside you, grow through bonding activities, and unlock abilities via individual skill trees. They are essential rather than optional, forming the closest thing the series has ever had to a satisfying progression system. Their colorful designs and expressive personalities make managing them genuinely enjoyable, and an optional arena mode even reveals clear inspiration from Pokémon-style mechanics.
Narratively, the game splits its focus between Sora and Riku, who are sent on parallel journeys to prove themselves worthy of becoming Keyblade Masters. The premise serves mainly as an excuse to revisit various Disney worlds—The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tron, Pinocchio—presented in stripped-down form, with minimal storytelling and vast, empty environments. Both characters traverse many of the same areas and face similar bosses, creating repetition that disrupts pacing and undermines progression.
This structural issue is compounded by the game’s most ill-conceived feature: the Drop system. Control between Sora and Riku switches automatically on a timer, often interrupting exploration or boss fights at the worst possible moment. While a consumable item can delay the switch, limited command slots and poor encounter telegraphing make it an unreliable solution. The mechanic exists to bind two narratives together, but instead it consistently sabotages player momentum.
Enemy design fares better. Most foes are corrupted versions of your own Spirits—called Nightmares—and their vivid designs give them a surprising amount of character. Boss encounters are conceptually strong and among the toughest story battles in the series, though their frantic pacing often reduces combat to button-mashing rather than tactical response.
To Square Enix’s credit, the series continues to experiment. One late-game highlight is the world inspired by Fantasia, where dialogue is sparse and classical music carries the experience. It is a striking demonstration of how Kingdom Hearts might have succeeded if it had trusted imagery and sound over exposition.
In the end, Dream Drop Distance stands as one of the stronger entries in a series I have largely grown to dislike. It offers engaging exploration, meaningful progression through Spirits, and inspired mechanical ideas. Yet, as always, each success is undercut by a misguided design choice—most notably the Drop system. The result is a game that comes tantalizingly close to greatness, only to trip over its own ambition once again.
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