6. Kingdom Hearts III
There was a period there when it seemed as though Kingdom Hearts III had itself turned into a fairy story. A 10-year development cycle, no, saga, will do that, after all… but low and behold Kingdom Hearts III finally did arrive this year, and perhaps surprisingly, turned out almost as good as everyone had hoped it would be.
Indeed, we’ve seen over-hyped games launch to a whimper plenty of times before, but Kingdom Hearts III wasn’t one of them.
Stunning graphics and what is fast-becoming Square Enix’s trademark action-RPG combat made for an engaging gameplay experience. And while the story is still about as bizarre as you’d expect of one involving anime characters wielding giant keys and Disney characters like Goofy and Donald Duck, it told a fairly compelling and somewhat cohesive narrative.
Ultimately, Kingdom Hearts III proved itself as more than just an indulgent visual spectacle of iconic Disney and Pixar characters. It’s a quality video game that (just about) anybody will enjoy.
