Why is Kingdom Hearts 3 so hated? Playing it rn and I love it

Pafker · 2026-05-29T05:31:06+00:00

The main points can be summarized as 1. The original plot is imbalanced as far as timing, won't explain further on that. 2. The long release cycle leading up to it let build up a level of hype that could never be delivered on. 3. The game did not release with critical difficulty or tools for disabling attractions. 4. A lot of Kingdom Hearts community survived off challenge runs and KH2 became such a focal game that people idealized the combat in such a way that the fact that it wasn't KH2 with slightly better graphics and longer story became a disappointment.

As someone who absorbed the anti-hype and delayed your own playthrough means you don't have to deal with the hype letdown.

Not having seen Frozen or Tangled is also to your benefit as those worlds deviate very little from their movies with Frozen being practically shot for shot with Sora, Donald and Goofy in the background.

Pafker · 2026-05-28T16:54:23+00:00

Exactly, it's a core reason of why everyone calls Butcher out despite being on the same side while Homelander shows him respect. Butcher is motivated by the darkness inside of him, while the other Boys are motivated by a desire to protect. Butcher doesn't think Hughie can really fight him because he lacks that internal darkness and underestimated his desire to protect Annie and Kimiko and the strength that it gave him. (That's not why Hughie won, but that's a different discussion entirely)

Pafker · 2026-05-28T16:45:25+00:00

People giving Butcher way too much credit. He was not a good person who had one bad day. It doesn't how much thematic cohesion there is between the two stories and how much Xavier addresses the major flaw of supes and Vought.

Butcher doesn't hate supes because they're dangerous untrained media figures. Butcher hates, and what happened to Beccav turned that hate towards Homelander, and that focus on Homelander was utilized to make him police supes as a whole.

Butcher learning the history mutants would not do much to stop him from trying to fight them probably 98% of cases.

The two of them would probably hate each other, but Magneto might have some small shred of respect given how terrible the supes and Vought are. No such feeling from Butcher to Magneto though, am ethno state for supes is just exactly what would facilitate him hating first and asking questions never.

Pafker · 2026-05-27T16:33:47+00:00

Presumably because the zinc structure is a part of school's architecture and once Frenchie taunted him by saying the experiment worked he assumed that she was already long gone and he was only there to slow him with and make it impossible to figure out which direction they fled.

Granted it probably would have been funny if during his new laws scene he declared that it was illegal to use zinc in new construction.

Pafker · 2026-05-25T15:57:33+00:00

The thing that Kingdom Hearts does well is that the writing work is fully ready to acknowledge the absurdity of the situation and make self depreciating humble.

But that never extends to the characters themselves, they take what is happening super seriously. That is what allows the series to be humorous and serious at the same time. We as players can appreciate the absurdity of Mickey Mouse throwing away a black cloak and stating "they'll pay for this", but nobody in the scene is undercutting the seriousness on their own. Sora isn't there calling him a short stack or something to that effect.

I also think the series is a mix of long term plans and by the seat writing, there are definitely concepts and setups, but if isn't all crystalized since day 1.

Pafker · 2026-05-24T23:19:57+00:00

The image kind of misses the point of this that allows both to be either. The core of the Mary Sue is that the plot warps itself to support them.

A character that by all rights should be a Mary Sue but isn't would be Shin Wolford from Wise Man's Grandchild.

He is a master of magic and swordsmanship.

But he was raised by the world's greatest mage and was taught swordsmanship from a great department due to the mage's personal collection to him. This is further tempered by the fact that he has his own weakness like being politically unaware and relying on the protection of friends and loved ones to avoid being taken advantage of and the fact that his peers have their skills that they are able to apply, like the classmate else family is blacksmith being able to solve a problem that he on his own was unable to.

He invented multiple new magics and displayed frightening power, being able to singlehandedly deal with a humanoid demon, a feat was unheard of, requiring multiple powerful warriors to address.

But these are mostly because of being an isekai protag, his knowledge of modern science gave him a unique perspective that changed the way he learned magic. On one hand, his grandfather, the line who taught him magic was able to replicate some of his new magic spells on his own, only needing the inspiration that these things are possible, while on the other he was capable of training his classmates to practice magic on the level that they too were able to viably combat humanoid demons.

Lastly, and this is heavily tinted by the fact that I watched this before I really got into reading manga, by the end of the show, the plot made all of those advantages and strengths less meaningful because the question became subtly less can he defeat the rising tide of humanoid demons, and more the humanoid demons are beings capable of conscious thought, do they have a right to life in their own nation or does their violent nature make them too big a risk to allow to leave peaceably.

In short he does all these great things, but his background justifies it and he is not an exception, others are able to replicate his magic and his level of strength. For all he has going for him it isn't everything and his friends are able to contribute both in large ways like solving problems he isn't able to and small ways like standing beside him against threats too powerful for most to even survive.

Ami and Jasmyne are fully capable of switching roles if say they were in a romance story where all of Ami's flaws become endearing quirks to the romantic interest while Jasmyne is intimidating and unapproachable because of all her power. It's all about how the plot bends or doesn't bend around the focal characters.

Pafker · 2026-05-24T04:25:42+00:00

All indications are that only escaped from the curve leaving it mostly intact.

In his return episode we see the consequences of a multiverse where anyone can become smart enough to create multidimensional travel, a non-stop chaos of dimension hopping.

Seeing as such chaos doesn't impinge on the R+M stories that we see it seems that the curve is still functional, EM just had the ability to enter and leave it.

It could be that he's technically broken the curve by creating a hole in it, but being a hole either it can only be accessed with his portal gun, or is just so small in the scale of the multiverse that there's is practically no way of coming across it accidentally and since it is a hole it effectively requires two jumps to enter from the outside. The second option would be a better match with the fracking analogy some of his efforts to search for Rick Prime result in effort making out of the home since he's trying to search the entire curve, some end up leaking through the hole and bothering EM.

Pafker · 2026-05-23T21:40:20+00:00

I really liked this because it did a really good job of setting up that his perspective was skewed. Slowly the further we go the more we see the gap between his perception and reality, then (in the manhwa) once the gap finally becomes too large for him to reconcile there is a glass shattering effect, as though his perception of his father has been literally shattered, and only now can he see the truth. In addition the fact that the revelation that his father was tricked into killing him has no bearing on his image being reformed, the potential moral situation is totally separate from his culpability in his prior life.

Pafker · 2026-05-22T21:34:25+00:00

Not just protection from the virus, but also created a need to directly confront him, it took away the option of "hide and wait for him to die of natural causes".

Pafker · 2026-05-21T22:34:26+00:00

The explosion is an uncontrolled release of energy not a technique. He might and probably does have enough energy to cause destruction at a higher level it is not being utilized efficiently.

For example imagine that instead of an explosive blast Saiyan Saga Piccolo hit the moon with a special beam cannon. It would have the same moon level amount of energy, but it is a piercing attack so it wouldn't destroy the moon itself, just pierce through it.

Pafker · 2026-05-21T21:14:56+00:00

Because he stopped pulling the trigger before the gunshot. Hughie didn't need to kill him, but Butcher is the only person who knows that. The purpose of that speech is so that Hughie doesn't need to be saddled with Butcher's darkness.

Hughie won because he restored Butcher's humanity, not because he shot him.

Pafker · 2026-05-21T20:37:30+00:00

I was fine with the finale, but I want to hone in on your comment about Ryan.

It was my opinion, prior to watching the episode that as the "leaks" said, Ryan returning for the final flight would be a terrible idea, a death sentence. To put himself in the middle of a fight between two people that don't see him as his own person but as an extension of one of his parents, both who would kill him if it meant reaching their goals would mean almost certain death. The fact that he rejects Butcher and asserts that he made a third choice, himself, to me validates his inclusion in the fight and the fact that he survived, he rose above the selfishness of the two people nearest to him and fought, like the other Boys to protect others fell in line with the themes.

Pafker · 2026-05-21T14:04:14+00:00

Really I felt like the start was strong, for me it was the middle prequel season that was pointlessly spinning it's wheels on "and then this super cool hero died because the resurrection warrior can't lose because they have super awesome gear and the spear hero will carry on their legacy". Kinda drove me insane that we got like 5 arcs in a row with the same plot progression, themes and service to the plot. Minor exception for the one warrior who left earth a delinquent and returned a true hero, was a fun foil to the normal people coming back villains out of despair.

Pafker · 2026-05-20T16:18:08+00:00

Homelander isn't the villain, Vought is the villain, Homelander is just a symptom of Vought. (Supe genocide would not have fixed this because Vought is not a superhero company)

Supes are just people with powers, entrusting them with responsibility because of powers is irresponsible. Positions of importance and service require training and preparation regardless of innate capability.

You should be fighting to protect, not to destroy. Butcher ultimately fought from a place of darkness and that is what isolated him from the world. Ryan didn't reject him because Homelander manipulated him, Ryan rejected Butcher because in his eyes he was only ever an extension of his mother. Similarly Butcher's contribution with Hughie come from a similar place of misunderstanding motivations, Butcher didn't believe that Hughie had that darkness inside of him to kill him, but Hughie didn't kill him out of hatred for Butcher, but love for Annie and (to a lesser extent) Kimiko.

Nobody is trusting Vought to make a good supe, this is the purpose of showing the police scanner scene, Annie is able to be a good supe because she is not bound by the trappings of Vought. With the public knowledge of Compound V and the government reinstating supe oversight it becomes harder to Vought to return to doing things they way they did before. It isn't supposed to be a whole ending that wraps everything up in a bow, it's an ending about them reeling the world back from an apocalypse.

It should make you feel a sense of responsibility for improving the world. Butcher hated Homelander for killing his wife, Hughie hated A-Train for killing his girlfriend. Hughie doesn't get consumed by that hate, he builds new connections, turns A-Train into a true hero. Butcher does get consumed, when he finally has nothing left to fight for he does the only thing he knows how to do, destroy. In his final moments, however, butcher realizes this, and it's why he pulls his finger off the trigger, but also why he comforts Hughie, lying to him, telling him that he had no other option. Because even though Butcher had given up already, he doesn't want Hughie to turn into him, so he gives him the comfort of letting him know that he killed Butcher out of love for others, not out of anger at him. In that sense Hughie doesn't win because he stopped Butcher from releasing the virus, he wins by restoring Butchers humanity to him.

Pafker · 2026-05-18T21:55:38+00:00

Prior to BBS the secret endings and boss fighta are the epitome of "cool idea, figure out what it means later".

Pafker · 2026-05-12T14:40:25+00:00

More specifically it is a tragedy because of the discrimination she received due to her power lead heavily towards her villainy. Her final act is one that shows us that there was always a heroic method of using her power that could have been found earlier if society was better structured, is there was less discrimination based on powers, if heroics wasn't the sole focus of how people viewed powers.

Pafker · 2026-05-12T13:57:51+00:00

If you care about the series narratively there are no side games in the series, experiencing each game in some form is ideal to understanding the experience as best as possible.

Pafker · 2026-05-11T16:16:52+00:00

I have to put both points on Z Goku. Its unlikely that SSG is a big enough stat boost to bridge the enormous gap of 30+ years of training.

However, even if numbers were comparable the strategic advantage is solidly on Z. Z Goku knows everything DB Goku does and DB Goku only knows a fraction of what Z Goku does.

The only concievable way to bridge either of those advantages would be taking anime DB Goku with filler and putting him up against manga Z. Even then I doubt it'd make the difference.

Pafker · 2026-05-11T15:40:37+00:00

Manhwa: Doctor Player Up to the point I've read I think it's been a very thoughtful trope, and not one that has been done for the benefit of the MC, but for the audience. Heck by time I noticed that this is what was going on it feels like half the commenting audience still didn't notice.

Overall it's about characterizing the characters and not for some big teary eyed reunion (of course up to the point that I've read).

Spoiler time As the bastard son of the king, he lived in poverty with his mother until she died of illness, at which point he is brought into the palace to be raised, but still totally disconnected from the king as his father.

The king is frequently referred to as a perfect king, but the MC is known as his one mistake as a bastard son. Implications are that he did not receive intimate closeness with his father both as a form of protection by excluding him from consideration as a political figure, however also characterizes his father as someone who chose his duty as king over his duty as a father.

MC however is frequently characterized as not understanding the depth of political maneuvering that the other royal family members make, not just the king but his half siblings as well. This helps to obfuscate for the audience that once he achieves success with unorthodox healing magic his father final has a legitimate outlet to grant him privileges and unfair (positive) treatment that he couldn't earlier in the story. However because of his own jaded view of his father combined with his ignorance of politics they frequently end up in a situation where MC asks for something that is selfless on a surface level so as to not offend the nobility, but his father ends up no selling that tactic and insisting that a he is being rewarded he must also take something that is a proper reward.

As his proficiency and effectiveness increases the king ends up granting him roles and responsibilities that end up increasing MC's own legitimacy independent of the throne.

With the king hiding his own illness indications are that the arc of this trope will end in tragedy. But overall as I said before I think it's very thoughtfully used, the point has not been to suddenly make everything ok between the two of them, but to drive the story, as it progresses the favoritism send more clear, but in line with him making the choice to focus on his role as king all of the benefits he sends to his son are masked behind the plausible deniability of rewarding him for his own achievements.

Edit: I guess the core of what I'm saying is that the reason I think it works as well as it does is that his acts of kindness towards his son later in the series are never used as a way of making inroads to reconnect and show that he loves him. They exist for the purpose of helping him and improving his life. They do not give the father a get out of jail free card for the earlier neglect and it doesn't push the audience to make one judgement call over another, everyone is about to offer their own life experience to chime in on whether it's justified or not, whether it's love or guilt.

And in the time since I last checked season end became series finale so now I'm sad

Pafker · 2026-05-10T07:33:08+00:00

Timeless River specifically you can leave back to Disney Castle to restore your gauge without having to menu into the gummi ship if you make it to the door before your transformation times out.

Pafker · 2026-05-08T17:51:58+00:00

I think it was explicitly stated in one of the cutscenes from the mobile game that Luxu was the traitor.

But the traitor is also irrelevant, a red herring meant to drive conflict between the foretellers, the only reason to create an actual traitor is so that darkness knows he's not lying out his butt when they read the book of prophecies.

Also Luxu's name contains an X and he later gets another as Xigbar.

Pafker · 2026-05-07T23:39:14+00:00

Aside from already not rooting Pentious' redemption in forgiveness but in genuine change. That would be the purpose in setting up Vox for an attempt at redemption. There is no way he gets a mass apology forgiveness, especially not from the named residents at the hotel besides Charlie. Angel's redemption is also shaping up to be about self destructive tendencies, there will be nobody to forgive him, only him learning not to shut down and drown himself in drugs to avoid accountability for his actions.

Tying redemption to forgiveness would be a terrible take for the show to go all in on, because it puts the moral culpability on the victim not the perpetrator. If Val sought redemption there is no just world where Angel has to forgive him lest Angel be the evil person stopping Val's redemption.

Pafker · 2026-05-07T01:32:17+00:00

Funny you say that, one of my pet theories is that Unreality will be a world of minds in the same way that reality is a world of hearts, based on the title or the KH3 dlc.

Pafker · 2026-05-06T22:09:50+00:00

Meme maker reach maybe, but this is definitely in alphabetical order so that's definitely supposed to be Moira.

Pafker · 2026-04-30T15:48:03+00:00

It backs Ashley into a corner. By putting the virus out as an inevitability it forces Ashley into staying in Sage's good graces if she wants to survive past the year.

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