Kingdom Hearts 3's combat is similar to previous main entries, but it's just... more. It's full-on spectacle all the time, with magic, links, attractions and now multiple keyblade transformations to utilise, meaning it's very rarely a case of just mashing X to attack. The biggest change to combat is the keyblade transformations - this was a feature in birth by sleep, where it was something you were able to do if you mastered the usage of a keyblade, and according to Nomura, since Sora has now become more skilled, he's able to use that feature in Kingdom Hearts 3. Different keyblade transformations have different properties - for example the Toy Story-themed keyblade transforms into a hammer, which hits hard, while the Tangled Keyblade transforms into a magical staff which casts spells. This introduces new strategy to combat, especially since you can switch between keyblades while you're battling, and keep the current level of transformation. The Toy Story blade evolves from a hammer into a drill, and the drill allows you to evade enemies by digging holes in the ground and going around them. The Monsters Inc. keyblade evolves into Agile Claws and then into a Twin Yoyo, so it's fun for moving fast, keeping your distance and dishing out heavy DPS. Mostly though it's just fun to cycle through the different weapons, creating new combos and trying out the skills available at each level. Between those, Attractions and Links, or summons, it's rare you'll ever not have a special ability available for deployment at any time during longer battles, which definitely helps keep things interesting. The skills and finishers all look very flashy too - our favourite was the Tangled-themed keyblade, which could create a tower attack as a finisher.
So, what did we think, given that we were some of the first people in the world to play Kingdom Hearts 3? We were impressed - it certainly still has the heart that the series is so loved for even after all these years, and the combat, which was never really Kingdom Hearts' strongest suit, is much improved. We're a little concerned the story is going to continue the tradition of being a whole load of convoluted nonsense about interchangeable men in black hoods, but really, the interactions between heroes old and new is and has always been the real draw - and if Toy Box is anything to go by, the introduction of Pixar settings and characters is going to make those interactions even more fun and knowing. We especially enjoyed the borderline meta chat between Hamm and Rex about their new 'famous video game character' friends, and the knowing nods crammed into the toy store level (there was a shop with a Dissidia Final Fantasy display and a game stop selling such well-known titles as Wall Street Ninja 2 and Herd of Zombies) really carries on the series' sense of fun and adventure. We're excited to see more, in other words.
