Kingdom Hearts III is finally a reality, and now we can all go destroy darkness, awaken lost hearts, antagonize Donald Duck, and all that good stuff.
But before you boot up the anticipated action-RPG on your PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, I’ve got some tips for you. I’ve already played through Kingdom Hearts III and loved it. I want you to have just as much fun as I did, and I think this advice from one of the world’s greatest Kingdom Hearts III experts (a title I will probably lose in a couple of days when everyone else plays through it) can help you squeeze out a little more delight and fun.
And don’t worry, I promise these tips will be free of spoilers.
Keep healing items in your inventory
Healing yourself is an important part of Kingdom Hearts III, which makes the Cure spell an important ability. But Magic works a bit differently in Kingdom Hearts III than in most RPGs. You still have a mana bar that depletes as you use most spells. But when you’re out of mana, that bar will begin recharging. During that time, you can’t use any spells.
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Cure magic will always deplete your mana, so you’ll want to try and fire off some other spells before using it. In other words, it’s inefficient to use Cure when your mana bar is full, since it works the same if you only have a sliver of mana left. But when that bar is recharging, you can’t cast Cure until it refills.
This can be a scary time. You can hope that Donald heals you, but he can often become distracted (or knocked out) and ignore his medic duties. This is why you’ll want to keep potions and other healing items in your inventory. You can only carry a few items with you into battle, and it’s worth it to fill up all of those slots with healing items for emergencies.
Sure, you can also use Ethers, a healing item that replenishes your mana bar, then just cast Cure after using the Ether. But why not just cut out the middle man and heal yourself with a potion?
Above: Don’t be stuck without a way to heal yourself.
Switch between Keyblades during battle
A new feature in Kingdom Hearts III makes it possible to equip up to three Keyblades. You can then use the left and right on the D-pad to switch between your weapons most of the time, including during battles.
Some Keyblades focus on attack power, some have high magical stats, and the rest are a balance between the two. Make sure you equip at least one attack-focused Keyblade and another for magic. That way, you can switch between them depending on the situation.
Magic can be powerful in Kingdom Hearts III, with Fire spells doing a lot of damage to a single enemy. I’d often start fights with my magic Keyblade, spend all of my mana spamming fire, then switch to my attack Keyblade while waiting for my mana to recharge.
As for those “balanced” Keyblades, you really don’t need to bother with them. Since you can switch between the magic and attack focused Keyblades whenever you want, you can optimize your damage output better that way.
Above: This is pretty fun the first 10 times.
Don’t use every special battle command
Kingdom Hearts III has a lot of flashy attacks that can become available randomly (or so easily that it may as well be random). These include teaming up with your party members, summoning magical theme park rides, and turning your Keyblade into different weapons. When one becomes available, you can a limited amount of time to push a button and use them.
These all look cool, and many of them are powerful. But they become available so often that they can become annoying. Don’t feel pressured to use them every change you get. Often, you’ll save yourself time by just attacking things normally with your regular Keyblade or with magic.
As you play, you’ll get a better idea of which of these special attacks are worth your time. Donald Duck’s Flare Force ability, for example, is fast and deals a lot of damage. It’s almost always good to use. Meanwhile, Goofy has an ability that has you hide behind his shield. It’s slow and doesn’t give you the opportunity to deal a lot of damage.
Just experiment with all of these special attacks and learn which ones are useful for what situations.
Above: Look everywhere for Mickey.
Keep an eye out for Lucky Emblems (aka Hidden Mickeys)
Early in Kingdom Hearts III, you get access to a camera. You can use this for fun things like taking selfies and pictures of your in-game friends, but you can also snap shots of Lucky Emblems. These are in the iconic three circle shape of Mickey Mouse. Taking pictures of these can unlock new items. And if you want to see the game’s secret ending, you’ll have to find a certain amount of them.
These hidden Mickeys are often just a simple drawing hidden in weird places. Other times, you’ll see a Mickey made out of random things (like rope or stars in the sky). Keep an eye out, especially if you’re exploring and find yourself in an out-of-the way area.
And listen to Donald and Goofy. They’ll often speak up if a Lucky Emblem is nearby.
Above: The gang’s back.
Don’t worry about grinding
Many RPGs escalate the difficulty in a way that’ll give you have a hard time progressing unless you spend time fighting random enemies so that you can level up a bunch, aka grinding.
Grinding isn’t necessary in Kingdom Hearts III, at least in anything but the hardest difficulty (Proud Mode). I had no problem beating every battle, including bosses, simply by focusing on getting through the story.
Now, you can still grind. But this could make Kingdom Hearts III’s difficulty, which is already pretty forgiving, even more trivial during the latter parts of the game.
That’s it! Hopefully those tips will give you a little extra help during your Disney adventure. Have fun, and good luck finding those Lucky Emblems!
