Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind DLC (PS4) Review

My excitement for Kingdom Hearts III was at an all-time high when the game was released last year. While there were certainly some things I think that could have been better, overall I had an enjoyable experience with it and was satisfied with what the game offered. Amazing visuals, fast-paced action, fun exploration, and some heartwarming character moments are some of the highlights. Some story stuff, the world selection and the amount of depth some of them lacked, shallow post-game content, and certain story elements were ripe for improvement.  The news that DLC was planned gave me hope for all the things that could be expanded on and explored deeper, an opportunity to add new worlds or play as different characters. There are so many possibilities! In January 2020 the Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind DLC was released and I’ve spent quite a lot of time with it

Re:Mind is split into chapters and must be tackled in order. Carrying the namesake of the DLC, Re:Mind starts up at the beginning of the climax of the story. Sora is going back and observing the events of the end of Kingdom Hearts III from a limbo space. A bulk of Re:Mind is replaying through these events, again. Occasionally, players are treated to a new scene of what happened to characters when Sora wasn’t there, and even get to play as different characters! These new scenes and characters are certainly a treat, particularly Kairi and Roxas. Unfortunately, they are sparse and short-lived before returning to Sora’s perspective. A majority of one’s time in the Re:Mind chapter is spent watching cutscenes, and most of them were already in the base game. Unfortunately, I didn’t want to skip anything because I was afraid I was going to miss a new scene if I did. It’s extremely comparable to buying a director’s or expanded cut of a movie. Upon finishing Re:Mind I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Of all the things to expand on and explore deeper in Kingdom Hearts III, the ending was not one of them. It’s already plenty long, and for a $30 piece of DLC, this seems somewhat insulting.

I played for about five hours one day and less than an hour of it was new content; very little of that time was spent actually playing the game.

The easy move is to play as the new character when given a choice; enjoy it while you can.

The good news is the next chapter in Re:Mind, Limit Cut, has a lot more gameplay but far less story in that it essentially consists of 13 boss battles. The bad news is unless you are near max level and have at least the Ultima keyblade, it is pointless to even attempt them until you do. Limit Cut starts after the events of the main game and features some of the Final Fantasy characters that were missing. Cid has recreated Sora’s data in a computer but in doing so has also recreated the data of the members of Organization XIII, which requires the digital version of Sora to fight them. These fights are extremely challenging and require high-level gear and stats. This makes these fights exclusively endgame content, and more akin to the secret bosses found in the endgames of prior Kingdom Hearts games.

In order to tackle this content that I paid $30 to play, I played the base game for an additional 5 hours, obtaining everything I needed for the Ultima Keyblade, and grinding until I was level 99. Even after doing that, I sometimes found myself getting pummeled by these fights. That said, a majority of these battles are enjoyable despite their challenge. A couple though can be infuriating, and one in particular mocks you for not learning “the rules of the game” despite never really telling you what those rules are. Learning the patterns and overcoming the challenge is satisfying, requiring excellent timing and strategy. Each fight feels unique and is some of the best Kingdom Hearts as a series has to offer. Once I got into it, I had quite a bit of fun with this specific chapter of Re:Mind, until I remembered that I paid a decent amount of extra money to play what feels like content that should have been included with the base game. 

These fights offer some very cool moments and require timing and strategy to overcome.

The final chapter, titled “Secret”, is yet another boss encounter. It’s extremely difficult and after a few attempts I looked up tips to find out that it is highly recommended that you go in with both the Oathkeeper and Oblivion keyblades, one of which requires you to beat the game on critical difficulty. I’ll admit, I gave up. I don’t have a strong desire to go through that much effort to beat this guy. I will add, however, that this chapter does include some absolutely stunning cutscene animations. Some of the best I’ve ever seen in games. There are a couple of close up shots of faces, in particular, that really stand out!

This screenshot does not do this cutscene justice in capturing just how good it looks.

Also included in the DLC is a photo mode called “Data Greeting” that allows players to grab various characters, pose them, and place them into different locations in order to create mini-stories. It’s a built-in fan-fiction creator. It’s a cool addition for people who really appreciate these creative toolsets and it enables players to mess around with their favorite characters and locations. I didn’t dive into this much. only playing around for a little bit. Even with my limited experience, I could tell this is a particularly robust feature that feels above and beyond similar features included in other games.

This scene I created in “Data Greeting” reflects strongly my feelings towards Re:Mind. Mostly sadness and anger in front of some happiness…

I was extremely excited about DLC for Kingdom Hearts III. Going in, I couldn’t wait to play as different characters and see my favorite Final Fantasy characters again. It’s frustrating to see those other characters so infrequently and may I “Re:Mind” you this is what was prominently displayed in all of the marketing. Disappointingly, the new characters are underutilized and play dramatically minor roles in the big picture of the DLC. Ultimately, the entire package feels remarkably similar to the end game content other Kingdom Hearts games have. After spending $30, this feels like not enough content to satisfy my purchase. If this had been $15, I would be much happier.

In the end, Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind, while featuring some fun stuff and some of the better fights the series has to offer, is a minor addition to the base game set at a premium price. I would only recommend it to people who love Kingdom Hearts enough to experience and overcome everything a Kingdom Hearts game has to offer.

Find more information about Kingdom Hearts III on the official website. This DLC was purchased by the reviewer.

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 6/10

VISUALS - 9/10

SOUND - 6/10

CONTROLS - 8/10

REPLAY VALUE - 3/10

OVERALL - 6.4/10