“Kingdom Hearts 3” (KH3) is one game of a series that take place in a blending of Disney and Final Fantasy worlds. You travel from kingdom to kingdom as Sora, joined by Donald and Goofy, trying to…honestly, the purpose is not that clear.

I could go about the story, the 30 minute-long cutscenes or the fact that out of my first five hours playing, I could only control my character for approximately two hours. I could talk about the hundreds of pop-up screens that appear randomly with pages of text to constantly explain every little thing about to happen. But plenty of other players have already done that.

What I can tell you is that it is an insanely frustrating experience to be told the universe-ending stakes at play, then traveling to different Disney movie worlds to spend hours playing through a choppy and poorly animated version of a great movie. “Quick, Sora!” I was told, “You must unlock the power of Awakening! But first head over to “Tangled” world and fight bad guys in the background of that movie’s plot.”

It will also take time to reanimate entire scenes of these films—only worse, so that you can see Sora and Donald out of focus in the background.

Some worlds try something new. I was having an absolute blast with the “Toy Story” characters, running around a giant toy store in search of our friends separated by events earlier in the game. There was a childlike rush as I hopped onto a rocket with Woody and Buzz at my side as we launched ourselves into a group of enemies. Going into bright, colorful combat with some of your favorite Disney characters can be a thrill. Spinning in a circle with Donald as you launch a spray of fireworks or jumping aboard the teacups ride from Disney parks as they spin around the map smashing enemies can be a joyful experience. That is, until you do it repeatedly and things get more chaotic than fun.

In the end, “KH3” feels stuck out of time; it reminds me of a PlayStation 2 game with a fresh coat of paint. It could have been a good game—great even—if it didn’t get in its own way and would actually let you play it.

“…it is an insanely frustrating experience to be told the universe ending stakes at play, then traveling to different Disney movie worlds to spend hours playing through a chopped up and poorly animated version of a great movie.“

Peer Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Stars