History YMMV / KingdomHeartsIII

** While certainly [[FranchiseOriginalSin not the first offender in the franchise]], the Disney worlds feel like this for many players. Other than bringing up the potential existence of new guardians of light and having some very vaguely-explained benefits to the Organization experimenting within them, they don't really do much to progress the story. Sora is told to unlock the "Power of Waking", so he goes and explores a Disney world, doesn't get the power, and [[HereWeGoAgain goes to another world]]. Rinse and repeat. When the main plot finally does get moving, it's because of things Riku and Mickey have been doing off-screen, and Sora's questing in the Disney worlds immediately halts as he goes to help them as soon as he realizes [[spoiler:the Power of Waking [[ItWasWithYouAllAlong was with him all along]]]], effectively meaning nearly the entirety of the worlds were pointless.

** '''Everything''' regarding the existence of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Verum Rex]]'' and its potential application of resurrecting [[{{Vaporware}} the scrapped]] ''Final Fantasy Versus XIII''. Fans who felt disappointed by ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' (the game ''Versus XIII'' ended up as) or believe its cancellation came from being ScrewedByTheNetwork look forward to its story and characters being applied to the future of the franchise. Meanwhile, fans who blame the DevelopmentHell, and eventual cancellation, of ''Versus XIII'' on Nomura feel the game's potential reapplication in the its reapplication in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' franchise will cause the series' characters and ongoing storyline to be neglected in favor of a project that Nomura is better off moving on from.

** ''Everything'' regarding the existence of Verum Rex and its potential application of resurrecting [[{{Vaporware}} the scrapped]] ''Final Fantasy Versus XIII''. Fans who felt disappointed by ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' (the game ''Versus XIII'' ended up as) or believe its cancellation came from being ScrewedByTheNetwork look forward to its story and characters being applied to the future of the franchise. Meanwhile, fans who blame the DevelopmentHell, and eventual cancellation, of ''Versus XIII'' on Nomura feel the game's potential reapplication in the its reapplication in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' franchise will cause the series' characters and ongoing storyline to be neglected in favor of a project that Nomura is better off moving on from.

** ''Everything'' regarding the existence of Verum Rex and its potential application of resurrecting [[Vaporware the scrapped ''Final Fantasy Versus XIII'']]. Those who were disappointed in ''VideoGameFinalFantasyXV'' (the game Versus XIII ended up as) or believe its cancellation came from being ScrewedByTheNetwork look forward to its story and characters being applied to the future of the franchise. Meanwhile, fans who blame the DevelopmentHell and eventual cancellation of ''Verus XIII'' on Nomura feel the game's potential reapplication in the its reapplication in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' franchise will cause the series's characters and ongoing storyline to be neglected in favor of a project that Nomura is better off moving on from.

* BrokenBase: The game's initial release was met with a divided house. On the defenders' side, people rejoiced at a worthy conclusion of the Xehanort Saga, and defend ''Re:Mind'' as Nomura addressing many of the complaints players had with the game. Detractors however say the game is hap-hazardly made at the very least, with the game's pacing all over the place, a story that [[VoodooShark creates even more questions than it answers]], gives extremely high star power to Sora [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter at the expense of nearly everyone else]] and can't even bother to make a satisfying end to his story, and marks Nomura's departure from the franchise's original premise of mixing ''Final Fantasy'' and Disney characters, effectively betraying its essence.

** A small one, but in 2016, it seemed that the port to the UsefulNotes/XboxOne had been cancelled in Japan, causing some people to believe it had been cancelled everywhere as well. Thankfully, this isn't the case and the listing was put back on the Japanese Xbox site. However, even after this was discovered and the game was edging closer to release on both platforms, some people were ''still'' insistent on the port being cancelled.

** The Classic Kingdom is a very obvious ShoutOut to Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch LCD games, and not only does Sora now get to fight Mr. Game & Watch in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', but ''Kingdom Hearts III'' was announced to be coming to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch (albeit via cloud streaming), bringing everything full circle.

--> '''Xigbar:''' How much of my true intent is getting through to you? If it doesn't reach you at all, I've got a problem, but come on, you could at least take some of it to heart. These kids and their heart-guided Keyblades. I've seen more than enough of you go down the path of self-sacrifice and it never ends well.

--->'''Sora:''' Wow. I don't know what we just saw, but... wow.

** Xemnas. [[spoiler: The game tries to rerail his portrayal as the TragicVillian he was portrayed as in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. However, the task is impossible after ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsDreamDropDistance'' established that Xemnas knew Nobodies could grow hearts and willfully lied to the Organization in order to further Xehanort’s plans. So to have Xemnas suddenly feel regret and loneliness comes across more as a KarmicDeath than the AlasPoorVillan moment the game tries to paint it out to be, especially considering that this moment comes right after he'd sadistically tormented Roxas, Xion, and Axel, and kidnapped Kairi just to provoke the Guardians of Light into following along with Master Xehanort's plan. Sora’s sympathy gets even more bizarre when you consider how angry he was at Xemnas following TheReveal in ''DDD'' and how he shows no sympathy for Xigbar, who, as far as Sora is aware, is guilty of the exact same crimes as Xemnas.]]

** Master Xehanort. [[spoiler:The ending reveals he really was a KnightTemplar after all, believing that because human hearts are almost always vulnerable to darkness, they are responsible for the realm of light being too full of darkness, and he thought the only way to restore balance was to use Kingdom Hearts to purge the universe and start it all over, and he will become the worlds' leader to ensure balance. Even though ''[=ReMind=]'' expands upon this and successfully makes Xehanort's goal make more sense with how this [[{{Asspull}} characterization comes out of nowhere after you defeat him pre-DLC]], that still doesn't justify him betraying and murdering his best friend Master Eraqus, as well as him ruining the lives of Eraqus' pupils & the other main characters, and being the main cause of everything bad that has happened to the worlds regarding his heartless and his nobody, all of which he doesn't express even the slightest bit of regret for, let alone apologize for everything he's done to Sora and his friends, makes Xehanort not worthy of being forgiven or redeemed for his actions in the eyes of many fans and find it impossible to fathom why [[EasilyForgiven Eraqus would forgive him after everything he's done]].]]

** Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness. [[spoiler: His final scene has him convey sadness that despite having tried [[CantFightFate to fight his fate]] by searching for the whereabouts of Subject X, he gave up hope of achieving his goals when his hostage, Ansem the Wise, was rescued from him and he learned that both Vexen and Demyx betrayed the Organization. But in all that time we're never told what he'd wish to ''do'' to Subject X that would allow him to cheat fate, never expressed any sign that he cared for the girl, and she'd been one of the young residents of Radiant Garden he'd coldly locked up and [[PlayingWithSyringes performed experiments on]] in Hollow Bastion, even marking her as a special research subject. Moreover, Riku expresses some compassion for Ansem, saying he's going to miss him, and Ansem likewise regards Riku as a WorthyOpponent, despite every previous interaction between Ansem and Riku consisting of Ansem using, exploiting, tormenting, and inflicting agony upon Riku, making it impossible to buy that Riku would have any positive feelings towards the man who'd repeatedly made him suffer so much in the past.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Organization XIII, to varying degrees. [[spoiler:With some of them, like [[FairPlayVillain Luxord]] and [[WeUsedToBeFriends Saix]], it's acceptable that the heroes may show a degree of empathy and sadness about their deaths. But for others it's hard to believe that the story even ''tries'' to paint their deaths in a tragic light.]] Honorable mentions go to...
** Xemnas. [[spoiler: The game tries to rerail his portrayal as the TragicVillian he was portrayed as in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. However, the task is impossible after ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsDreamDropDistance'' established that Xemnas knew Nobodies could grow hearts and willfully lied to the Organization in order to further Xehanort’s plans. So to have Xemnas suddenly feel regret and loneliness comes across more as a KarmicDeath than the AlasPoorVillan moment the game tries to paint it out to be, especially considering that this moment comes right after he kidnaps Kairi just to provoke the Guardians of Light. Sora’s sympathy gets even more bizarre when you consider how angry he was at Xemnas following TheReveal in ''DDD'' and how he shows no sympathy for Xigbar, who, as far as Sora is aware, is guilty of the exact same crimes as Xemnas.]]

** Xemnas. [[spoiler: The game tries to rerail his portrayal as the TragicVillian he was portrayed as in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. However, the task is impossible after ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts/DreamDropDistance'' established Xemnas knew Nobodies could grow hearts and willfully lied to the Organization in order to further Xehanort’s plan. So to have Xemnas suddenly feel regret and loneliness comes across more as a KarmicDeath than the AlasPoorVillan moment the game tries to paint it out to be, especially considering that this moment comes right after he kidnaps Kairi just to provoke the Guardians of Light. Sora’s sympathy gets even more bizarre when you consider how angry he was at Xemnas following TheReveal in ''DDD'' and how he shows no sympathy for Xigbar, who, as far as Sora is aware, is guilty of the exact same crimes as Xemnas.]]

** Xemnas. [[spoiler: The game tries to rerail his portrayal as the TragicVillian he was portrayed as in ''Kingdom Hearts II''. However the task is impossible after ''Dream Drop Distance'' established Xemnas knew Nobodies could grow hearts and willfully lied to the Organization in order to further Xehanort’s plan. So to have him suddenly feel regret and loneliness comes across more as a KarmicDeath than the AlasPoorVillan moment the game tries to paint it out to be especially considering that this moment comes right after he kidnaps Kairi just to provoke the Guardians of Light. Sora’s sympathy gets even more bizarre when you consider how angry he was at the Revelation in DDD and how he shows no sympathy for Xigbar who (as far as Sora is aware) is guilty of the exact same crimes as Xemnas.]]

!!Examples specific to ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIIIReMind'' should go on its' [[YMMV/KingdomHeartsIIIReMind YMMV page.]]

** Xemnas. [[spoiler: The game tries to rerail his portrayal as the TragicVillian he was portrayed as in ''Kingdom Hearts II''. However the task is impossible after ''Dream Drop Distance'' established Xemnas knew Nobodies could grow hearts and willfully lied to the Organization in order to further Xehanort’s plan. So to have him suddenly feel regret and loneliness comes across more as a KarmicDeath than the AlasPoorVillan moment the game tries to paint it out to be. Sora’s sympathy gets even more bizarre when you consider how angry he was at the Revelation in DDD and how he shows no sympathy for Xigbar who (as far as Sora is aware) is guilty of the exact same crimes as Xemnas.]]
** Master Xehanort. [[spoiler:The ending reveals he really was a KnightTemplar after all, believing that because human hearts are almost always vulnerable to darkness, they are responsible for the realm of light being too full of darkness, and he thought the only way to restore balance was to use Kingdom Hearts to purge the universe and start it all over, and he will become the worlds' leader to ensure balance. Even though ''[=ReMind=]'' expands upon this and successfully makes Xehanort's goal make more sense with how this [[{{Asspull}} characterization comes out of nowhere after you defeat him pre-DLC]], that still doesn't justify him betraying and murdering his best friend Master Eraqus, as well as him ruining the lives of Eraqus' pupils as well as the other main characters, and being the main cause of everything bad that has happened to the worlds regarding his heartless and his nobody, all of which he doesn't express even the slightest bit of regret for, let alone apologize for everything he's done to Sora and his friends, makes Xehanort not worthy of being forgiven or redeemed for his actions in the eyes of many fans and find it impossible to fathom why [[EasilyForgiven Eraqus would forgive him after everything he's done]].]]

** The ''Re Mind'' DLC makes Riku, Aqua, Roxas, and Kairi all playable during their own boss battles. Roxas and Kairi especially shine, the former for being just as powerful in player hands as he was in the original story as a supporting character, and the latter for [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescuing herself from the scrappy heap]] by being just the right level of strength to make the final boss fun yet challenging.
** The Guardians who weren't playable in their own sections still get a chance to shine in battle, as the climax of the storyline opens with a fight where the player plays as ''all of them''.
** After the ''Re Mind'' storyline comes the Limitcut episode and the Data Organization battles contained within. Where the Data bosses in ''II'' were simply the same bosses from the story with higher stats and some mechanical tweaks, the Data bosses in ''III'' are completely redesigned and dialed up to a far higher difficulty level than their ''II'' counterparts without being at all cheap or unfair. The brand-new remixes of their music are just the cherry on top.
** Defeating all of the Data bosses unlocks the Secret Episode, and the SNKBoss found therein has rightfully earned his spot as not only the best superboss in Kingdom ''Hearts III'', but as possibly ''the'' best superboss in the entire franchise, dethroning even Lingering Will.

** Sora in this game. He spends most of the game stripped of most of his power after [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsDreamDropDistance Xehanort attempted to make him his final vessel for his new Organization]]. And he spends most of the game being teased by everyone for his shortcomings as a Keyblade wielder because he failed the Mark of Mastery exam, especially from Donald and Goofy as they state "He can't be a full pint without them," forgetting that Sora has managed to be a strong Keyblade wielder even when no one was there by his side in battle, and he only failed the exam because Xehanort hijacked it. Also, the fact that everyone who was targeted by Xehanort and his Organization in the past have ended up as victims to his plans just like Sora did, making their situations no different from Sora, and making them all come off as [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrites]]. Along with later on as Sora breaks down in tears as the Guardians of Light get swallowed by the darkness, stating to Riku that he's worthless without his friends there fighting with him, as if all that teasing he experienced had finally made him crack. All this together makes the treatment Sora gets in this game very needlessly mean-spirited. The irony is that players with enough skill can have Sora beat the game on level 1, showing that even though Sora is stripped of his powers, he is still far from useless.

* WTHCastingAgency: Many fans were confused by the fact that Music/MandyMoore isn't the voice of [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Rapunzel]] in this game, as not only was she the voice of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Aerith]] back in the original ''Kingdom Hearts'', but this is the only piece of official Disney media featuring Rapunzel where Moore ''doesn't'' voice her, with her reprising her role every other time.

** Just how much of Braig/Xigbar is [[spoiler:Luxu really? Is the whole SurferDude shtick just an act or a natural evolution of his [[{{Adorkable}} original personality]]? Is Luxu trying to emulate the Master of Masters to cope with loneliness, depression, boredom or whatever? Was there ever an actual person called Braig before he got possessed by Luxu? This last one is assuming Luxu is indeed a {{Body Surf}}er, since the game doesn't explain [[AmbiguousSituation what exactly is this whole "vessel hopping" he's been pulling for centuries]]. Is it a situation similar to how Xehanort's vessels still retain their personalities despite having his heart? In hindsight, this even extends to some of his actions in previous games, like seeing Ventus' face over Xion's in ''Days''. Was this due to his memory of him at Radiant Garden during ''Birth by Sleep'' 10 years ago or was it his memory of him as a Dandelion Union Leader during the events of ''χ [chi]'' even further back?]]

** In an early scene in the DLC, Saïx calls out Xigbar for giving Luxord the order to go after the Black Box directly in front of Master Xehanort. When Xigbar shrugs and says the task he gave Luxord will help the Organization in the long run, Saïx looks to Master Xehanort in confusion, only to find him merely smirking at him and basically shrugging and closing his eyes, clearly ordering him to carry on with the discussion. Saïx drops the subject and does so. It’s clear Master Xehanort does know about Xigbar’s directive to Luxord, but even for someone who Luxord said is too obsessed with the Keyblade War to care about it, it’s very hard to get a fix on where Master Xehanort really stands on it, as well as Xigbar’s very clear independent streak. Could Xehanort really not care and think that finding the Black Box is a happy bonus to his goals, and thus why he allows the search for it to continue? [[spoiler:Or is there the smallest possibility that he actually was in some sort of league with the Master of Masters and Luxu for whatever their plans with the Box are, even if the latter’s plot to use him as the “scapegoat” worked marvelously well?]]

*** The Saïx boss fight is a particular point of being too easy among the Seekers of Darkness. Due to Sora's partners in this fight being both quite aggressive against Saïx and capable of casting healing magic, the battle is heavily tilted towards the player. One person took this to its logical extreme by showing the two allies winning the fight on their own, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaFXQLJfelM while Sora stood completely still]].

** Sköll, the final boss of Arendelle, is one of the highest regarded bosses in the game, and it's not hard to see why: it's a wolf Heartless that strikes a balance of being fun to fight while also being challenging thanks to its aggressive fighting style and pack of smaller wolf Heartless backing it up, and at one point will try to crush the party by dropping the sky on them. But what makes the fight especially fun and memorable is the atmosphere: Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Marshmallow fight it in a frosty, shadowy wasteland set to a somber and dramatic orchestrated piece that gives it an almost apocalyptic feel. It helps that it's the Heartless of Prince Hans.

** The battle in the Keyblade Graveyard against [[spoiler:Saïx and Xion. Saïx is more or less the same battle from ''II'' and Xion doesn't do much besides copying his moves. The initial difficulty is just moderate at best, but once Roxas joins in and Xion changes sides, it craters into cakewalk territory, due to how hilariously overpowered the former is as a party member]]. You can easily sit back and let your two party members do all the work in this fight and still win. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaFXQLJfelM Case in point]].

** The boss battle with [[spoiler:Saïx, with Roxas and Xion as your party members. The series completely avoids its usual ArtificialStupidity here, Roxas and Xion are very aggressive and very powerful, especially Roxas, so players can stand back and let the two of them beat the crap out of Saïx on their own, and they'll win. For fans of ''Days'' who saw how Saïx treated the two of them, this is very satisfying to watch, although these feelings are mitigated once you have the information that Saïx ''wanted'' this outcome and even helped Roxas and Xion return as means of [[TheAtoner atonement.]]]]

** The scene where Sora and Kairi share the paopu fruit is widely considered to mark their RelationshipUpgrade and signify the two becoming the OfficialCouple. Except Sora’s original Japanese voice actor Miyu Irino [[https://www.khinsider.com/news/Kingdom-Hearts-3-Ultimania-Voice-Actor-Interview-Translated-15092 indicated in a post-release interview from the Ultimania that sharing the fruit was not indicative of romance]]. Irino also indicated in the same interview that the developers had made an alternate scene where Sora and Kairi didn’t share the paopu fruit, and that Testsuya Nomura had gone back and forth over which version to use out of concern for how audiences would interpret it. Additionally, the in-universe social media posts used on the loading screens for the Re𝄌Mind DLC show that Sora and Kairi [[OneDialogueTwoConversations had completely opposite interpretations of what the scene was supposed to mean]], with Kairi viewing it as a way to guarantee that they physically remain together, while Sora sees it as a promise that their friendship will endure even when they aren’t in the same place.

** Among the Heartless, Sköll proved to be a fan favorite at launch thanks to his badass design, fun boss fight, and the fact that he's a rare Heartless of a Disney villain. Even people who loathed Arendelle as a world felt that it was worth playing through just to fight him. He's since become more divisive, however, as players who focus more on gameplay than story and presentation have become more critical of the actual fight over time, with Sköll becoming one of that group's least favorite bosses in the game.

** The ''Winnie the Pooh'' trailer gives a full shot of the 13 Seekers of Darkness. Fans speculate the female members, minus Larxene who was already revealed, are either Aqua, Xion, Naminé, or even the Foretellers. [[spoiler: It was Xion.]]

** In an attempt to explain the more {{Mind Screw}}y elements of the plot, one group of fans compiled [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/11d1TKd4ZKZd41pJKQ77bKz4YxJx8_Mojz2KMpNvTrvU a 350-page document]] detailing their theory that [[spoiler: the ''vast majority of the game'' -- specifically, the events up until Sora saves everyone in The Final World and undoes their fall at the Keyblade Graveyard -- are part of a GroundhogDayLoop as Sora attempts to change the outcome a failed timeline that the audience does not see, similar to how ''Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ [chi]'' retells the events of ''Kingdom Hearts χ [chi]'' up until just before the Keyblade War, then has the player character keep going like the war never happened]].

** One theory to tie {{Superboss}} Dark Inferno to the main story is that it is the Heartless of [[spoiler:Ephemer]], mostly due to sharing a ScarfOfAsskicking that no other Heartless has. ''[=ReMind=]'' stoked the fires of this theory even further, as the player fights a PaletteSwap of Dark Inferno called "Dark Inferno χ" at the start of the DLC.

*** “A Glimmer Atop 104” or simply "[[spoiler:Yozora]]" for the TrueFinalBoss in ''[=ReMind=]'', officially titled "Nachtflügel".

* FanonDiscontinuity: Not too widespread, but some fans choose to ignore a certain twist toward the end of the game due to those fans thinking that the original implication was cooler. [[spoiler:The twist being that Dark Riku was actually the Riku Replica, rather than Riku himself from ''Kingdom Hearts I''. Dark Riku is treated as the real Riku from the past throughout the game by Goofy, present Riku, and even Dark Riku himself up until his defeat, when he starts stammering about wanting to be real in his dying words and then present Riku Replica confirming it. The reason for this preference is that there are already three Xehanorts from ''Chain of Memories'' without him (even if one of the three, Vexen, was benched) while without Dark Riku, there is only one from ''Kingdom Hearts I'' (Ansem). Dark Riku makes ''I'' a little more represented among the villains. Plus it's more interesting to see Riku literally fight his past mistakes rather than fight an old villain he already beat twice before (and who technically has never met him yet from that villain's perspective). The only point in Riku Replica's favor is that his sacrifice for Naminé was touching, but this sacrifice still could have happened almost exactly the same way even if it was the against the original Riku’s past self rather than his own.]]

** Lea/Axel gets both an emotional reunion with Roxas and cradling a dying Saïx in his arms while promising to find him once he's recompleted as Isa again. Saïx's admission that he fell deeper into darkness because he was jealous of Axel's friendship with Roxas and Xion has some jilted lover undertones.

** A more localized example comes from the Saïx boss fight in the Skein. Due to the aggressive AI and overall strength of Sora's partners in the fight, it's possible to win this battle [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaFXQLJfelM without doing anything]].

** The usual moes of the series, Naminé, Kairi, and Xion are back as well.

** ''Coded'' was widely criticized for having Data-Sora's thanking Data-Naminé counting as the official "Thank Naminé". In his conversation with Naminé in the final world, Sora points out that the datascape didn't count and that the thanks would only count when they could actually talk face to face in the real world.

*** Some fans felt a bit deflated after learning that [[spoiler:Saïx, pulling a HeelFaceTurn, removed some of the epic catharsis of the fight against him in the Keyblade War. The DLC adds an additional stage where Roxas, Xion, and Axel also fight Xemnas, who is decidedly less sympathetic than Saïx at this point of the game and was the one who ordered Saïx to be so cruel to the heroes, giving back some of the catharsis robbed by the reveal of Saïx's true nature. The fight against Saïx subsequently comes off more as a IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight with the intent of freeing him from Xehanort's control.]]

*** Kairi's storyline was criticized for turning her into a FauxActionGirl, despite the buildup since ''Dream Drop Distance'' that she would [[TookALevelInBadass take a level in badass]]. ''[=ReMind=]'' not only gives a more justifiable reason for her kidnapping,[[note]]She had her energy drained by Xemnas after going toe-to-toe with him in battle[[/note]] and for Xehanort easily offing her,[[note]]Xehanort did so because he had the power to bring her back if he ended up losing the χ-blade; if this happened, he needed the Princesses of Heart to open Kingdom Hearts for him, and thus Kairi was a Plan B should Plan A go south[[/note]] but it finally makes her [[PromotedToPlayable a fully playable character]] in the battle against Armored Xehanort, pushing her into full ActionGirl territory and allowing her to avenge her own fridging. In fact, reactions to the DLC made her a MemeticBadass for how she was able to stand against Xehanort after such comparatively little training.
*** A new scene gives Naminé screentime in the game prior to the ending, and [[ShowDontTell she's shown doing her part to help, rather than the plot just saying that she helped]].

*** To answer the question of what everyone else was doing while Sora was fighting Master Xehanort and why they only showed up ''after'' the fight was over, we get a playable battle where, at the same time Master Xehanort acquires the χ-blade in Scala, the other Keyblade wielders are fighting the Replica Xehanorts in an area resembling the skies above Scala ad Caelum, showing that even if they weren't helping Sora personally, they were playing just as important a part in the final battle.

* ShippingGoggles: While Tetsuya Nomura confirmed in the Ultimania that Riku picking up Naminé in Radiant Garden at the end of the game was simply the fulfillment of Repliku's LastRequest and was not indicative of romantic feelings between the two, many fans (particularly those who haven't read the Ultimania) insist that their interaction is either ShipTease or a RelationshipUpgrade.

** A lot of characters end up sidelined with little, if anything, of importance to do. Aside from Sora, Donald, and Goofy, only Riku, Mickey, Aqua, Roxas, Xion and Terra get to actually do anything that helps progress the plot in some way, and even then they're often [[TheWorfEffect rendered useless]]. Kairi and Lea mostly just here to be party members for the final world's BossRush, and to hold up their Keyblades with the rest of the group for a couple of cutscenes. The appearance of [[spoiler:Naminé]] can be missed entirely, since her only appearance outside of the ending is in an optional scene gotten by talking to an NPC you can easily overlook, and the Lingering Will appears for a BigDamnHeroes moment and then [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse vanishes from the plot]]. Ventus manages to fare out slightly better than them due to his BigDamnHeroes when he saves Aqua from being killed by Vanitas, but not much aside from that. [[AuthorsSavingThrow Rectified]] in ''[=ReMind=]'', which makes sure to give absolutely ''everyone'' their moment.

** Many fans felt the Anti-Aqua boss fight would have worked far better if, instead of Sora, it was Mickey that was the one the player took control of due to the deep connection the two have. Given that it was Mickey [[FireForgedFriends who teamed up with Aqua multiple times]], [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep helped her destroy the proto χ-blade and save Ventus from Vanitas]], [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage saved her while she was in the Realm of Darkness but being forced to leave her there once more to save all the worlds]] ([[ItsAllMyFault something the previous scene between them made clear that he feels completely responsible for]]), making Mickey the PlayerCharacter for this boss fight would have been a much more [[FightingYourFriend fitting and emotional confrontation given the history and tightly forged bond of between these two.]] It doesn't help that the impact of the fight we did get is much weaker due to [[ForgottenFirstMeeting Sora not remebering his first meeting with Aqua.]]

** Gopher was also a surprise treat, as while he did appear in the previous game, within that thirteen year span, he too had practically disappeared from the ''Pooh'' franchise. For that matter, he actually appears right beside Lumpy - the two characters have never appeared before together, Gopher having been replaced by Beaver on ''My Friends Tigger & Pooh''. Their joint appearance is also an interesting cultural mix. In a way, Gopher represented the Americanized angle the franchise had taken up until the 90s, while Lumpy is an aspect of the slight realigning towards its British roots, also around the time Gopher practically disappeared until this game. Therefore, Gopher and Lumpy appearing together kind of pays homage to the franchise's evolution, best of both worlds[[note]]Of course, a more pragmatic reason of the inclusion of both is to fill out the cast a bit more in the absence of Eeyore, Kanga, and Owl, enforced on Eeyore's part due to the death of his original actor, Taro Ishida, much in the same way that Phil is surprisingly silent due to his own actor's death. The reason(s) for Kanga and Owl's absence is unknown[[/note]].

** Sora in this game. He spends most of the game stripped of most of his power after Xehanort attempted to make him his final vessel for his new Organization. And he spends most of the game being teased by everyone for his shortcomings as a Keyblade wielder because he failed the Mark of Mastery exam, especially from Donald and Goofy as they state "He can't be a full pint without them," forgetting that Sora has managed to be a strong Keyblade wielder even when no one was there by his side in battle, and he only failed the exam because Xehanort hijacked it. Also, the fact that everyone who was targeted by Xehanort and his Organization in the past have ended up as victims to his plans just like Sora did, making their situations no different from Sora, and making them all come off as [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrites]]. Along with later on as Sora breaks down in tears as the Guardians of Light get swallowed by the darkness, stating to Riku that he's worthless without his friends there fighting with him, as if all that teasing he experienced had finally made him crack. All this together makes the treatment Sora gets in this game very needlessly mean-spirited. The irony is that players with enough skill can have Sora beat the game on level 1, showing that even though Sora is stripped of his powers, he is still far from useless.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Like many of the Disney worlds in ''Kingdom Hearts I'' and ''II'', [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} the Kingdom of Corona]], [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Arendelle]], and [[Film/PiratesoftheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd Caribbean]] more or less retell the storylines of the films they are adapted from. The criticism for this approach is much more severe from both critics and fans in ''III'' however is due to how little Sora, Donald, and Goofy are actually involved in the storylines compared to the previous numbered entries causing a good chunk of context for scenes and characters to be missing, resulting in the stories of these worlds to be much more poorly executed compared to previous retellings.

* ContinuityLockout:

** Dark Inferno is fairly tame for being the requisite secret boss. Previous bonus bosses in the series have demanded players be at a high level to win, and some of them are challenging even at Level 99. Dark Inferno, however, can be beaten in the Level 40-50 range if you know what you're doing, and can be crushed with the [[GameBreaker Ultima Weapon]], which can deplete two health bars with one combo. Add to that its generic design--basically an Invisible from the first game, but taller and [[DualWielding carrying two swords]]--and it's considered a huge letdown and nowhere near the challenge players have come to expect from the series' secret bosses. To put it one way, there are a number of players who beat him in their first few attempts (or even ''the'' first) without realizing it was meant to be a superboss. {{Justified|trope}}, as it's actually a BossInMookClothing,[[note]]Jiminy's Journal keeps track of the number of Dark Infernos defeated just like any regular non-boss Heartless and it's referred to as a species rather than a singular boss,[[/note]] and the ''actual'' {{Bonus Boss}}es are included with the ''[=ReMind=]'' DLC.

** Of the Data Organization XIII BonusBoss battles, Data Luxord is commonly thought to be the easiest of the lot. This is mainly because his fight is a gimmick fight like in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', where he doesn't have an obscene amount of HP and focuses more on challenging Sora to minigames. While he does sport far more brutal attacks and speed like the other Data bosses, the fact that you don't insomuch fight him as win his card games to defeat him makes him much easier to deal with than everyone else.

* CrackPairing: This game has caused a portion of the fandom to ship [[BonusBoss Yozora]] and [[TheHero Sora]] together in a romantic sense, as [[PortmanteauCoupleName YoSora]].

** One theory to tie BonusBoss Dark Inferno to the main story is that it is the Heartless of [[spoiler:Ephemer]], mostly due to sharing a ScarfOfAsskicking that no other Heartless has. ''[=ReMind=]'' stoked the fires of this theory even further, as the player fights a PaletteSwap of Dark Inferno called "Dark Inferno χ" at the start of the DLC.

* ItsHardSoItSucks: A few fans (particularly the EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame crowd) weren't happy about ''[=ReMind=]'' being overly focused on the new {{Bonus Boss}}es, which are monumentally challenging compared to their predecessors, the Data Organization from ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix'', and are explicitly designed to punish wayward button mashing that you can usually get away with in most other fights in ''III''.

** Dark Inferno, the base game's BonusBoss, for being very underwhelming and easy to defeat compared to the Final Mix optional bosses that players had several years to get used to before ''III'''s release from the [=PS3=] and [=PS4=] compilations. It became substantially more dangerous with the 1.05 Critical Mode update, but still only hovers at about the level of danger of a boss like [=KH2=] Sephiroth instead of something like Lingering Will.

** Defeating the strongest BonusBoss Heartless Ship in The Caribbean. Not only is it a serious challenge even for a max-level Leviathan, it's [[FlunkyBoss flanked by two only slightly weaker ships]]. But the worst offender is that sailing too far away will cause it to ''de-spawn'', which is very easy to do accidentally while dodging its volleys.

** Even though the ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'' developers worked on the Gummi Ship segments of this game, [[spoiler:it's still a surprise to see [[ThatOneBoss it's most infamous boss Schwarzgeist]] appear as a Gummi Ship-exclusive BonusBoss.]]

* EvilIsSexy:
** While Aqua [[MsFanservice has always been good-looking]], aided by her build, more mature appearance compared to previous female leads, and [[SexyBacklessOutfit mildly revealing]] attire, her EvilMakeover, sporting [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white hair]] and [[SupernaturalGoldEyes gold eyes]], has led many a fan asking her to step on them.
** Of course, there's also the various Xehanort incarnations, many of whom have been culled from the original Organization XIII--itself already the definitive collective example of this trope in ''Kingdom Hearts''. Special note goes to the revived Marluxia and Luxord, both of whom now sport gold eyes like Aqua above.
** [[DarkActionGirl Larxene]] as always, of course, who now also has the gold eyes along with her ever-saucy personality.
** Would you believe the amount of people smitten with the Parasol Beauty Heartless? It might look like an adorable, curvy miss, but it's still an EldritchAbomination made of darkness in the end.

%% * HarsherInHindsight: