Last Friday, I spent four hours and drank four hard seltzers to beat Kingdom Hearts III. Kingdom Hearts is known for having brutal boss battles, and Kingdom Hearts III is no different. I almost quit, but I persisted and finally defeated Master Xehanort. Since completing Kingdom Hearts III, I wanted to reflect on my favorite levels and general thoughts about the game.

Kingdom Hearts III shows our memorable key wielder, Sora, as his strength is at an all-time low. He travels with his companions, Donald and Goofy, to regain his strength and learn the “power of waking,” the ability to restore lost hearts. It’s revealed how Sora has Roxas’s heart along with two other hearts bound to his. This power will be useful to prevent Xehanort from opening Kingdom Hearts, casting the world in darkness.

Kingdom Hearts III has levels in many of the newest worlds from recent movies. Olympus and Port Royal make a reappearance, along with new levels from Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Tangled, and Big Hero 6. The best level was the Toy Story level. Starting at Andy’s house, the toys make their way to a major toy store. Sora can enter these gigantic toy robots to fight Heartless while wandering the toy store. As a ’90s baby who grew up with older Pixar movies, Kingdom Hearts III appeals to my nostalgia for these movies.

The last level is where all the boss battles begin. Sora has to fight his way through all the major characters in Organization XIII. When I reached the final battle, I had leveled up Sora to level #43. In the future, I would have stayed on the Big Hero 6 level for longer to level up Sora to be more prepared for taking on Organization XIII. Before taking on Xehanort, I would recommend having at least 4+ hours of free time. There’s one final save point before entering the town and Xehanort’s territory. Kingdom Hearts III has designated save points, and you don’t want to lose progress in the fight and have to redo it.

Kingdom Hearts III is filled with nostalgia. The story isn’t the main reason why I play this series. I play for the characters, including Sora, with Aqua being my favorite key wielder. Besides the Toy Story level, I liked the Monsters Inc. level. I’m impressed with the voice acting in this game. Without having the original voice actors, the characters sound like the original characters from the movies. Kingdom Hearts III was worth the wait.