14 years ago, video game developer Square Enix collaborated with Disney and released “Kingdom Hearts II,” the sequel to one of its most unique and iconic video games of the decade, which captured the hearts of Disney fans around the world, and Tuesday, the long-awaited “Kingdom Hearts III” arrived.

The games feature an anime-style design and, in many instances, were compared to the Final Fantasy franchise, which began in 1987. The Kingdom Hearts series even featured some characters from Final Fantasy in its games.

The story guides players through multiple worlds fashioned after select Disney movies, and the players interact with characters from those films, such as Mulan, Tarzan, Jack Sparrow, Ariel and Winnie the Pooh.

Through the years, several spinoff Kingdom Hearts games were released after the first, which made its debut in 2002, including “Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories,” released in 2004 just before “Kingdom Hearts II,” “Kingdom Hearts Coded,” released in 2008 and “Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep,” released in 2010. As a result, many new characters were introduced who were part of the newer plots not included in the first two main games. This proves to be an issue for those playing the newest game who are unfamiliar with the entire series since those characters are integrated into the plot of the new game.

Another factor which could raise confusion concerns most of the worlds which revolve around the plots of the Disney movies they’re derived from. If the player isn’t familiar with the movie, they may have a hard time following the plots in each world and their relevance to the game’s objective. This does not affect the player’s capacity to play through the game as the characters’ abilities are more colorful, enjoyable and exciting than past games.

Regardless of the perplexity of the plotlines, the gameplay in “Kingdom Hearts III” is fantastic. Most of the music from the original game makes an appearance, bringing in a sense of nostalgia, and the animation has made outstanding progress since its predecessors.

In past games, all high-quality animation was saved for the larger cutscenes and sacrificed during smaller scenes and gameplay, where character voices were muted and replaced with subtitles. In the newest game, all characters are voiced regardless of the length of the scene, and the animation quality remains consistent throughout as a result of a higher budget and better technology.

“Kingdom Hearts III” still offers the ability to play mini-games and take on small jobs to earn special items. A new and enjoyable feature of this game is the addition of “Lucky Emblems,” which includes a series of hidden Mickey Mouse heads around each world players can photograph for the chance to gain items. This added component is a reflection of the Disney theme parks, which have hundreds of “hidden Mickeys” around the parks for guests to find, and it is a great way to extend gameplay beyond simply completing the main task of each world.

Another addition to the game is the player’s party is not strictly limited to three members. In the past, in order to gain a new member, the player had to select one existing party member to switch out. In the new game, all existing party members remain in the party when gaining new members. For example, when playing in the world “Toy Box,” players interact with characters from the movie “Toy Story” and gain both Woody and Buzz as allies along with the standard three-person party made up of Sora, Donald and Goofy.

Overall, “Kingdom Hearts III” has enhanced player experience by addressing issues from the older games and taking advantage of this new era of animation. Although it’s been nearly two decades since the release of the first “Kingdom Hearts,” the wait has not been in vain as the third game provides an immersive and exciting experience for its dedicated fans.