Enlarge / This is not a pre-rendered cut scene. This is how Pixar-perfect Kingdom Hearts 3 looks in the middle of its zany action-RPG battles. (credit: Square Enix / Disney-Pixar)

SANTA MONICA, California—Through Japanese interpreters, the director and co-director of Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts series introduced the first-ever playable version of Kingdom Hearts 3 by talking about the series’ legacy. In particular, the duo, clad in Mickey Mouse-logo shirts, said they expected people to dive into older games and spinoffs in the 16-year JRPG series based on the quality and scope of this major new sequel.

I sighed.

From my admitted outsider perspective, Kingdom Hearts is two things: an action-RPG series that injected speed and Disney cuteness into Squaresoft’s sluggish early-’00s period… and a mess of confusing plots and spin-off games that combine underwhelming mechanics and nonsensical developments to make my head spin. Nothing could make me want to rewind time and relive that uneven Kingdom history, I thought.