How does Kingdom Hearts 3? The most famous section of the long-awaited JRPG sequel is by far the one that emulates one of the Assassin's Creed series' most beloved titles, using the world of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to sail around on a ship, getting into fights reminiscent of Black Flag. But how do the two hold up when compared?
Kingdom Hearts 3 had a lot to catch up on when it came to game design, seeing as how its previous mainline entry - Kingdom Hearts 2 - had been released 14 years before. On top of creative decisions, director Tetsuya Nomura wanted to make changes to the series - like Kingdom Hearts 3 cutting back on Final Fantasy characters - the series also had to contend with more modern game mechanics and figure out how to implement them into 3. So, when it was decided that the Pirates of the Caribbean world would come back for 3, it was inevitable that it would come out resembling Black Flag.
This, of course, leaves the question of which of the two is the superior experience. After all, Kingdom Hearts 3 is a very different game from Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and those differences carried over into the ship gameplay. However, even with that being said, Black Flag just has more meat on the bone than KH3 simply by nature of it being a whole game vs one segment in a very long JRPG.
Black Flag Simply Has More Time To Flesh Out Its Ideas Than Kingdom Hearts 3
Black Flag uses its sailing mechanics across an entire game, to the point where fans wish that protagonist Edward Kenway received his own trilogy like Ezio. Meanwhile, as shockingly deep the Pirates section of Kingdom Hearts 3 was, it was just that - a section of a larger game. To be fair, Kingdom Hearts 3 explores the concept as thoroughly as it can in this situation, with a separate EXP system for the player's ship, boss fights with Heartless ships, and an easy-to-learn, difficult-to-master combat system. However, AC Black Flag has its entire runtime to take its ship system even further.
AC Black Flag does everything Kingdom Hearts 3 does with its ship combat but better. Not only does its ship combat and sailing controls, but it employs more strategy and customization of the ship - and the crew of the ship also comes into play. Crew of defeated ships can be recruited, each serving a specific purpose on the boat, and in combat. Edward can swing onto the other ship and do battle with the rival crew and captain, and the player's ship can even invade military bases.
The Pirates of the Caribbean world of Kingdom Hearts 3 was definitely impressive, being far deeper and nuanced than most fans were expecting out of a single world in a larger game, but it just doesn't hold a candle to the game it was clearly inspired by. Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is one of the best entries in this globally successful franchise for a reason. Its ship combat makes the game one of the most unique and outwardly influential in the entire franchise.
