…Is any of this for real… or not?

It is real! Kingdom Hearts 3 is finally out, and I just got my Deluxe Edition copy this morning!

To be honest, I haven’t played all games in the Kingdom Hearts series, but still, I’m hyped for KH3. Kingdom Hearts has been part of my game roster as a teen, and I was really looking forward to the release of this installment. During the pre-order stage, I contemplated if I should order directly from Squeenix to get free stickers (because I like stickers), but with the possibility of experiencing shipping and customs issues, I decided to get my copy from Datablitz and received a “Premium Shiny Poster” as a pre-order bonus.

Unfortunately, the Collector’s Edition is not released in the Philippines, so the next best thing we have is the Deluxe Edition (unless you’re willing to purchase a new console – there’s the Kingdom Hearts 3 Limited Edition PS4 Bundle).

The Kingdom Hearts 3 Deluxe Edition comes with the physical copy of the game, a steelbook case, artbook, and a collectible Sora enamel pin. Let’s go them one-by-one:

Kingdom Hearts 3 Standard Edition

The game came in a standard plastic case packaging – which is actually a waste. Nice cover art BUT I do not need two cases. They could have used the extra budget for other freebies like stickers, keychains, patches, or additional enamel pins. But then again, there are collectors who prefer to display their steelbook cases and house the game in the plastic case. Still a waste, in my opinion.

Steelbook Case

I’m a sucker for steelbook cases. In fact, I bought a second copy of Persona 5 just because of the steelbook case (I didn’t pre-order ;P, I also sold my 1^st copy). The design, of course is based from Kingdom hearts elements – like crown, Mickey ears, keyblades and emblems. It’s simple and clean. Get my reference? 😉

Mini Artbook

The artbook is in hardcover and looks like a children’s book at first glance. It has a nice cover art with both the front and back covers featuring Sora in different art styles. The first pages features Tetsuya Nomura’s letter for Kingdom Hearts fans – in English and Japanese. There’s also a section dedicated to Sora’s journey, which is helpful if you’d like to backtrack and play all the Kingdom Hearts games in the proper order. Most of the other content, of course, was dedicated to the character, keyblade, and weapon concept designs. However, I was a bit disappointed with the content layout – only the main characters have labels, there weren’t enough descriptions on the featured artwork, it didn’t talk about the character or art, or the inspiration behind it. It just lacks information about the series and the game. I’m not asking for a full concept art book because I understand that this is just an “add-on” to the game, but since they already invested on printing a book, why not make the most out of it?

Sora Enamel Pin

Apart from getting a steelbook case and artbook, I also loved this item from the set. I don’t know, small items like this make it more special; there’s this limited edition feel to it. (Unless they also sell this separately in Disneyland or in JP, that would be a bummer.)

It would be nice if we get a keyblade enamel pin, though. Am I asking for too much?

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Overall, the whole set is good and I think it’s worth the buy at ₱4,395. But I’ll have to admit that I’m a bit disappointed with the artbook content and the lack of better pre-order bonuses like DLCs and/or functional freebies such as keychains or apparel.

So there, now it’s time for me to go on a new adventure! I’m gonna get out and learn what’s out there! I hope that the actual game will not disappoint.

“Even in the darkest places, the smallest light will shine the brightest.”

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