In the newest Nintendo Direct, they once again touched on Kingdom Hearts on Nintendo Switch. Sporting some hefty price tags, players may be wondering if Kingdom Hearts on the Switch is worth it or not. In order to help players commit to this decision, here is an in-depth analysis of the package’s appealing qualities alongside its downsides.
Most people would think that this would be a good thing, but is it really? This article will go over whether players should buy Kingdom Hearts on the Cloud.
Pros of Buying the Cloud Versions
While there are certainly more drawbacks to downloading cloud versions, there are advantages.
- Play all the games wherever you have access to a stable internet connection (like at home or Starbucks)
- Streaming the games allows less storage to be taken up on players’ Switches.
- That’s it.
Cons of Buying the Cloud Versions
- Despite streaming the game taking up less storage, remaining linked to the servers makes this little more than a rental. If the servers are down, no Kingdom Hearts for Little Timmy.
- If players find themselves without a good internet connection, get ready for frame rate issues, and button delays.
- While any game played in Kingdom Hearts’ old Luminous engine look and perform fine, Kingdom Hearts 0.2 and 3’s Unreal 4 engine ends up looking fuzzy in certain environments. Players may find them graphical nightmares compared to how they run on Playstation and Xbox.
- The pricing is UNGODLY. It is probably the biggest con on this list. To save time, this article will use the price of the bundle to illustrate this point. The Kingdom Hearts INTEGRUM MASTERPIECE costs 79.99 on the e-shop at launch. Post the pre-order discount, it will be 90 dollars. If players go to Gamestop and purchase the Kingdom Hearts All-in-One Package, they will only be spending 40 dollars.
Hard to believe that at one point on sale, players could get this bundle for 24 dollars. If players need even further convincing, look at the screenshot below.
With free shipping and about 4 dollars tax (this example is from a Chicago resident, tax varies by location), the total to have it delivered to a customer is $44.39. Granted, it is cheaper to pick it up in stores, this is still cheaper than on the e-shop. If someone subtracted the regular price of the cloud bundle from the All-in-One Package, players would be looking at a $45.60 cent difference. If one subtracted from the discounted price, it would be a $27.60 cent difference. Either way, this is a lot of money for streaming a game without the costs of physical manufacturing factored in. Square, come on…
Even more compelling, on Amazon, a U.S. citizen can get the game with free shipping for $40.24. Jeff Bezos charges less for the entire Kingdom Hearts system than a company that makes family-friendly video games, and again, THIS IS WITH PHYSICAL MANUFACTURING COSTS. My. God.
- Lastly, the second-biggest con: The pre-order bonus is lazy garbage. Not only are there no physical pre-order items for cloud versions (why are players paying full price for this?), but the cloud version of Kingdom Hearts 3 + Re:Mind has a Switch exclusive keyblade called Advent Red. And if you look at the image below…
It is a “beautiful thing” when making reskins of existing keyblades become acceptable by production standards…Advent Red also has no real differences from the other keyblades that bring Sora into the Second Form form change. Long point summed up, it is a lazy reskin and not good enough of an incentive to encourage player purchase.
Should Players Buy Kingdom Hearts on the Cloud?
With there being a lot more cons to the cloud releases than pros, should players make this investment? Well, it depends on their situation. Again, if Switch is their only avenue to enjoy video games, then, by all means, they will enjoy it. However, players should not support this release or the release of any cloud version. While it sounds like a good idea on paper, cloud gaming severely limits the gaming experience. This is a beloved franchise that many fans want to be able to play on the go. But, the limitations on cloud services only allow them to experience it when connected to Wi-Fi. In an age where gaming is already heavily reliant on internet connection and online, supporting this release would only support a dangerous transition. And this is coming from a Kingdom Hearts fan.
With the games being on Playstation, Xbox, and PC (with Mods available), please, for the love of God AND Satan, give this purchase a pass. There are better ways to experience one of the greatest crossovers of all time.
Hopefully, this article helped players wondering if Kingdom Hearts on Switch is worth it or not. Technically speaking, this article should be called “Will Kingdom Hearts on Switch Be Worth it.” Whatever the case, there’s definitely a lot to take into consideration.
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