'Kingdom Hearts 3' is vastly more enjoyable if you turn the subtitles off
- If you're one of the thousands of people playing "Kingdom Hearts 3," the final game in the popular trilogy that was released on Tuesday, you should try turning off the game's subtitles.
- While I generally love using subtitles to watch movies and shows, turning them off in "Kingdom Hearts 3" makes the game a more cinematic experience.
- "Kingdom Hearts 3" has a ton of cutscenes, and removing the subtitles makes it feel like you're in a living Disney movie.
If you're one of the many people playing - or about to play - "Kingdom Hearts 3," try turning off the game's subtitles. You might be surprised with how much better the experience is.
"Kingdom Hearts 3" is the final game in the long-running saga, which began with the very first "Kingdom Hearts" game in 2002 for the PlayStation 2. Fans have been waiting over a decade since "Kingdom Hearts 2," which released in 2005.
But whether you're new to the series or you've been playing "Kingdom Hearts" since the PlayStation 2 days, you'll probably notice how many cinematic cutscenes occur during the new game.
The cutscenes themselves are beautiful, but for the first several hours of playing "Kingdom Hearts 3," I felt like something was missing. The visuals looked just like a movie, but something kept reminding me that I was playing a game. I couldn't figure out what it was.
Then, I tried turning off the subtitles. When the next cutscene occurred, it felt like I was watching a real Disney movie in a theatre - not playing a video game.
To turn off the subtitles, you have to wait for a point in the game where you can free-roam around a level: basically when you have control of your character, but when you're not in a fight or a cutscene. Just press start, navigate to your settings, and turn off subtitles.
While subtitles can be helpful, especially to keep track of the many names in "Kingdom Hearts," I find the game is best experienced without them. Sometimes I found myself missing out on the visuals because I was too busy trying to read and parse the subtitles. Without them there, it felt more like experiencing a living movie. After all, when was the last time you went to a theater to watch a new Disney film, and saw subtitles?
Subtitles are on by default in "Kingdom Hearts 3," but try turning them off, if only for a little bit. You might be surprised with how much more immersive the game can be without them.