Let's talk about Gummi Ship missions, shall we?

Introduced in 2002's "Kingdom Hearts," you and your compatriots board a hideous little ship and launch out into space, fighting nonsensical space baddies and sometimes stumbling upon worthless space treasure while you travel to new worlds. Maybe they were meant to showcase just how far you had to travel; more likely, they were just another mini-game, something to eat up the clock and make you think "Kingdom Hearts" was worth the money you convinced your parents to spend. You know what? "Kingdom Hearts" and its many, many spin-offs and sequels have been, are and will continue to be worth your money. But you know what else? I hate Gummi Ship missions. I hated them in 2002, and I hate them in 2019's "Kingdom Hearts III."

But, at the same time, those tedious nightmares offer a bittersweet reflection of the long-awaited sequel to one of my favorite franchises. In the previous games, I viewed them as something I just had to do every so often, kind of like homework, before I got back to the fun stuff. But instead of feeling that way only a small part of the time in "Kingdom Hearts III," I walked away feeling I had spent most of my 35 hours in the game just waiting for the fun stuff, which only came right at the very end.

Seventeen years may have passed between the release of the first "Kingdom Hearts" and now, but "Kingdom Hearts III" doesn't feel that way. Instead of a proper ending to this arc of protagonist Sora's story, this Dark Seeker Saga as it's called, that's spanned more than half my life, we get a more convoluted, less significant version of the first game — albeit one with supremely better graphics.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's be clear: There's much to enjoy in "Kingdom Hearts III" for neophytes and connoisseurs alike. You want summons and powerful magic? How about acrobatic fighting mechanics? Quirky and addictive mini-games? Small secrets (and some big ones) scattered throughout the many worlds you visit? "KH3" has it. The Square Enix-Disney mashup (it still feels weird to say that, especially because of the shocking lack of "Final Fantasy" characters here; Square Enix, you'll be hearing from me) continues to do well what it's always done well, which is to create familiar yet engrossing worlds you can explore with a goofy, eternally optimistic young hero (you know, the one with massive feet and the giant key for a sword).

So. Much. Lore.

But what "KH3" fails to do is satisfyingly wrap up its story, and to be fair, I'm not surprised. "Kingdom Hearts" has long been known for its outrageous plot threads, and it's only gotten worse over time. Thirteen years passed between "KH2" and "KH3," but a shocking amount of plot happened or was explained in the many games in between. I'm a fan who's played every major entry in the franchise (yes, even the free-to-play mobile game "Kingdom Hearts: Union X"), but even I have a hard time keeping track of what longtime director Tetsuya Nomura is trying to do. There's time travel and body replicas, disconnected worlds and stolen hearts, friendship and anger, all throughout nearly a dozen games that weren't released in in-game chronological order. Oh, and comas. Lots and lots of comas.

So to pare it down as succinctly as possible: You play as Sora, he of the sunny disposition and a wielder of Keyblades, which are magical key-swords that can fight the Heartless (and numerous other baddies), creatures that have been consumed by darkness. We started in "Kingdom Hearts" as a young boy along with friends Riku and Kairi on the Destiny Islands unaware of, but yearning for, the bigger world out there. Well, one thing led to another, and now Sora, Riku and Kairi are tasked with saving everything from the darkness, which is being spread by Organization XIII and its leader, Xenanort, who wants to re-create the ancient Keyblade War in order to obtain the power of Kingdom Hearts, where all the universe's hearts and worlds are stored.

Simple, right?

Along the way, Sora (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) and his two stalwart companions, Donald and Goofy (yes, the one you're thinking of), gets to explore (and save) the many Disney worlds that make up the vast majority of environments that exist in the "Kingdom Hearts" universe. However, because of the events of "Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance" (and further explained in the simply titled "Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth By Sleep -A fragmentary passage-"), Sora has lost his ability to "wake hearts," and he must again journey to different worlds and help their inhabitants fight back against the Heartless. Hence the major thrust of "Kingdom Hearts III": Sora must regain his power in order to save the universe from Xehanort's insidious machinations.

You'd be forgiven if you thought such a task would invoke a sense of urgency. Alas, "Kingdom Hearts III" kicks off with all the fervor of a sleeping snail. You spend many (too many) hours catching up to speed in terms of both story and game play mechanics, parkouring through worlds like Olympus from "Hercules" and Arendelle from "Frozen" and helping their heroes solve their problems. Yet there's rarely any discussion about the greater danger here, the actual threat. Look, Hercules is going to be fine if he has to take on a few Heartless by himself. You know what's not going to be fine if Sora doesn't get his act together and level up? The entire universe.

And that, more than anything in "KH3," is what bothers me. This series has spent dozens of hours stressing the impeding doom, but most of the game couldn't care less about the very real possibility of another Keyblade War. It just feels like the game never grew up. After everything that's happened to Sora and Co. between the first game and this one, it's asinine to think that Sora would take the time to watch Elsa sing "Let It Go" in its entirety. But then again, this is the same character who always seems to face danger with a smile on his face, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

Still, by game's end, only some of the franchise's many convoluted plot threads get wrapped up, more nonsense is bandied about regarding time travel and behind-the-scenes deviousness, and sequels are heavily implied — and yet somehow, you're probably not going to be surprised by what happens along the way.

The fun stuff

But if you can get past that, and I think plenty will, there's lot of fun in simply taking on the Heartless, Nobodies, Organization XIII and screen-sized bosses. Combat mechanics should feel familiar to fans of the series, with most of the systems being plucked from previous games such as Flowmotion movement from "Dream Drop Distance" and creature summons (simply called Links here).

Fighting has been simplified greatly from previous games, almost to the point that button mashing will suffice. It took me getting to the final missions before I even needed to start using the block button; for the vast majority of the game (I played on the standard difficulty), you'll be just fine swinging your Keyblade at everything that moves. Magic returns, and your individual moves will grow more powerful as the game progresses. Even boss fights, which generally lack the grandeur of "KH1" and "KH2," rarely require more thought than "Where did he go? I have to hit him again!"

One of the biggest additions to combat is Attractions, which I have a love/hate relationship with. These super splashy attacks are basically neon-colored versions of popular Disney attractions, and boy are they a lot to look at. Depending on circumstances I could never pin down, you could summon a "Pirates of the Caribbean"-style ship that swings back and forth, a raft that "floats" across the level and more, all of which can inflict massive damage. Here's my issue: While it's a lot of fun to see them, it was more than a bit immersion-breaking to be in the middle of a really important fight and then have the ability to summon technicolor tea cups to race around in. It just felt out of place in a lot of those situations, no matter how powerful and helpful they were.

Your task is simple in almost every world you visit: Whether you're hanging with Woody and Buzz from "Toy Story" or the crew from "Big Hero 6," you pop in magically and go about to save the day, normally with a well-known character from that world temporarily added to your roster. Each of these worlds is visually stunning, masterfully crafted to draw your eye to each little detail. I just wish there was more to each of them than just pretty graphics. Rarely do you encounter the cleverness of worlds like Halloween Town or Timeless River from previous games. You mostly just go from point A to point B and fight the big bad at the end. (Unless you get lost, say, in a giant, ill-defined mall ... .)

The big exception: The Caribbean. For whatever reason, Square Enix decided to build a miniature version of "Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag" and allow you to fully explore a fairly large area in a ship that you can upgrade — and yes, there are naval battles. It doesn't quite compare to Ubisoft's creation, but it was so much more fun to explore and mess around in than 90% of the game.

And I have to give credit where credit it due: The game's ending is a whole lot of fun. I wish all the fun boss fights and plot dumps weren't just slapped on the very end of my adventure, but at least I got them at all.

The technicals

Visually, "Kingdom Hearts III" goes the extra mile. The game's art direction is simply jaw-dropping and the detail work shines. However, you're probably going to see a few visual hiccups as the frame rate stumbles from its target of 60 frames-per-second from time to time. (I reviewed the game on the PlayStation 4 Pro.)

Of special note: Utada Hikaru, a Japanese-American singer-songwriter who sang the amazing "Simple and Clean" that opened the first game, returns to the franchise with two more great new songs: the opener "Face My Fears" (which was done in collaboration with, I kid you not, Skrillex) and the ending song "Don't Think Twice."

In the end, I get the distinct feeling "Kingdom Hearts III" was created for newcomers (particularly younger ones) rather than the fans who have been waiting for this arc-ending sequel for 13 years. Gone are the darker, more mature tones and more in-depth combat mechanics for romping with friends in pretty worlds and button-mashing your way to victory. I can't say there's nothing enjoyable here, because there is, but it's hard as a longtime fan to get past the fact that "KH3" feels more like a confused retelling of "Kingdom Hearts" than a proper conclusion. I smiled a lot during my nearly three-dozen hours in this game, but that's not really a compliment here. It was the tear- and gasp-inducing moments that mattered more at this story's end, and sadly, there were just far too few of those to make a difference.

You can contact Dominic, especially with game suggestions, at dbaez@registerguard.com or follow him on Twitter @Silver_Screenin. You can check out his blog at silverscreeningreview.com.