Kingdom Hearts 3 brought the original series of games to a close, and Nintendo Switch players will get to experience it soon enough. While the Switch version of Kingdom Hearts 3 is Cloud-based, players may still want to try it out for its exclusive Keyblade.
When it was announced a few months back that the entire Kingdom Hearts series was coming to the Switch, players were ecstatic at the possibility of taking these beloved games on the go. Quickly the anticipation dissipated though, when it was revealed that the games would not be native ports running on Switch hardware, but Cloud versions requiring consistently strong Internet connection. This is not a new trend on the Switch as games like Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming Dying Light 2: Stay Human are on Switch only through the Cloud. Native ports of the Kingdom Hearts games haven't been ruled out entirely, but there is definitely uncertainty whether they will happen.
Purchasing Kingdom Hearts 3 Cloud Version on Nintendo Switch will get players the exclusive Advent Red Keyblade to use in the game. The news comes from the official Kingdom Hearts Twitter account, revealing that the Keyblade will be earned by buying the game either standalone "or as part of the all-in-one Kingdom Hearts Intergrum Masterpiece." Advent Red appears to be a pallette swap of the Dawn Till Dusk Keyblade, its primary colors being blue, red, black, and white, and the sun at the palm of the hilt being replaced with a crescent moon.
For its original launch, Kingdom Hearts 3 had a variety of pre-order bonuses. If players pre-ordered the game from Amazon, they would receive the Dawn Till Dusk Keyblade, that ironically lacks the company's primary colors. Conversely, the PlayStation and Microsoft Stores each had their own exclusive Keyblades that very much reflected their brands. PlayStation players received the Midnight Blue Keyblade, an all blue blade that featured the iconic polygons in the blade guard, while Xbox players got the Phantom Green Keyblade, a translucent green and white sword with the Xbox "X" in the blade guard.
With the announcement of the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary event, Square Enix also released demos for the Cloud Versions of the series. Criticism of the demos has started appearing and can be found even in the replies of the Keyblade announcement, with videos showing the Cloud version of Kingdom Hearts stuttering like never before. Square Enix should really consider porting the Kingdom Hearts series natively to the Switch because an exclusive Keyblade may not sell as many units as it thinks it will.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with the Switch version coming February 10.