Every title in the Kingdom Hearts series has included at least one overwhelmingly difficult boss for players to challenge, usually after having already beaten the main campaign. This remained the same in Kingdom Hearts 3, even though the usual suspect of Final Fantasy 7‘s Sephiroth was replaced with a the new Dark Inferno Heartless.
While it was somewhat disappointing to see the usual Final Fantasy or Disney themed optional bosses not appear in Kingdom Hearts 3, the Dark Inferno still acts as an expert example of how the new game’s combat can excel. As an added benefit, this particular Heartless, especially on the proud and critical difficulty, can prepare players for the massive step forward in difficulty found in the Re:Mind DLC.
On top of Dark Inferno’s combat, some players have even started to guess at what the lore implications behind the Heartless might be, specifically with where the enemy appears and it’s fashion choice of red scarf. Some of these fan theories are interesting enough on there own, though it would be one of very few times in the series where any specific Heartless is related to a character, such as Sora’s Shadow in the first Kingdom Hearts. That being said, what’s most impressive about this fight outside of what may be some hidden lore is the fact that it even manages to make the most out of some of Kingdom Hearts 3‘s criticisms.
One complaint that the later installments in the Kingdom Hearts series has begun to garner is that the combat mechanics have become “floaty” over time. This is sometimes defined as being the emphasis that games after Birth By Sleep took to making combat take players higher and higher into the air with each attack, though it is also described as the Sora’s Keyblades having a lack of weight. Together, the criticism is primarily concerned with a high movement speed around an area, specifically with a lack of control caused by each swing sending Sora flying up into the air and around an arena.
This, however, is exactly what makes the Dark Inferno a perfect test for mastering the combat for Kingdom Hearts 3‘s toughest fights, since it requires players to understand the extent and limits of that quick movement. Since this Heartless’ arena is huge, that quick, weightless movement becomes a key factor in maneuvering around the area. Then, combining the large space with Dark Inferno’s speed and tendency to break distance between itself and the player, means that mastering the movement is necessary to stay close and cause damage throughout the fight.
Not many bosses in Kingdom Hearts 3 have much in the way of health related phases, though a number of them do launch into desperation attacks when their health is lowered. In the case of Dark Inferno, this fight does more than a new attack at low health, but starts mixing up more powerful versions of regular attacks into its tactics once it’s dropped below half. Many of these new attacks have a new color coding to them to inform the player that they can’t be blocked, requiring more specified reactions to tell if a certain strike is better dodged or guarded in order to overcome.
This is a mechanic that later appeared in the Re:Mind DLC during the fight against Kingdom Hearts 3‘s mysterious Yozora where the final, secret boss also uses color coding to show off that certain attacks can’t be blocked. In this way, the Dark Inferno now acts as a teaching tool for players looking to take on the most difficult boss fight that was later added to the game, while also acting as the toughest challenge in the vanilla version. So, while Kingdom Hearts 3‘s combat might not have had the weightiness of previous games, the enemy design of bosses like Dark Inferno were able to make the best out of the new, faster paced action the series now leans into
Kingdom Hearts 3 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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