Kingdom Hearts 3 Update Adds New Difficulty Mode, Out Now

A new update for Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts III is set to launch today. As announced on Twitter, the new update is coming during morning hours PT on April 23. It adds the Critical Mode. [Update: We've now got exact release timing and patch notes for the new update.]

If it's the same as in previous Kingdom Hearts titles, Critical Mode is a new, more challenging difficulty level, above Proud Mode. As IGN reminds us, Critical Modes in previous Kingdom Hearts titles added things like more damage taken and dealt by enemies, and other things. It remains to be seen how Kingdom Hearts III's Critical Mode varies from past games.

Critical Mode is free for all players; there is no word yet as to exactly when in the morning PT time the update will arrive, but keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

Kingdom Hearts III launched back in January for PS4 and Xbox One. The game quickly shipped more than five million copies, making it the fastest selling game in the series.

GameSpot's Kingdom Hearts III review score the game an 8/10.

"What sticks with me is the exciting battle against elemental titans with Hercules, taking Rapunzel out into the unfamiliar wide world for the first time, snapping selfies with Winnie the Pooh, and going toe to toe with Davy Jones," critic Tamoor Hussain wrote in GameSpot's review. "In 2002, as Sora, I left Destiny Islands to travel across the universe and make new friends. In 2019 I brought old ones home, and I had so much fun doing it."