I’d say the intervening… what was it… 15 year?.. gap is what killed my love for the game series. I was in middle school when I played the first one, and I never even bothered with KH3. The story was painfully overwrought by the end of KH2, and I knew that tacking on another sequel wasn’t going to fix it. Nomura is going to Nomura.
It’s a shame because the series was one of my favorites back in the day. At least the soundtrack will always be good.