The Desinty Trio is the weakest in the whole series

[The Kid]

Adding onto HPO I think Mickey, Donald, and Goofy have good chemistry as well. There were moments in coded, DDD, and KH3 that sold me on their friendship

I almost don't wanna count this one because this dynamic has been mostly developed and depicted over the course of several decades. But yeah, they did give moments that illustrated this bond in the actual games. I can't give too much credit to Nomura and co. for this one though because the way these three act around each other was already given a template in shorts, cartoons, films, etc..

 

[Nukara]

I like the only one who now like RAX trio? (((

 

[Divine Past]

I think the weakness also reflects that they had a lot more potential time to get fleshed out. At least you can argue TAV and RAX had fewer opportunities to be together due to how the plot had to go and how Sora focused the games can be.

But SKR had KH1/KH2/Coded/DDD/KH3/COM (Namine is kind of a proxy Kairi) to really hash out their relationship and the fact it does not seem believable after all that is an indictment on Nomura's writing.

 

[DarkosOverlord]

A lot has been said already so I'm just gonna add that I feel HPO is the best original character trio. They act like actual friends.

And I kind of hate them, so I'm in a double pickle.
I mean I don't hate them as characters. I just really don't care and I hate that friggin Hayner gets far more dialogue and screentime than Terra.

The lack of a true party system which would for example allow for sorts of field-conversations and banter that could develop inter-character dynamics outside of dedicated cutscenes depending on who you choose to have in your party also adds to the overall problem.

Full agreement. Overall the 4 allies party left me thoroughly unimpressed and only managed to make any party member who wasn't Donald and Goofy really bland in both storytelling and gameplay. When I replayed the game while skipping cutscenes I didn't even notice who was in or out.

We're a far cry off from picking or leaving the Beast out in KH1 depending on prioritizing Trinity marks or breakable walls, or that if you bring Tarzan in your party for his appeal to Kerchak you'll see him standing where the cutscene ended.

There are also almost no opportunities where the characters are just walking around as NPCs so you can initiate conversations with them like which are sometimes offered for Donald, Goofy and some of the Disney party members.

Like i.e. after waking Ven and chasing off Vanitas being given a chance to explore LoD a little and have Aqua and Ven walking around as NPCs and an opportunity to chat with them about a few topics could already help things at least a little.

I was so disappointed when I found out Aqua doesn't react to the photo at all. Like, one of the admitedly few flavour things I liked about KH III is how every party member had a different remark when you point at them (and characters who don't even know what a smartphone is at all are hilarious), and you don't give Aqua none? That's... I gotta imagine that has hardly anything to do with time or resources, and I'm flabbergasted such a simple "fan service" escaped the team's minds.

Like, in the Ultimania Nomura says he wanted to give each character and appropriate moment but couldn't because "so much story had to be told and the flow of the game requires the player to control Sora and fight battles" which while I can accept as a general sorting out of priorities I still think was not a complete either-or-situation it is made out to be here because the most sensible thing to do would have been spreading out the appropriate moments for other characters throughout the rest of the game rather than cram it all into the final battles and ending.
Like yea Nomura, you prioritized rhythm and "controlling Sora to fight battles" but heavily neglected a large group of your other characters in the process.
Even that would not have been much of a problem if the other characters had been given moments, dynamics and interaction before the final battles start that go beyond a single scene at Mysterious Tower which is filled more with Fourth Wall breaking and cheap humor than with meaningful character interactions.

Like for example, have optional scenes available between Sora and all of the other characters throughout the game once they are saved/available, either by approaching them as NPCs personally in a world they reside or by calling them up on the gummi phone. Interact with them, have develop dynamics and at the end of a conversation chain you unlock a Team attack with that character which can be used throughout the final battles.

There are so many possibilities how things could have been done better and even integrate story and gameplay to an extent by just spreading stuff out and pay more attention to pacing that it's somewhat stunning to see they didn't think of it.

Yes. My gosh, the lack of Guardians of Light in NPC format will never cease to astonish me. When KH III is all said and done you can never interact with Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Terra, Aqua, Roxas and all the others. That's just... *wrong*. This was supposed to be the finale that brings all characters together, and I've never felt them more distant.
Also yes, the 4th wall shtick got old real quick. It wasn't even too bad or cringey most of the times, but... of all the things I wanted Ventus to do and say after waking up, him talking about Dream Eaters was at the very bottom. Make Lea do the Deadpool-y jokes AFTER spending enough time to more important matters, thanks.

One recurring joke I have with my friends is that whenever I want to underline what KH III did wrong I usually just say "guys, where's the fanfare?"
That is both a quote from Donald and Goofy at the Olympus and KH III's biggest sin in my opinion: there's no celebration of what should be important and grandiose, nor of those silly little things many fans demonstrated they want or look for in the franchise.

Just throwing this one out here, but they gave us a cellphone and not only is the photo mode heavily restricted because God forbids we have too much fun with it (actually thank you whoever inserted the accessory that keeps you in photo mode even when you take damage), but I think not being able to call other characters was another wasted opportunity.
Many fans have Kairi as their waifu and Riku as their husbando, make Sora call them! Perhaps according to where you are in the main story Riku could have a different BbS world in the background to show he was visiting all the places Aqua went to as Yen Sid said.
After rescuing Ven Jiminy says everyone has a cellphone, and nothing gets done with it. Give Aqua or Terra throwaway lines when I get Ultima Weapon, small things like that.
So yeah, it lacks the "fanfare".

The fact that the Gummiphone is relegated only to exposition dumps and the snoozefest that is hearing Ienzo talk, and the pitiful amount of time TAV and RAX get both as trios and as individuals (Aqua aside I guess) really shows that on many levels Nomura and/or the devs are deaf as to why many people are drawn to this series and what constitutes as making a game "fun" nowadays.
That they resort to the collective sitcom laughter when they have to end a scene on a cheery note further shows how out of touch are with modern times.

Let's not even get into what could've been possible by having the Guardians as party members during worlds exploration, and what travesty is that they've kept Quinton Flynn saying "This might be a good spot to find some ingredients" from us.

 

[Ballad of Caius]

Now that I think about it, yeah, the Destiny Trio (SRK) is pretty weak now that I think about TAV and RAX. I feel like Nomura sometimes as a writer can get too giddy about fulfilling his ideas, and he forgets that he has some established concepts that he needs to pay more attention to.

 

[Audo]

I think SRK are believable, but I also don't think they're /really/ trying to be an equal trio where everyone feels the same about each other though. Even from the first game that didn't really happen. I dunno I dont think all dynamics need to be a perfectly balanced trio.

 

[SuperNova]

If Nomura really wanted to make SRK a reliable trio he really should have given Riku and Kairi way more interaction than they have post KH2. As of right now it feels like the Sora/Riku show.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

As of right now it feels like the Sora/Riku show.

Perhaps this might be the point in the end--that Sora and Riku have the stronger connection because they worked hard to fix their friendship--and sometimes you just drift from other close friends in your friend group...

After all Nomura said relationships change.

 

[kirabook]

I think the disconnect I'm feeling with SRK these days is that Nomura constantly puts focus on them technically. The whole trio format in fact. SRK are supposed to be a trio. They're supposed to be childhood friends who grew up on the island together. But when it comes down to it, SRK doesn't seem to function like most of the other trios. KH3 has made it clear that this trio is technically just Sora's separate friendships between himself and Kairi, and himself and Riku. At least other games tried to make Kairi and Riku feel like friends, KH3 didn't try at all. The only moment they have together is a silent moment where they're both fretting over Axel.

If it's intended to be this way... then I hope the trio dynamic breaks down almost completely. RAX is no longer a trio. It's a... big group. TAV is the same I suppose, but now they have a talking pet cat.

Moving forward, I hope Nomura explores more combinations of friends. Maybe Kairi grows closer to Axel or the HPO trio (like what was hinted at in the mysterious BbSv2)

Maybe Ven breaks off from Terra and Aqua a bit and grows closer to his new bros or old friends (Like Lea, which was kinda hinted at to be honest)

But... I'm not entirely sure about that happening based on the secret ending. It seems like same old same old. Just the other day I was thinking it'd make so much sense if it were Roxas and Sora there instead. It even uses the music from the KH1 secret ending and stuff. That would've been so cool.

But anyway, I digress. KH3 has kinda crushed any hope that SRK will get better in the games. All that's left is fanon because clearly Nomura is set on this trio just being 2 separate friendships conjoined by Sora.