I enjoyed this game! I'm not finished yet, but I have the bad habit of progressing so far, getting stuck, and moving onto a new game.
I'll probably be back to it soon, though! I'm on the last world.
This was my first Kingdom Hearts game and there is the slight chance my love is more because it's Disneyified. If this were a regular RPG I probably wouldn't care for it as much. I love going around the Disney worlds and, with the first time playing through, unlocking the little story bit where I get to see characters. I also love the music, I think it makes it a ton more fun. Again though, if the game had had worlds, storylines, and music not relating to Disney I probably wouldn't have liked it as much.
I can definitely understand the gripes people have with the game though. The camera can be a pain, although I play on the easiest difficulty so it's not such a problem for me.
I'm also not big on the drop mechanic. I can see what they were trying to do and why it's there, but I just wish it were different. I wish that if they needed to use the dropping mechanic there were just a few fixed points your first play through of a worlds story that forced you to drop, like how it happens in the first world. I hate having to spam drop me nots, especially during a boss battle.
Since it's my first game I can't really compare the dream eaters to Donald, and Goofy. Since I've only ever had dream eaters I like em well enough. I think it's fun how there's a variety of companions to pick from that have different strengths and weaknesses.
All in all though, I don't regret picking it up! It's fun to fiddle with, and I love going through the Disney movies. ^-^