I don’t know what to make of this Kingdom Hearts IV trailer. There are several things I can name in it—KH4 is bringing back characters old, new, and hella obscure—and I can use those to draw some reasonable conclusions. I’m just not sure what any of it means yet. Here’s what I’ve put together so far.
What’s the story in Kingdom Hearts IV?
I think what I appreciate most about the new KH4 trailer is that it straight-up outlines the overall plot of the game. There’s a hooded figure in an Organization 13 cloak explaining that they were transported to a new world and brought the darkness—an animating force that can be wielded by both heroes and villains—with them. That darkness manifested as creatures known as Heartless that Sora and company will eventually face. From earlier Kingdom Hearts IV news releases, we also know that this new world is named Quadratum, and it’s more realistic than the fantastical lands players have gotten to visit throughout the Kingdom Hearts series so far. Quadratum is the only setting we’ve seen in Kingdom Hearts 4 as of yet, but I have to imagine we’ll get to visit other locations in the game. What feels likely to me is that Sora will get to visit Disney lands, but do so through a method that preserves the game’s more realistic aesthetic. Instead of hopping in a spaceship made of gummy blocks, Sora will visit KH4‘s fantasy lands through a dreamlike trance or simply turning on the computer.
Who are all these characters?
In addition to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, several additional characters show up in the new Kingdom Hearts IV trailer and, surprisingly, we can name a few of them already. Sora’s battled against the black-cloaked Organization 13 since the first game, but over the years he’s either befriended or defeated the majority of its members until there are very few of them left. Luxord is one of those few remaining Organization 13 diehards, and he makes an appearance in the trailer as the blonde male who looks like the stockbroker villain in an ’80s financial thriller. The redhead is Strelitzia. Because this is Kingdom Hearts, and Kingdom Hearts lore is bullshit, Strelitzia has a complicated backstory contained wholly within a 2013 Japan-only browser game that only became more commercially accessible when a movie version of the game’s story was bundled with Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. That good-looking guy with the facemask, his name is Vali, and he’s from that browser game, too. To further confound the patient souls for whom Kingdom Hearts lore is their thing, it also looks like Xehanort has come back. Whether he’s yet another version of the series’ perennial villain or a figment of Sora’s imagination is something perhaps only game director Tetsuya Nomura knows for the moment.
Though Kingdom Hearts started as a union between Disney and Final Fantasy brands, the series has shifted away from prominently featuring Final Fantasy characters to instead focus on the series’ original creations. However, it looks like that might change with KH4. Though I can’t be 100-percent certain, it seems like the dark-haired smiling man from the trailer might be a younger version of Final Fantasy XIII’s Cid Raines.
What kind of keyblades will we see?
I’m glad the combat in Kingdom Hearts IV looks similar to what we saw in KH3. I love Sora’s high-flying air combos and all the magical ways he can use his keyblade. A prominent combat feature from KH3 were amusement park summons that enabled Sora to call for combat help from classic Disney attractions like its famous spinning teacup ride. It looks like Square Enix has tweaked that feature for KH4, with the trailer showing Sora summoning a stream of chains he then surfed on to strike enemies. Sora also gets a new shield mechanic and the ability to shoot golden chains out of his keyblade. Donald and Goofy didn’t get to fight in this trailer, and we didn’t see Sora use any spells, Disney character summons, or limit breaks. But battles against giant Heartless creatures are back and the trailer featured an interesting-looking fire-and-water-themed keyblade.
I want Kingdom Hearts IV to represent a fresh start for the series. Its story is dense and confusing, complicated by the fact that earlier entries were fractured across numerous platforms and some were Japan-only releases. Square Enix has attempted to rectify that with a slew of re-releases and collections, but if you’re trying to understand Kingdom Hearts without the help of hours-long YouTube explainers…good luck. Kingdom Hearts IV‘s realistic look along with the news that it will be the start of a new story arc seem to imply that the game will be the jumping-on point newcomers and lapsed fans like me need.
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