Kingdom Hearts 4: release date, trailer, gameplay and more

After the release of Kingdom Hearts 2 on PlayStation 2, the series went into spin-off territory without a worthy sequel throughout the PS3 generation. Finally, in 2019, we got the long-awaited conclusion to the Dark Seeker saga. However, in typical Kingdom Hearts fashion, the end of the saga was by no means the end of the story for Sora, Riku, Kairi, and all their friends from Disney and Final Fantasy.

The end of the saga was not at all the end of the story for Sora, Riku, Kairi, and all their Disney and Final Fantasy friends.

And the secret ending, and the boss, and the DLC — all pointed to a new era looming on the horizon. The only question is how long it will be before we see what that era will be. At the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary event, fans got something many didn’t expect to see so soon: the full announcement of Kingdom Hearts 4.

An announcement of Kingdom Hearts 4.

Release Date Speculation

The most frustrating thing about the Kingdom Hearts 4 announcement — is that no release date has been given. There is not even information on what year this game might be ready. However, we can speculate. We should not expect the game to be released before 2025. On the one hand, in the trailer we see actual (albeit clearly early) gameplay. On the other hand, there is information that the game is using the Unreal Engine 4 engine, but plans to switch to Unreal Engine 5. While this transition is supposedly not too difficult, it will probably take some time and create some difficulties in the process. Either way, this isn’t the first time we’ve gotten a trailer much earlier than a Kingdom Hearts game actually comes out.

However, it’s not the first time we’ve gotten a trailer much earlier than a Kingdom Hearts game actually comes out.

Platforms

The platforms for Kingdom Hearts 4 have not yet been announced. The Kingdom Hearts series has traditionally focused only on PlayStation, but Kingdom Hearts 3 was released on Xbox One and PS4, and later came to Switch and PC. Past games in the series have also recently been ported to Xbox and PC, and it seems like the point of bringing the entire series to these new platforms is to build an audience for the new Kingdom Hearts 4. We won’t know for sure until later, but we think the game could very well release on all platforms — perhaps even on Switch 2 — at the same time or close to it.

We won’t know for sure until later, but we think the game could very well come out on all platforms — perhaps even on Switch 2 — at the same time or close to it.

Plate.

Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer

An announcement trailer from the game’s 20th anniversary event in Japan, — that’s all we have so far. Nevertheless, this short teaser packs a lot of interesting things into it.

An announcement trailer from the event celebrating the game’s 20th anniversary in Japan.

As for the plot, it’s complicated. To begin with, the title of the new installment, The Lost Master Arc refers to a character known as The Master of Masters, who was the keyblade master from Kingdom Hearts X. He wrote something called «The Book of Prophecies» and only appeared in the main part of the game at the end of Kingdom Hearts III. How this will affect future developments, we don’t know.

We don’t know.

Looking at the fate of Kairi at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 and Sora at the end of the Re:Mind DLC, it’s clear that the reason Sora ended up in Quadratum — to be reunited with Kairi again. Obviously, things are not going to go according to plan. We can only hope that the new installment will at least slightly reduce the excessive complexity of the first installment.

A new installment will be the only way to make it work.

As for Donald and Goofy, all signs point to them either looking for or accidentally running into Hades. Why they are looking for him or someone in the underworld could be anything. Hades is connected to the main villains of the series in a way that the other Disney villains aren’t, so he could very well be back.

Hades is connected to the main villains of the series in a way that the other Disney villains aren’t, so he could very well be back.

Nomura talked about what the pair are up to, and also commented on Sora’s new design. «Donald and Goofy are looking for clues about Sora in the original world», — he explained. «All the real worlds before the show [in the trailer] — are segments of Quadratum, and Sora will look realistic, but if he can go back to the original world, he will look like he does with shaders like Donald and Goofy». It’s all in keeping with the way Sora and crew change their appearance to reflect the world they’re in throughout the series.

All of this is in keeping with the way Sora and crew change their appearance to reflect the world they’re in throughout the series.

Gameplay

Some of the trailer looked like gameplay, though it’s hard to believe that judging by how good it looked. We’re expecting a lot of changes between this and the final product, but it’s safe to say we’re in for a big change. As expected, Normura has stated that the apartment in Quadratum where Sora is vacationing will become the game’s center of sorts. This neighborhood is not in Shibuya itself, but in another part of the city called Minami-Aoyama.

The neighborhood is not in Shibuya itself, but in another part of the city called Minami Aoyama.

First off, the slow motion style from Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts III is back, but it’s even smoother than before. Sora jumps, spins, slides, and even uses Keyblade as a grappling hook to glide smoothly through urban environments. Quick time events, or reaction commands as they’re called, seem to be making a comeback.

Sora’s quick time events, or as they’re called, reaction commands, seem to be making a comeback.

Sora is seen reflecting a blow from a giant heartless, turning Keyblade into a drill that hints at the return of shape-shifting, and then launching it like a rocket. The user interface is also shown on screen, but it looks identical to the Kingdom Hearts 2 version, leading us to assume it’s a temporary billet for now.

Besides Quadratum, the only other world shown is the forest zone. Sharp eyes noticed one odd detail in the river shot, which looks a lot like the leg of an AT-AT from the «Star Wars» franchise. This would be the first time the Kingdom Hearts series has crossed paths with this franchise, but given that it’s a Disney property, it’s entirely possible. Again, this is pure speculation — no worlds outside of Quadratum have been confirmed, but it is possible that Sora will get the first Keyblade lightsaber. Judge for yourself by taking a look at the top right of the screenshot above.

So far.

Pre-order

We’re just a few years away from the release of Kingdom Hearts 4. There won’t be any news on how to pre-order Kingdom Hearts 4 for quite some time. However, judging by past games, we should look forward to the announcement of special editions. If they match past special editions, they’ll include gifts that any Kingdom Hearts fan will want to get their hands on.

Here’s the thing.