Unbelievable but it really happened, during the past few hours the announcement trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4, giving fans a way to start making analyzes and theories about the future of the saga. The movie also coincides with a series of other mobile titles, but in this specific piece we will only analyze the sequence dedicated to the fourth chapter, also going to talk about how the narrative events could evolve. Nomura after the release of the Kingdom Hearts III DLC he stressed the importance of secret scenes, although he was sure that the community did not have enough information to understand what was actually going on.
The trailer was mainly used to tell fans that Kingdom Hearts 4 is really in development and to reveal their idea of the concept, as we are sure that the game will be very different from what is shown. Let's start by saying that the released material ran on Unreal Engine 4, but it has also been confirmed that development has already begun on U. Leaving aside the technical side, therefore, it is time to start understanding what is happening in the Kingdom Hearts universe.
Welcome to Tokyo
Right from the start, the trailer shows a sequence of the real world, which, as we well know, is called in the narrative universe Square. Then there are a few sequences of a forest, a green and luxuriant nature that immediately aroused the interest of fans. In fact, a few days away, A possible reference to Star Wars was found in these scenes (we talk about it in detail in this article). Net of this rumor, therefore, for some the forest could be Endor, a location that appeared in episode VI Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Personally I don't think it can actually be that, as it is possible that, for once, in the Kingdom Hearts saga the concept of worlds to be explored is abandoned. At this moment we come to very personal speculations, but which rely on some very specific reasoning.
Let's start by saying that it is clear that the fourth chapter of the saga rely on the Nomura concept from Final Fantasy XV, or at least of the vision that he would have liked to give to that project (to get a better idea, we recommend you to see the trailer here). I think it is now evident that the Director has sulked a bit about this: having been relieved of that assignment, also due to the development of Kingdom Hearts 3. Here is a new and clean way to review his saga, catapult the characters in another world that allows him to develop a story without narrative constraints due to Disney.
So if we take for granted the fact that Nomura wants recreate his version of Final Fantasy XV in Kingdom Hearts 4, the most likely way is actually that of the open world. Of course, in the final part of the trailer we see Goofy and Donald, but we will come back to this later. Returning to the movie then, after the forest we move on to a sequence of enigmatic writings, up to the moment of Sora's awakening in an apartment. First we can see how our hero has changed in terms of design, from clothes to hair (insert joke here). After getting up to go out, once the door is opened, Strelitzia introduces herself in front of her eyes, missing sister of Lauriam (Marluxia) who we know is dead. The girl actually explains that Quadratum for them represents the afterlife, and that Sora slept for seven days before waking up. Before going further, however, it is good to take a small step back, since at this point it is legitimate to take the ending of the DLC in which Sora is defeated by Yozora for real. So it is possible that after being imprisoned inside the crystal, the "Verum Rex" brought him to Strelitzia, thus opening the hypothesis of a connection between the two characters.
A taste of gameplay
While the gameplay sequences are really minimal, we can get an idea of what the development team wants to do. Let's go in order though, since before beating our hands we can see how Sora's awakening coincides with the appearance of that giant heartless. The first thing to note is the design of this dark creature, much less sympathetic than in the past and much more realistic, evil and dark. His appearance catches passersby off guard who begin to flee in complete panic. We see the nightmare targeting the innocent and interacting with the environment and, while everyone is gripped by terror, only one person lashes out at the enemy: Sora, who summons the keyblade and prepares for combat. We see our hero exploit the surrounding environment thanks to his weapon to quickly approach the opponent. Although it is evident in the trailer that Sora can only cling to those spots, we hope to see some degree of freedom which allows the character to get virtually anywhere in no time, a sort of advanced parkour system so to speak. The game HUD is also shown for the first time in this sequence, but that in reality it is clearly seen to be fake. There is no menu interaction and even sora's photo is totally still.
The clash immediately breaks off to show us a sequence in which Sora climbs a skyscraper and then dives into the heartless through a building, finally engaging the fight with a couple of shots in perfect Kingdom Hearts style. At the end of this, the shot moves up, noting how two hooded figures are enjoying the fight. The two black hoods may actually be the Master of Masters on the right and Luxu on the left, although on the latter it is still too early to speculate. The phrase that the possible Master says is "Even if you leave this world behind, don't expect to go back to the one you came from." Before continuing it is right to speculate on this sentence, given that knowing that Nomura joker, this it could actually be a statement about the future of the brand. Following this reasoning, therefore, we assume that, as stated at the beginning of the video, this will be the narrative arc of the Master of the Masters and Kingdom Hearts 4 will be the chapter that will open the dances, even if we are sure that we will find other important references also in the two titles mobile announced. The focus of this arc could just be centered on the return to the world of fairy tales, with Sora who each time gets closer and closer to the goal awaiting the final confrontation.
There are also Goofy and Donald!
So far, literally two characters have been shown, both created specifically for Kingdom Hearts, so it was very nice to see Goofy and Donald again. The two, as on the other hand also the rest of the Guardians of the Light, they're looking for Sora, but right now they're not aiming for the boy. Indeed, they refer to this person as someone they hope will help them. As the two advance into the dark surrounded by darkness, they are surprised by a blue flame and a voice, which turned out to belong to Hades (the voice actor is the same). If Sora has actually gone to the afterlife, it is almost normal to seek help from someone who knows about death. Precisely for this reason we do not expect the total absence of Disney, since we cannot but expect a return in a big way also of Maleficent.
Unfortunately this is all the material we have available, but we are sure that further analyzes and theories regarding Kingdom Hearts 4 will be released in the next few weeks. We will need to see how the figure of Yozora will evolve, find out what happened to Riku, and so much more. . For now, however, it is better not to think about it, given that the game definitely won't be out before Final Fantasy XVI, so make yourself comfortable and try to bear the wait.
