Fans have been waiting patiently for any sign of seeing the Kingdom Hearts franchise continue with a mainline entry and not some sort of spin-off that Square Enix has often done with the series in the past. Despite there being over a dozen games in the franchise, we only saw the release of a proper third entry back in 2019, a game that was in some form of development for years. That said, the ending of Kingdom Hearts III was that of a cliffhanger, and it was right to assume that Square Enix would be rather quick to follow up on this resurgence of the franchise as not only was a new Kingdom Hearts game announced today, but we actually were treated to two new announcements.
During the 20th Anniversary announcement trailer, Square Enix revealed that development was well underway for a true mainline sequel to Kingdom Hearts III as well as a mobile game called Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link for iOS and Android. While no platforms were announced for Kingdom Hearts IV, it is likely safe to assume that the game should release on both PlayStation and Xbox consoles, but that is pure speculation in that Disney may have a say on the title being multi-platform.
The Kingdom Hearts IV trailer references “The Lost Master Arc” which refers to the ending of Kingdom Hearts III, with the lost master likely being Sora. Last we saw him, Sora appeared in a city that resembled Tokyo, and the “gameplay” trailer released today confirms that. Kingdom Hearts IV also seems to have a more realistic art style, but given that Disney has been confirmed to be a part of this series still, it is possible that some of that cartoony charm may still be present outside of this more realistic section shown in the trailer.
During the trailer, a narrator says the following:
“If this isn’t the ending you desired – if it brings you despair – then leave this world for another. Your options are endless. The heart resides within the soul, which is in turn guided by fate to its rightful place. The choice is yours once more. However, if you do leave this world behind, don’t expect to return to the one from which you came.”
In the trailer, we also get glimpses of Organization XIII, as well as a giant Heartless in the middle of downtown, complete with Sora zipping to floating cars and using the Keyblade to strike them down. Sora also displays some level of light parkour as well as running up the side of a building. We are also told that Sora has been sleeping for a week, and the trailer does end with a tease of Goofy and Donald, who appear to be in some sort of trouble.
As for Missing Link, which will have some sort of closed beta in 2022, this new story will see you adventuring from the realm of Scala ad Caelum, and into the real world, likely in some way connected to the events of Kingdom Hearts IV. Also, we were told that the final chapter of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road will be released this August as a free update to the Kingdom Hearts Union χ Dark Road app.
While fans were hoping for something to be announced as part of the Anniversary, it is unlikely that they were expecting to see two brand new games released for the series, let alone one being a full-fledged mainline sequel. Thankfully, Nomura has stated that he doesn’t believe that development on future Kingdom Hearts games to take as long as they have in the past.