Plenty of ink has been spilled about Square Enix’sKingdom Heartsfranchise and its overblown, confusing web of narrative beats, lore, and mechanics. At its core there’s a simple conceit:Final Fantasyand Disney universes intermingle, leading to bizarre interactions like Goofy the dog chatting withFinal Fantasy 7’s Aerith. That being said, this unique premise and the series' action RPG mechanics have made it a favorite of many, to the extend many are already waiting onKingdom Hearts 4after the long-anticipatedKH3released in 2019.
While mostKingdom Heartstitles have the same fundamental gameplay mechanics, each also include unique features to toy around with.Chain of Memoriesturned combat into a card-battler,Dream Drop Distanceintroduced parkour-esque “flowmotion” alongside creature collecting and raising, andKingdom Hearts 3added Disney park attractions such as Magic Tea Cups to attack with. One memorable mechanic fromKingdom Hearts 2called Drive Forms should return when the next entry in the series releases, as it added a lot to gameplay and the interpersonal relationships of Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy.
AfterKingdom Hearts 2players complete the cold open starring Roxas, Sora and his friends make their way to Yen Sid’s tower and receive brand-new outfits fromSleeping Beauty’s fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. These outfits allow Sora to transform by combining with Donald, Goofy, or both using a limited “Drive Gauge” that fills through normal gameplay. Each Drive Form comes with different abilities.
Sora attains Valor Form by combining with Goofy, allowing him todual-wield Keybladesand fight with a faster, entirely physical style. Likewise, he attains Wisdom Form by combining with Donald, letting him glide about the map and fire magic bullets as though the game were a shooter. Master Form uses both partners in the transformation, and similarly combines their abilities by letting Sora use two Keyblades, but strike with more powerful physical and magical attacks.
Three more Drive Forms exist as well: The Limit Form exclusive toKingdom Hearts 2 Final Mixlets Sora transform alone, dressing as he did inKingdom Hearts; the Final Form randomly unlocks following Sora’s late-game battle with Roxas, giving him the ability to fly; and the Anti Form gets rid of Sora’s Keyblade and has him lash out in a guise similar to the shadowy Heartless. Anti Form can only be activated by triggering a hidden value increased primarily by repeated use of the other Drive Forms.
The idea of form changes appear in otherKingdom Heartsgames, just not in the same capacity. For example,Kingdom Hearts 3has the Formchange abilitythat alters Sora’s appearance somewhat based on the Keyblade he wields. Some of these are reminiscent of Drive Forms, for example the Rage Form visually changes him into a Heartless and only activates when Sora is at critical health. Where this misses the mark compared to Drive Forms is in its lack of character interactions.
Valor and Wisdom Form fromKingdom Hearts 2stand out because they help Sora in a way both visually and mechanically reminiscent of his friends, driving home the shared bonds that so often play a part in the series' narrative. If the idea were to return in atheoreticalKingdom Hearts 4, it could be stretched further. Perhaps Sora could combine with Riku to gain a darker power with more control than the Anti Form, or he could combine with Kairi to conversely use the power of light. Multiple combinations of characters would be even more intricate from there.
The ending ofKingdom Hearts 3may make it tricky for developers to rely on Sora transformations, as the series' main hero disappears to save Kairi and seems to wind up by himself in Shibuya, Japan fromThe World Ends With You. He may spend a large part of the game alone, unless the events ofNEO: The World Ends With Youplay intoKingdom Hearts 4’s story. However, who’s to say Riku or another character could not also experiment with a system similar to Drive Forms - it may be worth trying.
Kingdom Hearts 2is available now for PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:In Defense of ‘That’ Kingdom Hearts 2 Scene Between Riku and Sora
