Kingdom Hearts 4is a seeming inevitability despite any official announcement from Square Enix. TheKingdom Heartsfranchise has become one of the most beloved in games, especially among fans of JRPGs. Now thatKingdom Hearts 3is firmly in the rearview mirror, many fans are looking ahead towards the next mainline entry. Ultimately, it’s probably a good idea to look back at the successes of its predecessorKH2.
Widely consideredthe bestKingdom Heartsgamein the series,KH2was a critical and commercial success. It’s clear the story of Sora will continue, but the question is in what shape and how. Taking the pieces of what worked well fromKH3and adapting the overall model that madeKingdom Hearts 2stand might just be the best way forward.
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What to Keep From Kingdom Hearts 3 for Kingdom Hearts 4
First and foremost,Kingdom Hearts 3was visually stunning. Iconic characters like Sora and Mickey were on display in a fidelity never seen for the series before. The game was gorgeous in pretty much every way and ran smoothly even compared to how theKingdom Heartsgames now run on PC. Of course, no game is perfect.
One of the largest complaints among veteranKHfans was the game’s incredibly low level of difficulty. The game offers a few higher difficulty modes but the increases in difficulty felt weak, similar to the onesinFinal Fantasy 7 Remakedid for somefans. To many players,KH2had a much more engaging combat system that required learning the defensive maneuvers and enemy patterns to succeed.
Lastly, whileKingdom Hearts 3suddenly lacked anyFinal Fantasycharactersuntil theReMindDLC, it did a good job of exploring the backstories of its own original characters. The comparison between theFFcharacters and the originalKHones is obvious, but getting more story about the members of Organization XIII and others was refreshing. Seeing the relationships between characters like Axel and Saix before they became Nobodies did a lot to bring some disparate elements of the overall narrative together. While some characters, namely Kairi, still haven’t received their time to shine,KH3focused on its original characters in a way that was engaging to many fans.
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What to Bring Back From Kingdom Hearts 2 for Kingdom Hearts 4
WhileKH3did a good job of exploring the stories of its original characters, it didn’t do as a good of a job tying those characters into the various Disney worlds. After all, the bulk of eachKingdom Heartsgame happens across the various Disney worlds that Sora and the other Keyblade warriors. With that, tying the overall events into those worlds is crucial and somethingKH2did very well.KH2’sstory had some strange moments of course, but the fairly simple formula of dealing with threats from the Heartless on the first visit and then the Nobodies on the second in each Disney world worked well. This was partly due to tying the original characters to those events, like the Organization members stirring up trouble for each world.
Bringing backFinal Fantasycharactersis likely a good move for an inevitableKingdom Hearts 4. The characters served as much more than just tacked-on fan service. Squall (Leon), Yuffie, Cid, and the others served as some of Sora’s first friends on his journey and helped guide the young Keyblade warrior. Fan service isn’t inherently bad either.FF7 Remakeshowed how much interest there still is in its characters and seeing the rivalry between Cloud and Sephiroth spill into theKingdom Heartsuniverse was a blast for many. It also set up the series of now iconic secret boss fights with Sephiroth himself, notably absent fromKingdom Hearts 3.
Bosses in general were an issue inKingdom Hearts 3for some. Despite some interesting mechanics present in a couple of the fights and the sheer spectacle ofKH3, many of its bosses remain less memorable than those ofKH2. This was in part due to the absence of Reaction Commands. The contextual abilities that varied for each enemy and each boss made every encounter feel unique inKH2. The Reaction Commands also just objectively followed the “Rule of Cool.” Being able to square off in a duel with the Samurai Nobodies or stomp on Barbossa’s sword before countering created some ofKH2’s most memorable moments. These were largely replaced inKH3with the attractions or weapon transformations, which had their merits, but to many lacked the same flair as Reaction Commands.
The Future of Kingdom Hearts
Overall,Kingdom Hearts 3has its great moments, but many elements of what madeKH2great, and will subsequently make the eventualKingdom Hearts 4great as well, were lacking. Seemingly simple diversions were missing like a series of secret bosses and the vacuous loss of any Coliseum-equivalent.
Bringing backFFcharacters, more secret bosses and a tournament arena, and Reaction Commands could go a long way forKingdom Hearts 4. Obviously balancing out the appeal of Reaction Commands and the Form system ofKH2against the objectively fun weapon transformations fromKH3could become daunting. That task isn’t insurmountable though.Kingdom Hearts 4has a lot in its future to work within terms of its original characters and the seemingly obviousFinal Fantasy Versus 13influences at the end of theReMindDLC. But looking back to its past inKingdom Hearts 2could prove the most important move going forward forKingdom Hearts 4.
Kingdom Hearts 4isn’t yet confirmed to be in development.
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