Square Enix has just announced Kingdom Hearts 4, a new chapter in the long-standing action RPG series.
The game has been revealed as part of the Kingdom Hearts’ 20th-anniversary celebration, at the end of a seven-minute trailer, and is said to be part of a “new storyline titled the Lost Master Arc.”
The Japanese developer and publisher has not disclosed details such as launch window or platforms yet. Considering Kingdom Hearts 3 was released for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, there’s a chance the newest game in the series might be coming to the same family of consoles and the PC.
The trailer only says there’s “magic in the making” at Square Enix right now, which could easily be a hint at the development process still taking a few years before completion. The footage itself is “subject to change.”
In the video, you can see Sora waking up after a seven day-sleep, in a brand new “afterworld” called the “Quadratum” – “a large, expansive city set in a gorgeous, realistic world unlike anything ever seen before in the Kingdom Hearts series.”
Square seems to acknowledge fans’ disappointment at Kingdom Hearts III’s ending, as the trailer claims that “if this isn’t the ending you desired, if it brings you despair, then leave this world for another.”
The first gameplay footage included in the trailer shows Sora fighting a giant shadow monster during a spectacular combat sequence, complete with the usual UI elements fans have gotten used to over the years.
At the end of the clip, Goofy and Donald Duck make a quick appearance, too, seemingly looking for Sora in a dark environment before getting spotted by… someone.
A “mysterious new character” is also introduced alongside the familiar cast, called Strelitzia, the girl who seemingly awakens Sora in the trailer.
Kingdom Hearts III was the end of a journey 14 years in the making, considering KH2 was launched in 2005.
Even though we didn’t hear a specific launch date nor even a year, it’s likely fans won’t have to wait that long before they see the newest iteration of the franchise, anyway.
We don’t know when more details will be revealed yet, but with Dark Road reaching its “finale” in August 2022, there’s a chance we might learn more around the same time.
Written by Paolo Sirio on behalf of GLHF.
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