Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts 4 with a stunning gameplay trailer as part of the celebrations for the Kingdom Hearts franchise's 20th anniversary. Kingdom Hearts 4 seems to take the story in a dark direction, with Sora trapped in the Tokyo-like Quadratum, which is described to him as the afterlife. Kingdom Hearts 4's debut trailer shows off gameplay and new flashy movement, like using the Keyblade as a grappling hook, but the real standout here is the game's visuals.
The Kingdom Hearts series is no stranger to visually impressive games. From the stylized, cartoony originals to the handheld games that take full advantage of its hardware, nearly all entries in the series have had top-notch graphics. Kingdom Hearts 4 looks to be a visual treat for the fans — assuming the fans are lucky enough to get their hands on a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Console-wise, Kingdom Hearts 4 looks to be too detailed and visually impressive to be released on anything but modern hardware.
Kingdom Hearts 4's Stunning Visuals
The visuals on display in Kingdom Heart's 4's trailer, seen above around the 4-minute mark, are absolutely breathtaking. From Quadratum's detailed city-scape to every individual hair and pore present on Sora and the new, mysterious female character, there is a ton of detail to take in. In previous Kingdom Hearts titles, this level of detail would mainly be reserved for the pre-rendered cutscenes, but Kingdom Hearts 4's gameplay seems to take no hit visually.
The trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4 does tease a bit of gameplay, in which Sora runs through Quadratum's streets in an intense boss fight with a giant Heartless. On the run over, it is clear that Kingdom Hearts 4 utilizes ray tracing, something that has not been possible on game consoles until now. Sora can be seen reflecting off of cars and buildings — even buildings reflect off of other buildings. Not much more ray tracing is shown, though the game is sure to have some reflection and lighting surprises in store to tie in with the colorful Disney worlds Sora will explore.
Lastly, Kingdom Hearts 4's trailer shows off tons and tons of particle effects. The giant Heartless forms from a swirling black mass, and lets off countless wisps with every attack. Sora also darts through a collapsing building as the windows simultaneously shatter, spraying glass all around him. In all, Kingdom Hearts 4's level of graphical detail and lighting and particle effects deem the game too visually intensive to run on anything but PS5 or Xbox Series X.
Kingdom Hearts' History of Pushing Graphical Boundaries
While Kingdom Hearts 4 looks the best that the series ever has, it is by no means the first visually impressive game in the series. The journey across Kingdom Heart's 3's many worlds is beautiful. Each world is visually distinct and has such a high level of detail, down to changing Sora and the gang's costumes to fit the area's theme. KH3 may be three years old at this point, but the way the game looks and runs is impressive even by last-gen console standards.
Even the handheld Kingdom Hearts entries innovated visually, such as Re: Coded or 358/2 Days: Both are full-fledged, 3D Kingdom Hearts titles that run on the Nintendo DS. The DS has some great games, but few are fully 3D. The fact that there are two lengthy 3D JRPGs on the console is impressive, to say the least. What all of these Kingdom Hearts games have in common is that they never have had a cross-generational release. Typically, every game in the series is too visually demanding to run on older consoles, and Kingdom Hearts 4 looks to be no exception.
It is rare to see an exclusive PS5 or Xbox Series X release in general, though they will certainly be more common in the coming years, but games like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and the Demon's Souls remake show that taking full advantage of the consoles' capabilities is worth it. It is exciting to think that Kingdom Hearts 4 will do the same and give players even more of a reason to seek out the newest consoles.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is currently in development.