The new locations and design of Sora in Kingdom Hearts 4 give Square Enix a perfect opportunity to revisit the Drive Forms that disappeared between the second and third titles in the series. While this change might have made sense for Kingdom Hearts 3's combat, considering the evolution that the series had undergone in the several games between it and its predecessor, some spectacle was lost along the way.
It should be noted that the Drive Forms from Kingdom Hearts 2 weren't completely removed from the series, but were instead recontextualized into the Keyblade transformations in Kingdom Hearts 3. That being said, a certain amount of utility and strategy was lost in the process of evolving Drive Forms into transformations that Kingdom Hearts 4 could revive with another key rework of the system.
Drive Forms Versus Keyblade Transformations
Drive Forms in Kingdom Hearts 2 were a new addition to the series at the time that gave the players the chance to completely change the trajectory of an encounter by sacrificing a companion to give Sora a massive power boost. In many ways, the Keyblade transformations in Kingdom Hearts 3 were able to cover much of the same abilities, but limited these temporary boosts to building up a separate meter. It might seem like a small change on the surface, but this completely reworks the utility of these new forms, as Drive Forms were able to be stored until a fight that actually called for the boost and Keyblade transformations had to be used immediately or be lost.
These changes then have a knock-on effect that changes the new forms from being a temporary boost that lasts for a time that increases as players level up those Drive Forms, to essentially a one-off attack that appears a few times throughout a fight. However, this doesn't only affect strategy, but focusing new forms on Sora's Keyblade also robbed the game of much of the spectacle that came with Kingdom Hearts 2's Drive Forms.
Sora Regaining His Flashiest Combat in Kingdom Hearts 4
One of the strongest aspects of the Kingdom Hearts series is the flashy combat, particularly with Sora's stylized movesets in general gameplay as well as during cutscenes. By the time Kingdom Hearts 2 rolled around, Square Enix had started to cement the game in this fast-paced combat and flashy attacks that have Sora spinning through the air at high speeds. This was then enhanced by the Drive Forms, which gave Sora even more ways to cut through heartless and slice buildings in half as the temporary power boosts also update his combos.
While this was the case for Kingdom Hearts 3's Keyblade transformations, it rarely had the same impact as the Drive Forms. Most of the spectacle was on the transformation itself, not the new way that each of these transformations managed to impact the visuals of combat. Twin blasters and ice skates were all well and good, but very few of these second forms' basic attacks matched up with the tornado pull of both Master and Final Form from Kingdom Hearts 2.
So, as Kingdom Hearts 4 restarts a new era for the series, this could be the best time to look back at the most successful aspects of previous games. Getting back the strategic use of the storable Drive Forms and the extra flash that came with them could be a great way to jumpstart the future of the Kingdom Hearts series. This type of flashy combat could be exactly what the franchise needs to retain longtime fans and bring in new fans at a time when it could be easier to jump into the series.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is in development.
