While it's currently in a lull, the Kingdom Hearts franchise is quickly approaching its next era. Kingdom Hearts 3 and Kingdom Hearts Dark Road brought an end to the Dark Seeker Saga, otherwise known as the Xehanort Saga, and Kingdom Hearts 4 is expected to formally kick off the Lost Master Saga. It's currently unclear if Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link will tie into that, or if it’s doing its own thing, but fans are eager to see more of Kingdom Hearts 4 to discover what's next for the Disney crossover franchise.

More so than ever before, Kingdom Hearts 4 seems like a fresh start for the series, which has become known for constantly building upon its existing story elements. If Kingdom Hearts 4 ends up with widely appealing crossovers, gameplay, or narrative traits, then many potential players will appreciate it for distancing itself from the series’ last Saga. What little fans know of KH4's setting implies it’s the perfect chance to break away from past plot threads, resulting in the first largely standalone story the franchise has seen in a long time.

RELATED: Kingdom Hearts 4 Could (and Should) be a Restart for the Franchise

How Kingdom Hearts 4 Sets Up A Reboot

Leading into Kingdom Hearts 4, series protagonist Sora was separated from his friends and universe after misusing the Power of Waking in KH3. Subsequently, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory and the Kingdom Hearts 4 reveal trailer and confirmed that Sora had been transported to Quadratum, some sort of unreality that looks like a real-life modern city. Joined by the previously-dead KH Union Cross character Strelitzia, and potentially en route to meet KH3: ReMind’s Yozora again, Sora has found himself in a drastically different situation than what was in Kingdom Hearts up until this point.

Which Kingdom Hearts' Characters Could Persist In KH4

Some old concepts and characters have also been teased with relevance to the Lost Master Saga. The Master of Masters and six Foretellers have been implied to be future antagonists, KH deuteragonist Riku is traveling to Quadratum himself, and Sora's other friends, especially regular party members Donald and Goofy, are searching all of their known worlds for any trace of Sora. Kingdom Hearts 4 is far from a hard reboot of the franchise, but Sora's isolated circumstances justify easing off on classic Kingdom Hearts elements for at least one game, potentially making it a good starting point for new fans.

Why Kingdom Hearts Could Use A Soft Reboot Now

A soft reboot would be great for Kingdom Hearts, especially if Kingdom Hearts 4 intends to make any drastic changes to the series’ tone or mechanics. In particular, it would address the KH series' longstanding bad habit of making new entries’ stories unable to stand on their own without prior Kingdom Hearts knowledge. Establishing Quadratum with as few returning faces as possible, on top of allowing those present like Strelitzia and potentially the Foretellers to develop in new directions, would broaden Kingdom Hearts 4’s appeal.

What Kingdom Hearts 4’s Reboot Could Do To Succeed

Dropping the number 4 in favor of a subtitle would support this cause the most, but Kingdom Hearts 4 can still succeed by emulating the 2018 God of War reboot. Concepts, characters, and even story elements from past games could appear, but only briefly and as part of sub-plots that don't detract from the game’s main focus. Regardless of which existing story threads Kingdom Hearts 4 tugs on, it needs to keep the bulk of Kingdom Hearts’ history out of focus. If the end result is satisfying, a partially-rebooted Kingdom Hearts 4 could give new players a great first impression of the franchise.

Kingdom Hearts 4

Franchise

Kingdom Hearts

Platform(s)

PS5 , Xbox Series X|S

Developer(s)

Square Enix

Publisher(s)

Square Enix

Genre(s)

RPG , Action