Highlights
- Kingdom Hearts 4 was announced 2 years ago with scarce details since then, leaving fans frustrated and hungry for more information on the action-RPG.
- It's possible more information will come soon, but fans should keep their expectations in check.
- The release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth may mean Square Enix will focus its attention on Kingdom Hearts 4 now, but that remains to be seen.
April 10, 2024 officially marks two years since Square Enix dropped the first trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4, with updates on the highly-anticipated game virtually nonexistent since then. Kingdom Hearts fans are used to waiting exorbitant amounts of time for sequels. As fans of the franchise will no doubt recall, there was a whopping 14 years between the release of Kingdom Hearts 2 and Kingdom Hearts 3.
Square Enix helped fill the gap between Kingdom Hearts 2 and Kingdom Hearts 3 by releasing all kinds of Kingdom Hearts spin-off games, but there were many who were only interested in playing a new main series entry. Fans shouldn't have to wait nearly as long to play Kingdom Hearts 4, but some are still growing frustrated, as they have been starved of information regarding the upcoming action-RPG.
Kingdom Hearts 4 Has to Avoid a Common Entertainment Trend at All Costs
Kingdom Hearts is getting dangerously close to embracing one ubiquitous modern storytelling trope that it really ought to avoid.
Square Enix officially announced Kingdom Hearts 4 two years ago, on April 10, 2022, with a reveal trailer that showcased combat, a new setting, and more for Kingdom Hearts 4. Kingdom Hearts 4 will introduce a new Scrap and Build mechanic and will have players exploring a version of Shibuya, but otherwise, details on what exactly the new game will entail remain scarce. Unfortunately, that first trailer is basically the only update fans have gotten in the past two years, making today a particularly depressing anniversary for the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
Today is the 2-Year Anniversary of Kingdom Hearts 4's Announcement
A Kingdom Hearts 4 image was released a couple of months ago to celebrate the release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but the image wasn't actually new. Fans were also given false hope when it was inaccurately reported that Kingdom Hearts 4 music was actively being worked on by series composer Yoko Shimomura. It's entirely possible that Shimomura is indeed working on Kingdom Hearts 4 right now, but she has yet to admit as much.
Now that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has been released, it's possible that Tetsuya Nomura will re-focus his efforts on Kingdom Hearts 4. If so, it's also possible that fans will get more updates about the game sooner rather than later, but they may want to keep their expectations in check. It could be that Square Enix will barrel full-steam ahead on the third Final Fantasy 7 remake game or another project entirely, and so fans should keep that in mind.
Besides Kingdom Hearts 4, there's also the Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link mobile game to take into account, though it has had very few updates since its initial announcement either. Hopefully, Kingdom Hearts fans are treated to some concrete updates about the franchise's new games in the near future.
Kingdom Hearts 4
- Franchise
- Kingdom Hearts
- Platform(s)
- PS5 , Xbox Series X|S
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
