Over the years, the Kingdom Hearts series has gone to many locations ranging from original creations like Destiny Islands, Traverse Town, and Hollow Bastion to iconic Disney properties like Olympus Coliseum and Agrabah. No one knows how many worlds Kingdom Hearts 4 will have, but it’s assumed it will have a comparable amount to other numbered entries. Not counting the Dive to the Heart tutorial or Yen Sid’s Mysterious Tower, Kingdom Hearts 2 leads the franchise with fifteen worlds, while Re:coded and Dream Drop Distance come in last place with seven major worlds each.
The final tally has varied between games due to both hardware and what the game is trying to accomplish. Re:coded is an unimportant DS remake of a mobile game, while Dream Drop Distance is a story-integral title with larger worlds that players visit at least twice. Kingdom Hearts 3 is where a new consideration for world population comes into play. As hardware capabilities and fan expectations increase, the higher world counts of early entries become unfeasible. Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind has about eleven worlds on top of the expanded Gummi Ship maps, but each world is only expected to be visited once. With console specs and graphical fidelity having increased further since then, Kingdom Hearts 4 may have the smallest world total yet.
How Many Worlds Would Be Too Few for Kingdom Hearts 4
The correlation between Kingdom Hearts’ world count and graphical quality was pointed out by series director Tetsuya Nomura in an interview with Game Informer. Kingdom Hearts 4 will have a lower world count because of it, but whether that means it will have the lowest in the series remains to be seen. In Kingdom Hearts 3, the average world is made with many more HD assets than they used to, often with enemies and other interactive elements made specifically for that world. There are a lot of bespoke sequences and gimmick fights in each location like the laser hallways in Monstropolis or the aerial and underwater fights in The Caribbean. The sheer complexity means that world count had to shrink.
This raises the question of how many worlds Kingdom Hearts 4 can retain at bare minimum. Fans know that Quadratum will serve as a central hub, and there are strong suspicions that Star Wars and possibly Marvel worlds may join the fray. Quadratum will be visited between worlds according to Nomura, and it looks like it could fill a lot of time with repeat visits like Hollow Bastion in KH2. Presuming the final sequence will take place in a new world separate from Quadratum, it feels like a minimum of seven worlds should be expected. Five Disney worlds of especially prodigious size should make for hours of content per-area, and Square Enix is likely aware that a numbered entry should not dip below the world count of past spin-offs.
What is the Maximum Number of Worlds Kingdom Hearts 4 Could Have
Still, that is assuming Kingdom Hearts 4 will have significantly fewer worlds than its immediate predecessor. Seven worlds is a guess at the bare minimum, but there's a good chance that it will reach a little higher. Eight worlds feels reasonable, even if the grand-looking Quadratum has to be shrunk during gameplay to accommodate this. Even if massive, ambitious worlds like The Caribbean and San Fransokyo need to give way to linear affairs like Kingdom of Corona and Arendelle, it's still worth the effort to represent more Disney franchises.
The increase in graphical quality must be accounted for, however, so Kingdom Hearts 4 can't go too big with its world count. Kingdom Hearts 3’s total of 11 major worlds should be considered the maximum. Judging by developer statements, it's not likely this number will be reached, and fans should probably not expect any more Disney Worlds than KH3’s nine. It's difficult to ballpark things now because it's not clear what Square Enix's intentions are in designing these worlds, and fans likely won't have a good grasp on that until KH4's launch draws near. Hopefully, the result is a Kingdom Hearts 4 with a solid number of expansive and gorgeous worlds.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is now in development.