The latest Kingdom Hearts spin-off is here in the form of the rhythm action title Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, and to nobody's surprise, it has some implications for the future of the series. There isn't quite as much story present in the new title as Melody of Memory is meant to be a recap story, but the ending does give players a small amount of new content to keep players engaged.
This both culminates with a final boss and answer to a mystery that players have been theorizing since the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, all while setting up a new game that may star Riku as the main protagonist. While the story of Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is fairly lax in comparison to the nearly twenty years that the majority of the game spends summarizing, it acts as a strong stepping off point into the next era of Kingdom Hearts.
The discussion about the future of Kingdom Hearts from here on will contain MAJOR SPOILERS for both Melody of Memory as well as the connected games. While the exact story is limited, there are some series revelations that are going to have a heavy impact on the series, and might wind up explaining some strange occurrences from older titles like Dream Drop Distance. Regardless of what this means for the next numbered title, the ending heavily hints that the next game in the series will be a Riku-helmed Kingdom Hearts title.
The Final World
To start delving into spoiler territory, it's important to look at how and where exactly the story of Melody of Memory caps off, with Kairi fighting Xehanort in The Final World and eventually waking up in Radiant Garden. While Kairi spends most of Memory of Melody asleep and dreaming of the familiar events of the series, this final area gives players some never-before-seen backstory for the character from before she arrived on Destiny Island. After waking up, she meets with Riku, who explains his dreams seen in Kingdom Hearts 3's Re:Mind DLC and from there the Fairy Godmother whisks both of them off to The Final World one more time.
In the Final World, Riku and Kairi have a brief conversation with one of the spinning, sparkling stars that Sora spoke with at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3. At this point, without asking the girl who's heart is currently in this star form what she wants or even what her name is, Riku makes an agreement to help each other and activates a portal to an unknown land. This is where the story ends for now, with only a post credit scene to set up Kingdom Hearts 4 with Kairi studying with Aqua and Mickey heading to Scala ad Caelum.
The Fictional World
With all of that ending content covered, the next thing to focus on is where Riku is headed when he opens the portal on the mysterious star girl and how this will likely work as a start to the next game. According to an earlier scene, it would appear that this new location is an area referred to as the Fictional World, somewhere that this star girl appears to be from. It's too early to say for certain, but this may also be connected to how the characters from The World Ends With You appeared in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance.
Regardless, Melody of Memories is very clear that this is at least where Riku intends to go, although it may be a more difficult task to get there than simply walking through the portal. If Yozora fan theories about what he claimed in the cutscene leading up to his fight in Re:Mind can be believed, then it's likely that Riku will have to go through some version of the Reaper Game from The World Ends With You to progress forward. Speaking of Yozora, he is also likely the person that the star girl is waiting for, meaning that after his fight with Sora, the new gloomy, grey haired character will have to go up against his real-world counterpart.
Yozora and Stella
While the star girl technically has no name at this point thanks to everyone's use of the pronoun game around her, although some players have resorted to calling her Stella due to the perceived connection between Yozora and Noctis. From what the ending shows, it would appear that finding Yozora and saving Stella is going to be a major part of finding Sora. So, the next game, taking place from Riku's perspective, will likely involve looking for Yozora and building some kind of connection with him to save both Sora and Stella.
Stella already has a connection to Sora herself, having spoken with him when he arrived at The Final World in the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, which is often all it takes in this series to iron out plot points. It still isn't clear what Yozora's role will be in Kingdom Hearts 4, especially with how vague Square Enix is being about the mysteries that the next phase of Kingdom Hearts will be focusing on. However, he will likely become Riku's connection from The Final World to the Fictional World, possibly going through Shibuya briefly.
Not Headed to Shibuya
Of the limited information that Stella gives Riku and Kairi while they talk to her, she mentions a place called Quadratum, which seems to be the world from the Verum Rex video game. At first this appears to contradict the evidence that the secret fight against Yozora in Re:Mind takes place on top of the 104 Building from The World Ends With You. However, even Yozora himself admits that this isn't his home, and when he wakes up in the car at the end of the fight, he doesn't seem to be in modern Tokyo.
So, it's likely that this setup for Shibuya to be a new location isn't leading to the next game spending the entire time there, but instead turning The World Ends With You into one of many stops on Riku's new journey. Of course, given the series' previous history with spin-offs, it's entirely possible that players will be getting another Dream Drop Distance type of mechanic that switches between Riku and Sora. That being said, it may be time for Riku to get his own Kingdom Hearts title that he doesn't have to share the spotlight in as the character begins to wane in importance in the new Master of Masters era.
Kingdom Hearts: Memory of Melodies is available now for PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
