Summary
Another year will soon end without further updates onKingdom Hearts 4. While fans are hopeful that it won’t have as lengthy a development cycle asKingdom Hearts 3, there’s still an expectation that news won’t come until 2024 at the earliest. The little that’s known paintsKingdom Hearts 4as a major shift for the series, beginning the new Lost Master Arc in earnest and expandingKingdom Hearts 3’s massive Worlds even further. No one knows how this venture will turn out, butKingdom Hearts' community has plenty of time to speculate along the way.
Series protagonist Sora is currently trapped in the mysterious city of Quadratum after sacrificing himself inKingdom Hearts 3to ensure his friends' safety. Joined by what appears to beStrelitzia fromKingdom Hearts Union X, Sora will have to navigate this new setting while his old allies search for ways to get him back home.Kingdom Hearts' extended cast will still play a role inKH4’s story despite its isolated setting, and that means a series tradition allowing them to help should be kept alive.
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Kingdom Hearts Never Lets Sora Fight Alone
SinceKingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, almost every Kingdom Hearts title has included more than one playable character. The exact circumstances of this have varied, ranging from Riku’s parallel campaign inChain of MemoriestoRoxas' prologue at the start ofKingdom Hearts 2, but only a few games have dropped the trend at this point. Now thatKingdom Hearts 3has gone out of its way to include sequences with other player characters and its DLC added even more, it’s clear thatKingdom Heartsvalues its companions in gameplay as much as it does in story.
SinceKingdom Hearts' accessible combat template can easily transfer to other Keyblade wielders,Kingdom Hearts 4should continue this trend. Sora may be inQuadratum, a remote part ofKingdom Hearts' multiverse, but familiar faces are already converging on the realm. The closest one is Strelitzia, though she could end up as mission control. It would be great to see her take up a Keyblade again as a party member, but she hasn’t had enough screen time yet to predict her role. That leaves two other potentially playable protagonists, and it will be interesting to see howKH4handles each of them.
Riku and Yozora Are Competing For Kingdom Hearts 4’s Other Playable Slot
Donald and Goofy may not be able to accompany Sora like normal inKingdom Hearts 4, but his other best friend is already on the way. As part ofKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory’s ending, Riku used the Power of Waking to travel directly from the Final World to Quadratum. Coming back won’t be as easy, butKingdom Hearts' iconic rivalshould be able to reprise his old role as Sora’s playable counterpart in the meantime.KH3’s Secret Movie already teased Riku landing in Quadratum, so it’s a question of when, not if, Riku will be relevant.
However, Riku isn’t the only white-haired rival available. Yozora, the secret final boss ofKingdom Hearts 3: ReMindforeshadowed by the base game, seems to be somewhere in or near Quadratum. With a significantly different fighting style, Yozora would be fascinating to control, and doing so may be likelier than playing as Riku again. Dialogue from himself and the Nameless Star has implied he’s already been through a game’s worth of intrigue, so a significant portion of theLost Master Arc could be devoted to Yozora’s story. Fans will have to see which of them takes point onceKingdom Hearts 4resumes its marketing.
Kingdom Hearts 4is currently in development.
MORE:Kingdom Hearts: Every Playable Character In The Series (& The Games They Are Used In)
