Kingdom Hearts 4 has been officially announced at an event celebrating the series' 20th anniversary.
Initially premiered to the attendees of the Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary celebration event in Japan, Square Enix has now publicly released the first Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer.
In the seven minute long video, fans outside of the event can see what was shown during the presentation including news on Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road, a new mobile game, and our first look at Kingdom Hearts 4.
Watch the first Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer below, starting at the four minute mark.
The trailer has a darker and more serious tone than previous instalments in the series. In the footage you can see a much older Sora teaming up with Strelitzia from Kingdom Hearts Union X, fighting in a boss battle against a giant enemy across a location Square Enix is calling Quadratum – a "expansive city set in a gorgeous, realistic world unlike anything ever seen before in the Kingdom Hearts series."
From this first Kingdom Hearts 4 footage, it would appear that the series is taking a big leap forward over 2019's Kingdom Hearts 3, with Square Enix pushing for a more photo-realistic visual aesthetic versus the more stylised look we're used to from previous games. The publisher has confirmed that Kingdom Hearts 4 is the start of an "epic new storyline" which is entitled the 'Lost Master Arc'.
Don't worry though, it looks like Donald and Goofy are still tagging along for the adventure as they do make a brief appearance towards the end of the Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer, where they seem to be looking for someone before getting spooked by somebody off camera.
In a press release confirming the news, Square Enix adds: "Fans will be excited to see the return of Sora’s well-known companions Donald and Goofy, in addition to the first appearance of Strelitzia, a mysterious new character who appears before Sora in this strange new setting."
The rest of the video from the 20th anniversary event announced that the mobile game Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road has been delayed until August 2022. Not only this but we also got our first glimpse at a brand new mobile game called Kingdom Hearts – Missing Link which will apparently receive a closed beta test later this year.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a release date for Kingdom Hearts 4 just yet. However Nana Gadd, director of Walt Disney Games, says more information will be coming in the future: "This glimpse into Sora’s next adventure is just the beginning – we can't wait to show more when the time is right."
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The original Kingdom Hearts was initially "more hardcore" until Square Enix toned it down: "We had some puzzles in there that would make you go, 'what is this, Takeshi's Challenge?'"
