Eventually,Kingdom Hearts 4will arrive. This game will mark a soft reset point for the series as it transitions to a different setting with a new driving narrative. The series' protagonist Sora will find himself exploring themysterious new world of Quadratum, a modern-looking city that lies within some form of unreality. This place will supposedly serve as Sora’s new hub in his latest adventure to fight the darkness, and possibly some fresh antagonists as well.
Unfortunately, out of all the JRPGs Square Enix has in development right now,Kingdom Hearts 4and the thirdFinal Fantasy 7 Remaketitle are the only ones that do not have solid release windows yet. During the long wait for both, theKingdom Heartscommunity at least has some interviews with the development staff to tide them over. Amidst this information, it came out thatKingdom Hearts 4would be bringing backKingdom Hearts 2’s Reaction Commands. This has been received well, andKH4should continue to err on followingKH2’s example rather than3’s.
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Kingdom Hearts 2 Was a More Successful Package Than KH3
The argument as to whichKingdom Heartsgame is the best has been raging for years. The main contestants are, appropriately, the three numbered titles. While some did prefer the unique parry and magic-focused combat ofKingdom Hearts 1, the manic pace and variance ofKingdom Hearts 2’s combat went over wellwith fans.Kingdom Hearts 3is a rather bizarre case, as while it isn’t bad, it was too easy even in its hardest difficulty at launch. Detractors agree that it is hyper-focused on the spectacle and size of its attacks rather than their worth, causing them to cheapen across a playthrough. It felt like and sometimes literally was riding the same park attractions over and over without much variance.
DespiteKH3having some of the best worlds in the franchise, once again the impact of past games felt lost. This can be attributed to too many worlds feeling like long hallways, whileKH2, as linear as it was, still had players moving back and forth through different areas.KH3’s plot threads and villains being regularly dangled in front of the player without anything coming of them until the ending.Kingdom Hearts 2was better paced in this regard, with multiple Organization XIII members being defeated outside the final world alongside other active antagonists.Kingdom Hearts 3fixedKingdom Hearts 2’s Drive Formswith its more available transformations, but they themselves had several flaws keeping them from being as satisfying as possible. A happy medium may exist, butKH4must do all it can to learn from its predecessors before it will reach it.
Kingdom Hearts 4 Would Work Better With Kingdom Hearts 2 Elements
Beyond the quality ofKingdom Hearts 2itself is how well its format might mesh withKingdom Hearts 4. Supposedly,KH4will be adhering to a somewhat similar format toKingdom Hearts 1and 2, in that there will be many worlds branching off of one that the player could treat as a hub. In4’s case, that world will be Quadratum, and players will likely return to it after every or almost every world. This places it squarely in the realm ofKingdom Hearts 2’s Hollow Bastion, later renamed Radiant Garden, as a world that must be visited several times in the story even if there are always multiple worlds between visits. AsKH4will apparently employ less worlds due to their enhanced detail, instituting two scenarios per location like inKH2could work well.
WhateverKingdom Hearts 4’s story ends up being, it should feel like it is progressing every couple of world visits, and not just at the end.Kingdom Hearts 3had a real problem with this, and tried to lead players on with tangential cutscenes that sometimesset up plot points for otherKingdom Heartsgames. The game came off as doing chores to witness years-old plot resolutions as rewards, while by the end ofKH2, Sora and co. had accomplished several personal and cosmic feats of heroism.
It is important forKH4to have established goals and developments throughout its runtime, possibly even providing choices for progression and completion in its late game like2did.Kingdom Hearts 4should try to be exciting, satisfying, and reasonably well paced, and examining whyKH2worked andKH3didn’t is a good start for getting there.
