T5W#575-Top 5 Thoughts on the Kingdom Hearts IV D23 Updates

Disney’s D23 event took place this past weekend and brought some major announcements and previews for upcoming…well everything from the announcement of the cast for the MCU X-Men movie to the first trailers for Star Wars: Ahsoka Season 2 and Frozen III.  However, I doubt anyone expected Kingdom Hearts IV to get such a substantial amount of attention.  Director Tetsuya Nomura and several key developers and voice actors, including Haley Joel Osment (Sora) and David Gallagher (Riku) took to the stage to drop some new updates for the highly anticipated sequel.  Though my relationship with Kingdom Hearts is kinda strained after KHIII, I’m willing to eventually dive back in and get caught up much like I have with Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth (finally finished the latter btw, what a game).  So on today’s Top 5 Wednesday, I’ll be sharing my Top 5 Thoughts on the Kingdom Hearts IV D23 Updates. 
 
Before we get started though, I’d like to dedicate today’s Top 5 Wednesday to the memory of actress Hayden Panittiere, who sadly passed away last weekend.  Whether you knew her from Heroes, Nashville or Kingdom Hearts’ Kairi, hers is a talent that will be forever missed.  We raise our Keyblade high in her memory.

 
#5-Um…there’s an Anime coming

So this has nothing to do with the game itself but it was revealed around the same time so yeah.  Kingdom Hearts is getting an Anime sometime in the future on Disney+.  Little is known about it at this stage but what is known is that it wont be a straight adaptation of the games themselves.  Nomura has simply said “Please let your imagination run wild.”  Sooooo…is it a sequel?  Is it another prequel before Birth by Sleep?  Will this be a darker reimagining a la Escaflowne: The Movie?  Will we see other worlds not featured in any of the games thus far?  And if that’s not Sora or Riku holding that Keyblade, who the hell is it?  At the very least can this please be better than that Twisted Wonderland Anime they dropped last year?
 

#4-The Disney Trio is Playable

No Kingdom Hearts game would ever be complete without Disney’s Big Three: Mickey Mouse, Donald and Goofy.  And it looks like their roles will be bigger than ever in Kingdom Hearts IV because now, we the players get to take control of them.  Apparently you could do this with Mickey in other games but this is definitely a first for Goofy and Donald, who have just been Sora’s ever reliable back up so far.  Honestly, this is long overdue to be able to unleash Donald and Goofy’s magical and defensive chaos your own way.  Also, it looks like Donald and Goofy are hot on hunt for the missing Sora and will be venturing down to the Underworld to see if Hades has any idea where he might be and we could all use more Hades.

 
#3-Coco

While many have speculated about what worlds could pop up in Sora’s next adventure (especially with Star Wars and Marvel now under the Disney banner and thus at Square’s fingertips), the first officially announced world for KHIV is Pixar’s Coco.  Given the themes of that amazing movie, it is a perfect fit for the search for Sora and the terrifying thought of him being forgotten if he cannot be found.  I’m looking forward to seeing Sora jam with Miguel using a guitar style Keyblade and batting the hell out of the Heartless that pop up.  Bonus points if said Keyblade has a gun feature a la El Mariachi…but yeah probably not.

 

#2-Riku’s Back baby

The updated footage trailer concluded with a massive battle in downtown Quadratum with Sora being overwhelmed fending off those aforementioned Kaiju Heartless and his new friends, Strelitzia and Sigurd not fairing much better.  But then who should come to the rescue, wielding a massive and bad ass looking new Keyblade but Sora’s forever bestie, Riku.  Dude looks even cooler than Sora with his updated older look and the live reaction from the crowd said it all.  The Sasuke to Sora’s Naruto is back to throwdown and maybe bring Sora home.  How did he get here and does Sora remember him?  Like every other question that pops up, we’ll have to wait and see.
 

#1-Hard Lock: 2027

One thing that is not up in the air anymore is one vital promise from Tetsuya Nomura himself: Kingdom Hearts IV is coming out Late 2027.  He’s added that development is running quite smoothly and seems pretty confident he and Square can deliver the fourth-quel in that time frame. This would certainly be a nice change in downtime between main line entries (8 since KHIII compared to the 14 between Kingdom Hearts II and III).  Granted, this could backfire but I’m oddly feeling confident in Nomura’s bold promise and holding out hope that by next Thanksgiving or, more likely Christmas, we’ll be soaring into more Disney and Final Fantasy worlds with Sora, Donald and Goofy once again.