There’s going to be a world of change whenKingdom Hearts 4comes out, and a lot of it will be focused on its main new world. After abusing the Power of Waking to ensure all his friends are safe, Sora fades out of his reality into some sort of parallel dimension. This place, focused around themetropolitan world of Quadratum, is set to provide a new experience when the game comes out. Sora will be fighting the forces of darkness using this Tokyo-inspired city as a home base, and there will surely be other troubles following him from his home universe.
There’s a lot to take in regardingKingdom Hearts 4, such as how it returns to some gameplay concepts present inKingdom Hearts 2while also refiningKingdom Hearts 3’s airstep into a grappling hook. The game will have some new concepts to offer of its own, such as the mysterious Build command spotted in the reveal trailer. Sora is going to need to get comfortable in his unfamiliar circumstances, and according toKingdom Hearts 4’s director Tetsuya Nomura, he’s going to spend a lot of time doing just that.
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Kingdom Hearts Doesn’t Focus On Sora Outside of Gameplay
Sora’s regular life has always been a topic of fan speculation. Apart from one short scene that takes place in hishouse on the Destiny Islands mainland, all ofKingdom Heartshas shown Sora adventuring. In his quest throughout many worlds, the player is always in the thick of the action. Sora technically has “primary” worlds he can go back to in everyKingdom Heartsgame, but there’s no place for him to settle down and relax. His routine is simply pushing forward toward his goals at all times. It feels like Sora tries to compress all of his adventures into the shortest time span possible, and then sleeps after he’s done.
This issue comes to a head if one pays attention duringKingdom Hearts 3. Several worlds explicitly show the passage of time, withCorona, Arendelle, and San Fransokyoexplicitly taking place over the course of several days. San Fransokyo has a base for Sora and friends to rest in, but the other worlds do not.Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Daysis a major exception to this format, as it is built around Roxas’ year spent working for Organization XIII. The game makes a point of showing him departing and returning to The Castle That Never Was every day, and it seems likeKingdom Hearts 4may bring this element back.
There Will Be More Downtime in Kingdom Hearts 4
According to Game Informer’s interview with Tetsuya Nomura,Kingdom Hearts 4players will be spending a fair amount of time in Quadratum. It will serve as their home base and a regular pit stop between travels to other worlds. The building and room thattheKH4reveal trailer showedwill serve as a definitive home base for the heroes. It’s not clear what Sora’s living arrangements are, but it seems like he will have a room there, and part of the game will take place in it.
This sounds odd for such an action heavy franchise, but it givesKingdom Heartsthe opportunity to explore downtime like never before. Sora will now have a regular place for other recurring characters to find him in, and potentially a room ripe for player customization. It could work like an expanded version of358/2 Days’ format, this time likely allowing players to venture into the open city immediately outside their room. If nothing else, making frequent and extensive return trips to a central location will allow a moremature and routine focused side of Sora’s characterto develop. This new focus givesKingdom Hearts 4another avenue to bring wholly new experiences to theKHfranchise.
Kingdom Hearts 4is currently in development.
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