The current state of theKingdom Heartsseries has a problem when it comes to enticing new players to give the newest games a try, due largely to the ongoing lore of the series. However, aftercelebrating 20 years for the series, Square Enix now has a unique opportunity to refresh the image of the franchise similarly to how the developer renewed its most prominent flagship games withFinal Fantasy 15.
ThoughFinal Fantasy 15was mired in a long development time for roughly a decade, the final product that released in 2016 was a combination of series mainstays and a completely overhauled gameplay loop. With the original story arc fromKingdom Heartsnow officially finished,Kingdom Hearts 4now has the opportunity to pivot to new discoveries instead of being bogged down by old mysteries.
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A Final Fantasy for Fans and First-Timers
The marketing forFinal Fantasy 15focused heavily on two things,Noctis and his group of companions, as well as the new world and combat system that would draw in new players. Billed as a “Final Fantasyfor fans and first-timers” Square Enix saw the way that the game being the fifteenth in the series might make the prospect of drawing in new players. As a result,Final Fantasy 15stands out as a title that can ease players into the long-running tropes of the series without getting bogged down with the long history of turn-based titles that have gone out of vogue since the earlier games.
Considering thatFinal Fantasy 15went on to be the most successful launch for the franchise at the time, this outreach to make sure that it had wider appeal worked for the game. Square Enix has since seem similar success with theFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, also thanks in part to the way that it updated the more antiquated mechanics for modern audiences. However, while this all worked well for the separated games in theFinal Fantasyseries,Kingdom Hearts' ongoing story arcswill need to do a lot more legwork to draw in new players.
Kingdom Hearts 4 Moving Forward with new Fans
A new storyline and mysterious antagonist aren’t the only things thatKingdom Hearts 4appears to be introducing asSora prepares for a new adventure. This next installment appears to also be introducing an entirely new realm of existence with the World of Fiction that exists outside the previously explored realms of Light, Darkness, and Nothing. The result is a new era forKingdom Heartsthat can explore completely new characters and all new worlds like the upcoming Quadratum without the baggage of the earlier series.
Unlike the newerFinal Fantasytitles, the hurdle forKingdom Hearts 4is the long-running storyline from the last twenty years. In fact, bringing backKingdom Hearts 2’s reaction commandsis being touted as a positive feature of this new title. Instead, this new game can reinvent the series and bring in new fans by smoothing over the complex narrative that has built up until now.
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Kingdom Hearts 4 Stepping Away from History and Mystery
One aspect of theKingdom Heartsseries that has kept fans engaged since the very beginning is the way that each game has expanded on the ongoing lore. These have previously taken the form of everything from revealing the origins ofprimary antagonist Xehanort, to establishing why Sora’s Nobody doesn’t look like him. It can be easy to take this long string of twists, reveals, and hidden mysteries and call in convoluted or overly-complicated, but there has always been a coherent thread for fans to follow until now.
However, as fun as the ongoing series can be for longtime fans, the half-dozen games across nearly as many consoles previously made introducing new players toKingdom Heartsinto a hassle. So, whatKingdom Hearts 4’s new story directionneeds more than any spectacle or mystery to follow is a way to bring new players into the fold. This could easily be accomplished with an optional recap at the start of the next game, or by creating a whole new foundation for this new story in these new worlds.
