Kingdom Hearts IV & Kingdom Hearts Missing – Link announced in 20th Anniversary Trailer

[OrpheusJoshua 126]

Square Enix has revealed a brand new trailer for the series' 20th anniversary, highlighting several upcoming titles. Firstly, Kingdom Hearts Dark Road has been delayed again to August 2022.

A new mobile game called Kingdom Hearts Missing - Link was announced, with a closed beta test arriving later this year.

Lastly, Kingdom Hearts IV was announced.

You can view the new trailer housing these 3 announcements below:

Tetsuya Nomura has provided a new message following these announcements:

The Kingdom Hearts Missing - Link logo was revealed alongside the logo:

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Fans can also look forward to KINGDOM HEARTS Missing-Link, an all-new game for iOS and Android devices, which allows players to embark on adventures from the realm of Scala ad Caelum into the real world. Players will be able to engage in exhilarating battles against the Heartless and discover a new, original story. A closed beta test is planned for 2022.

Official Kingdom Hearts IV screenshots have been provided, viewable below:

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"We’re thrilled to celebrate the series’ 20th anniversary with the announcement of two new KINGDOM HEARTS titles,” said KINGDOM HEARTS series Brand Manager, Ichiro Hazama. “We’d like to thank the fans for all of their support over the years, and we can’t wait for them to experience all that’s to come for Sora."

 

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“Sora is an original Disney video game hero like no other, beloved by our team, and fans across the world. We’ve been honored to work with Tetsuya Nomura and his team for two decades to introduce these original stories of discovery, courage, and friendship,” said Nana Gadd, Director, Walt Disney Games. “This glimpse into Sora’s next adventure is just the beginning – we can’t wait to show more when the time is right."

Official new Kingdom Hearts Dark Road screenshots have been provided, viewable below:

Yoko Shimomura provided a new comment regarding these recent announcements, viewable below alongside a translation:

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"Thank you to everyone who came to the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Event! As you saw, a new arrangement of "Dearly Beloved", as well as new songs for Kingdom Hearts IV were all shown: Composed by yours truly! Please check the PV if you haven't yet!"

UPDATE (4/11/2022): The Japanese websites for Kingdom Hearts IV and Kingdom Hearts Missing - Link are now up. For now, they simply link to their respective trailers and have no new information. 

It is worth noting that the press release for Kingdom Hearts IV provides the following false statement:

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"...in addition to the first appearance of Strelitzia, a mysterious new character who appears before Sora in this strange new setting."

Strelitzia's actual debut was in Kingdom Hearts Union χ.

Square Enix Blog's article on the announcements yesterday clarifies the aforementioned point.

View full article

[meatbun 2]

Thanks for sharing this!

 

KH4 footage looks a little rough.

[danzoEX 0]

3 minutes ago, meatbun said:

Thanks for sharing this!

 

KH4 footage looks a little rough.

I mean it is early footage 

[meatbun 2]

2 minutes ago, danzoEX said:

I mean it is early footage 

Clearly.

[ocean's rage 772]

ugh not another mobile game. SE's got the micro transaction virus bad

[Khamichiwa 0]

holy craP

i just watched the trailer and i am blown away

[Movies798 1,358]

Damn another mobile game. However, from the look of the game's design, and tone it looks like it's going to be miles better than KH Chi/Unchained X/Union X/Dark Road. Also, I wasn't expecting Kingdom Hearts 4 to be the next major game. I was expecting a non-numbered console game, but I'm not complaining though. The graphics and scenery looks dope! Plus, Marluxia's sister is in the game!!! I'm excited to see more of her. And I can't to see what Disney worlds, Pixar worlds, original worlds they're going to add.

[Aquawater 2]

I can’t wait for these games. I hope there are new Disney worlds in KingdomHearts 4.

[Allwil13 754]

39 minutes ago, Movies798 said:

Damn another mobile game. However, from the look of the game's design, and tone it looks like it's going to be miles better than KH Chi/Unchained X/Union X/Dark Road. Also, I wasn't expecting Kingdom Hearts 4 to be the next major game. I was expecting a non-numbered console game, but I'm not complaining though. The graphics and scenery looks dope! Plus, Marluxia's sister is in the game!!! I'm excited to see more of her. And I can't to see what Disney worlds, Pixar worlds, original worlds they're going to add.

Agreed. With everything you just said. In the end, I absolutely hated playing Union Cross, not because of its story, which was actually amazing, but the gameplay was HORRID! This new game actually looks like it will be fun to play. And yeah, I was expecting to see at least a couple of non-numbered titles before KHIV was announced. Hopefully this will be a continuing trend. 

In terms of worlds, I'm hoping for Princess and the Frog, Encanto, Zootopia and Raya and the Last Dragon. Coco would be really cool too, but I'm not sure how they would be able to incorporate that in a believable way. Also, if they could keep the MCU and Star Wars out of KH, that would be preferred.

[dracerix 0]

3 hours ago, meatbun said:

Thanks for sharing this!

 

KH4 footage looks a little rough.

unnecessary critique, especially for a first look

[Sakahiro 2]

Thanks for sharing ! 

I've been blown away by khiv preview. Sora looks amazing, but...

I'm not sure what to think about his new appearance. It looks miles away from the face he had in the previous titles, it doesnt look like him at all. I wonder if it might be related to Quadratum specificities, just like Yozora told Sora it's not his actual appearance. But then why Strelitzia would look the same ?

 

If this is his definitive appearance for the future titles, I am not really convinced. His attire looks nice, but there's something with his face. I don't know. 

[Joey_XIII 135]

The KHIV trailer looks awesome. Looking more and more Versus XIII-ish, even with the music that sounds  like Somnus at the beginning. Can't wait! 

[ocean's rage 772]

1 hour ago, Sakahiro said:

If this is his definitive appearance for the future titles, I am not really convinced. His attire looks nice, but there's something with his face. I don't know. 

i would guess its the change in graphical style. sora's had a cartoonish look for most of the series and now theyre gone for a more "realistic" look

[matteso586 115]

Given when KH3 was announced, I think KH4 is going to take 5-6 years to finish.

[Sakahiro 2]

3 hours ago, ocean's rage said:

i would guess its the change in graphical style. sora's had a cartoonish look for most of the series and now theyre gone for a more "realistic" look

I'm fine with it, but still, it looks a bit off to me. The face doesnt look like sora's face ( e.g check KH2 ending cutscene when he reads the letter, then look at his face now, even if it's more realistic I don't recognizz Sora's traits.. )

His outfit however looks dope. I love it. Also the Keyblade transforming into a Hook looks nice. Cant wait to see Sora's new powers, and how the story will evolve. 

 

 

 

[John Horton 111]

6 hours ago, Aquawater said:

I can’t wait for these games. I hope there are new Disney worlds in KingdomHearts 4.

Same here (Maybe Disney Worlds for Kairi to Travel Too if she goes to the Disney Worlds and if she's a Playable Character (Worlds like: Treasure Planet, Jungle Book, Atlantis the Lost Empire, Emperor's New Groove, Meet the Robinsons, Princess and the Frog as Examples)

[Dustin Lübbers 933]

3 hours ago, ocean's rage said:

i would guess its the change in graphical style. sora's had a cartoonish look for most of the series and now theyre gone for a more "realistic" look

i guess the Idea is  that sora has now grown up

6 hours ago, Movies798 said:

Damn another mobile game. However, from the look of the game's design, and tone it looks like it's going to be miles better than KH Chi/Unchained X/Union X/Dark Road. Also, I wasn't expecting Kingdom Hearts 4 to be the next major game. I was expecting a non-numbered console game, but I'm not complaining though. The graphics and scenery looks dope! Plus, Marluxia's sister is in the game!!! I'm excited to see more of her. And I can't to see what Disney worlds, Pixar worlds, original worlds they're going to add.

have been thinking the same it really surprised me that they would go for kh4 right away i was thinking they would play around with the engine a bit more and set up a few plot details for the new saga. but hey I am not complaining :)

[KH4Real 749]

Yo finally KHIV is announced I'm impressed! This is early work in progress and it already looks so nice!

[PrinceNoctis 1,011]

Just came here to say, it means a lot to me that Nomura has finally created a black (or at least a dark skinned) KH original character. 
 

Also, KINGDOM HEARTS IV! I got so used to getting side games instead of numbered titles that I didn’t expect this to actually happen. I love the idea of having the realistic quadratum as the fictional world and the cartoony disney worlds as the real world. People are already speculating that Star Wars will be in the game. So…Marvel and Thanos anyone? 😅

[FlipMode 141]

3 minutes ago, PrinceNoctis said:

Just came here to say, it means a lot to me that Nomura has finally created a black (or at least a dark skinned) KH original character. 

Love that! 

Yeah I would think we will get some more live action themed worlds to match the new design they seem to be going for. I could speculate but honestly right now I can't even think about what worlds might be in this, I need a few days for it to really sink in that a KH4 trailer just dropped. I remember at one point genuinely wondering if I would ever see KH3 in my life so seeing KH4 is really surreal.

[ocean's rage 772]

1 hour ago, Dustin Lübbers said:

i guess the Idea is  that sora has now grown up

hes only 16

[Sada 0]

Calling it now, giant heartless is Zack's (hair kinda looks like his and they're in a kind of limbo so...)

Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part. 😭

[Movies798 1,358]

9 hours ago, Allwil13 said:

Agreed. With everything you just said. In the end, I absolutely hated playing Union Cross, not because of its story, which was actually amazing, but the gameplay was HORRID! This new game actually looks like it will be fun to play. And yeah, I was expecting to see at least a couple of non-numbered titles before KHIV was announced. Hopefully this will be a continuing trend. 

In terms of worlds, I'm hoping for Princess and the Frog, Encanto, Zootopia and Raya and the Last Dragon. Coco would be really cool too, but I'm not sure how they would be able to incorporate that in a believable way. Also, if they could keep the MCU and Star Wars out of KH, that would be preferred.

I agree. While Kingdom Hearts Chi, Unchained Chi, Union Cross, and Dark Road had some very interesting story plots, but gameplay and mechanics were just so bad. Hopefully Missing Link's  gameplay is fun and enjoyable.

2 hours ago, Dustin Lübbers said:

i guess the Idea is  that sora has now grown up

have been thinking the same it really surprised me that they would go for kh4 right away i was thinking they would play around with the engine a bit more and set up a few plot details for the new saga. but hey I am not complaining :)

Yeah same.

[brannymcp 1]

I have a theory that is most likely true. The Kingdom Hearts IV trailer is just a real-time rendered video, but not actual gameplay. And that means the game still hasn't started full production. Here are some conjectures of my own. You are free to disagree:

1 - Square-Enix has admittedly done it before. Kingdom Hearts III's first teaser trailer from 2013 was a prerendered trailer for a title that still hadn't started full production. When the game was first shown at D23 2013, the game did not look nearly as polished as it looked in the previously shown teaser released months prior. Same thing with Final Fantasy VII REMAKE. And I think the same thing happened with Forspoken and Final Fantasy XVI. 

2 - The development team admitted they released the teaser to avoid getting leaked. That's a completely different reason from "It's time to announce an upcoming title that's getting released within the next 12 months because it's nearing completion".

3 - Kingdom Hearts III took 5 years and some months to fully develop, and even so, it came out as a merely decent game, due to many time constrains, side projects being developed alongside it, its main director split among many other games that are nowadays released, etc. If KHIV is to be developed in the same circumstances (which I hope not), it's only natural the game will take some reasonable 5 years at the very least, and then release with whatever result it will bring. Otherwise, it's going to take even longer. I personally would be fine with this last possibility. 

4 - There are EVEN MORE side games that need to get released before KHIV, like Dark Road and the recently announced "Missing-Link". As you know, every Kingdom Hearts game is treated as a full-fledged sequel, and there are no "side games" or "spin-offs", for their story always ends up being of most importance. I don't see KHIV necessary for the next few years, and I'm sure they don't either, so that's why the game might have not started full production just yet, even though it's good to know it exists. It's just not their focus for now, and has no reasons to be it. We all have learned to be patient with this team with Kingdom Hearts III, haven't we? It's just how they work.

5 - They might have a lot more experience this time around, but any proper AAA title from nowadays takes the aforementioned amount of time to (properly) develop. Kingdom Hearts II was amazing in its combat, but everything else, from exploration to world design was pretty bland. And guess what? It got released only 3 years after the first Kingdom Hearts game. Time is key for a game to be good. Plus, I see potential for a more complex adventure, with more resources being delved into it, and more quality is expected from an Unreal Engine 5 title, which I heard is the engine they are aiming for, though the teaser was rendered with UE4 (lame, because that probably means no PS4 or Xbox One versions... ).

6 - Have you noticed? All of the screenshots showcase exactly what the teaser showed itself. It's almost as though they directly ripped some pictures out of the video. That's not the case when a game is far in development, where proper screenshots from other parts of the game are used to promote it. At least, different shots of the same scene, but not the ones directly shown in the teaser. Conclusion? What only exists from KHIV is a video. Otherwise, they would have released just something else.

7 - The last reason I could bring for now is the most obvious one. They didn't even announce what platforms the game will be released for. Yes, we can expect PS5 and Xbox Series at the very least, but if not even those were announced, it's pretty weird.

I could go on and on. But I think my point is clear enough. But I don't feel bad about any of this, at least for now. If what I stated turns out to be true, that means I will have enough time to build up some money to afford an Xbox Series at least. That way, I will be able to play it when it releases in whatever year it does.

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by brannymcp

[brannymcp 1]

You know, after doing some research, turns out Unreal Engine 5 IS confirmed to be supported by current gen systems like PS4, Xbox One and even Switch, although with less graphical detail. That obviously doesn't mean we will get KHIV for our older consoles, for it's extremely possible that they aim for a more photorealistic style, which would only be steadily supported by new gen systems. But at least, it's possible they consider bringing KHIV to PS4 and Xbox One. I sure hope they consider a cross-generational release, like Capcom and many other companies did. But let's just wait and see. By the time KHIV releases, maybe it will be just too late for us too.