The next entry in Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts series, Kingdom Hearts 4, aims to be a fresh start for the series, as per director Tetsuya Nomura.
During an interview in the latest issue of Japanese seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump, Kingdom Hearts 4 director Tetsuya Nomura stated that he envisions the upcoming title and Missing Link as brand new entries to the series rather than just sequels. He mentioned that, after the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, he wanted to reset the story. As such, the development team hired new writers and changed the logo to make it easier for newcomers to join the series. As for Quadratum, he views it as a “fake reality set in reality” in his idea of a fantasy world.
Speaking realistically, Nomura sees himself retiring from game development in a few years, and people have asked him whether he’ll retire first or finish the Kingdom Hearts series first. According to him, Kingdom Hearts IV is a game made with the intention of eventually reaching that conclusion.
On the subject of resetting the story, Nomura said that, for those who know how Kingdom Hearts 3 ends, the reason why Sora ends up the way he does in it ending is because the development team wanted to reset the story. He mentioned that this should make it even easier for newcomers to join the story, starting from Kingdom Hearts 4. While fans of the Kingdom Hearts series will also be rewarded for their knowledge of the backstory, the fourth entry is being developed with the hope that new players will also be able to enjoy it.
In related news. it is rumored that the entire Kingdom Hearts series, including Kingdom Hearts 4, may be released on the Nintendo Switch 2 at some point. It is also rumored that the next entry in the series will feature some small online component.
