Another Kingdom Hearts IV trailer has dropped, this time coming out of D23, and while there isn’t a ton of new information here, I still find myself getting excited every time Square Enix gives us another glimpse at this game.
The big headline this time is Coco. The world of Pixar’s Coco is officially coming to Kingdom Hearts IV, and honestly, it feels like a perfect fit for this franchise. It’s also clearly one of the worlds Square Enix wanted to showcase heavily in this trailer.
But the biggest thing hanging over Kingdom Hearts IV is still Sora himself. At the end of Kingdom Hearts III, Sora disappears after returning to Destiny Islands, and this game seems to be exploring what happens when someone is completely forgotten. The trailer makes it clear that Sora is essentially gone, existing in this strange, almost real-world setting where he looks dramatically different from the Sora we’ve known for decades.
And man, Sora looks different. The whole game has a much more realistic visual style than the classic Kingdom Hearts games. I’m curious whether that’s specifically because of the world Sora is currently trapped in or whether this is simply what Kingdom Hearts IV is going to look like moving forward.
Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy are off searching for Sora, and they actually go to the Underworld to talk to Hades. That’s a fun little callback, even if Hades basically tells them that Sora isn’t there. Mickey is also on his own journey, and eventually we see him get pulled into what appears to be some sort of book.
And here’s one of the coolest things revealed in the trailer: Donald, Goofy, and Mickey will all be playable.
It sounds simple, but seriously—it’s about time. We’ve been playing Kingdom Hearts for nearly 25 years, and we’re finally getting to control these characters independently. Mickey in particular feels like such an obvious choice for a playable character that I’m surprised it took this long. Seeing all three of them get their own sections of the game looks like it could be a ton of fun.
There’s also a bunch of new human characters, including someone named Sigurd, who I don’t really recognize. That’s one of the problems with Kingdom Hearts at this point: I can’t always tell whether I’ve forgotten a character, whether they were introduced in one of the many games I haven’t played in years, or whether they’re completely new. That’s Kingdom Hearts for you.
The setting itself is fascinating. We’re talking about this gigantic metropolis, Sora interacting with seemingly normal human beings, enormous Heartless attacking the city, and everything having this very grounded, almost realistic feeling to it. Even the combat looks extremely Kingdom Hearts III-inspired, with the movement, team attacks, special abilities and overall flow looking very familiar.
And I’m perfectly fine with that.
The game isn’t coming until late 2027, so I’m not surprised Square Enix isn’t showing us everything yet. This trailer felt more like a tease of the direction they’re going in rather than a giant information dump. We’re seeing what Donald and Goofy are doing, what Mickey is doing, what Sora is doing, and how all of these stories are eventually going to come back together.
And if we’re being honest, there are still a lot of questions.
Could we eventually get a Star Wars world? Because if that happens, the internet is going to absolutely lose its mind.
That’s part of what makes Kingdom Hearts so fascinating even after all these years. This franchise has been around for almost 25 years, and somehow there are still enormous possibilities for where it can go. There are also a ton of new fans discovering the series through streamers and YouTubers who are playing these games for the first time and realizing just how special they are.
For me personally, though, I still have a complicated relationship with the newer Kingdom Hearts games.
I absolutely love this franchise. But Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II remain the high point for me. Those games just feel perfect. As the series continued, the story became increasingly convoluted, with more games, more characters, more lore, more versions of characters, and eventually so many twists that I sometimes don’t even know who’s who anymore.
But that’s also why I keep coming back.
Because underneath all of that is still the heart of Kingdom Hearts. It’s still Sora, Donald and Goofy. It’s still Mickey. It’s still friendship, Disney worlds, Final Fantasy DNA, ridiculous lore and somehow making all of those things work together.
And Disney clearly knows they have something special here. Having Kingdom Hearts IV as one of the major things to showcase at D23 says a lot about how important this franchise has become. The series has reportedly generated more than a billion dollars, and after all these years, Disney and Square Enix are still treating it like a major event.
The game’s director and creator, Tetsuya Nomura, was even there and reaffirmed that the game is targeting late 2027. I’m going to believe it when I see it, because Kingdom Hearts has never exactly been known for making things simple—or necessarily quick—but if they actually hit that window, I’ll be impressed.
And I have a feeling the next trailer is going to be the one that completely blows the roof off the internet.
Until then, there’s not much more to say.
Kingdom Hearts forever, baby.
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