During Disney’s annual D23, a fan event showcasing the next big things coming to the world of Disney, Square Enix gave us a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV. The title was showcased earlier this year during a Nintendo Direct event after a lengthy absence from the public eye, having been mostly radio silent since the game was announced back in 2022. This has been uncommon for Square Enix, with the previous title in the series having been announced far too early, something that director Tetsuya Nomura openly admitted.
Before this trailer, what we have seen from Kingdom Hearts VI has been kept to a modernized city that appears to look similar to modern Tokyo, in which Sora fights a giant heartless. If you are a fan of the Final Fantasy aspect of the series, and were let down by the large absence of that from the previous games, this was probably a welcome return. That said, we were lacking in information as to which Disney franchise would finally see its inclusion in this new entry.
That answer is at least partially answered here, as a predominant portion of the trailer focuses on Sora fighting Heartless and protecting Miguel, the main protagonist of Pixar’s 2017 film Coco. The world, which draws from the film’s Day of the Dead aesthetics, appears to give Sora a unique costume as well as a pretty cool-looking keyblade. We also see Sora’s keyblade surfing while fighting a big Heartless, as well as teaming up with Héctor during a fight.
Later on, we do get a brief idea of the story, with Micky, Donald, and Goofy all searching for Sora as a consequence of the finale of the previous game. Hades, who has been a mainstay of the franchise since the first game, returns with James Woods reprising the role as he had done for the prior entries. It appears that the city that has been showcased will act as a prison for his consciousness, a similar framing device to the opening act in Kingdom Hearts II.
The best part of all this is that the trailer ends by stating that Kingdom Hearts IV is slated to release sometime in late 2027. This makes sense, timing-wise, given that Square Enix also announced that the final act of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, is planned for earlier next year. Kingdom Hearts VI will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Xbox, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.
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