Hobby Genki has opened up pre-orders for a brand-new FORM-ISM figure featuring Axel as he appears in Kingdom Hearts II. The figure is set to come out sometime in December of this year, with AitaKuji also listing the figure for ¥9500, which is approximately US$59.33 in today's rates.

According to the Hobby Genki listing, this Axel figure is "sculpted with incredible dynamism, his iconic Organization XIII coat flutters dramatically as he leaps into action, standing approximately 190 mm (~7.4 in.) tall."

You can view the figure via our gallery below:

Over the D23 weekend, Japanese video game website 4Gamer caught up with the Director Product Development at Walt Disney Japan's Disney & Pixar Games, Nana Gadd, who you might remember was present during the Deep Dive Into Kingdom Hearts panel. In this short but valuable interview, she discusses the excitement she, the team, as well as series co-director Tai Yasue and series creator Tetsuya Nomura felt during the panel, as well as Coco's initial reveal trailers.

Key takeaways covered by Gadd are:

• She reaffirms the teams promise that Kingdom Hearts IV is coming late 2027.

• She follows up on Tai Yasue comments on the criteria for selecting worlds, and that it is not just the movie's popularity or visual appeal they consider, but how also how the team can weave in unique gameplay aspects that make sense to the world, and are fun to play.

• Gadd discusses how the development team values the authenticity of the characters from Disney's IP, as they work closely with them to recreate character details and each world's story with astonishing precision.

• She also discusses how she feels the Kingdom Hearts franchise has been a pioneer in terms of cross-media development, with the concerts and merchandise that were released, describing it as an 'ecosystem'. She also goes on to say about how reaching a milestone like a 25th anniversary is unprecedented, even among other Disney franchises.

You can read the full interview below, thanks to KH13 staff memeber @Ryuji_Shiryu for the translations:

Interviewer: First, I'd like to ask about the presentation during the announcement. The presentation transitioned from the Coco 2 trailer straight into the Kingdom Hearts IV trailer without most people likely even noticing. What was the intent behind that?

Gadd: Because we were announcing a game at a venue meant for announcing movies to Disney fans, the development team at Square Enix really racked their brains on how to do a seamless transition with a “Surprise! This is actually a game!” for the audience. The excitement in the venue when the Heartless suddenly appeared was incredible, and I'm truly happy that it led to the reaction we were hoping for.

Interviewer: I think there was real value in announcing it at this D23, and perhaps the people who experienced that atmosphere and live environment got the maximum effect.

Gadd: Yes. Of course, I knew the timing of the announcement, but it still gave me goosebumps. I think people really enjoyed it. I kind of want to search for and watch the various reaction videos of everyone at the moment of the announcement (laughs). 

Interviewer: Please tell us about the value of Kingdom Hearts within Disney today. What does this franchise, which has continued for 25 years, mean to Disney? What does it mean that it is simultaneously Disney's own IP, but also one that was born from collaboration with Disney? 

Gadd: I definitely think that Kingdom Hearts has become a truly unique and irreplaceable presence even among Disney games. Reaching a milestone like a 25th anniversary is unprecedented and extremely long-standing even within the company. There is, of course, its value as a franchise with fans who have followed this history all along.

What makes Kingdom Hearts truly special in terms of partnership is that, while utilizing our IPs, they are brilliantly fused with Nomura-san's highly captivating storytelling to weave together a single theme. I think it is quite unprecedented as a work undertaking such an approach. And I believe it is the result of continuous effort passed down since the first team was established over 25 years ago, and I think we have been able to weave a history that we truly want to cherish.

Interviewer: As a Disney game, there is a very successful title from Japan, for example, Disney: Twisted Wonderland. It's getting an anime and expanding beyond games as an IP. Kingdom Hearts also has its IP as a game, and is now expanding into animation. What value do you believe this trend holds for Disney? 

Gadd: I am very happy you asked that question. The Disney Games division also places great importance on expanding various “touchpoints” through cross-media development. I think it was precisely Kingdom Hearts that led the way in that regard. While this is a game, it also has concerts, merchandise, and can be enjoyed in truly various forms.

Building on that foundation, even though the genre and target audience are different, Twisted Wonderland and others are steadily expanding in different ways. As the number of successful examples increases, the things we can do also increase, and I think we haven't exhausted our options yet; we want to keep expanding.

Kingdom Hearts has also been around for 25 years, but there are still many things we want to do. I believe the announcement of this animated series is truly just the first step in that.

Interviewer: Is a cycle where there are Disney works, collaborations, and then Disney animated works born from those, something that is heavily emphasized?

Gadd: Exactly. We call this the “ecosystem”. In other words, have all these touchpoints that people can use to interact with the franchise, which in turn, expands the fanbase. We place high value in that.

Interviewer: I see. So we can expect Kingdom Hearts IV to release in late 2027, correct?

Gadd: Yes. That is looking to become our first major milestone.

Today, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has released a brand-new interview with Tetsuya Nomura and Tai Yasue. The interview focuses on a lot of things, from the size of Kingdom Hearts IV's script to some of the things that were shown in the trailer.

Together with KH13 translator corfidbizna, we've translated some of the more important points of the interview. We plan to update this article as we dive deeper into the interview itself.

[UPDATE - 27/08/2026 - We have updated the translation with some new details, and rearranged some of the points.]

1. Japanese voice-overs have already been recorded, with English recordings still ongoing. Tai Yasue mentions they're about 60 to 70% done. According to Nomura, Kingdom Hearts IV’s script is nearly double the size of Kingdom Hearts III.

Interviewer: [During the D23 panel], we saw pictures of [David Gallagher and Haley Joel Osment] recording the voiceover for the original Kingdom Hearts. I could feel the history from that picture alone. (laughs). How has been the process of recording the voice-over for Kingdom Hearts IV? [...]

Tai Yasue: The English voices are currently being recorded. There are a lot of lines to go through, and due to the time difference between overseas and Japan, it's been quite hectic. (laughs). However, I would say about 60 to 70% of the overseas recordings are done.

Nomura: Incidentally, all the Japanese voice over has been recorded.

Interviewer: Ohhh! Sounds like you’re making great progress!

Nomura: However, the volume of the script for Kingdom Hearts IV is nearly double* that of Kingdom Hearts III, so recording has been quite grueling. I keep wanting to put in more and more, but we’ve perhaps already exceeded our limits.

*Translator's note: Nomura uses the word 2倍弱, which is an expression commonly used for when something is nearly double.

2. Development of Kingdom Hearts IV is progressing smoothly, with no risk of a delay

Interviewer: Could we get your thoughts on the Showcase? The trailer there started with a scene of Miguel playing music, then the Heartless appeared, and that's when it was first revealed to be a Kingdom Hearts IV trailer… that was how it flowed.

Nomura: That played out exactly as I intended. I wanted to create a setup right from the start where people would think: "Wait, is this just a game adaptation of Coco?" only to realize it was actually Kingdom Hearts IV.

Interviewer: The crowd went absolutely wild.

Nomura: I was thrilled that they were so excited—it even made me tear up a bit... But to tell you the truth, editing this trailer was harder than it's ever been. We were working on it right down to the wire.

Yasue: It really was incredibly tough.

Interviewer: Really? What made it so difficult?

Nomura: The overall impression changes drastically based on the combination of facial animations and lighting, so adjusting that was our main hurdle. When a previously revealed character model is shown later and people say, "The modeling changed," it's usually not the model itself that changed, but the lightning.

Yasue: The model itself might look fine on its own, but if the angle changes slightly, or the lighting and camera angles shift, the impression can be completely different. Whenever that happened, Nomura would step in… pointing out that it looks good as a still image, but looks weird in motion.

Nomura: I'd be saying things like, "Right here… ah, pause it. Don't the wrinkles at the edge of this eyelid look weird?"

Interviewer: So you're doing extremely meticulous checks.

Yasue: It's thanks to those checks that I feel our quality has been skyrocketing, which I think you can feel when watching this trailer. Even the Pixar animators complimented us, saying, "There isn't any other game out there that looks this close to a feature film."

Interviewer: It sounds like the fine-tuning is quite a task. Given that, is there any possibility that the late 2027 release window could be delayed…?

Nomura: The staff has kept up with my strict standards, and in some areas, they are even more particular than I am… However, as I mentioned at the panel, the release timing will not be delayed.

Yasue: Development is progressing more smoothly than ever before in the history of the Kingdom Hearts series, so please rest assured on that front.

Nomura: Setting the release window aside, our internal deadlines are quite early. So much so, that it goes way beyond just having a standard development buffer. That's also why this trip was basically a quick one.

3. Kingdom Hearts IV’s worlds are some of the biggest we’ve ever seen in the series yet, but Nomura also seems to imply that they're shorter in length.

Interviewer: The reason you chose to include Coco as a world in Kingdom Hearts IV is because the theme of the world of the dead links up with KH4, right?

Nomura: That's right. I absolutely wanted to include it in Kingdom Hearts IV. This was actually something I had decided very early into development, so I believe development started on this world earlier than any other.

Yasue: And because of that, it's the world furthest along in development. Mexico as a setting, along with its music, gives it a completely different vibe compared to previous Kingdom Hearts worlds, making it feel very fresh, doesn't it?

Interviewer: Definitely. The town's atmosphere is colorful and vibrant.

Yasue: Exactly. It's flashy, and since the characters in that world are skeletons, they move in a slightly peculiar way. And we are building the town with a lot of things you can use to traverse the environment. You can spin around, climb aggressively… the town is ridiculously huge with tons of exploration elements. The level of detail in the environments is greater than ever before.

Interviewer: Oh ho…

Yasue: I can't give specifics yet, but just moving around is incredibly fun.

Interviewer: The combat also features a team-up attack with Héctor, which feels very Kingdom Hearts.

Yasue: Yes. You aren't just swinging a Keyblade; you use a guitar, and we've incorporated musical elements into the battles. There are also many other mysteries… but well, I can't say any more about the elements we have in store (laughs).

Nomura: The level of detail poured into each world in Kingdom Hearts IV is the highest in the series. Because of that, the total number of worlds isn't large. Since we revealed the Coco world at the Showcase the day before the panel, I saw some people speculating on whether we would announce another world. But if we announce things at such a rapid pace, we'll run out of information long before the release date (laughs). However, what we showed this time is truly just a small fraction of the game. Since D23 was such a great opportunity, we decided to give a sneak peek of the Coco world a bit earlier than we originally planned. We will have opportunities to showcase it in detail later, so please look forward to future updates.

4. The Dandelions and their involvement in Kingdom Hearts IV

Interviewer: Besides that, the trailer included a section that implied Sora belonged to the Dandelions, and we also have a Xigbar-ish black coated figure showing up with Young Xehanort... To borrow King Mickey's phrasing [from the trailer], this is a lot of new information! (laughs). What exactly are the Dandelions in this game? Is Sora trying to return to his original world as a member of the Dandelions?

*Interviewer's Note: In Kingdom Hearts Union X[Cross], the Dandelions were a secret group of Keyblade Wielders chosen by Master Ava to carry the torch after the Keyblade War. They were very prominent in the mobile game.

Nomura: This will obviously be new to players starting with this game, and probably to those who only follow the numbered titles, but the Dandelions are an organization of elite Keyblade wielders from the χ series. In this game, the Dandelions exist in a form where they cooperate with the Quadratum government, and basically, all Keyblade wielders who have come to this world, including Sora, have joined them. We'll reveal more details about them at a later date.

5. Sigurd is becoming quite popular with the development team

Interviewer: The scenes in Quadratum also had several intriguing new additions. First, the masked Keyblade wielder's name is Vali. The other was called Sigurd. Vali appeared in the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Union χ Dark Road, and Sigurd briefly appeared in Kingdom Hearts Union χ, but...

Nomura: Kingdom Hearts IV is, in a way, a story that exists within the flow of the "χ (chi) series" (refers to the mobile game, Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, which got later rebranded to Union X Dark Road). Those who played the mobile games to the end might recognize Vali and Sigurd, but please don't worry—even if you haven't played them, the game will depict exactly what kind of people they are.

Interviewer: To begin with, their appearances in the mobile games were so sparse, that we didn't really know what kind of characters they were (laughs). They feel almost like brand-new characters. However, Sigurd's name also appeared in your hidden 20th-anniversary message, so he certainly seems suspicious (laughs).

Nomura: I'm actually quite fond of Sigurd.

Yasue: Sigurd is definitely great (laughs). He adds a lot of flavor. I like him too.

Interviewer: Wait, why are both of you praising him all of a sudden!?

Nomura: It's kind of an "Oh, is that what you meant by 'keep an eye on him'?" situation (laughs).

Interviewer: Huh!? I thought he was going to be a character with some hidden agenda. Is he more of an endearing, hard-to-hate type of character…?

Yasue: He's probably a character type we haven't seen in Kingdom Hearts before. His fanbase is rapidly growing internally among the staff, too (laughs).

Nomura: We haven't announced it yet, but the voice actor's performance plays a huge role. He has fantastic intuition and delivered acting that exceeded our expectations*.

*Translator's note: I’m not sure whether he’s talking about the Japanese or the English voiceover.

Interviewer: It sounds like we really need to keep an eye on Sigurd in more ways than one (laughs). I'm also very curious about who his voice actor is. Also, Riku appeared in the extended version of the trailer, and the crowd went completely wild.

Nomura: They got so hyped that Kairi's subsequent line was completely drowned out (laughs).

Famitsu: Ah, so that line was Kairi! I’ll be honest, I couldn't hear it over the cheering of the audience (laughs).

Nomura: During the trailer premiere at the panel, it seemed like the video was cut off before the title appeared at the very end. We actually recorded the English voice lines specifically for this trailer in advance (laughs). I hope the people who were at the venue watch it again on YouTube to hear it.

6. A “real-life Jiminy’s Journal”

Interviewer: I see…

Nomura: As you know, as the Kingdom Hearts series has continued, the cast of characters has inevitably grown, and the story has become incredibly complex. For example, with the newly announced animated series, there are more external partners involved in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, and explaining the lore and scenario to them every time has become quite a heavy burden.

Interviewer: To be honest, even having played the games myself, there are parts I forget sometimes (laughs).

Nomura: Fortunately, there is a staff member from the "χ series" team who has been meticulously organizing and summarizing the past lore of the Kingdom Hearts series into an easy-to-understand format. They were also in charge of explaining the scenario and lore to Disney. Actually, early in the development of Kingdom Hearts IV, Disney specifically requested them to compile reference documents, so I officially had them join the Kingdom Hearts IV team as our designated proofreader.

Interviewer: Oh, is that the person you mentioned during the panel?

Nomura: Correct. They used to come to me to confirm extremely minor details every time they had to explain something to Disney. They incorporate diagrams and such to explain things as clearly as possible, which Disney has received very well. Their internal role is scenario proofing. In other words, their job is to check and ensure there are no discrepancies between the past lore and the current scenario. They were an especially perfect fit this time since the "χ series" is heavily involved. Some people might mistakenly hear their title and think they're in charge of the story composition, but his role is proofreading.*

*Nomura makes a pun here because story composition and proofreading in Japanese are both read as “kousei”, but have different kanji associated with them: 構成 and 校正.

Yasue: The development team is very grateful for them, too (laughs). We actually joined the company at the same time.

Famitsu: So basically, the team is compiling something like a real-life Jiminy's Journal that organizes the Kingdom Hearts universe so that third parties can easily understand it. I would love it if you published that as a book. Incidentally, since the topic of the anime adaptation came up, there isn’t anything to go on outside of the announcement post on X. Is the character shown in the image from Dark Road?

Nomura: A lot of people are speculating Dark Road because of the Keyblade, but… my lips are sealed. (laughs)

7. When can we expect more information about Kingdom Hearts IV

Interviewer: First the trailer at the June Nintendo Direct, and now another trailer at D23...does that mean we will see more information about the game at Tokyo Game Show?

Nomura: Because the release date is still set to be later next year, the development team will now be focusing on that. Therefore, it might be a while before we can reveal any further information.

Interviewer: I see. To end things off, anything you wish to say to all fans who are eagerly awaiting Kingdom Hearts IV?

Yasue: The fans and their cheers were amazing. It really renewed my motivation to push hard through this final stretch of development!

Nomura: Initially, I had planned to leave this D23 to Yasue and wasn't going to come, but I was moved by the voices of those around me to attend. To be able to directly feel everyone's wild excitement during the trailer, and how I had some valuable experiences and nostalgic reunions... it makes me feel glad I came. Regarding Kingdom Hearts IV news, we will continue to release details gradually, so please wait for further updates. Also, there will be something for the 25th anniversary next year*, so please look forward to those announcements as well.

*Note: He is referring to the Kingdom Hearts art exhibit in Roppongi, as the Famitsu interviewer includes that at the end as a footnote.

8. Nomura is the one who decides the voice cast in Japanese and overseas

Interviewer: Haley Joel Osment, who plays Sora, and David Gallagher, who plays Riku, also appeared at the panel and talked about the behind-the-scenes production of the series. How did those two end up being cast in the first place?

Nomura: For titles I'm involved with, so not just for the original characters created for the Kingdom Hearts series, but also for games like Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy VII Remake, I do all the voice casting myself, for both local and international versions.

Interviewer: Oh, so you handle the casting for the international releases as well?

Nomura: Correct. International casting generally comes after the Japanese voice actors have been cast. I’d be provided a list of candidates and would listen to their audition tapes, selecting the one I thought most closely matched my impression of the Japanese actors.

Interviewer: The Kingdom Hearts series has a lot of big names, starting with Haley Joel Osment.

Nomura: That part is largely thanks to Disney's influence.

Interviewer: How do you handle the recording sessions for the international releases?

Nomura: Back in day, during the development of the first Kingdom Hearts, it was my first time directing, so I didn't really know how things worked. I had traveled to the US and attended the recording sessions as much as possible.

Interviewer: Ah, so you were that hands-on back then?

Nomura: Yes. I communicated with the voice director through an interpreter… but other than that, the process was exactly the same as in Japan. Nowadays, that is no longer necessary, because we can do this remotely, The sound director, who’s been on the team since the original Kingdom Hearts, is present during all recording sessions locally. They’re familiar with my direction and are able to convey that direction during the overseas recording session. Because of that, I don't think there are any discrepancies between the Japanese and overseas versions.

Interviewer: I see. So it has actually been a long time since you've met Haley Joel Osment and David Gallagher in person?

Nomura: Yes, it was. To me, he's still Haley-"kun" (laughs). During our very first recording session, he held onto a Final Fantasy X strategy guide the entire time, and he just finished his first day of recording and went home without anything happening. After that happened, the voice director asked me, "I think he brought the strategy guide because he wanted your autograph. Did you sign it for him?" That cute but slightly bittersweet memory really sticks with me.

Interviewer: Ha ha ha. He just couldn't bring himself to ask for your autograph!

Nomura: I made sure to prepare a signed autograph board for him for the next day's session.

9. Hiding Nomura from the public had some challenges

Interviewer: Both the Disney Entertainment Showcase and where the Coco world was introduced, and the DEEP DIVE into KINGDOM HEARTS PANEL were huge successes, weren't they?

Nomura: We actually ended up on standby at Haneda Airport due to aircraft maintenance, which delayed our arrival in Anaheim. Because of that, we had to cancel all of our post-arrival plans, including checking into our hotel. We barely made it to the Showcase venue in time.

Interviewer: That sounds rough. So you didn't have any time to check out the D23 show floor?

Nomura: Correct. To begin with, my appearance at the panel was meant to be a surprise, so Disney told me to stay completely out of sight. Wherever I went, I had to move through the back hallways (laughs). I've only just been freed from those restrictions. I stepped outside briefly just a moment ago and was immediately spotted, though.

Interviewer: Well, you are surrounded entirely by fans here… Were you able to feel the atmosphere of D23 at all? Have you ever attended D23 in the past?

Nomura: I attended once in 2017 for Kingdom Hearts III. I’ve also been to the D23 Expo in Japan once. This time, I had so little free time that I couldn't experience the atmosphere at all, and I'm honestly regretting making this such a lightning-fast trip.

Yasue: As for me, this is my first time. I'm usually cooped up in the office working, so I'm happy to be able to interact with the fans after such a long time (laughs).

Earlier this morning, Square Enix has announced a Kingdom Hearts Exhibition for the 25th anniversary. It will be held February 5th through April 4th of 2027 at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower 52F Forest Arts Center Gallery.

A new Twitter account has also been created as well as an official website. The attractions held at the exhibition include: photo spots featuring iconic scenes, Keyblade replica displays, exhibits of production materials, an immersive theater experience, and sales of exclusive exhibition merchandise.

Admission tickets go on sale October 8th.

You can view the announcement tweet below.

Well that was exciting, wasn't it?

D23 this year proved to be even more than we expected in terms of content and information for Kingdom Hearts. As we covered throughout the week, what was initially advertised as a retrospective on the Kingdom Hearts series, gave us so much more than just that- from a surprise snippet of the Coco trailer on Friday, to the full reveal on Saturday, the announcement of an animated series for the franchise coming to Disney+ in the future, and even a surprise appearance by Tetsuya Nomura himself at the Deep Dive panel.

Before reading further if you haven't already, please take a look at our coverage of these exciting announcements, as well as the gallery of beautiful screenshots we've assembled from the new trailer before reading if you want to get caught up on all of the new information before our own deep dive into the new trailer. If you would like an audio/visual analysis, consider checking out the video done by fellow KH13 staff members JustaKHGirl and Kye ~x~ here.

This analysis will solely be focusing on the extended Coco trailer, and I will only be covering the four minute extended trailer, as while I have seen the English and Japanese versions of both the teaser version and the longer version, I noticed no significant differences. As a result of this trailer being just shy of four minutes, this analysis will also consequently be significantly longer than the last one. We will be covering Coco, its themes, and how it could connect to the story of Kingdom Hearts IV, analyzing the story beats, and delving into the combat mechanics on display, as well as tracing the narrative breadcrumbs and exploring their potential possibilities, with over a hundred screenshots to enhance your reading experience.

Before getting into it, I wish to extend my heartfelt grief for the passing of Hayden Panettiere. From Kingdom Hearts to Heroes, Until Dawn, Scream and so much more, she touched the lives of several generations in such a short time, and has left us far too early. She will be dearly missed.

The trailer begins with one of the most famous scenes from Coco, in which Héctor Rivera plays the somber melody of "Everyone Knows Juanita" as his friend Chicharrón fades away to his "Final Death".

Kingdom Hearts is always a rewarding experience as a Disney fan; the developers ability to recreate these scenes continues to amaze. Some minor liberties are taken with the camera angles and the trailer has a subtly brighter color  palette, as seen below, but ultimately, it is a faithful recreation. The top image will be from Kingdom Hearts IV, and the one beneath it will be from the original film, both of these are of the same scene with the same dialogue.

That note of praise is a contentious one amongst the fandom, as there has always been a latent criticism of the Disney Worlds outside of Kingdom Hearts I and Chain of Memories following the films too closely. Even if one includes examples from Coded, 358/2 Days, and certain selections from Birth By Sleep as well as A Fragmentary Passage, if broken down, at least half of the worlds in the franchise follow their movies of origin exactly to some degree. I do agree with some aspects of the criticism, strongly so even, but objectively the praise given to their ability to recreate these films gains merit with each passing game, especially as Kingdom Hearts utilizes more and more of the recent Disney catalogue of movies. Coco visually and narratively has long been considered one of Pixar's best, and much can be gleaned and hypothesized of the narrative that can come out of its inclusion, even from these, the very first moments of the trailer. I will go into specifics of character and plot parallels to the film later, but for now, I would like to go over this concept of a "Final Death" and what this could mean for the latest Kingdom Hearts story as well as some broader aspects that Coco shares with Kingdom Hearts.

To quickly recap, Quadratum has been referred to as an 'Afterworld', a realm that resembles that of ours, the players, but is referred to by the cast of Kingdom Hearts as 'Unreality'; a 'Fictional World.' It also is modeled after Tokyo, specifically the Shibuya and Minami-Aoyama districts. Already this connects the game to the story of Coco in interesting ways; the Land of the Dead, the afterlife within the Coco universe, is based on a real city as well; specifically Guanajuato, Mexico. The key difference between the two lies in that the Land of the Living co-exists alongside the Land of the Dead. Miguel, Coco's protagonist, is only able to see the departed after strumming the guitar of Ernesto De La Cruz, after having stolen it from his mausoleum. Sora is sent to Quadratum after too many uses of the Power of Waking, a realm that as far as we know at the moment, can only be observed when there.

The words "Final Death" are heavy on the chest to say, and brings a chill when thinking about its implications and possibilities, but it is a concept we are not unfamiliar with. I will illustrate the correlations with 2 lengthy but important points based on two ideas: death, and fading away and the relationship the two share.

Death has subtly followed Sora since the very beginning of his journey.

The destruction of his island, sacrificing himself to save the hearts of Kairi and the other Princesses, witnessing the deaths of Rinzler, Flynn Rider, and Will Turner; all of this and more along with his journey to the Final World in Kingdom Hearts III. Despite how temporary the death has been stated to be or how softly the message is delivered, death has also followed Sora in other ways as well; remember what Chirithy said:

"You've wandered here more than once before on your visits to the Station of Awakening. (. . .) The edges of sleep and death touch, and one can’t help the occasional crossover. (. . .) [death is] The natural end for those whose hearts and bodies perished together."

Sora has gone to the Station of Awakening in some form or another in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts III, Birth By Sleep when sharing his heart with Ventus, the data version of Sora gets a Station of his own in Re:Coded, Riku visited a version of Sora's in Dream Drop Distance, and of course Roxas visits the Station in Kingdom Hearts II. Each example of these can have some attribution to sleep, and/or death, birth as well. In Kingdom Hearts I and III, it is presented to us via the framing of a dream- III's is re-contextualized much later in the game by Chirithy's words, doubly so since Sora is there after the death of he and his friends, but with Kingdom Hearts I's version of the Station, while yes a dream, there are other elements of death at play. The shattering of the Station for Snow White, and the Stations of Belle and Cinderella becoming submerged in Darkness have always led me to an interpretation of this representing their worlds having been consumed by the Darkness, and destroyed. It feels like no coincidence that not only are those all the worlds Ventus (as well as Terra and Aqua) had been to, but they are also all visited in Chi/Union Cross, the time period Ventus originates from, and are the same three worlds Aqua visits in A Fragmentary Passage.

Darkside ends that fight in I whether you win or lose by submerging Sora in Darkness, with Sora likening it to not being able to breathe. A final little known fact to tie in with this, as was confirmed to me by KH13 translator Ryuji, during Sora's conversation with Kairi after the tutorial, Sora says something different in Japanese when telling Kairi he would like to see her old homeworld.

English:

"I wanna see it too, along with any other worlds out there. I wanna see 'em all!"

Japanese:

"I want to see it too, you know. If there really are other worlds besides this world, I absolutely want to see them before I die!"

Just something to consider.

Fading, and fading away is also a present concept in Kingdom Hearts, and in fact is one employed quite liberally.

In Kingdom Hearts we have seen memories fade, Hearts fade, Light fades, truths and lies fade and morph into one another creating new existences in their stead. Even data can fade and change into something new, bodies can be created, hearts can enter other hearts; all of these things within this universe can either happen naturally, or be engineered somehow. When Roxas is at the Station of Awakening, he doesn't know it yet but he's fighting for his existence; his right to exist, and to be, in an attempt to stave of what was at the time believed to be the death of his body and personality following his reunion with Sora, a fight he attempted to initiate in 358/2 Days. However it is not always Darkness one can fade into, as demonstrated by Roxas, Eraqus, Xehanort and others vanishing into brilliant flashes of light; don't forget, Light and Darkness, like death itself, are not inherently good or evil respectively, nor are they necessarily prone to either side, rather it is the ambitious and beliefs that others supersede unto them that transform and inform the context of their existences to others. Of course there's always a Maleficent out there, but there's also Terra, and Riku, and yes Eraqus's black and white philosophies about Light and Darkness colored the perception of them to his students, but there's also people like Mickey and Sora who understand that both are different sides of the same coin; they may not use Darkness but they see that complete eradication of it will accomplish nothing.

These two points converge with the concept of memory; memory has always been a key part of Kingdom Hearts' narrative, how we relate to our memories, how they make us feel, how they can motivate us, lie to us, how they can be manipulated. Memory is something else too that can be engineered; fake memories can be planted, added and removed on a whim, in this universe our brains forget but our Hearts remember. In Coco, it is not enough to meet someone in the Land of the Dead and go back to the Land of the Living and remember them, you had to know the person, experience the person, built memories with them, or be passed down their story from friends and family- it is not enough to just exist, one has to live. So with this in mind, is Chicharrón fading away to his Final Death because there is no one left alive in the real world to pass down his memories and story really so different than Xion for example fading at the end of 358/2 Days and everyone forgetting her? Or the ancient Keyblade War? An apocalypse that no living person remembers but the World does? Or the Foretellers; the Lost Masters who commanded hundreds if not thousands of children in their battle against Darkness; all of them completely forgotten, with the former being interdimensionally displaced for a hundred years, and the latter only existing as Dream Eaters?

That being said, it is important to remember, we do not know for a fact that Quadratum is in fact actually an afterlife for these characters, but that is how they themselves are perceiving and defining it.

There is an interesting gap in continuity to the above screenshots and the ones below, as the scene of Héctor, Miguel, and Sora on the cable car happens immediately after Miguel gets his guitar, where as the shot above of Miguel observing the talent show is supposed to happen before Héctor plays his song for Chicharrón. As you can see in the image below, Sora is not only in the crowd, he is actively cheering Miguel on, implying they are familiar with each other already. This means either he meets them between Chicharrón passing away and getting on the cable car, thereby being one of our first gameplay sections for the world, or Sora was present during the aforementioned scene, and we just were not shown that he was.

I hope he is in fact present for the Final Death of Chicharrón, as not only would this be a good application of the themes we've discussed so far, it would be a powerful scene for him to bear witness to, for several reasons. Firstly being that this scene would happen to him relatively not too long after the prior discussion mentioned with Chirithy about death, secondly it would give interesting parallels to Sora's current situation, and lastly it's important to remember that Sora himself as been slowly introduced to these concepts as time has gone on across all 5 of his starring games. Starting with Chain of Memories and really hitting its stride in Dream Drop Distance, Sora has little by little been faced with dilemmas and ideas that previous characters from Birth By Sleep, 358/2 Days, and the Chi titles have long confronted. Love, death, betrayal and identity, all of these and more have been presented to Sora, a simple person by nature, having to grapple with these tough to swallow concepts has great potential for a deep story. For clarity, Sora already has plenty of depth to his character and does not need to "change", the games themselves have told us this since the first title, but him growing up with each new game has been a subtle but tangible part of Kingdom Hearts' overall grand narrative, and is one of its strongest threads, just as much as Xehanort's story, or the Master of Masters machinations.

It's a surreal and pleasant feeling seeing the classic Shadow Heartless once again after having only seen the Quadtratum styled Heartless since 2022. I've seen several sharp-eyed fans point out that the Shadows seem to only go after Miguel here, and how this lines us with what we were told in Kingdom Hearts I's "Ansem Reports"; specifically the fourth entry:

"I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures."

Could the Heartless be targeting Miguel simply because he is the only 'living' person in the Land of the Dead? Even if that's true, what are they doing there in the first place, did Sora's arrival bring them here? Is there a possibility that Miguel is of special interest to the World, and therefore a target of the Heartless? Of course that begs the question of how Sora even travels to the worlds this time around, and their place in the grander Cosmology of the Oceans Between, but as of now we have no way of knowing. I suspect that perhaps Miguel's ability to interact with the living and the dead may be of special interest to someone, but this is just speculation for now.

These shots from the trailer are incredible to see, it's not just that the colors are vibrant and expressive, they're very layered and nuanced with their shading, gradients, and depth. These shots have been heavily speculated to be from a FMV (Full Motion Video) segment from the game but not only that, some are theorizing these shots might just be from the games intro. Pictured above is someone with a posture similar to that of the Master of Masters, tall and upright, with his hands behind his back, amongst a field of flowers, which of course includes dandelions.

Where is this taking place?

It seems to be in a location that is similar to where we would see the man talk to Ira in Back Cover, where, just some food for thought, he would discuss his hypothetical disappearing, or 'fading away', he does not quite seem to be in the 'Quadratum' style. However the moment is deliberate in obscuring the towering spires of Daybreak Town that would confirm this location by having the camera positioned at just the right angle to make actual pinpointing difficult. I am reminded of the initial Kingdom Hearts IV trailer:

Star Wars speculation aside, could the location the figure is standing in be connected to this forest we saw a glimpse of in the reveal trailer? Theorizing about Quadtratum is beyond the scope of this analysis, but there is so much we don't know about the world and its relation to the Master of Masters, so it is my belief that a correlation between the two is very much possible. The next shot of the trailer is perhaps one of the most striking images in the entire video.

This shot, mirroring almost exactly a similar one from the intro to Kingdom Hearts I has made it very difficult to maintain my professionalism as I write this.

Nothing before in the series has invoked the feeling of everything beginning to come full circle than this moment.

The skies behind Sora seem to suggest Sora is in the same location as the assumed Master of Masters. Whether this will be an artistic representation used in an FMV utilizing the games eventual theme song, or a true genuine meeting between the two, it does a great job at building anticipation for this eventual clash between the two. Sora being around dandelions is also particularly interesting, as while Sora was never a Dandelion like the wielders in Chi/Union Cross, he has been aided by them in the past.

If my reading of all of this is accurate, remember what we saw Sora doing in the June trailer:

I am not necessarily connecting this to the idea that the Keyblades Sora surfs in this trailer are also the Keyblades of the fallen Dandelions, but rather so making a point of how it is interesting how this follows a pattern of Sora learning from past experiences, like how after Dream Drop Distance he can go on to summon the Dream Eaters in Kingdom Hearts III. In fact it is possibly Sora's connection to the Dream Eaters that lends to a potential, if only partial, explanation to Ephemer's intervention during the Demon Tide boss fight, which is a great narrative thread that could be expanded on. There are two major things Sora has not been clued in on yet: the events at Castle Oblivion, and the story of the Keyblade War; which I am meaning to include the Foretellers, Master of Masters, Dandelions and all relevant story beats to them together in one large group. It would be interesting to see Sora's connection to the Dandelions, however miniscule it may be for now, explored and deepened, and perhaps it will. I do not believe these things would go unaddressed without a good, or at least interesting, reason.

"This... is Quadratum."

Strelitzia's words hang over this beautiful shot of the city, the very same ones she spoke in the initial reveal trailer four long years ago. This scene allows us to get our best look at the scope and size of Quadratum so far. The way the sun casts and reflects off of the buildings makes the industrial metropolis appear like an ocean, extending as far as the eye can see, sunlight reflecting off of its 'water'.

Sora, speaking for the first time in any of the revealed trailers, tells Strelitzia that someone is asking for "Dandelion Dispatch", as they hold cellphones in their hands. Before unboxing wha that could mean, I'd like to highlight how our two familiar faces look, it should be a point of praise. These models of the characters are similar to those from the previous trailer, and I have not been able to notice any significant differences. Sora's character model and appearances has been possibly the single most contentious issue taken with the art direction on display in Quadratum, aside from feelings on the location itself, has seen the most significant changes between the reveal trailer, the screenshots, and the two recent trailers. It would not surprise me in the slightest if Tetsuya Nomura or someone on the team declared it as something that worked at the most out of all the character models, as we can see here, comparing all prior mentioned looks at him side-by-side with the officially released render:

Of course it is a given that things will change across four years, but the big jump in quality from the screenshots to now is quite the sight to see. Eagle-eyed fans have noted that Sora's phone has not only a Hidden Mickey, or Lucky Emblem if you prefer, but a charm attached to it that some are saying is in the shape of Jiminy Cricket.

I can see where people would see the top hat and shoes at the very least, but whether it is or isn't remains unconfirmed for now. Very neat attention to detail if true though, its a fun way of keeping him along for the journey in spirit.

Dandelion Dispatch brings to mind various things, and unfortunately we can only speculate for now, however I believe there are still some context clues we can piece together, seen here in our next screenshot.

These were seen briefly in the prior trailer's background.

These have been widely pointed out to be practically identical to the Assault Craft Dropships from Final Fantasy XV, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say Final Fantasy Versus XIII. From Yozora's appearance, and to that extent Riku's as of Kingdom Hearts III, to the secret ending in ReMind -Limit Cut- mirroring the original promotional trailer for Versus XIII with Noctis in the back of his limo, this has been a long time coming, as Nomura and his team are clearly through being subtle with the allusions to each game.

And objectively, they were not being very subtle in the first place.

Analyzing the connections to Versus XIII and what that could mean for the plot is beyond the scope of this analysis and trailer, but it is something that should consciously be in our minds as Kingdom Hearts IV's inevitable release looms ever closer with each passing day. What we can instead think about at this moment, is what this means for a 'Dandelion Dispatch.'

A voice blares over the city, stating that "a Darkside has appeared near Shibuya Station."

Once again the new incarnation of Darkside appears before us. After my mild shock at hearing a voice actually refer to him by his name wore off, I began to try and make sense of this shot. At first glance I assumed in the moment that this was how he appeared in the world, these hexagonal shapes surround him before bursting:

It appeared as if his presence was distorting reality, but then if we recall the reveal trailer showed him simply materializing in the world, unless of course that has been changed for the final product. After that thought fell through, I arrived at two possible ideas as to what is happening.

Remember the Dropships; in the context of Final Fantasy XV they utilized Magitek engines. Magitek is a recurring concept across multiple Final Fantasy's but in XV they're powered mechs called Magitek Armor which impede Noctis' journey. These mechs cannot use ice, however the original Magitek Armor from Final Fantasy VI can. Perhaps a Magitek Armor, or something similar to it attempted to encase the monster in Ice, or perhaps the dropships in this world have the ability to do it themselves. I admit it is far-fetched to ponder if perhaps Magitek Armors will be present in Kingdom Hearts IV, let alone anything from Final Fantasy VI, however I believe there exists a modicum of merit to this idea. Kefka has appeared in Kingdom Hearts; Union Cross specifically, as the 'Mysterious Sir" super boss, accompanied by "Dancing Mad" no less, along with Final Fantasy V's Gilgamesh who Sora has not fought yet. Let us not forget, Coco originally had a series of medals in Union Cross, and that film has now come to Kingdom Hearts IV; true of course that Zootopia, Moana and others that were present are still unaccounted for, but it is enough of a chance that I am willing to put it out there, and keep it under consideration.

My other possible idea is much more mundane, it could perhaps be as simple as multiple Keyblade wielders, or perhaps some sort of other device or technology attempted to contain the monster, but he broke free. Regardless, I believe this is indeed Ice magic at play here.

Are these dropships the Dandelion Dispatch? We know there are other Keyblade wielders in Quadratum, does Strelitzia work for them? I theorize they are a type of 'law enforcement' or 'peace keepers' for this world that get called in whenever the Heartless invade. There is evidence I believe to support this later.

As Darkside attacks, it appears as if this; the distress call and the dark orb attack you see above seem to be the beginning of his attack, as there are many civilians on the street still, actively running away from the monster, and the city is in good condition before the aforementioned attack. The orbs bring to mind Darkside's ability that has him reaching into the ground and pulling out an orb of the same colors before sending it into the sky to reign down projectiles. This also brings to mind two prior scenes we have seen before, one from the screenshots, and one from June's trailer.

The first image is positioned at just the right angle to line up with the shot where Darkside is about to attack, and the second image has holes in the destroyed buildings that seem to line up with where the orbs were launched. Could this be the sequence of events? The image from last year was the subject of much debate, from speculation relating to potential Keyblade wielders, to ballistic missiles, to Donald and Goofy arriving in Quadratum. The object hurdling towards Darkside on the top right seems to be colored blue; could this possibly play into my Blizzard theory?

This has quickly become one of the most memorable sequences from the trailer; Sora dashing through a tumbling bus to save a woman and her cat. This is not the first time Sora has explicitly been shown actively saving the lives of NPC's throughout the worlds, and in fact is not even the first time he has fought something the size of the new Darkside either, but never before has it been done quite this cinematically. This is a good opportunity to discuss another aspect that has been on display for Kingdom Hearts IV; cutscene direction. This and voice direction were two of Kingdom Hearts III's biggest points of contention, the usual criticism they felt at times static and stilted. The Disney worlds were considered as having been by and large mostly fine, but the staging of certain scenes, some specific examples cited being the Gummiship and Keyblade Graveyard cutscenes feeling at times they were lacking in visual diversity. Kingdom Hearts IV's vocal performances have been received well enough so far, but the dynamics of the cinematography has been widely praised, highlights noted have been the sharp camera shots, dynamic and dramatic angles, as well as the movements of the characters themselves. As seen below, these demonic incarnations of the Heartless go a long way in restoring the feelings of horror latent within them, as beings and their mere existences.

The Shadows descend as Sora calls out a familiar name to the same masked ninja looking character from the last trailer, confirming his identity as Vali.

I suspect Vali has potential to prove a fan favorite when the game is finally released. Much like most of the Quadratum cast, his outfit is simple but distinct, and his style of wielding his Keyblade backhanded brings to mind Ventus, albeit it is in a different style. We have not seen much of what his character could be yet, within these trailers and in Dark Road as well, but Square Enix has always had a certain way of making the minimalistic silent types endearing and memorable.

Sora's watch has also been an interesting discussion point, as he did not have it in the initial reveal trailer, but since the screenshot release last year, it has been a constant presence. Initially I thought it would be the replacement for the Gummiphone; a way for Sora to communicate with his allies, and perhaps even hold the 'journal' for this game. However as he now has a cellphone, its purpose is once again completely elusive, as we have not yet seen it be utilized in any way. Perhaps this will be how he accesses the map? The world of Quadratum is massive, perhaps this will be used to observe the map quickly and set markers, if that is such an option. Another possibility is perhaps this is how he will be able to summon in this game? III allowed him to do so by way of the Heartbinders, perhaps this will be the equivalent to that in this game? Or maybe it is simply a part of Sora's new fashion statement, we shall see.

Interesting lore tidbit: Vali's name has several linguistic origins, across Arabic, Hindi dialects, and Latin there is a shared commonality of being associated with valor, bravery, and in Arabic tongues specifically words like guardian, and protector. In Norse culture, which the Kingdom Hearts series has been pulling from quite liberally for some time now, similar to Final Fantasy VII, Vali is the name of one of Odin's sons, specifically he is an archer tasked with avenging the death of Baldur. His identity is that of a weapon, a tool to take revenge on Loki, who tricked the blind Hoder into killing Baldur, who in the myth are twin brothers instead of brother and sister. Could this be a hint at Vali's role in the story?

We know of an Odin to exist in Kingdom Hearts, but who would Loki be? The Master of Masters? Luxu? Xehanort? Sora? The possibilities are as endless as they are fascinating to think about.

Back in the Land of the Dead, Sora, Miguel, and Héctor descend the cable car down to the talent show being held at La Plaza de la Cruz. Immediately after this, we see something very exciting happen.

The Keyblade in this world is nothing short of beautiful, arriving in a flash of Light, with swirling petals of marigolds, or cempasúchil as they're called in Mexican-Spanish, forming into the shape of a guitar, similar to the ones donned by Miguel, and Ernesto de la Cruz. It's interesting upon closer inspection because initially it seemed to me the whole Keyblade was a guitar but if you look closely, there is a guitar complete with its fret board above the handle, instead of the handle being the guitar's body as I initially thought.

Now feels the most appropriate to discuss Sora's new look in the Land of the Dead. Notably despite what can be seen at an immediate glance, Sora is relatively unchanged. In fact as far as his clothes are concerned they are exactly the same as when he is in Quadratum. Interestingly, this is the first time we have seen the Kingdom Hearts IV outfit in the 'classic' Kingdom Hearts style. Though comparatively Pixar is known for dipping more into realism with their movies than Disney tends to, as an art direction though certainly not exclusively, Coco is not a 'realistic' looking film; nothing is overly cartoon-y, but it is far from photo-realism. Therefore it is safe to assume that this is close to what Sora's outfit would look like outside of Quadratum.

Another thing to take away here is Sora's 'skeletal' form- when standing next to Héctor it is clear that Sora is not a skeleton, as his limbs and mouth move in such a way that they simply would not otherwise. Conversely, unlike Miguel who for his time in the Land of the Dead his skin becomes transparent, but like Miguel Sora's face looks as if it it was painted, which would explain the heart and crown under each eye, his limbs to not look so, instead it appears as if his skin has simply darkened and the bones underneath are shining through. It was Sora's legs that were throwing me off the most; if you take a glance at his model above you'll notice he is not wearing tall socks, but in the Land of the Dead they're completely black minus the bones. That being said, the crown and heart are a stellar touch all the same, they not only suit Sora but also the world.

The location is a point of interest as well, Sora seems to be standing in what Coco dubbed 'Shanty Town', where nearly forgotten skeletons gather; meaning their living family has no offerings upon their ofrenda, and they cannot cross over into the living world on Día de los Muertos. Shanty Town was portrayed as a waterfront of sorts, hence why there was an ocean in view of the trailer's opening scenes. This lends credence to what I suggested earlier that Sora did perhaps bear witness to the Final Death of Chicharrón, he may have just been omitted, or was elsewhere.

Lastly, the other notable thing about this scene is the simple fact that it happened; Sora has never obtained a world's Keyblade during its plot progression, let alone in a cutscene. The only times that come to mind as being close to comparable are when in Kingdom Hearts I the keychains were given to him by the respective Disney heroes as a memento after beating that world's Disney boss, whereas subsequent games saw their protagonists simply obtaining them after the world's completion. The other time is in Kingdom Hearts II where Sora transforms into Valor Form after getting his new clothes, where he is shown wielding Star Seeker.

What could have happened that caused Sora to manifest this version of the Keyblade? Is this still just a keychain? Time and again the games and wider lore have referred to the Kingdom Key as the true form of Sora's Keyblade, but this scene is framed as if it is being bestowed upon him, or as being a genuine separate Keyblade. Then again, the lore on keychains is at times elusive; sometimes they are physical items given to Sora that take the shape of his new weapons, sometimes they are manifestations of Sora's bonds, his memories or his friendships, sometimes all of these or some of these mixed together. Regardless, I hope similar scenes follow all of Sora's other Keyblades this time around! The proof that this Keyblade is obtained during the world's story, possibly very early as well, is on display for us in the next sequence.

Quick note: it doesn't seem the colors of the mini-map on the top-right of the screen changes colors with the world; that could always change, but just taking note of it.

This segment brings to mind the first phase of the Spellican boss fight from Dream Drop Distance. I don't believe this to be the final boss of the world, and I cannot immediately tell if it is a Heartless. It most likely is but it has the same color scheme as the spirit guides of the Land of the Dead; the Alebrijes, although it does not appear to be the one belonging to Imelda Rivera, who was chasing Miguel at this time in the film. The Keychain from Sora's Keyblade seems attached to the monster, although we have seen Sora's Keyblade function as a kind of grappling hook in these trailers consistently, so perhaps it has something to do with that. Once again the button prompts that allow Sora to instantly snap to a location appears.

We then see our first look at combat within Coco's world, as Sora fights side-by-side with Miguel and Héctor. This short collection of sequences gives us more than a few things to take note of.

Firstly, the Parasol Beauty Heartless that debuted in Kingdom Hearts III makes a return here. We also catch glimpses of a new Heartless, one that appears to be themed to the world of Coco; it appears to be a bird-like creature, holding what could be fans or maracas. The Limit Attack, or Team Attack as Kingdom Hearts III calls them, that Sora does with Héctor is very interesting to watch, Héctor and possibly Sora seem to dance during the move, similar to Jack Skellington's Limit Attack, Dance Call, from Kingdom Hearts II.

Sora then begins gliding around, casting AOE (area-of-effect) magic in the center of the stream of music notes, before coming together in the middle to cast what at first appeared to be the finishing blow, but the real finale was yet to come.

The bar at the top of the screen I can't quite pinpoint- at first I thought it was a part of the attack, but judging by the skeleton people both silhouetted on the bar and watching in the background, this might actually be a kind of performance meter; entertain the crowd. This would make sense considering it is a talent show, although that is contradicted by Miguel actively being a part of the combat, which would place this fight after his rendition of "Un Poco Loco".

When speaking at the Deep Dive Into Kingdom Hearts panel at D23, Tai Yasue had this to say about what we can look forward to when it comes to fighting alongside the Rivera's.

"We wanted Miguel to use a guitar and sing while fighting in battles. (. . .) [Héctor will] use his arms and bones to shoot it as an arrow. (. . .) And he also uses his arm as a nunchuck."

Sadly we were not able to get a glimpse at what this will look like, but it is clear that a lot of effort has gone into fleshing out the Disney/Pixar characters in combat; building on what was started in Kingdom Hearts III. Other little things of note are there weren't any flashy combos on display this time, the focus of this trailer seemed more so on story than gameplay, and that in terms of battle related voice clips, Sora's seem to be entirely comprised of lines from Kingdom Hearts III. Not a surprise, the game is still a long way out, but it was noticeable all the same. Also to quote Mr. Yasue again, that is in fact a 'magical piñata' Sora slashes through at the end of the sequence.

"This is a lot of new information."

Now onto the Mickey portions of the trailer within the Scala Ad Caelum library. Immediately we can see there are a few notable differences with The King; there seems to be a fuzzy texture on his ears that I don't believe was present in Kingdom Hearts III. Also his outfit is different as well, instead of a grey undershirt it's white now, and instead of red pants they've been swapped out for black ones. His shoes have the same pattern but the yellow is softer, and the only red on him is his jacket; the torso and back sections. This area was first shown to us in the screenshots from last year, where we saw Mickey standing atop a chandelier.

This moment is something truly special, finally Kingdom Hearts will give us full control of Mickey Mouse.

Mickey has been playable before, yes, as a life saver in Kingdom Hearts II, a secret character in 358/2 Days Mission Mode, and then of course his legendary solo segment during Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind, but not to this degree. Full ranged movement, complete control of his abilities, and a dedicated gameplay segment, not simply a special scripted scenario, or a chance encounter that some players may actually miss,

The language you see displayed on the book that Mickey gets sucked into is both readable and translatable. Diehard Kingdom Hearts lore sleuths sometimes refer to it as "Scaldian", as while the language is actually found across the whole series, it is primarily within Scala Ad Caelum that these translation efforts are focused, and there have been attempts to decipher the alphabet for years, dating back to the release of Kingdom Hearts III, possibly even before. I have not attempted to try or seek translation for anything you see for this write up, but if any decoders out there can piece something together, let a staff member know, we might be able to update this very article if the information is pertinent enough.

Puzzles have always been a part of Kingdom Hearts' DNA, some games more than others, but from what we see of this 'paper world' as it was referred to during the panel, Mickey finds himself in, this is shaping up to possibly be one of the most creative things Nomura's teams have done yet. The counter up at the top-left of the screen seems to indicate Mickey must find five books, possibly pages- we never see the number change throughout this trailer, but its clear this will be a lengthy segment.

The patterns that adorn this bridge Mickey creates brings to mind the stained glass design that could be seen on the Door to Darkness from the end of Kingdom Hearts I.

This stained glass type design has been present in Kingdom Hearts from the various Stations of Awakening, to different doors, and the floating tiles Sora and Roxas walk across during their visits during Kingdom Hearts I and II and in general is an artistic aesthetic that has come to define the series. I strongly believe this is more than just a nice visual flair, however. My reasoning for this is since Dream Drop Distance the Kingdom Hearts titles after it have often engaged with acknowledging themselves, and what I intend this to mean is, it feels more than just easter eggs and fan service. Contentious it may be, Kingdom Hearts III is a very deliberate game in its message and tone; history repeating itself and the seemingly fun little callbacks that are brought up by the cast of heroes and villains do not simply reference them, they reframe them, at times even mock them. Young Xehanort in particular was very good about doing this to Sora, and again, Kingdom Hearts IV is being very intentional about manifesting feelings of things coming together, so this design being here in Scala ad Caelum is surely intentional.

Mr. Yasue expanded a little on what we see during the trailer and what we can expect from this new paper world:

"Mickey [in the paper world] recreates origami paper copies of himself. You can create paper thin Mickey's, giant Mickey's, tiny Mickey's, and box Mickey's. Paper thin Mickey's can slip into cracks in the wall, (. . .) you can throw him and he becomes a paper airplane."

He explicitly refers to this as being puzzle-based game design, and he noted that it was perhaps the gameplay segment he was looking forward to the most, referring to it as 'fresh.'

Here we see what appears to be the paper thin Mickey, running along a pathway of some sorts. On the bottom right of the screen we can see that Mickey has two 'party members' of sorts; two different Mickey origami, and two of each of them. There is yet no confirmation on which one is which, but going off the shape of the blue copy's head, this could potentially be the box Mickey variant, or even the tiny Mickey. Its shape reminds me of the collaboration Disney did with Bearbrick (stylized as BE@RBRICK) for a line of collectible designer toys. They are a Japanese based company, so there is that slim possibility.

On the bottom left of the screen there's a whimsical image of a book with scattered pages underneath Mickey's Command Menu. Having mentioned that, Mickey only has the Attack command, so that leads me to believe this will be mostly if not entirely non-combative; a thought came to me as I combed over the footage, perhaps this will be a replacement for the 100 Acre Woods. I would love to see Winnie-The-Pooh come back so they can expand on the story they hinted at of his connection to Sora being weaker, but on the surface this world checks all the boxes for it, however instead of minigames it is exploration based puzzles. Then again maybe not, when Sora was inside Pooh bear's book the Attack Command was replaced with 'Hit', or 'Strike' in Kingdom Hearts III, so perhaps combat is still possible.

Thin Mickey runs along 2-Dimensional planes a la the side-scrolling platformers of old, it plays with perspective in a way that has drawn comparisons to the Paper Mario series of games, of which I agree. There are similar games I'm reminded of but actually whether those making the connection are aware of it or not, that comparison is actually rather apropos. After all, what Super Mario 64 did for 3D platformers is quite a large part of Kingdom Hearts I's DNA. And considering Square Enix's historically friendly relationship with the plumber, having developed Super Mario RPG when they were SquareSoft, plus Yoko Shimomura composing its soundtrack, the influence feels more intentional upon closer inspection.

These assumedly have to be what Mr. Yasue referred to as the giant Mickey's, which lumber forward in big striders, breaking through boxes. Those that it breaks are colored red as well, this could mean the puzzles involving the giant Mickey's could be color coded and you will need Mickey copies of different colors, or it simply is a way of identifying what can and cannot be broken through. Notice too the Command Menu here and in the screen shots featuring thin Mickey, for the side scrolling segment there is only a command for "Return to Mickey", and in the giant Mickey segment we can see "Swap" as a Reaction Command, with the signal to do so targeting the real Mickey, as well as "Throw".

This seems to suggest that this Mickey copy will be able to pick up and move things, perhaps to be used to destroy obstacles or remove hazards? We only see a brief glimpse of this origami figure, so we don't know yet its full movement capabilities or if it can even jump, but what we can see is Mickey only has the option to control this copy at this moment, and only has one of them available. Notably the book counter in this segment displays 0/3 books instead of 5, like the prior segments, this could mean that these are not only separate areas of the paper world, but also different segments of Mickey's journey. Before the feeling of knowing that Mickey is truly genuinely playable for the first time and taking in this new world and its mechanics can breathe and settle, the trailer then shows us that in fact he is not the only character whose journey we will be following.

At last, this trailer confirms once and for all that Donald and Goofy did indeed go to Olympus' Underworld to talk to Hades. This was speculated as far back as the reveal trailer, as sharp-eared fans from all sides clocked Hades Japanese seiyu, however there was still some confusion to some if this was really the case, but now we see it in full. Goofy asks Hades when someone passes away in the World if they always go to his Underworld. We don't see Hades provide a direct answer to this question, all he offers the Knight and Mage is "Sora isn't here."

The idea of Donald and Goofy searching for Sora here has been a story beat derided through bewilderment and humor, as since it is the Underworld, the realm is thought of as a 'bad' afterlife, and thus reflects poorly on Donald and Goofy's perceptions of Sora as a person. However, them being here makes perfect sense, and may in fact correlate to the story, but to explain why will require a quick detour into Greek Mythology, and Kingdom Hearts Chi history.

Yes, even by Disney standards 1997's Hercules plays fast and loose with its source material for the adaptation of its story, but these tenents of the myth could prove important to keep in the back of your mind. After all, despite their penchant for Norse Mythology, they have never shied away from Greek myths across their games either. The Underworld, interchangeably referred to as the Underworld and Hades, named after the God himself, was where all souls went; the rich, the poor, the malevolent, and the innocent. There were layers to the Underworld, as it was not one set location, with three main plains of existence, and 7 rivers. Let's quickly go over those three realms.

• Elysian Fields: You went here if you were a hero in life, especially virtuous in life, or blessed by the Gods. Always sunny, no rain, no labor, no sorrow; no worries for the rest of your days. You gained passage only by being deemed worthy by the three judges of the Underworld. I won't expand on them but it might be worth noting, one of them was named Aeacus, his title was Master of Keys, the keys being to the gates of the Underworld.

• Asphodel Meadows: Consider this a 'general' afterlife; akin to certain perceptions of purgatory, it is a shrouded in shadows and quietness. The denizens here have no memory, and in fact very little feeling, it is characterized as a land of complete and total boredom. Most mortals went here. Note: scholars have debated on the meaning of its name and description, some claim it is a field of ash, some say it's a field of flowers.

• Tartarus: This realm was a prison, where it held those who rebelled against the Gods or violated laws of the Cosmos. It was described as being covered in darkness, surrounded by an unbreakable iron gate, a river of fire, and a chasm so vast you could fall down it for an entire year without touching the bottom of it.

There are several reasons I am providing this information to you, the main two being to illustrate that Hades, the location, does not have an inherent bias towards good or evil, and second was to plant the seeds of theory. By now certainly one could already see some similarities to Kingdom Hearts' setting, worlds, and even its plains of existence. Putting these pieces together is beyond the scope of this analysis, but before moving onto the Chi correlation, let's quickly consider those rivers.

• Styx: The most prominent river, referred to sometimes as the river of hatred.

• Acheron: The river of woe, sometimes misery, or sorrow.

• Pyriphlegethon: The river of fire, often associated with punishment.

• Cocytus: The river of wailing; sometimes weeping, or lament.

• Lethe: The river of forgetfulness. Lethe in the myth is the Goddess of forgetfulness, as well as oblivion.

• Eridanos: The river of scorching, and mourning.

• Oceanus: The river that circles the whole world. Named after the Titan, or Primordial God of the same name, this river was a perfect circle around the world, when it was thought to be flat, and acted as a Cosmic boundary separating the mortal realm from the Underworld. It's waters were described as sweet, as it was not sea salted water. Oceanus was the son of Uranus and Gaia; the sky and earth. Or, as they were referred to in Roman Mythology, a language closely related to Latin, both of which Mr. Nomura borrows from often, Caelus and Terra, respectively.

The other reason why they visiting Hades makes sense is found in Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road. During that games 7th chapter, Xehanort, Eraqus and their classmates journey to Olympus to discover what happened to their deceased classmates. Hades plays a major role in these events and is very much a crucial part of Dark Roads story despite his minimal screen time, as he takes the students to his Underworld where they are able to talk to their passed on friends one last time before they fade away to the Final World. Though it is incredibly unlikely that Donald and Goofy would have heard of these events, they know for a fact that Hades once upon a time summoned Auron back from the dead (with some theorizing he is actually the Auron from Final Fantasy X), so it is not out of the realm of possibility for them to think that since Sora disappeared Hades would at least have some idea about what happened to him. Also remember, at the conclusion of Episode VI, we see someone approach Hades off screen but it is never revealed who, so it is fair to think that this and Hades in general will be quite important in Kingdom Hearts IV.

What follows is arguably just as grand an event as being able to play as Mickey, if not more so.

After almost twenty-five years, Donald and Goofy are playable in Kingdom Hearts (Outside of Days' Mission Mode).

This is something that I never believed was possible, not that it wouldn't be possible for the team to do, but more so that I just assumed they would never do it. Not only are Donald and Goofy controllable party members, they are fully fleshed out with combos and a Team Attack. Let's take a closer look.

Right away after the sliding segment, we can see the Command Menus for the two are different than Sora's; both have Attack, and Items, as well as a new option; "Combat Style". There is no confirmation about the finer details when it comes to playing as Donald and Goofy, nor what this command actually does but one prevalent theory many have had, of which I share some agreement, points to this possibly being what allows us to switch between the two. A mechanic rather similar to the one in Final Fantasy XV that was added a year after its initial launch. This mechanic also just so happens to be one that Tetsuya Nomura had intended to be implemented in Versus XIII from the get-go, imagine that.

Whereas Donald has the traditional Magic Command, where Goofy's should be has been replaced with "Skills." Goofy has never utilized Magic as a power in the series, unless one wants to count his MP Gift ability from Kingdom Hearts I, but in II and III whenever Sora has a Limit/Team Attack with Goofy all of the stats calculated are for his Strength, and all of his abilities that consume MP only account for his Strength as well. In fact, unlike Kingdom Hearts I and II, Kingdom Hearts III does not have any shields that give Goofy any boost in his Magic stat, turning him into purely a tank, but one with a lot of fire power. Speaking of Team Attacks, Donald and Goofy pull one off in the trailer, combining both of their powers to unleash an attack we haven't seen before.

At the top left of the screen we see a counter keeping track of the number of waves the two have gone through. I take this to mean that Hades has sent the Heartless after the two, despite seeming to not desire their power when talking to Pete and Maleficent in Kingdom Hearts III. This creates an interesting story beat, as in Dark Road he had Xehanort and companions fight in a short tournament in where their victory would mean he would take them to the Underworld. He will almost surely reference that incident, especially remembering how Kingdom Hearts enjoys calling out its own recurrences. Perhaps he is offering the two an answer or solution to their problems and in order to prove themselves they have to survive against a variety of Heartless? We know he's watching, he can be seen sitting in the background during this sequence.

We were given quite the preview of their combat capabilities, let's look at them more in depth, starting with Donald.

Donald dashes and glides around the arena as he fires magical projectiles, very similar if not outright lifted straight from Sora's Wisdom Form from Kingdom Hearts II; Master and Final Form did this as well. This is the only attack we see him do on his own, so we don't fully know what his casting will play like, but I assume it will be similar to Kingdom Hearts III in how Sora was able to remain moving even while casting all of his spells, again like in his Kingdom Hearts II forms. Wisdom immediately becomes the most prominent comparison due to that form using the same attack method; shooting off non-elemental magical projectiles while moving, what Donald has that Wisdom Form did not, is the big AOE finish, where Donald summons a star, and smacks it down on his foes, creating a n explosive and stunning combo finisher.

Goofy's combos seem to start and end quicker than Donald's, as from what is shown to us, the first two parts of his combo have extended forward-range, and the final two moves in the combo have 360° range in their swings. He might still as a skill, but the glimpses of Goofy's attacks show us that he doesn't have a forward thrust in his standard combo- I am very intrigued to see what his air combos look like, because though it is not the "standard" gameplay loop as we will experience with Sora, again it is on display how quick and snappy the combat is.

None of the trailers have shown Sora or anyone doing simple standard combos on the ground or in the air, there's always special moves involved, or the camera cuts away, so it is difficult to tell how much begin and ending lag there is between each combo, or exactly how much there is when touching down on the ground before being able to act again. However considering that Kingdom Hearts IV is bringing over the little quality of life changes that Kingdom Hearts III had; being able to combo-cancel into a roll or block at almost anytime, casting magic while keeping forward and horizontal momentum, I have faith that the endgame product will feel as good as it currently looks. Don't forget, as good as it looks now, there is still a year and change for it to be even better.

This attack that closes out the sequence, possibly a Team Attack, involves Donald and Goofy spinning around atop Goofy's shield, as Donald uses his fireworks inspired Flare Magic, before the big finish. It is unknown how much control we will have during this move, as the only commands that are available to us are Fusion Jump, and Cancel. The wave counter is also 3/3 for this portion, could this be how Donald and Goofy end the fight, or is this move possibly just a part of their repertoire, this just so happens to be when they are using it ? As seen briefly in the first image, the name of this move seems to be "Fusion Spin", which is also the same name of an ability Sora can learn in Kingdom Heats III, acting as a combo finisher when Sora is near Goofy. The trailer begins its closing act by giving us several reveals back-to-back in quick succession.

Sora being able to see Donald and Goofy, whether it is a hallucination or they are somehow actually projecting themselves into Quadratum is one of the biggest twists in the whole trailer. We knew they were trying to find him, we knew Sora would be trying to get back home, maybe even find some way to communicate with the Realm of Light- speaking of which, we still have no word yet on why they showed us that rotary telephone in the screenshots last year, but this is a big surprise. This sequence seems to imply that only Sora is able to see them, for now, in this moment, and the shock of it all causes our hero to feint. Before this can settle however, we see that as it turns out, Sora is not the only one venturing to the Land of the Dead.

This seems to imply that Donald and Goofy will in fact be joining Sora on his Disney world journeys after all, however there are a few ways this could go, going by what the framing of this scene implies. If the scene above is indeed Sora merely hallucinating Donald and Goofy, that that can take place any time, however, Donald has a line of dialogue saying "We can't find him in that!" This seems to mean they have not found him yet, which opens the possibility that they could arrive here with Sora, before Sora, or even after Sora. I highly doubt they would take one look at the Land of the Dead and just not investigate, but it does raise questions about the chronology of Coco's inclusion. Is this early game? And if so, how early? Does Donald and Goofy's inclusion here mean they will be available in all of the Disney worlds, or jus this one? To that point, if Donald and Goofy indeed join Sora, will we be able to switch between the three? The last question raised by this moment is how did they get here? Did Hades send them here?

Their skin, or fur and feathers I suppose, seems to be blacked out, just like Sora, and their designs are much more distinct. Sora seems to be unchanged from his normal attire outside of his skeletal makeover, but Donald and Goofy look striking, dashing even. Goofy in particular, his outfit reminds me a little bit of his Gaucho look from Disney's Saludos Amigos!:

Not exactly of course, as Coco takes place in Mexico and Goofy's Gaucho attire seen here is inspired by attire seen in South America's Uruguay and Argentina. A good time to remind, Mr. Nomura does not just work with Disney, he is actively a fan. Their inclusion in this world is also rather amazing from another perspective. Disney is obviously a world wide recognized company, but Donald and Goofy have always in particular been very popular in Spanish speaking countries, in part thanks to Disney's aforementioned Saludos Amigos! and The Three Caballeros, and Donald's relatability and Goofy's comedy having a universal appeal. No doubt this news has excited many fans around the world.

The full scope of the land before them is laid bare, the colors popping out at the screen, its hard to imagine that this is how it looks now, twelve to sixteen months out from release, just imagine how it will look on release.

A familiar voice greets a familiar figure, it is here and now that we get a look at the Young incarnation of Xehanort, walking around in Quadratum. This is however not the first time we have seen him, Mr. Nomura has drawn artwork of this very same incarnation of Xehanort on two occasions, once to commemorate the finale for Dark Road, and once again this year for the 24th anniversary of the series, respectively.

The voice that addresses him is unmistakably Xigbar, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say Luxu, addressing the revitalized Xehanort with his familiar nickname for him of 'old coot.' Luxu was already suspected to be here in the first place, not just because he has been carrying out his masters orders for over a century, but these two figures from the initial reveal trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV have drawn much speculation that these two figures are in fact Luxu and the Master of Masters.

There has been an interesting fact pointed out about Luxu's dialogue to Xehanort, there being a noticeable difference between the English and Japanese versions:

English:

"Here's a surprise. You're looking pretty good!... For an old coot."

Japanese:

"Now this is something you don't see everyday. Seems like you've returned to your younger self, as expected from you."

Of course this is a pretty straight forward translation, and as we all know Japanese is heavily dependent on tone indicators, context, and pronoun usage, but it is still interesting to think about how it is worded in Japanese. This could potentially imply that this is not just Xehanort from another time period, or a new and different version of Xehanort, but instead this is the same old man Xehanort having for a yet undisclosed reason taken the form of his younger self. It raises many questions and several concerns but we can only speculate for now. It is here the trailer throws a lot of information at us very fast in its last thirty or so seconds.

The situation is looking grim as now three Darkside Heartless are staring down Strelitzia and a man who will soon be identified as Sigurd.

As Sora fights off the Neo Shadows, we see what looks like to be armored guards backing away in fear, equipped with shields and halberds.

From top to bottom these soldiers are extremely similar to the Crownsguard Soldiers uniforms from Final Fantasy XV/Versus XIII; at minimum they are inspired, at most they are directly lifted.

There's a deeper connection to be made here; they were the loyal guards to the Kingdom of Lucis, of which Noctis' allies Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto were also members of. Ignis and Gladiolus received allusions to during the Verum Rex trailer within Kingdom Hearts III, upon entering Toy Box for the first time with the characters Magia (magic) and Aegis (shield). Donald and Goofy were directly referred to as these two characters respectively in cut dialogue from Toy Box by Rex. They not only served the Kingdom of Lucis, they also protected the capital of Insomnia as both a protection and countermeasure task force serving directly under the King, Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII. Who is the king they serve in Quadratum? Yozora? The Master of Masters? They don't seem to wield Keyblades, are they Quadratum's military? Come to think about it, is Quadratum the entire world, or just the city? Or is perhaps the city the whole world?

We see them hesitate and begin to back up, and when we see what they see, it is not hard to see why.

This is possibly the most terrifying form the Heartless have taken yet. This bird-like monstrosities instantly make me recall the feathers from the last trailer that were falling before a hooded figure, could they be connected to them? More pressingly, are these a new Pure Blood Heartless? From the angles provided, I don't seem to see the Emblem anywhere. The Heartless on display are show descending upon Strelitzia.

The stance Strelitzia is taking and the Light in front of her intrigues me; she clearly seems to be struggling to summon her Keyblade, but the position of the weapon itself and her hands almost make me think it is a bow-and-arrow of some kind. It most likely is not, but then again we never saw Strelitzia in combat proper during her short appearance in Union Cross. What could be causing this? Fear? Some sort of inner struggle preventing her from using her Keyblade?

Despite the impressive looking Keyblade, Sigurd looks mortified at the idea of fighting these Heartless, completely afraid for his life. Perhaps he is a diplomat of some sort, aside from his cape his attire brings to mind a lab coat, or even a business suit. He was presumably a higher up in the ancient Keyblade society's hierarchy, as upon Brain's arrival in Scala ad Caleum at Union Cross's conclusion he tells him how his arrival was "set in stone.", and that he would take him to his head quarters. The stance he assumes in the fourth screenshot is nearly identical to the one Riku made in Kingdom Hearts III as he stared down the Demon Tide. Let's hope that does not spell an ill omen.

Just in the nick of time, Riku makes his grand return to save the day, and we are given our first look at his Quadratum outfit. From what little of it we can see there a few notable differences. For one, his jacket has been replaced with what almost looks like a buttoned-up shirt with yellow trim at the bottom, and it is not a solid color either, if you look closely you can see tiny Hidden Mickey's in the design. Riku also no longer has gloves, and on his left arm seems to be a wristband, perhaps a watch? Like Sora and Mickey's new outfits, it seems unfortunately Riku too has moved on from plaid. This also renders how the Sora and Riku looked in the secret ending to Kingdom Hearts III's base game inaccurate to how they'll look completely, unless of course Mr. Nomura finds a way to incorporate both outfits to the story.

Sora's expression here fascinates me, as he does not look relieved, or bewildered, or anything like that- he looks uncertain, as if he is in disbelief, could it be he doesn't recognize Riku? Or is he just in awe of seeing him. Riku's physical changes are much less drastic than Sora's, and Sora would have easily recognized Braveheart, is it something else? Is he scared? I have seen rumblings in the fandom suggesting perhaps Sora has a type of amnesia, and while there is nothing as of now to prove or disprove that idea, it is always a possibility. Especially in Kingdom Hearts.

It is rather surprising that they would show Riku and Sora reuniting so soon considering we are over a year out until the official release, perhaps this was to get the fandom talking, perhaps there are even bigger surprises waiting for us, time will have to tell. The trailers ends with a voice.

General consensus heavily favors the source of the voice being Kairi, although there has not yet been any official confirmation if it is or not, not from Square Enix nor Alyson Stoner, Kairi's voice actor since Re:Chain of Memories, has not yet commented on the subject. The voice saying the line has a lot of layers to it, it is gentle but urging, almost as if it were kindly pleading with Sora.

"Wake up and see."

That could mean so many different things. See what? The truth? The Light? The world? Something else entirely? And if this truly is Kairi what could the context for this line possibly be? When last we saw Kairi at the end of Melody of Memory, she saw Riku off to Quadratum before returning to the Realm of Light to continue training under Aqua. Could this voice line we are hearing be from Kairi hypothetically when she is in Quadratum? It could be at the stories beginning, middle, end- the possibilities are endless right now.

The trailer then ends with a promise.

Tai Yasue:

"I can confidently say and promise that it will launch in 2027. Development is very smooth, it's not like an 80% thing, 90%- it's a 100% thing, so we'll be there. For sure."

And so ends our latest trailer.

So many things to think about and so much time left to think about them. The parallels between the Coco cast and the Kingdom Hearts cast, what the next Disney worlds will be and what themes they'll all share, what role everyone will play. For example, did you know that Sora and Miguel have both had experiences with people walking through them?

Miguel's family hates music due to a misconception started over a hundred years ago, when it was thought that Héctor had abandoned his family to pursue his dream, when in reality he was poisoned by Ernesto de la Cruz as he tried to leave. Someone ending someone's life to pursue their selfish ambition and constantly justifying it, a misunderstanding that affected the lives of generations across a hundred years, are these not story beats present within Kingdom Hearts? Miguel's Grandmother Elena destroys guitar not just out of anger, but also fear do to the rules and teachings passed onto her from her Mother, Socorro "Coco" Rivera, who in turned was taught them by her Mother, Imelda. Is this really so different than Master Eraqus's teachings, which while noble in intentions were based on the eradication of Darkness instead of coexistence with it? Remember, upon Aqua's arrival in the Castle of Dreams world, she was prepare to enter the Tremaine Estate and eliminate the Matriarch of that household and her daughters, before intervention from the Fairy Godmother. Unlike Riku, Terra was not provided an environment or support group that allowed him to healthily deal with the Darkness within himself, similar to how Miguel recieved no support from his family, until meeting Héctor.

In fact remember, Imelda says point blank that she wanted Coco to forget her Father, knowing full well in her afterlife this would be an eventual sentence to non-existence. I pointed out much earlier how memory is a crucial part of Kingdom Hearts and how people relate to and perceive those memories, feel about them, and relate to them, and now I would like to expand on that. Take the big emotional musical moment from Coco, "Remember Me', Héctor wrote that as a promise, a song of love for his daughter, but Ernesto changed it into a big bombastic love song. When Coco remembered her Father playing music, she remembered how he would write to her through his letters, and poems, where as all Imelda can remember is the pain that music brought her.

Memories of the past dictate the future, but sometimes our memories are wrong. Sometimes we lie to ourselves, sometimes we just did not know the full story, both of these concepts are present in Kingdom Hearts. Information is used as a manipulative tool, memory is weaponized to fuel the feelings of other people's wills, and even reconfigure their consciousness. One minute you're just a regular teenager getting sea salt ice cream with your friends during Summer vacation, you think you remember your entire childhood and family, only to turn out your brain was reconfigured, and you're actually part of a secret society that intends to weaponize forces beyond your comprehension for a hard to fathom goal. Even the Ansem Reports are an example of this:

Secret Ansem Report 2:

"Though they bore my name, the only one I had written was number 0. Apparently he had gone on to pen numbers 1 through 8 himself."

This is all not just superficial speculation, Mr. Nomura himself has stated that when considering worlds for these games, plot relevance and unique gameplay mechanics are of equal importance, as said at the Deep Dive D23 panel. Ultimately Kingdom Hearts IV to me seems to be setting the stage to deal with a variety of subjects that while not new to the franchise have seldom been in the forefront, especially as Quadratum aims for a more surreal approach to the series' storytelling. This raises a great number of questions as to what this will mean for Sora.

There has been a consistent narrative thread that has needled its way through the series, and it is the gradual tearing down of Sora as a hero. In the first game he is excited to see the outside world, and go to other places, but by the time he reaches Ariel, he seems to possibly not feel quite the same way anymore.

Ariel:

"Someday, I'm going to see what's out there. I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange?"

Sora:

"No. Not at all. I used to feel the same way."

Then of course it is revealed that he was never the true Hero of the Keyblade, Kingdom Key was meant for Riku, and this repetition of people telling Sora blatantly to his face that he isn't supposed to be here, that he isn't a real chosen one, is present from conversations with Xigbar, to Sora meeting Terra's Lingering Will, to Sora's own feelings. All the hard work Sora, Donald, and Goofy put in trying to save the worlds from Maleficent and the Seeker of Darkness, winning all of those tournaments, and defeating the 1,000 Heartless gets turned on its head when Saïx tells Sora the entire time, every Heart his Keyblade set free had been absorbed into their artificial Kingdoms Hearts. The most telling of all of this is is the affect the events of Dream Drop Distance had on Sora, who began that game so confident and sure of himself, ending the game with much of his power depleted, with jokes and criticism aimed at him ramped up from earlier titles.

Sora's power, his bonds, his validity as a warrior of Light, his friendships, constantly called into question and torn down in front of him. What must Sora be feeling now? Where will this new story take him? These are but a few of the questions I am left with, even at the end of all of this you have just read.

And so ends our newest Kingdom Hearts IV trailer, it feels surreal to even say have one new trailer let alone two in the span of two months. Just earlier this year it didn't seem possible. What did you notice in the trailer that perhaps I missed? What Disney worlds do you think would best fit the feeling of Kingdom Hearts IV, after having seen what we have been shown? And of course, when do you think the game will release? We can't wait to here from you!

Thank you so very much for reading. Welcome back, Kingdom Hearts.

Hayden Panettiere, the English voice actress of Kairi from Kingdom Hearts 1 to Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Xion in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, has passed away at the age of 36, as confirmed by her representative. No additional information about her death has been made available to the public.

UPDATE [Aug 17]: The official Kingdom Hearts Twitter/X account has acknowledged the passing of Hayden. The tweet will be posted below.

Rest in peace, Hayden, and thank you for providing the voice of our Princess of Heart.

A Kingdom Hearts collaboration is coming to Fortnite's recently announced Chapter 7 Season 4, Override. The announcement came with promotional artwork depicting a variety of iconic video game characters, including Sora who is seen in his outfit from Kingdom Hearts II. You can view the promotional artwork as well as the trailer for the upcoming update below:

What do you think of Kingdom Hearts being featured in Fortnite? Let us know in the comments below!

Following the release of the extended D23 2026 Kingdom Hearts IV trailer, Square Enix has shared several new official screenshots and a new character render of Sora as he appears in Kingdom Hearts IV. You can view these images, both Japanese and English screenshots, in our gallery below:

What do you think of these new images? Let us know in the comments below!

Square Enix has announced that the digital store pages for Kingdom Hearts IV, including wishlisting. The store pages include PlayStation 5, Xbox, Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Switch 2.

The store pages feature the following description:

"As the KINGDOM HEARTS series approaches its 25th anniversary, a new adventure begins.

Our hero Sora awakes in the unfamiliar world of Quadratum. As he looks for a way to return from this modern metropolis to his own world, his friends Donald and Goofy head for the Underworld in hopes of finding a clue to his whereabouts.

The dynamic, fast-paced battle system allows you to effortlessly combine attacks and magic, as well as build combos with a brand-new battle feature.

Change the Keyblade Sora wields to unleash unique attacks, matching the flow of battle to your own strategies and play style."

Additionally, the Steam page lists the following languages as supported:

• English

• Japanese

• French

• Italian

• German

• Spanish - Spain

• Spanish - Latin America

• Portuguese - Brazil

• Simplified Chinese

• Traditional Chinese

• Korean

This news follows the recent trailer confirming Kingdom Hearts IV's late 2027 release, as well as the Coco world. Additionally, an anime series is in the works.

At D23 Expo 2026, during the Disney Entertainment Showcase panel it was announced that an original Kingdom Hearts Anime series is coming to Disney Channel and Disney Plus soon. You can view a teaser image below:

In a press release, it was stated that the show is being developed in partnership with Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura and the team at Square Enix. The series is set to re-imagine the iconic adventure, with a brand new story that sets to expand on the Kingdom Hearts universe.

President of Disney Kids and Family, Ayo Davis also stated:

“Kingdom Hearts has captivated gamers everywhere with its unique blend of adventure and imagination.There’s something really exciting about taking a world fans have spent years exploring through the games and bringing it to life in a completely new way. And with a creative team that is working closely with the legendary Tetsuya Nomura, our new series will be unmistakably Kingdom Hearts, while giving fans a whole new way to experience the world they love.”

Tetsuya Nomura shared a message through the official Kingdom Hearts Japanese account on X regarding the announcement:

"The production of an "Kingdom Hearts" animated series has been confirmed. I imagine you're surprised by this sudden announcement. Some of you may be wondering, "What will it be about?" We can't discuss all the details just yet, but I've been in close discussions with the scenario team, including myself, and when needed, we've also enlisted the art team's cooperation, even creating multiple new character designs specifically for this project. I can't say anything more right now, but the hint is in the single piece of key art that's been revealed. Please let your imaginations run wild while you await further updates."

What would you like to see in an upcoming Kingdom Hearts anime series? Let us know in the comments below!

Square Enix and Disney have unveiled a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV during the D23 Expo Disney Entertainment Showcase panel.

This new trailer confirms that the Disney film Coco will be featured in Kingdom Hearts IV. It also revealed that a late 2027 release is in the works for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The new trailer showcases Sora interacting in the Coco world, alongside Mickey in Scala ad Caelum, as well as Strelitzia and Sigurd in Quadratum.

UPDATE 08/15/2026: An extended version of the new Kingdom Hearts IV trailer was revealed at the D23 Deep Dive into Kingdom Hearts panel. View both Japanese and English versions of the nearly 4 minute trailer below:

Kingdom Hearts IV - Extended D23 2026 Trailer - English

Kingdom Hearts IV - Extended D23 2026 Trailer - Japanese

You can view the new trailer below:

You can view official screenshots from the trailer in our gallery below:

Happy D23 week everyone!

D23 Expo 2026 is set to take place August 14th - 16th in Anaheim, California. The time is fast approaching to Saturday, the 15th, where the Kingdom Hearts Retrospective Panel, Deep Dive Into Kingdom Hearts, will be taking place. This event has been a long time coming in many ways for fans of this franchise, young and old. This panel comes after the end of what was once a very long drought of information regarding Kingdom Hearts IV, which until last July was only given it's initial reveal trailer, and a selection of screenshots from May of last year.

Join us as we update this article throughout the week as it all unfolds. I personally will be attending D23, and the team will assist me in updating you all with exclusive pictures, news, and coverage of the event, so be sure to check back here and the often! You can view announcements, trailers, and venue photos below:

Kingdom Hearts IV D23 Show Case Trailer

At the Disney Entertainment and Showcase on August 14th, a new Kingdom Hearts IV trailer was unveiled, confirming a world based on the Disney Pixar film Coco, and a late 2027 release window.

Kingdom Hearts: The Series Animated Show Announced

Also at the Disney Entertainment Showcase a Kingdom Hearts animated series was confirmed to be in the works for Disney Channel and Disney+. You can view key art from the announcement in our gallery below:

Deep Dive Into Kingdom Hearts Panel

The Kingdom Hearts Retrospective Panel, Deep Dive Into Kingdom Hearts will have confirmed appearances from English voice actors of Sora and Riku, Haley Joel Osment, and David Gallagher, Kingdom Hearts Co-Director Tai Yasue, Director of Games for the Walt Disney Company Japan, Nana Gadd, and Reneé Johnson of Disney Character Voices.

Additionally, Khleo Thomas, best known for his role as Zero in the Disney movie Holes will be hosting the panel.

The panel will be livestreamed through a variety of outlets, including the official Kingdom Hearts Youtube channel. As a reminder the panel will begin on Saturday August 15th, 4:30 PM PT / 7:30 PM ET. You can view the livestream below:

Also please note, Disney has stated that they will not be keeping the live stream up for re-watching upon its conclusion, so make sure to do your best to tune into the stream while it's live.

Venue Photos

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August 14, 2026

New Kingdom Hearts IV Trailer Announces Coco World and late 2027 Release

Disney Announces Original Kingdom Hearts Anime Series Coming to Disney Channel and Disney Plus

Kingdom Hearts IV Opens Digital Store Pages and Wishlisting

Pre-Event Coverage

Kingdom Hearts to be featured at D23 Expo 2026

Kingdom Hearts D23 Expo 2026 Panel to be Livestreamed on August 15

How excited are you for Saturday? Is there anything else from D23 that interests you? Let us know!

Square Enix and Disney have announced that the upcoming DEEP DIVE into KINGDOM HEARTS panel at the 2026 D23 Expo will be livestreamed on Disney's official YouTube channel.

As a reminder, this panel will occur at 4:30 PM on August 15, 2026. It will feature a behind-the-scenes look at how the games are made.

The special guests are as follows:

• Nana Gadd (Disney & Pixar Games)

• Tai Yasue (Square Enix)

• Haley Joel Osment (voice of Sora)

• David Gallagher (voice of Riku)

• Renée Johnson (Disney Character Voices)

Disney has announced that a dedicated Kingdom Hearts panel will be featured at D23 Expo 2026 at Anaheim, California!

Titled "DEEP DIVE into KINGDOM HEARTS", this panel will celebrate the 25 years of the Kingdom Hearts series, how it came to be, and will include some of the creatives and voices behind the series.
The panel will be an hour long on August 15th, 2026, starting at 4:30 PM PT and concludes at 5:30 PM PT.

Are you excited for the Kingdom Hearts panel? What do you think will be shown? Anything new? Never before seen?! We can't wait to see!

Bandai Namco has unveiled a new figure of Sora in Banpresto's Grandista line. Figures of this line are offered as prizes in crane games and arcades throughout Japan.

While the exact details of this figure's availability beyond a prize remain unclear, an image confirms its presence as a crane game reward.

Sora is depicted in his original attire, in a pose similar to his render from Kingdom Hearts Re:coded. Additionally, it's planned to be made available in September 2026.

You can view the figure via our gallery below:

Square Enix has announced that pre-orders are now live for a new figure of Kingdom Hearts III Sora, featuring him in the FORM-ISM ACT line.

Currently available for pre-order from the Square Enix Japan store and AmiAmi, the figure costs ¥13,200 and is scheduled to ship on January 30, 2027.

This newly sculpted figure also enables various avenues of posing with multiple faces and hand parts. Additionally, both the Kingdom Key and Crystal Snow Keyblade from the Arendelle world in Kingdom Hearts III are included.

After more than four years since the original reveal trailer, Kingdom Hearts IV has finally returned, and in a big way.

The sudden return at the Nintendo Direct on June 6th, an event very few people would have guessed, sent shockwaves throughout the Kingdom Hearts community and the gaming community as a whole. Though the total runtime was not even a full minute and a half, in true Kingdom Hearts fashion, it gave us plenty of things to think about and chew on as we eagerly anticipate when the game will show itself next. For your reading consideration, here now is a breakdown and analysis of that trailer.

We begin with the voice of a young woman, and the visual of someone in the series' trademarked black coat, sitting atop a building in Quadratum.

"The structure of this world is incredibly complex. At first, there were no manifestations of light and darkness. But our arrival here brought those concepts with us- the darkness given physical form only after we defined it."

Already this opening statement alone can mean many different things. Until this trailer, the only two things we could say we knew about Quadratum was that it is a realm of 'Fiction', or 'Unreality', as discussed in Melody of Memory, and as a kind of 'Afterworld' by Strelitzia, in the initial Kingdom Hearts IV trailer. This, however, only seems to apply to individuals from 'their' side of reality, as otherwise this world is still full of life, and seems to function as any other world. The way the opening text describes the Heartless is also a point of interest, as we have never heard them described in such a way before.

Until now, the Heartless have been described as, and treated as no more than simple monsters- manifestations of Darkness. While there is a distinction often made between 'artificial' and 'pureblood', the narrative has consistently painted the Heartless as, albeit while consistently dangerous, mindless, almost primitive beings, who are only ever attracted to the strongest power. This is seen as far back as the first Kingdom Hearts, where if you'll recall, the Heartless were revealed to be using Maleficent all along, through Xehanort's Heartless, The Seeker of Darkness. This idea would be further expanded upon by Saïx in the following game. It is an easy and digestible explanation, but through this- the idea that they are not simply creations of Darkness, but they and their existence are the embodiment of the concept of Darkness-- that sense of intangibility, and incomprehensiveness, could very well serve as a clue to the type of story Kingdom Hearts IV is wanting to tell. That Quadratum existed as a place where the concept of Darkness, the Heartless, and undoubtedly more from Sora's side of reality until the arrival of people from said side is a deeply fantastic one, the consequences of which are sure to be exciting to see unfold.

The identity of the figure sitting atop the roof has naturally also been a subject of discussion. More than a few sharp eyed fans have said that in the initial frames of the trailer, the posture of the person sitting atop roof is similar to that of Ava, a character whose disappearance and whereabouts have been a driving source of mystery for several years now, and has spawned all manner of speculation and theories.

The posture is not exact, but it is at least similar enough to entertain speculation.

The speaker's identity is still up for debate as well- the cinematography seems to want the watcher to connect it to the hooded figure, but as many have pointed out, the voice sounded very similar to Strelitzia's. I have gone back and listened to Ava's voice in Japanese as heard in Back Cover, as well as Strelitzia's voice from the initial Kingdom Hearts IV trailer for this analysis, and while the speaker in this most recent trailer is closer in sound to Strelitzia, it has been four years between recordings, so only time will be able to tell us for sure.

The trailer then kicks into high gear, showing us more of Sora's battle against the latest iteration of Darkside, with our hero leaping through the air thanks to his acquired Flowmotion skills, as well as the new grappling hook-type ability of Kingdom Key. This you can tell is almost certainly a cutscene, but these short moments do a great job at showcasing something that has always been quietly implied but rarely shown; the true destructive power of the Heartless. The way Darkside destroys the city, in a way unlike anything we have seen since the destruction of the Destiny Islands, with such force showcases what really happens when the Heartless invade a world. By proxy, this also shows what any world they've destroyed has surely gone through, and what they did to the people that lived there.

It's here where things really begin to get interesting, as the trailer quickly introduces to us several new characters, or perhaps familiar?

As seen above we now know what Luxord, the infamous Gambler of the Organization, will look like in Quadratum, however two new faces have stuck out.

The figure on the right is heavily speculated to be Vali, the almost near silent, ninja-esque young man from Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road. He was one of Xehanort and Eraqus's upperclassmen who was last seen being struck down by Baldur at that story's conclusion. It is a notion I strongly see as possible, aside from the extremely similar physical appearance, this would also tie in perfectly with the claim from Strelitzia in the prior trailer that Quadratum exists as a type of afterlife. The person on the left however is a different story; due to a similarity in clothing, speculation around this character has been painting him as possibly being Sigurd.

Sigurd was only seen once, briefly at the end of Kingdom Hearts: Union Cross, speaking to Brain after awaking in Scala Ad Caelum. He is also highly speculated to be the first voice heard speaking to us in the first Kingdom Hearts IV trailer and was believed to have had an important role in the canceled Missing-Link. We encourage all of you to share with us your thoughts on the identities of these individuals with us as well; who do you think these new faces really are?

After this, we see a quick glimpse of another, possibly different hooded individual walking down a road, accompanied by falling black feathers.

As much as I would love to believe and speculate this one hundred percent being a hint to the return of Sephiroth, and with it possibly the unresolved sub-plot between he and Cloud, many who experienced what was made available of Missing-Link through its beta, or the data mining's, have swiftly shot this idea down. In Missing-Link, the black raven feathers were used to possess people, utilized by two new characters, Huginn and Muninn. These names come from Norse Mythology, much like many in the cast of Dark Road's namesakes, and are specifically named after Odin, The Allfather's Ravens, and could be a potential indicator for what's to come.

To expand on that, the Poetic Ettica names the Raven's as Odin's messengers, but also as metaphysical representations of his mind, and will. The definitions vary by context and translation but the key to all of this is, Huginn is connected across many Scandinavian languages as being representative of the concepts of mind, and sense. Think of it as relating to perception, and comprehension, even consciousness. Muninn and its linguistic origins are comparatively rooted in affection, and memory.

To this point, I'll bring Sigurd back up quickly; in most interpretations of the Norse Mythologies, Sigurd is a hero, who slayed a legendary dragon. Dragons themselves have differing symbolic meanings depending on the culture and story, but the main point here is, in both the Poetic Ettica, and Prose Ettica, the various events of Sigurd's life, death, and even the origin of the character itself are in contradiction of each other. Any one true definitive origin to his creation, if there ever was one, has been lost to time. These narrative contradictions bring to mind a number of characters, the immediate two being Luxu, and the Master of Masters, but it could apply to a majority of the cast from the Age of Fairy Tales.

This plot point could have a number of possibilities and raises many questions. Is Odin, last seen in Dark Road but with his true fate never elaborated on, here as well in Quadratum? Is he friend or foe? The possibility of possession casts a dark undertone over the game as well; will someone try to possess Sora? Or Strelitzia? It's no secret she and her intentions have been a source of discussion amongst fans, and with the seemingly confirmation of the larger Union Cross cast existing in Quadratum, it creates this feeling of no one being safe. It also adds a psychological layer to the story as well- memory has always been a core facet of Kingdom Hearts' grander narrative, and not only that, but the feelings about the memory itself; how it makes the person feel, how they define it, and how it defines them. Memory has directly affected Sora's story before, so how will it possibly do so again this time around? And if this is indeed Sigurd, what of his purpose, or intentions? Will he be a hero who aids us? A mentor? Or something else? After all, there is no guarantee I put forward that the fallen students of Scala Ad Calum will be allies to Sora. This is all pure speculation of course, and ultimately beyond the scope of this analysis, but I believe they are important questions to raise.

One of the things Kingdom Hearts is great at is recontextualizing the past. These feathers also remind me of the end credits of Birth By Sleep, when we see Zack disappear, leaving behind only a single black feather. For so many years we assumed this had to mean Sephiroth, but now with this, did that actually have anything to do with him at all? Remember, in original Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth had no such black wing, unlike his appearances in Kingdom Hearts, that was added later, and Cloud has similarly never had a wing at all. I believe the chances of this being expounded upon are slim at best, but I believe it is worth noting all the same.

Riku was also given a black wing, once.

Moving on, we see a quick shot of Donald and Goofy, surrounded by blue flames, seemingly picking up where the first trailer left them. In the original trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV, fans quickly pointed to this being the Underworld, of the Hercules world Olympus, with many recognizing Hades' voice in Japanese. There was no voice over this time around, but the artstyle around the flames is without a doubt in line with the art direction usually seen in Olympus. As was established during Kingdom Hearts III: Re-Mind, everyone is off trying to find whatever clues they can about where Sora disappeared to, so it does make sense given their multiple run-ins with him that Donald and Goofy could conclude that Hades would know something at the very least. This idea is justified by two specific prior story beats; not only did we see Hades summon Auron from the dead in Kingdom Hearts II, but Xehanort and Eraqus spoke to the departed souls of Heimdall, Hoder, Helgi, and Sigrun in Dark Road while they were in the Underworld.

Arguably the biggest moment in this trailer happens immediately after with this:

The man with the umbrella is unmistakably Xehanort, in his younger incarnation no less. This single image has so much to say that the possibilities are almost too many to count. Sora on his knees in the middle of the pouring rain is a striking image; one we have seen before. In Kingdom Hearts II, when he tried begging Saïx to take him to see Kairi. Then again In Kingdom Hearts III as he was swept up in despair at seeing his friends taken one by one by the Demon Tide. The rain itself, I believe, is significant too; water is an important symbol in the series, as well as both Sora and Xehanort. The most obvious comparison is the two being from Destiny Islands; 'a prison surrounded by water', as Xehanort's Heartless once described it.

Water imagery is also used to describe the solar geography of Kingdom Hearts' worlds as well; the space the Gummi ships travel is called The Ocean Between, with Sora, Riku, and Kairi wishing to travel to other worlds by raft once upon a time , similar to how Captain Hook utilized his ship for this very purpose. In the openings for Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, it shows us Sora and Roxas respectively being submerged in water as they arrive at the Station of Awakening Water also has connections to darkness as well. As seen in several of the games, there is a beach in the realm of darkness. Whether this is a set location, or one location of many is unknown, as this place has been occupied by Xemnas and Roxas, soon after his birth, Aqua and Ansem the Wise, after the former's entrapment, and the latter's death, and finally Sora and Riku at the end of a journey. To this point, when Aqua is saved from the Realm of Darkness in Kingdom Hearts III, she returns through the waters of Destiny Islands. Riku himself would briefly return to that same beach with Mickey in that same game. It also surely cannot be a coincidence that this meeting will be taking place at night.

Night. Like when Sora's world was destroyed, like the last night Terra, Ventus, and Aqua shared together before things went wrong, or how The World That Never Was always seemed to be set in a never-ending night, such as when Roxas attempted to rebel out of revenge. In fact, it was not only at night, but also after the rain when we see Sora arrive in Quadratum in the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts III. Night is also when Sora's fight with Yozora, whose name if you will recall means 'Night Sky'. This visual of Xehanort, shielding Sora from the rain in the middle of the night is as surreal as it is profound, and leaves the door open to many interesting possibilities their dynamic and relationship as characters could go. Lastly, Dark Road contained the shocking scene after its first episode of Xehanort and Eraqus talking over the graves of the upperclassmen at night, in the rain no less, where Xehanort commits to his resolve to travel the worlds.

The rest of the trailer is almost entirely gameplay, teasing the new mechanics Sora will be able to use to beat back the Heartless with. The Heartless on display here is comprised of the seemingly new version of the Neo-Shadows, and large, gauntlet wielding Heartless were first glimpsed at last year when Square-Enix shared several screenshots of the upcoming title, as we covered previously here.

Seeing what appears to be the updated Neo-Shadows in motion was quite the visual, the way they move sporadically with their hunched over posture, the way they scratch and claw their way through the battle space gives them a very visceral energy. The new gauntlet Heartless really have my curiosity peaked; purely on a visual front, their big hands bring to mind the abilities utilized by Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy XVI, when channeling the Eikon Titan, the Heartless themselves even have a rock-like texture to their skin. I can only speculate these will be a mostly defensive Heartless that hit hard if you let them; perhaps they are an meant to replace the Large Body Heartless? They feel like an evolution on their build, at first glance. Unfortunately the big fellas don't get to showcase what they can do, Sora doesn't exactly give them a chance with his new Keyblade abilities.

Speaking of which, in an exciting development, we now have our first look at Kingdom Hearts IV's first new Keyblade.

Through these brief seconds of gameplay, a few things can be gleamed. Firstly, is the lack of a UI; health bar, MP bar, Focus Gauge, this is unique to the official uploaded trailers, as when it first debuted during the Nintendo Direct, we could see the above-mentioned elements, as well as the command menu. As such, for the purpose of this analysis, I will be utilizing moments taken from the presentation for this segment.

Many have noted that Sora feels more aggressive in his moveset, and while aesthetically I can see it, I believe this is also simply the result of Osaka Team tightening up the moveset they created in Kingdom Hearts III, and refining it. Now, to discuss the appearance of the new Keyblade itself, it's design is very vibrant and colorful, much like the new rock Heartless's gauntles, it's red's and blues' really pop and contrast well against the realistic Quadratum. Its origins have been an interesting talking point- it has long been speculated that a Moana world is destined for Kingdom Hearts IV, and that this may very well be the Keyblade meant to symbolize this world. Another possibility that has been suggested is Pixar's Elemental, due to the strong fire and water theme of the Keyblade.

Looking at the command menu for it, we can see a different kind of menu, clearly combat-context sensitive, where the only options are two different attacks Sora can do. As Sora was attacking with this weapon, I noticed that in addition to the particle effects each hit would leave behind as normal, what I can only describe as streams of smoke and rock seemed to follow Sora. I re-watched several times to be certain, and what seemed to happen was, Sora's attacks created a molten rock, to which he dashed towards, launching him up in the air to hit the big air-to-ground slam finisher you see pictured above.

As you can see here, this UI is seems to be no mockup for the trailers, I believe this to be genuine gameplay, as the build meter rises and the command menu displays visual feedback of actions taken in real time. The "NEW BUILD!" display is a particular point of interest- there is so very little known of what Nomura has labeled the 'Scrap and Build' mechanic, but we seem to be seeing it on display. Notice how the A attack option changes from Lava Splash to Igneous Impact.

A point would seem to go it being from Moana due to the emphasis on lave specifically rather than just a general fire theme, but the Keyblade itself does not have an overtly oceanic theme that one might expect from a Moana Keyblade. The handle is blue, and the B attacks name is related to water, but that does not necessarily correlate to the ocean. A point in Elemental's favor would be the focus on just red and blue as it's colors, as Moana also had green as a strong color, representing the heart of Te Fiti. Another is that at the end of the trailer, Kingdom Hearts IV credits Disney/Pixar in the credits. This could mean a number of things, but it is still something to consider.

What neither option can fully explain however is the large, circular crystal-like object connecting the handle and blade, which has caused many to wonder if perhaps a third option is the answer here; could this be an original Keyblade, one that is a combination of two different elements? The particle effects when the Keyblade hits an enemy are notable as well; the fiery red object could represent the corrupted Te Fiti, but the blue star seems almost more reminiscent of one of Aqua's Wayfinders than anything from either film. I believe this could actually be pointing to the true nature of the Scrap and Build mechanic, but we have no way of knowing for certain for now.

Watching Sora's movement throughout the trailer, it is easy to see that he has kept the changes implemented in Re-Mind. Sora is quick, snappy, and still has his distance-closer attacks, ensuring enemies don't stay away from him for long, each swing of the Keyblade having plenty of reach. He still spends a lot of time in the air, as he did in Kingdom Hearts III, and while the full cause of this remains to be seen, it seems to have more to due with Sora having a large arsenal of attacks at his disposal, and not just from his combos naturally launching him in the air. This is what I meant earlier by the gameplay in this trailer feeling like a refinement; there's a subtle feeling this trailer is trying to communicate to us. When trailers for Kingdom Hearts III began to show up consistently, a lot of focus was on the attractions, the big finishers, and air combat. There is still plenty of time to show that off of course, but here we see Sora on the ground a lot, blocking and dodging, setting up the moves, and reacting more to the situation, instead of just doing things. There seems to be still a small delay from Sora finishing a move to when he touches the ground and can attack again, but it is almost certainly faster than it was in Kingdom Hearts III. I see these little touches as a great sign for the quality of the game to come, and my feelings were amplified with the next segment, now at night, where Sora is using Kingdom Key again.

Right away we're given a lot to take in here, the Heart Barrage ability ready to go above the command menu, the yellow bar above Heart Barrage. Visually what is most striking to me are the gold chains Sora creates. Sora seems to be summoning them at will, and they persist in the world for some time. It doesn't appear to work like a shotlock, but it seems the player can click a button,

and Sora snaps to the chain and is able to ride it.

From here he can do several things, it appears this can set up attacks, as well as be used as a genuine means of evasion. I expect many enemies or boss fights to have moves that cancel this ability, or make it otherwise hard to use as a 'one-size-fits-all' attack dodger. I quite like this, I believe this will lead to a snappier combat experience; the couple seconds it takes to input Sora jumping and quickly air-dodging to the chain as the alternative, as Flowmotion worked in Dream Drop Distance, and Kingdom Hearts III, runs the risk of moments of clunkiness in faster paced scenarios. This also functions narratively as a a good moment of character, and mechanical depth for Sora, who previously rode the sea of Keyblades in Kingdom Hearts III, and after we had seen Vanitas do so in that game, as well as Birth By Sleep.

After Sora is finished grinding along the chains, they automatically break up and disperse, seeking out nearby targets. Sora then appears to command the rest to do the same, akin to the end of a shotlock. Whether this is something automatic, or something deliberately triggered by the controller is yet to be extrapolated, but I am assuming the latter.

Visually one of the most impressive looking moves is here, where Sora seems to summon a veritable army of golden keychains to ride, but instead of it being a set up, it's an ability that seems to auto-target the nearest enemies, or whomever Sora is locked onto at the time, and hones in on them, juggling the enemy or enemies caught in its path. Could this be the aforementioned Heart Barrage? Just by looking at it, it feels reminiscent of the finishing move at the end of a form change from Kingdom Hearts III, but there doesn't seem to be any indication of this taking place. Sora is still in his new attire, I checked for minor changes, like Second Form in Kingdom Hearts III but did not notice any, I don't believe this is a shotlock of some kind either. This could be for a number of reasons; perhaps they are holding back more for later, perhaps there is still work actively being done on whatever it is that causes this to take place, this could even be related to the ever mysterious Scrap & Build mechanic.

Quick minor detail, but we also get visual confirmation that blue MP, and yellow Munny balls still drop from enemies. I assumed the MP ones would return, but I was unsure what the currency of Quadratum was going to be. I also noticed the mini-map has had an update as well.

Instead of being represented by a small Kingdom Key on the map, Sora has now been replaced with a conventional yellow arrow in it's stead, fitting what Quadratum is going for. The topography of the new mini-map seems much more detailed in representing the elevation of the surrounding areas. In Kingdom Hearts III, the maps color changed with the world, and while I believe this will still be the case, I hope each new map is this clear with it's geography. I went back to reexamine the mini-map in Kingdom Hearts III, and it seems to be about the same size in terms of it's proportions and how much of the map is being displayed. Of note are the white arrow indicator, and the red dot at the bottom of the map- I was unable to tell what these were meant to be indicating, so we will have to keep our eye on that in the future. Could this mean this will this work as a traditional 3rd-person open-world game where objectives and points of interest can and will be marked? Considering the vast size of Quadratum, the extra attention to these kind of quality-of-life details can make all a whole world of difference during traversal, and in the moment during combat.

My main concern is one I had during the Kingdom Hearts III trailer cycle is how practical these moves will be to pull off. Very often action games run into an issue of giving the player many flashy combat options, but pulling them off is easier said than done; not solely from an issue of skill as well, but either enemies are designed to counter them outright, or the i-frames are not what they seem to be. As of now we have no clue how 'safe' Sora is to pull off these moves just yet, or what degree of difficulty the game will be for that matter, but it is something I always try to actively keep in mind when thinking about these trailers. The only time Sora gets any pushback is in the Darkside confrontation, which I believe is possibly the best representation of the game.

I wrote earlier the subtle cues the trailer was conveying by showing Sora on the ground more reacting to things, and it's best on display in the final segment with the titular nemesis. After being thrown into a building, Sora is on the defensive, this is where we can see the snappiness of the defense, how quick the guard comes out and seemingly how down to the last minute it can be timed. It isn't much, but I believe it is enough to quell at least some of the worries I have seen expressed over the combat system. We can see that Sora still has Aerial Dive, as it closes in on Darkside while attacking one of the tendrils it has summoned, and the force of his punch knocking a guarding Sora back, really adding weight to the combat. An easy to see visual detail is the circular shield that is created upon Sora blocking- this opens up two possibilities, either that is just the universal visual effect for blocking now, or perhaps Sora can block anything at a 360-degree angle, like how Aqua could.

The last thing I have about the gameplay is something I noticed on my first few viewings of the trailer, in the Nintendo Direct version, what looks to be a red danger indicator can be seen. The indicator immediately reminded me of Xigbar's Arrowguns, and their ammunition. I don't necessarily believe this is intentional or has a deeper meaning, but it was what I thought of after first seeing it.

I have mixed feelings about its inclusion. Not out of a dislike of the mechanic, not in the slightest, but I worry of it's effectiveness. It only appears on screen for the briefest of moments in the trailer, it isn't too big or bright, so it shouldn't interfere with the visuals too much during gameplay, that's a good thing right off the bat. My concern is the range- how far away is it signaling an enemy attack; horizontally and vertically? Since Kingdom Hearts is a very forward-into-upward momentum combat system, will it signal when an attack is on Sora's elevation? Or just in the general vicinity? I question its inclusion as well on the grounds that the camera in Kingdom Hearts has almost always been pulled rather far back from Sora, the games aren't over-the-shoulder, or in first person, and there are very few fixed camera angles in the series. Paired with the fact the cameras in the games can be spun around rather quickly, I worry this runs the risk of getting in the way during combat, and leading to a lot of panic induced rolling, or blocking when there didn't need to be; interrupting the flow of combos and lateral in-the-moment thinking. Knowing Square-Enix, I could see them making it a toggled mechanic, and ultimately I think it will help more than hinder, but its potential to hinder shouldn't be ignored.

So ends our latest trailer. There was no release date sadly, but I was left feeling optimistic about the future. The story elements teased will be at the very least interesting, the combat promises more of the same with room to grow from what was started with Re-Mind, and the game visually looks very good so far. The Keyblade attacks all look great, the rain looked great, and those black coats? Never looked better. So goodbye again for now, Kingdom Hearts. When will we see it again? The year still has several big events lined up; D23 in California during August, Tokyo Game Show in September, and the Game Awards in December. Even without those, next year is the quarter of a century celebration of the series, so either way you look at it, good things are coming, sooner rather than later.

Thank you for reading, please share with us your thoughts and your own analysis of the trailer, we would love to hear from you!

During today's Nintendo Direct, Square Enix revealed a brand-new trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV. While the trailer did not reveal a release date, it did however, reveal that the title will launch as a simultaneous release on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S and PC.

You can view some of the screenshots that were revealed by Square Enix from our gallery below:

And you can view the new trailer below:

During today's Nintendo Direct, Square Enix announced that the Kingdom Hearts games are all coming to Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 8, 2026.

Owners of the cloud editions on Nintendo Switch can port their save file over to the Nintendo Switch 2 version, and in addition, a bundle called the Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III], which contains all the games, will also go on sale at the same time.

[Update 10/6/2026]: Square Enix has announced that the cloud versions of the Kingdom Hearts games have now been delisted from Nintendo eShop. Players who own those titles can play them until June 9, 2027, and are eligible for a special discount when purchasing the collection. Furthermore, Nintendo Switch players can still purchase both Kingdom Hearts -HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX- and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue as native ports, rather than cloud versions.

Lastly, a demo version of Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind has just released on Nintendo eShop.

You can view the collection's official artwork below:

You can view screenshots in our gallery below:

You can watch the announcement trailer below:

Square Enix has unveiled a new illustration celebrating the 24th anniversary of the Kingdom Hearts series. Drawn by Tetsuya Nomura, this artwork depicts Young Xehanort holding an umbrella, reminiscent of the artwork the character received in 2022 during the Dark Road Q&A.

A brief message accompanied this visual as well, thanking fans for their continued support and noting that the development team is working hard for the upcoming 25th anniversary.

You can view Nomura's latest artwork below: