D23 had a full panel dedicated to Kingdom Hearts titled “Deep Dive Into Kingdom Hearts”. This panel brought two big surprises. The first big surprise was that Tetsuya Nomura showed up to the panel. The second surprise was that Tetsuya Nomura talked about a 4-minute cut of the trailer. He then proceeded to ask if the audience wanted to see the full cut. Obviously, the answer was a resounding “Yes,” and thus we got to see it!
You can read our initial thoughts on the first trailer on the website before I try to add a bit more of my own depth to what we got to see. Coco is a world that makes perfect sense for the next phase of Sora’s story. Also, one huge thing we see in Kingdom Hearts IV is that the playable roster has increased. You can play as Mickey, which was something we could do in II and III. However, this version of Mickey has full-on narratives surrounding his adventures in Scala Ad Caelum. And a lot of those adventures seem to be focused on paper. 2D paper, a fully rendered Paper Mickey, and other activities were shown off in the trailer. Mickey is putting in more work saving Sora than he did saving Aqua.
Adding to the playable characters in the roster, though, are Donald and Goofy. Donald and Goofy were shown to be playable as they traverse through the underworld looking for Sora. Heck, they even have their own team-up attack together. The end of their playable segment shows them also showing up in the world of Coco with new designs as well. Sora in this trailer already seems to know the term Dandelion.
To add some context to that. The last group of Keyblade wielders that survived the Keyblade War in Union Cross were known as the Dandelions, meaning to spring up even after being cut down. The souls of specific Keyblade Wielders were added to the black book to preserve them. Dandelions were a secret group chosen by one of the original masters in Union Cross, Ava, to continue the legacy of the Keyblade.
Hopefully Sora gets an explanation so future players of the game will understand the significance of this group. Union Cross is a game that is not playable, but the story segments of the game can be experienced if you download the app. There is an app that asks for Dandelion dispatch in the trailer, which is where Sora mentions it.
In this trailer, we also get to see the Master of Masters interact with a young version of Xehanort. The final scene in the trailer shows Sigurd and Strelitzia getting ambushed by the Heartless but getting saved as Riku shows up to stop them. There are a lot more pieces of information in this trailer, and most of what I can offer is simply speculation. If this is a Keyblade Wielder limbo, so to speak, it makes sense for Xehanort, Strelitzia, and Sigurd to be here. Riku showing up could mean they find a route back home for Sora, or that he gets himself in a state where he also comes into limbo but can’t get back to their reality.
I love this game series, so make sure I will be writing more about it as we get more information about Kingdom Hearts IV. Watch a live reaction of the panel on our YouTube channel.
Kingdom Hearts IV will be released in late 2027. Nomura was very adamant that it would not be delayed beyond 2027. It will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
