Dream On

[Oracle Spockanort]

It's almost midnight. My laptop is burning my lap. I have to be up in 5 hours so I can work on some paid writing work (you know if you know) and then go to my day job.

But here I am on this site where the drought extends ever forward. Nothing on Missing-Link. Nothing on Kingdom Hearts 4. For all purposes that matter to me, I do not believe they exist. They are just figments of our stress-addled minds. A shared hallucination that has no meaning beyond serving as comfort for our weary souls.

So I ask that we all take a moment and just...dream. Let's dream of a world where Kingdom Hearts 4 has finally released. What does that look like for you?

For me, it is a game that has finally matured in a direction without compromising the heart of the series or its Disney origins. It is a game that has Sora suffer as he always does, but instead of boundless optimism, Sora responds with despair. He learns about a cold, unforgiving world that has no do-overs. No rewinding time. Just acceptance that things happen. And from here Sora relearns how to be hopeful and optimistic, but also learns from loss. He carries it on his shoulders and accepts that it is a part of life. Each world he journeys to, he learns how love persists after death and loss. How there is a balance that must be maintained.

He finds this in worlds based on Star Wars, Coco, Onward and Encanto. He learns how to hope from Raya. That growing up is hard from stories like Turning Red. That sometimes it is hard to be honest with oneself but that it is better than losing a friend through Luca. He learns many things that he thought he understood.

And after he learns all of these things, he returns home. He's different. He's changed. He can't be that boy he used to be, but he's better for it. His reality is changed but no longer in the dark. He is in the light.

Or something idk. Maybe KH4 will be more nonsense like KH3.

 

[Phoenix]

I want KH4 worlds that are well integrated into the plot, and with each other ither. Where Hades and Auron banter, where Squall's big nemesis is Maleficent.

I want the plot to stay convoluted, but to a point. No time travel, few enough characters that the plot can properly focus on them.

I guess I want less cosmic stories and more character focused ones. CoM remains my favourite KH story, even though it took place in a single castle. But seeing Riku go through his journey, seeing Sora sort through his false memories, seeing the ghost of Ansem haunt Riku, and seeing all the little mysteries and question that were piling up... man, I want that.

Hope you can sleep ok.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Narrator: She did not, in fact, sleep okay.

Thanks Phoenix! It was just one of those nights.

I would love a KH game that better integrates the worlds into the plot. KH3 got closer than previous games since KH1 (or KH3D, but it doesn't even count since those worlds were just "sleeping"), but then we had some wild flubs like Frozen where Sora practically doesn't exist and is there to witness Elsa and Anna lol

CoM was fantastic because of its closer character introspections. Just so much good human interaction.

KH has always been about the world-ending threats, but it definitely needs to hone in on more interpersonal relationships.

 

[Clue.Less]

it is a game that has finally matured in a direction without compromising the heart of the series or its Disney origins. It is a game that has Sora suffer as he always does, but instead of boundless optimism, Sora responds with despair. He learns about a cold, unforgiving world that has no do-overs. No rewinding time. Just acceptance that things happen. And from here Sora relearns how to be hopeful and optimistic, but also learns from loss. He carries it on his shoulders and accepts that it is a part of life. Each world he journeys to, he learns how love persists after death and loss. How there is a balance that must be maintained.

(...)

And after he learns all of these things, he returns home. He's different. He's changed. He can't be that boy he used to be, but he's better for it. His reality is changed but no longer in the dark. He is in the light.

This. And also a big reunion hug. Or not. Maybe Sora's too shaken and broken to hug his friends, and only Riku can hug him at first.

*bats away soriku thoughts*

KH4 is interspersed with segments where you can play Kairi exploring Scala ad Caelum and learn about the Foretellers, like Riku in the Realm of Darkness in KH3, but with actual exploration segments, not just cutscenes and short fights.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

This. And also a big reunion hug. Or not. Maybe Sora's too shaken and broken to hug his friends, and only Riku can hug him at first.

*bats away soriku thoughts*

KH4 is interspersed with segments where you can play Kairi exploring Scala ad Caelum and learn about the Foretellers, like Riku in the Realm of Darkness in KH3, but with actual exploration segments, not just cutscenes and short fights.

haephephobia + touch starved Sora…I didn’t realize I needed this in my life until now. I have a strong urge to write an soft but angsty one shot now.

Yes! Kairi gameplay please. and all of the Riku.

 

[Zettaflare]

I'm sorry for what your going through Spockanort. I know what it's like to not get enough sleep to function.

Anyways for me my dream for KH4 is a good balance at Sora going to the standard worlds and living his day to day life(afterlife?) In Quadratum. Where one day Sora is taking on Darth Vader and the next he is experiencing city life with Strelitzia. Let them do Karaoke together.

 

[Clue.Less]

haephephobia + touch starved Sora…I didn’t realize I needed this in my life until now. I have a strong urge to write an soft but angsty one shot now.

Ooh... please do!

 

[SuperNova]

In a scenario where KH4 is out, and Sora has consequences, I'd like Donald and Goofy to see the damage their constant motto of constant positivity has on the boy. That Sora internalizes all of his anger and frustration partially because of them, and that they actually own up to it. That sometimes the healthier thing to do is let somebody process their negativity and to support them through it. Not constantly crack jokes and tell them to smile.

That smiling is sometimes not the best answer, and that Sora has been through too much just to force that optimism.

(Also let Kairi actually be a character for once. Please.)

 

[Disney Adventurer]

I don't really have anything but world wise, I want Moana, Encanto and Coco in the game the most,
and for the Disney worlds to be incorporated into the story better like how KH III handled Toy Box and Monstropolis.

Story wise, I want to see Kairi training with Aqua (that being the beginning tutorial stage would be nice) and eventually joining Riku and Sora in Quadratum but above all else, I just want Sora to finally return home to the real of light especially considering we'll still have Maleficent, Pete and the Fortellers' shenanigans to deal with for the rest of the Lost Masters arc after the whole "rescuing Sora" arc ends.

 

[Phoenix]

I also want more cross trio interactions. One big disappointment I had with KH3 is how restricting the trio system felt. There were a few interactions, like Riku and Aqua's whole thing, and remind adding short conversations between Axel and Aqua, Ven and Roxas, etc. But going forward, I don't want to have several distinct trios that only connect to each other because of Sora. I want a full cast that have full relationships with each other on their own terms.

 

[Megavoltage]

I dream of the Cloud/Tifa/Sephiroth/Zack subplot finally getting explained and for Sora/Riku/Yozora to solve the problem with finality, don't stretch this out any further. And I dream of future subplots taking less time to get resolved.

Seems that KH4 will be something like Dream Drop Distance 2, the focus being on Sora and Riku as they traverse a strange new realm. But I dream of RoL still being busy and getting the occasional cut scene about what’s going on with the guardians. For example, seeing the guardians of light have their first interactions with the Foretellers. Also dream of the guardians doing something important that helps in Sora’s inevitable homecoming.

 

[Chie]

I hope it's really controversial because it goes "too far". I hope it's completely merciless in its themes, bringing them to their logical conclusions in ways that make long time fans feel betrayed. That it is no longer possible to hide behind the veils that fandoms build around themselves. That there's a 10+ minute cutscene near the end of the game that redefines everything. From here on there can be no going back.

I know that's all way too much to ask for. But when you set up a game with "Sora travels to the real world which is framed from his perspective as fiction as the setting of Versus XIII, i've been having these weird thoughts lately like is any of this for real or not?" you are deliberately teasing something extremely heady thematically. So... do it!

 

[Luminary]

- Nomura has finally been able to realize his concepts from Versus XIII and people actually love how it turns out. (Or Verum Rex Is fully set up as a spin-off to accomplish this.)

- In Unreality, accessing other worlds will be done via something similar to the World Between Worlds from Star Wars. We’ll be able to unlock special “doors” in Quadratum that open new pathways in this nexus. We’ll be able to walk these paths seamlessly with no obvious load screens. (Not unlike the gateways in GoW PS4 and Ragnarok, but more seamless thanks to the PS5 SSD.) To unlock the doors, Sora will need to acquire the right keys by completing quests around Quadratum. (Make keys relevant to game mechanics again!)

- The grand magic system has further evolved from KH3 to give more variety. Instead of just -Za tier spells, we can learn various Grand Magic spells that can be equipped like Mega Flare. For balance, we do still have to combo lesser magic abilities to get the option to use them in battle.

- We get to fight more Disney villains. Also major boss battles will have multiple phases like those from FFXVI and FFVIIR.

- Whatever “Scrap and Build” is doesn’t bog down the combat. This is a mechanic I’m a little nervous about. Sounds like it could be along the lines of Ultrahand from TotK, but idk if that would work in a KH game.

- The stakes are higher with the characters exploring more mature themes.

- There isn’t much handholding to catch people up on prior events. People can read the journal or look up what’s happened so far. No reason to waste cutscenes rehashing the series’ plot like what happened in most of KH3’s non-Disney world cutscenes.

 

[Ðari]

My KH4 is no more hand holding.

No more writing Sora to be a deranged and out-of-touch psychopath like they did in Chain of Memories, but a callback to that kind of awareness and focal point to his character being articulated to the audience in real time. What they did right with CoM is introduced an idea of what a more tunnel-vision and goal-oriented Sora could look like, only to "erase that Sora" with a memory restoration/reset. The actualization that he's just a kid with a lot of responsibility was highlighted and delivered well by the penultimate act of KH3 and they moved me to tears with that. Haley owned the hell out of that despair.

Give this poor kid a shot.

Stop fucking reseting him and everything he's accomplished, not even just limited to his moveset, training, and skills, but we're talking about taking massive chunks of his adventures, and this young man doesn't even remember them or a finale to a game (DDD) invalidates all the work from a prior title (KH2) like come on man...that just ain't the way.

I don't know, I wanna play this game and actually feel like their are heavily narrated sections dedicated to actually focusing on Sora outside of the disney worlds where there are no disney characters he has the share the spotlight with alongside the cast that exists outside of those storylines. That his "meddling" warning from kingdom hearts actually warrants potent consequences, some kind of system that shows you a "bad ending" to a completed disney IP based on your actions and his growing exasperation from making "the wrong choices", that these consequences are real, they exist, and you don't get to "reset" a damn thing.

Bro even if they take away your ability to save once you hit a story beat thats a "Point of No Return" I would be dramatically impressed to know I would have to sacrifice 30mins to 2hrs to redo something based on where I was able to save last.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

This is probably a “no chance in this lifetime” scenario, but you know what I’d like to see? A scene where Sora meets the manifestaction of world order, and gives it a whack in the face. Could be in the form of a new entity of the universe or even the Master of Masters or Luxubar(yes, I am calling him that as long as he wears Xigbar’s face), but I just want a chance to see(or even play out) a scene where Sora unloads every single pent up emotion he’s had since this story began.

Even better if his friends are there to see it. He is still the happy-go-lucky Sora they’ve come to know, but now they realise even he needs a shoulder to rely on. And hopefully it would make them better friends in the long run.

Doesn’t even have to be a fight you NEED to win either, it could be like the Cloud boss match in KH1 where whoever wins the story continues.

 

[vaderskywalker]

Let's dream of a world where Kingdom Hearts 4 has finally released. What does that look like for you?

Similar to when KH3 released, hallelujah.


But that being said, me personally, I just want an ending similar to KH2's, but also has a cliffhanger attached.

 

[Luminary]

This is probably a “no chance in this lifetime” scenario, but you know what I’d like to see? A scene where Sora meets the manifestaction of world order, and gives it a whack in the face.

In my head, I picture this as a fight in the Final World against a being reminiscent of Marvel’s Eternity.

 

[Ven_Roxas]

Not long stretches of cut scenes. Why didn't they make mysterious tower and radiant garden playable? A simple "we should go check in with Master Yen Sid" and then the player does that. KH3 took control away from the player too much.

 

[Clue.Less]

This is probably a “no chance in this lifetime” scenario, but you know what I’d like to see? A scene where Sora meets the manifestaction of world order, and gives it a whack in the face.

That sounds like FFVII Remake, so who knows? Might happen.
Also, we did get to whack the Lich, defying death itself.
So, I wouldn't say chances are zero!

 

[MATGSY]

I want a bare minimum amount of bitching online when KH4 inevitably goes with the Special Edition version of RotJ's ending with ghost Hayden. Sadly, I expect lots and lots of bitching.