Splitting the party in Kingdom Hearts 4 is a great idea

During this year’s D23, Disney’s very own expo, we finally got our first major update on Kingdom Hearts 4 since the reveal trailer four years ago. Not only did we get our first glimpse of the first confirmed Disney World for Kingdom Hearts 4 – namely the vibrant Land of the Dead from Coco – we also got interesting insight into the game’s new gimmicks

In Kingdom Hearts 4, it seems our protagonist, Sora, will not be readily accompanied by his usual stalwart Disney companions, the magical duck Donald and the knightly dog Goofy. Rather, they’re off on their own quest, as is the royal Mickey Mouse, to figure out how to get to Sora. See, at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, Sora kind of just faded from existence, and it might be some time before he reunites with the other characters – and this is a fantastic opportunity. 

Letting characters be characters

Despite being ever-present characters in Kingdom Hearts, present in the story from the first few hours of the first game in the series, Donald and Goofy have never really been able to exist as characters. Donald might have a temper on them, and Goofy might be loyal if a bit dim, but over the games they’ve become less and less important.

Sure, they had an interesting moment in the first Kingdom Hearts where they straight up abandoned Sora, and in Kingdom Hearts 3 where Donald managed to prove himself the strongest wizard in any Final Fantasy-esque property, but they only get to be things for Sora to bounce off of.

You might be thinking it’s silly to expect characterisation from Donald and Goofy of all people, or even Mickey. They’re literally cartoon characters; how can you expect them to have the depth of the original creations made to slot into the Kingdom Hearts narrative? Well, all that tells me is that you don’t watch nearly enough cartoons to see the potential.

Disney isn’t always afraid of giving some depth or layering to their characters, even their most important mascots. Donald Duck isn’t exactly the centre of the story of the DuckTales series, but he still gets to deal with family connections and grief. Goofy has had depth as far back as A Goofy Movie in 1995, yet remains one-note in Kingdom Hearts.

Maybe, finally, in Kingdom Hearts 4, there will be an opportunity for Nomura and his team to actually write the Disney characters as actual characters. Mickey gets to exist as his own protagonist, with regrets and anger and initiative, and now, on their own adventure, it could be time to give Donald and Goofy that same grace. Disney has always and will always be a part of Kingdom Hearts, and maybe we should think about actually doing it well.

Pacing out the Disney story

See, Kingdom Hearts has always had a problem with the Disney inclusions in the series. At their best, the Disney worlds help with a running theme of the game, such as how the worlds in Kingdom Hearts II all made Sora reflect on his own relationships in the game, or even occasionally push the story forward. Mostly, however, they do exist as filler, backdrops that provide gameplay but nothing material.

This was especially evident in Kingdom Hearts 3, where the Disney worlds acted mostly as a blocker to the actual events of the story, despite the game being the culmination of a whole saga of the series. It’s understandable, though; it can be hard to deliver hard-hitting narrative consequences when Olaf from Frozen is bumbling about in the background, but we need to learn.

If we are setting up a new saga for Kingdom Hearts, with an older Sora and a potential focus on death and disappearance as a theme, then maybe it’s a good idea to let Sora tackle those on his own at the beginning. Sora can explore the Land of the Dead in Coco, or the Final Fantasy XV-esque Quadratum, while Donald and Goofy mess around in the Underworld from Hercules.

This lets Kingdom Hearts 4 have it both ways – let Sora go on some heart-wrenching journey through the best that Nomura can whip up, while Donald, Goofy, and Mickey get to engage in some of the less key story beats while still delivering some fun gameplay. I’d rather Kingdom Hearts not really have anything you could see as ‘filler’ at all, but after over two decades, we should know what to expect.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

One thing we’ve come to expect from Kingdom Hearts is that Sora, Donald and Goofy are a team, bonded together, only separating if necessary to help the more serious (or melodramatic) parts of the story shine. However, though they’re adventuring companions, it’s hard to say that they’re actually friends, beyond the surface.

It’s partially because of the characterisation issue I said earlier, but as much as the group will go on quests together, they don’t really feel like they’ve actually got that much connection. The team has Sora’s back through thick and thin, but I can’t see them as actually having the same connection that Sora has with his made-for-Kingdom Hearts companions.

Maybe this is the time, though. If Donald, Goofy, and Mickey are going to be going on their own quest to save Sora, then there’s a chance for the team to earn that connection, to reflect on how they feel about each other, and then give a chance for a tearful reunion. After all, in the story of Kingdom Hearts 4 as I understand it, Donald and Goofy are descending into the Underworld to find Sora, on their own quest strangely reminiscent of Orpheus and Eurydice.

After all Sora has done over the series, all the struggles and the sacrifices he has made to save people, doesn’t this feel like an opportunity for reciprocity? Then we can go into this new era of Kingdom Hearts with the old crew, with new purpose and fresh connections, and maybe it’ll feel like they genuinely like each other this time.  

Maybe it’s overly optimistic to think this old dog of a series will learn new tricks, but it looks like it might finally be getting the love it deserves. With most of the series story beats tied up in Kingdom Hearts 3, we can be in for a new start; keeping the party apart might just be the perfect way to bring them together properly.

FAQs

About The Author