Going into 2023, Square Enix fans have a lot to look forward to. Coming fresh off the heels of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, Final Fantasy 16 is only a few months away. After that, there's a chance that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second part of the FF7 Remake, could be released before the end of the year. That's on top of whatever else Square Enix drops, such as Octopath Traveler 2. Kingdom Hearts 4 may not have any significant developments this year, but its spot is being kept warm, especially by the efforts of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake games. By the time Kingdom Hearts 4 is ready to be seen again, its fans should have been well-occupied.
There's a real chance that their relationship could end up deeper once both projects finish. Across FF7R’s released material so far, there have been heavy implications that the Remake exists in a new continuity, drawing most events from the original game while also doing its own thing. This is a funny parallel to what's happening in Kingdom Hearts 4, as the protagonist Sora has been displaced into a strange new reality. With several high ranking developers working on both projects, and a demand for more Final Fantasy representation in the next Kingdom Hearts, there's a good chance these two surprisingly similar franchises could see some crossover.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Kingdom Hearts 4 Have Comparable Stories
The Final Fantasy 7 Remake is implied to be a branch off of the original FF7's timeline caused by knowledge of those events traveling back through time via the Lifestream. The true extent of this is still unclear, but something is definitely going on, and the confirmation of several once-minor characters surviving confirms that things won’t be the same. Fans have concluded that the original Sephiroth likely traveled back to the Remake timeline after being defeated in the Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children movie. Thus, for whatever sinister purpose, Sephiroth is trying to make things go differently and Aerith has been granted new information to counter him.
That already sounds a lot like something Kingdom Hearts would pull, and it came close with Kingdom Hearts 3’s Re:Mind DLC showing Sora time traveling back to the base game’s Keyblade War. Meddling with time and bringing someone back from near-death is why Sora ends up exiled to Quadratum in KH4. Now, Sora exists in what his reality considers a "world of fiction," and Final Fantasy 7 Remake is dealing with two or more modified timelines, one featuring Crisis Core protagonist Zack. The opportunity for FF7 Remake characters, all of whom would bring their new designs to the Kingdom Hearts franchise, to appear in the upper-Midgar-like city of Quadratum is difficult to ignore.
Kingdom Hearts 4 Could Use The Remakes in an Unresolved Storyline
There are actually a lot of parallels between Kingdom Hearts and the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 if one is willing to sift through each. While base FF7 doesn't have much to do with Kingdom Hearts aside from supplying several major NPCs, a couple are more major than others. An optional subplot concerning Final Fantasy 7 ran through Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, culminating in Cloud, with his Advent Children outfit, disappearing into a portal with Sephiroth. Fans have been waiting a long time for this to be paid off, and its absence in KH3 irked some. However, the introduction of the FF7 Remake and KH4's Quadratum may provide the perfect solution.
Kingdom Hearts 4 could show the climax of this storyline, with Cloud and Sephiroth using their FF7 Remake designs. There could be a meta acknowledgment of their newest fight taking place in a parallel reality, and the Whispers from FF7 Remake could show up to delay Sora’s assistance. Alternatively, Kingdom Hearts' take on Zack, who was implied to have died shortly after Birth by Sleep, could appear in Quadratum instead. Really, both paths could be taken, and the fanservice-laden Kingdom Hearts could give FF7 fans a team-up between Cloud and Zach against Sephiroth. With a single deliberate reference to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Kingdom Hearts 4 could delight fans of both, and hopefully Square Enix chooses to make this happen.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is currently in development.