There's going to be a world of change when Kingdom Hearts 4 comes out, and a lot of it will be focused on its main new world. After abusing the Power of Waking to ensure all his friends are safe, Sora fades out of his reality into some sort of parallel dimension. This place, focused around the metropolitan world of Quadratum, is set to provide a new experience when the game comes out. Sora will be fighting the forces of darkness using this Tokyo-inspired city as a home base, and there will surely be other troubles following him from his home universe.

There's a lot to take in regarding Kingdom Hearts 4, such as how it returns to some gameplay concepts present in Kingdom Hearts 2 while also refining Kingdom Hearts 3’s airstep into a grappling hook. The game will have some new concepts to offer of its own, such as the mysterious Build command spotted in the reveal trailer. Sora is going to need to get comfortable in his unfamiliar circumstances, and according to Kingdom Hearts 4's director Tetsuya Nomura, he’s going to spend a lot of time doing just that.

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Kingdom Hearts Doesn't Focus On Sora Outside of Gameplay

Sora and Kairi sitting on tree.

Sora's regular life has always been a topic of fan speculation. Apart from one short scene that takes place in his house on the Destiny Islands mainland, all of Kingdom Hearts has shown Sora adventuring. In his quest throughout many worlds, the player is always in the thick of the action. Sora technically has "primary" worlds he can go back to in every Kingdom Hearts game, but there's no place for him to settle down and relax. His routine is simply pushing forward toward his goals at all times. It feels like Sora tries to compress all of his adventures into the shortest time span possible, and then sleeps after he’s done.

This issue comes to a head if one pays attention during Kingdom Hearts 3. Several worlds explicitly show the passage of time, with Corona, Arendelle, and San Fransokyo explicitly taking place over the course of several days. San Fransokyo has a base for Sora and friends to rest in, but the other worlds do not. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is a major exception to this format, as it is built around Roxas’ year spent working for Organization XIII. The game makes a point of showing him departing and returning to The Castle That Never Was every day, and it seems like Kingdom Hearts 4 may bring this element back.

There Will Be More Downtime in Kingdom Hearts 4

sora from kingdom hearts 4 looking out in the distance

According to Game Informer's interview with Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts 4 players will be spending a fair amount of time in Quadratum. It will serve as their home base and a regular pit stop between travels to other worlds. The building and room that the KH4 reveal trailer showed will serve as a definitive home base for the heroes. It's not clear what Sora’s living arrangements are, but it seems like he will have a room there, and part of the game will take place in it.

This sounds odd for such an action heavy franchise, but it gives Kingdom Hearts the opportunity to explore downtime like never before. Sora will now have a regular place for other recurring characters to find him in, and potentially a room ripe for player customization. It could work like an expanded version of 358/2 Days’ format, this time likely allowing players to venture into the open city immediately outside their room. If nothing else, making frequent and extensive return trips to a central location will allow a more mature and routine focused side of Sora's character to develop. This new focus gives Kingdom Hearts 4 another avenue to bring wholly new experiences to the KH franchise.

Kingdom Hearts 4 is currently in development.

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