Summary
Kingdom Hearts 4may be the next step for the franchise as it marks the beginning of a new saga, but it also seems to represent a greater artistic pursuit that the series’ director has been focused on for years. When the game’s first trailer premiered last year, many fans were struck by the major shift in art style that has led Sora to look much more like aFinal Fantasycharacter. When the circumstances surrounding the development of Tetsuya Nomura’s past few games are taken into consideration, however, the metanarrative drivingKingdom Hearts 4’s bold direction makes perfect sense.
It may be a relic of lost promotional media now, butFinal Fantasy Versus 13was once one of the most hyped Square Enix titles in development. Years would pass withoutVersus 13ever emerging, however, until the game was eventuallypromoted into the mainlineFinal Fantasy 15while Nomura left the project to focus onKH3andFF7 Remake. Many of the director’s ideas wouldn’t ever make it into the final version ofFF15, but several appear to have found a second life in the upcomingKingdom Heartssaga.
Final Fantasy Versus 13’s Parallels With Kingdom Hearts
Yozora’s Potential Meta Origin
He may appear as a mysterious character from what seems to be a joke in the Toy Box world’s Verum Rex game-within-a-game, but several fans who once anticipatedVersus 13noticed Yozora’s uncanny appearance. Not only does he exist in an art style that goes beyondKH3’s in terms of realism, but his actual outfit is almost a copy of Noctis’ original look from the canceled game’s trailers. He hasn’t shown up inKH4promotional material yet, but Yozora’s world of Quadratum, and itsFF-esque style, has already become home to Sora.The ending ofKH3’s Remind DLCeven directly mimics a scene from one of these trailers, leading some fans to believe the character could be a sort of representation of troubled development at Square Enix itself.
Kingdom Hearts 4’s Reveal Trailer Doubled Down on Remind’s Ending
In the months since its release, fans have been able to see connections with Nomura’s canceled project in nearly every part ofKH4’s trailer. Strelitzia and Sora appear to mirror the presence of Stella and Noctis, and Sora’s new look has even changed to resemble the character to an extent that’s hard to ignore. As he faces the Darkside Heartless in the trailer, the scale of Sora’s movements against the giant enemy can’t help but to evoke a similar dynamic fromVersus 13’s 2011 trailer.
Final Fantasy Versus 13’s Production Troubles at Square Enix Could Be Tetsuya Nomura’s Greatest Inspiration
The Meta Commentary of Remind and Kingdom Hearts 4 So Far
While the mystery surroundingYozora and the world of Quadratumhas fueled speculation for years now, there is also a literal meaning that can be interpreted from these creative decisions on the director’s part. There’s a pre-rendered CGI ending made just for losing to Yozora in Remind that has driven some fans to see the entire battle between the two characters as a metaphor for the competition betweenKH3andVersus 13’s productions. The canceledFinal Fantasywas first announced all the way back in 2006, and the level of passion that Nomura has for the concept is difficult to quantify given how important it still seems to be in his work.
The Next Kingdom Hearts Was Almost Verum Rex
It’s clear that he’s a reference himself, butYozora’s fictional origin game, Verum Rexhas also been shown to resembleVersus 13. Nomura’s intention with this concept included more, as revealed in a translated tweet from user @toto_cocoron0te who attendedKingdom Heart’s 20th anniversary event. There, Nomura stated that he had a choice between fully developing Verum Rex, or continuing on withKH. Given the reality of how manyVersus 13ideas made it into Verum Rex,KH4seems to have become the vessel for these instead. It won’t ever see the light of day in its original form, butFinal Fantasy Versus 13is likely to live on through influence for years to come.
Kingdom Hearts 4
Kingdom Hearts 4 is an action RPG developed by Square Enix and represents the fifteenth installment in the franchise. Players once again are put in the shoes of Sora who is suddenly trapped in a more realistic world called Quadratum, with companions like Donald and Goofy attempting to rescue him. Kingdom Hearts 4 is a direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts 3 and Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.
