Square Enix announcedKingdom Hearts 4with a stunning gameplay trailer as part of the celebrations for theKingdom Heartsfranchise’s 20th anniversary.Kingdom Hearts 4seems to take the story in a dark direction, with Sora trapped in the Tokyo-like Quadratum, which is described to him as the afterlife.Kingdom Hearts 4’sdebut trailershows off gameplay and new flashy movement, like using the Keyblade as a grappling hook, but the real standout here is the game’s visuals.
TheKingdom Heartsseries is no stranger to visually impressive games. From the stylized, cartoony originals to the handheld games that take full advantage of its hardware, nearly all entries in the series have had top-notch graphics.Kingdom Hearts 4looks to be a visual treat for the fans — assuming the fans are lucky enough to get their hands on a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Console-wise,Kingdom Hearts 4looks to be too detailed and visually impressive to be released on anything but modern hardware.
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Kingdom Hearts 4’s Stunning Visuals
The visuals on display inKingdom Heart’s 4’strailer, seen above around the 4-minute mark, are absolutely breathtaking. From Quadratum’s detailed city-scape to every individual hair and pore present on Sora and the new, mysterious female character, there is a ton of detail to take in. InpreviousKingdom Heartstitles, this level of detail would mainly be reserved for the pre-rendered cutscenes, butKingdom Hearts 4’sgameplay seems to take no hit visually.
The trailer forKingdom Hearts 4does tease a bit of gameplay, in which Sora runs through Quadratum’s streets in an intense boss fight with a giant Heartless. On the run over, it is clear thatKingdom Hearts 4utilizes ray tracing, something that has not been possible on game consoles until now. Sora can be seen reflecting off of cars and buildings — even buildings reflect off of other buildings. Not much more ray tracing is shown, though the game is sure to have some reflection and lighting surprises in store to tie in with the colorfulDisney worlds Sora will explore.
Lastly,Kingdom Hearts 4’strailer shows off tons and tons of particle effects. The giant Heartless forms from a swirling black mass, and lets off countless wisps with every attack. Sora also darts through a collapsing building as the windows simultaneously shatter, spraying glass all around him. In all,Kingdom Hearts 4’slevel of graphical detail and lighting and particle effects deem the game too visually intensive to run on anything butPS5 or Xbox Series X.
Kingdom Hearts' History of Pushing Graphical Boundaries
WhileKingdom Hearts 4looks the best that the series ever has, it is by no means the first visually impressive game in the series. The journey acrossKingdom Heart’s 3’smany worldsis beautiful. Each world is visually distinct and has such a high level of detail, down to changing Sora and the gang’s costumes to fit the area’s theme.KH3may be three years old at this point, but the way the game looks and runs is impressive even by last-gen console standards.
Even the handheldKingdom Heartsentries innovated visually, such asRe: Codedor358/2 Days:Both are full-fledged, 3DKingdom Heartstitles that run on the Nintendo DS.The DS has some great games, but few are fully 3D. The fact that there are two lengthy 3D JRPGs on the console is impressive, to say the least. What all of theseKingdom Heartsgames have in common is that they never have had a cross-generational release. Typically, every game in the series is too visually demanding to run on older consoles, andKingdom Hearts 4looks to be no exception.
It is rare to see an exclusive PS5 or Xbox Series X release in general, though they will certainly be more common in the coming years, but games likeRatchet and Clank: Rift Apartand theDemon’s Soulsremake show that taking full advantage of the consoles' capabilities is worth it. It is exciting to think thatKingdom Hearts 4will do the same and give players even more of a reason to seek out the newest consoles.
