Even after years ofKingdom Heartsgames, there’s a lot of ground forKingdom Hearts 4to cover. For as much asKingdom Hearts 3was dedicated to resolving the many plot lines running throughKHup to that point, it also set up tons of questions that only a sequel could answer. TheBlack Box and the role of the Foretellersare two big question marks that will play into the upcoming Lost Master Arc. Sora’s current location of Quadratum is another mystery, both in how it connects to other worlds in its own reality and how it relates to the usual one.
However, all of these pale in comparison to the most blunt teaser thatKingdom Hearts 3could provide. Yozora, the protagonist of the fictional game Verum Rex seen in theToy Storyworld, is real and connected to Quadratum. Furthermore, in theKingdom Hearts 3 ReMindDLC, Yozora fights Sora with the outcome being either Sora frozen or Yozora fading away before waking up in a car. It’s not clear how this relates toKingdom Hearts 4’s trailer showing Sora waking up in Quadratum, but there’s a good chance that Yozora will be heavily involved in Sora’s adventure.
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In A Series That Loves Questions, Yozora Is Made Of Them
There’s a lot that fans don’t know about Yozora, and it seems like his entire character was designed to facilitate questions. For one, he allegedly isn’t even in his right body. According to theNameless Star found in the Final World, Yozora’s heart is not his own. What this means isn’t clear, but hearts being transferred between bodies is something that’s been going on since the firstKingdom Hearts. This and the Nameless Star’s lack of an identity implies that the villains’ usual heart-based machinations have been going on in Quadratum already.
Regardless of when Sora arrived in relation to these events, they’ve apparently already been affecting Yozora and the people around him. Yozora is seen in the Verum Rex trailer surrounded by several other people thatresemble theFinal Fantasy 15partyand Lunafreya. There’s a good chance that these people, or characters based on them, will serve as the main cast of Yozora’s story. It’s not clear whether the Gigas mechs will have any relation to their side of the plot, or whether they are just metaphors for some other opponent. Once again, it’s unknown if anything seen of the Verum Rex cast is accurate to their true appearances, leavingKingdom Hearts 4open to do what it wishes with these new characters.
Yozora Already Feels Like A Kingdom Hearts Protagonist
Yozora and his circumstances are mysteries, just like everything else inKingdom Hearts 4. Some details will be revealed in said game, and some will probably be held back until later. The matter most relevant toKH4is how much screen time will be devoted to Yozora in particular. At the moment, fans only know that Sora will meet up with a girl who is probably Strelitzia, and will continue his world-hopping and darkness-slaying within the new confines of unreality and Quadratum. A lot of time will be devoted to establishingSora’s new circumstances inKingdom Hearts 4, but that doesn’t mean the tale will be entirely his own. Yozora could serve as a second protagonist like Riku in past games, and even have entire chunks of gameplay and story devoted to himself.
One other detail that fans gleaned from Yozora’sKingdom Hearts 3 ReMindappearance is that he is the unreality equivalent to Sora. Plenty of parallels are drawn, including him repeating Sora’sKH1opening lines and being able to steal Sora’s Keyblade and items.Kingdom Heartshas had a tendency to focus on alternate protagonists ever sinceChain of Memories, andKingdom Hearts 2: Final Mixincluded future protagonist Terra as a secret boss.
Put together, there is a clear intent forYozora to have a major role inKingdom Hearts, and frameworks have already been prepared for him to hit the ground running. With the franchise’s tendency to cut away to other characters intact,Kingdom Hearts 4may give the bulk of its story over to Yozora, even while the gameplay still focuses on Sora.
Kingdom Hearts 4is currently in development.
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