After years of waiting, Square Enix has finally revealed new footage of Kingdom Hearts IV at the June 9 Nintendo Direct.
Square Enix revealed a roughly 90-second trailer featuring series protagonist Sora, returning antagonist Luxord, and several other mysterious characters that seem to be associated with previous entries in the franchise. Strelitzia, for instance, comes from the mobile title Kingdom Hearts Union χ.
Aside from the characters, the brief trailer teases new gameplay for the first time in four years. It shows Sora face off against a kaiju-sized Heartless monster in the streets and across office towers of the new setting for the game, Quadratum. The massive Heartless proves to be a challenging figure for Sora, and the gameplay shown for the fight against him seems more exhilarating than anything that the Kingdom Hearts franchise has done so far.
The trailer ends with a card confirming that it will be available on launch day one on Nintendo Switch 2, with versions also planned for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. As for when that release day will be, sadly one wasn’t given.
Alongside the KH IV news, Nintendo and Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] for Switch 2, a package of native ports covering Kingdom Hearts - HD 1.5+2.5 Remix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind (DLC). Unlike the cloud-based Switch versions, these run offline. The collection arrives on Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S on October 8. Pre-orders are now open, and a demo of Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind (DLC) went live on the Nintendo eShop immediately following the Direct. Players who purchased the cloud editions on Switch can upgrade at a discounted rate, and save data transfers carry over.
The KH IV reveal marks the first footage released since the game's original announcement at the franchise's 20th anniversary in 2022.
