Kingdom Hearts 4 took centre stage at D23’s Entertainment Showcase, where a 90-second trailer appeared amid a run of film and TV announcements, offering fresh details about the upcoming title. The news continued at the game’s 25th anniversary panel, where director Tetsuya Nomura revealed the original trailer actually ran to four minutes and screened the full version for attendees.
The extended footage builds on the shorter cut shown the night before, adding considerable depth and clarifying how the game will play. Several elements were confirmed by the game’s creators during the panel.
New playable characters and returning villains
King Mickey will be a playable character. While the King has always featured in the series, he has typically worked on a separate part of the puzzle while his friends assist Sora. This time, players can control King Mickey as he tackles a series of puzzles within a magical book. This section will be less combat-focused, instead centring on origami-style challenges as the mystery unfolds. It is not yet clear how much of the overall game will be played as Mickey.
Maleficent will serve as a significant villain. She has long been a thorn in the side of Keyblade wielders, and Nomura made clear she will play a major role this time, potentially viewing Sora’s presence in Quadratum as an opportunity to spread darkness to further worlds.
Quadratum, movement and the Disney Town hub
Quadratum, the real-world-styled area inspired by artists and developers exploring Tokyo, will be one of the largest regions in the game to traverse. To support this, Sora gains new movement abilities alongside the rail gliding and lamp post launches seen in previous titles. The scale reflects the presence of very large Heartless, as shown in the trailer.
The new hub region, called Disney Town, follows in the tradition of Traverse Town, Twilight Town and other hub areas from earlier games. It is filled with bright, colourful activities based partly on the kid-focused Toon Town at Disneyland. A minigame focused on sweet treats inspired by Disneyland is also planned, following on from sea salt ice cream and similar items in previous games.
Content revived from Kingdom Hearts 3
During the panel, Nomura shared that the team had wanted to include something significant in Kingdom Hearts 3, but it was cut because it could not be completed to a suitable standard by the time the game needed to ship. That cut content has now been carried over into Kingdom Hearts 4, though further details about it have not yet been provided.
