Kingdom Heartsrecently finished its first major story arc. The Xehanort Saga has been going on since the beginning of the series, even before Xehanort was introduced. Ever since then, many additional story elements have been introduced to build the saga into the interdimensional epic, culminating inKingdom Hearts 3going beyond the bounds of reality itself. The fanbase is still basking in the afterglow of all its revelations and plot twists, withMelody of MemoryandKingdom Hearts Union Crosshelping to tide them over until the next big entry. For lore keepers of the franchise, it has never been a better time to be aKingdom Heartsfan.
But for everyone else, it’s never been harder to get intoKingdom Hearts. A major issueKH’s narrative runs into is an overabundance of important nouns. Sometimes these nouns, such as Kingdom Hearts itself, refer to more than one thing or person. With many side plots having been built up over the years, there is a lot of data that someone needs to know to get the optimal story experience out ofKingdom Hearts. That’s why now is a perfect time for a fresh start going intoKingdom Hearts 4. Square Enix shouldlook to its competitor Atlusfor storytelling inspiration, as aPersona-like approach would benefit the series greatly.
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Kingdom Hearts Should Have Distinct Installments Like Persona
One ofPersona’s greatest strengths is that it segregates its games into self-contained stories. While thePersonagames do share a continuity, they do not have much overlap and mainly share concepts and gameplay. Each game is marketed to look different, and is told with a different framing device. A good example is howPersona 4is about a detective club, whilePersona 5is about a gang of Phantom Thieves. In this way, thePersonagames all stand out from one another, and new fans are able to enjoy the story of any given game without playing the others.
Kingdom Heartscouldn’t be more different. The series is known for building its newest story on the combined plots of every game that came before. While there are technically side games, there are no spin-offs. The story of every game is accounted for when proceeding to the next, which can make the originalKingdom Heartsfeel odd and disconnected. This has the unfortunate effect of keeping newcomers away from the series and forcing them to either do research online or play most of the games themselves. There are game collections that help them accomplish this, andKingdom Hearts 4is long enough awaythat it can be done, but it really shouldn’t be like this in the first place.
A Fresh Start for Kingdom Hearts
Now that the series is moving on toKingdom Hearts 4, or whatever the next majorKingdom Heartsis called, there is a chance to begin anew. The story should make use of thenew setting of Quadratumto introduce elements and let them stand on their own. The story of Sora and Riku will have to conclude eventually, and Yozora has implied that he knows Sora somehow, but that plot thread can wait. Yozora and his own friends can be given their own problems to deal with, separate or related to the Foretellers, who could be taken in many directions.
This new style of storytelling should not end with the next game. Even if the various upcomingKingdom Heartsgames need to jump around the multiverse to different parties of characters, every individual story should make an effort to stand on its own. Not every plot point needs to build on top of the rest every time. This will help the series draw in new fans, and could even provide the first good starting point the series has had sinceKingdom Hearts 1. Anything thatKingdom Heartscan do to stop being confusingfor newcomers should be a priority.
Kingdom Hearts 3is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
