Over the years, the Kingdom Hearts series has taken to many locations, ranging from original creations such as Destiny Islands, Traverse Town, and Hollow Bastion to iconic Disney properties such as Olympus Coliseum and Agrabah. Nobody knows how many worlds Kingdom Hearts 4 will have, but it is believed to have a similar amount to other numbered items. Not counting the Dive to the Heart tutorial of Yen Sid’s Mysterious Tower, Kingdom Hearts 2 leads the franchise by fifteen worlds, while Re:coded and Dream Drop Distance come in last place with seven major worlds each.
The final score varied between games due to both hardware and what the game is trying to achieve. Re:coded is a minor DS remake of a mobile game, while Dream Drop Distance is a story-integrated title with larger worlds that players visit at least twice. Kingdom Hearts 3 is where a new consideration for the world’s population comes into play. As hardware capabilities and fan expectations increase, the world’s higher early entry count becomes unattainable. Kingdom Hearts 3 Reminder has about eleven worlds on top of the extensive Gummi Ship maps, but each world is expected to be visited only once. With console specs and graphics fidelity continuing to increase since then, Kingdom Hearts 4 has perhaps the smallest world total to date.
How many worlds would be too few for Kingdom Hearts 4
The correlation between Kingdom Heartsworld count and graphics quality was noted by series director Tetsuya Nomura in an interview with Game Informer. Kingdom Hearts 4 will have a lower world count as a result, but whether that means it will have the lowest in the series remains to be seen. In Kingdom Hearts 3, the average world is created with far more HD resources than it used to be, often with enemies and other interactive elements created just for that world. There are many custom sequences and gimmick battles in each location, such as the laser corridors in Monstropolis or the aerial and underwater battles in the Caribbean. The sheer complexity means the world count had to shrink.
This begs the question how many worlds Kingdom Hearts 4 can be kept at a minimum. Fans know that Quadratum will serve as the central hub, and there are strong suspicions that: Star Wars and possibly Marvel worlds could join the fray. Quadratum will be visited between worlds according to Nomura, and it looks like it could fill a lot of time with repeat visits like Hollow Bastion in KH2. Assuming the final series will take place in a new world separate from Quadratum, it feels like at least seven worlds should be expected. Five particularly large-sized Disney worlds should yield hours of content per area, and Square Enix is probably aware that a numbered entry shouldn’t drop below the world number of previous spin-offs.
What is the maximum number of Worlds Kingdom Hearts 4 could have?
However, that presupposes Kingdom Hearts 4 will have significantly fewer worlds than its immediate predecessor. Seven Worlds is a bet on the bare minimum, but chances are it will come out a little higher. Eight worlds feel decent, even if the grand looking Quadratum has to be scaled down during gameplay to accommodate this. Even if huge, ambitious worlds like The Caribbean and San Fransokyo give way to linear things like Kingdom of Corona and Arendelle, it’s still worth representing more Disney franchises.
However, the increase in graphics quality must be taken into account, so Kingdom Hearts 4 can’t get too big with its world count. Kingdom Hearts 3The total of 11 major worlds should be considered the maximum. Judging by developer statements, this number is unlikely to be reached, and fans should probably expect no more Disney Worlds than KH3is nine. It’s hard to ballpark things right now, as it’s not clear what Square Enix’s intentions are in designing these worlds, and fans will probably only understand that. KH4‘s launch approaching. Hopefully the result is a Kingdom Hearts 4 with a solid number of vast and beautiful worlds.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is now under development.
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