KH4 Development Timeline

[SuperNova]

Are we sure that's Sora's final KH4 design though? I know thats what he looks like in Quadratum as confirmed by Nomura but do we know that's gonna be his design for the entire game?

 

[Alpha Baymax]

If anything at all poses to be a hindrance to KH4's development, then it would probably be either Disney making bullshit restrictions (something they do far more harshly with their more recent works) or the FF7 Remake taking up Nomura's time.

The Disney world selection is absolutely the reason why Kingdom Hearts IV is going to be a while. Don't forget, the day San Fransokyo was announced as a world for Kingdom Hearts III in D23, that's when development for the world started.

 

[Chaser]

If you trust the report from the Vulcan Reporter in September 2020, world selection was happening in November 2019 (namely Frozen II) which was a long ass time ago.

Nomura’s comments about world selection happening now could also be taken as “we have these worlds approved and in various stages of development but not all will make it in so we’re trying to make the selection as strong as possible while culling a few” (which has happened with The Jungle Book, Pinocchio, Treasure Planet in multiple games).

It’s going to be an annoying couple of months trying to gauge where everything possibly can be at without proper information

 

[HakaishinChampa]

Any worlds that they scrap can always be used for KH5, they'd have the assets for the world.

Let's say Nomura picked Emperor's New Groove but Disney decided to swap that world out for Encanto (because recent success), they push Emperor's New Groove aside for KH5 or a future side-game. (Maybe even Missing Link but I hope they wouldn't scrap it to the mobile game lol)

D23, Tokyo Game Show and Jump Festa aren't that far away, I'm sure we'll get more information around those times.

If development has been going smoothly, they could always add another world or two and that's why they're currently doing World Selection.

 

[Sdog]

I'm overall optimistic on this game coming out in a sooner fashion than most would say based on KH3's schedule. Alot of the same reasons already listed in this thread like familiar engine, reusable assets, and they've already been working on it since more than likely late 2019.

Other big reasons would be Nomura having most of his focus dedicated to this, not having to be split between this and FF7R Pt2 other than creative input, which I'm sure helps even the slightest. And hopefully (fingers crossed), Disney being more lax on things depending how much of their property is used. With how successful KH3 was, I think we can all agree Disney should realize KH should get as much support as possible going forward. Having to wait for notes and revisions before being able to move forward with something can definitely add some wait time.

Plus what they've started out with to show and say is very telling. I'm team late 2023/first half 2024 for now.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

On the note of the Unreal Engine 5, apparently it has support for current gen consoles, so it’s lookin’ like we’ll see KH4 on both PS4 and PS5 with no problems

 

[Chie]

About the concept of "after the quadratum chapter, the game will just become a totally normal KH game", the presence of Star Wars would seem to make that unlikely, wouldn't it? At least to me I think it would be strange to have these two different "hyperrealistic" settings introduced that aren't actually related. It would also be strange to go to the effort of modeling real-world Tokyo and hyperrealistic Sora and Strelitzia if they were only used for a few hours. I'm sure there'll be some normal KH stuff in there too, but now would be the perfect time to try and break from the usual structure of "30 hours doing nothing in unconnected disney worlds".

 

[the red monster]

If yuffie DLC didn't release on PS4, sure as heck KH4 won't.
graphics are gonna be updated A LOT till release.

 

[Chaser]

On the note of the Unreal Engine 5, apparently it has support for current gen consoles, so it’s lookin’ like we’ll see KH4 on both PS4 and PS5 with no problems

I have the feeling consoles weren’t announced for this very reason but Square have been very quick at dropping last gen for their games so

 

[Squood!]

Take this into consideration.

What if...the trailer...is older than we think?

Like, as in it was already made a good while before the event which is why it's in UE4.

 

[Chaser]

That’s always a possibility. There have been interviews for a bunch of different games where devs say what they showed was from a very old build and they’ve already made improvements.

But it’s hard to prove that’s the case for KH4 aha.

 

[Elysium]

The thing about Star Wars. I feel like we're just excited about this whole idea of another universe, that we're getting hung up on the idea that only hyper-realistic properties can be there, for one thing. To me, Quadratum is a place more for Square-esque properties the way things look, not simply live-action films in general. That goes with one of the roots in its name meaning Square, right? The Caribbean is as realistic-looking as Star Wars or any other live-action film would be, and it was in Sora's universe, so... Perhaps interest in Quadratum as a concept is throwing us off.

I can totally buy Quadratum simply being a Roxas-esque prologue, with us then returning to Sora's universe for the rest of the game (perhaps with Sora dealing with consequences and fallout from having been in another universe or something like that throughout the game--think something like Vanellope's whole glitch issue in Wreck-It Ralph or simply having visions he can't explain to the other universe that may be connected to Yozora somehow?). Now I've got myself thinking of a world roster where the theme is glitchiness--WIR, Stitch Has a Glitch, Frozen II would still work (Elsa hearing the voice calling to her and not knowing what it is), Encanto would fit with Mirabel not having a power, probably Finding Nemo since that film sort of deals with impairments (mental or physical), etc. @Xagzan in another thread mentioned the SW foresty area (if that's what it is) is from one of the later films; I don't know what that's about to theorize how it could relate thematically, but it could easily be in Sora's universe the same way The Caribbean was.

For me, reading that world selection was happening in 2019 and they still consider themselves in "early development" is a sign to prepare for the worst. I mean, there is a slim possibility they've simply overcorrected after the fan complaints over the wait for 3 and said "early development" when in reality they're actually more 20-40% along, but I'll believe that when I see it.

 

[Chie]

Star Wars actually would fit in pretty well with "Square-esque properties". Don't remember if I've gone into it on here yet but Star Wars is kind of a fundamental thing for the Final Fantasy series and thus Square's whole brand as a whole. As early as FF2 they were recreating scenes from A New Hope, FF has recurring characters named after Biggs and Wedge (versions also appear in Chrono Trigger and KH2), they've got a massive thing for fighting "the empire" (many FFs, Xenogears), recurring Darth Vader inspired characters (same), and BBS straight up does the "fear leads to the dark side" bit. Probably many more things I don't know about because I'm not into Star Wars really.

Considering that everything about Quadratum is tied into Nomura's personal history with Square, Star Wars being in this game is strongly relevant as more than just a "disney world", especially seeing as it's using the original trilogy (i.e. the ones that inspired square) and not just being advertising for Disney Wars.

 

[Elysium]

Not to take this thread off-topic (it was about development, not ideas, I know), but just wanted to say that I only have a hard time buying we'll spend the whole game in Quadratum away from Donald and Goofy. Unless Nomura finds a way to get them over there to Sora. Perhaps that's why they go to the Underworld; less in an attempt to find a way to get Sora back, but more as a way for them to get there.

I could buy Hades actually helping them with that if he thinks it'll get them out of his universe (and with no way to return). It's similar to the deal he makes with Hercules at the end of the movie, letting him go into the pool of souls thinking he'll die and be out of his hair for good.

 

[BluePikmin11]

it means it's running in engine and not CGI or pre-rendered.
games usually gets revealed with CGI trailer because they're not ready to show how the game actually looks like, because it's in a rough state.
if they were ready to show KH4 in engine, it means it's further along then people assume.
in engine means it's playing from an hardware and not just a video.

Thank you for the explanation!

 

[Darkspawn]

On the note of the Unreal Engine 5, apparently it has support for current gen consoles, so it’s lookin’ like we’ll see KH4 on both PS4 and PS5 with no problems

I think it’s unlikely to be cross-gen as much as that sucks for people who aren’t able to get the newer consoles. I’m hoping the shortages are over by then at least.

I don’t see Nomura wanting to hold back the game’s potential by having it on older consoles, especially when this is a version of his unrealized passion project. I think they left the platforms out to avoid the negative publicity that it won’t be on current gen. People will be more accepting of that news down the road when more of the consoles are available.

 

[the red monster]

PS4 will be long forgotten and irrelevant when KH4 drops

 

[Alpha Baymax]

Take this into consideration.

What if...the trailer...is older than we think?

Like, as in it was already made a good while before the event which is why it's in UE4.

Video game companies intentionally save early builds of their games as marketing material to show the graphical progression of said game.

I think it’s unlikely to be cross-gen as much as that sucks for people who aren’t able to get the newer consoles. I’m hoping the shortages are over by then at least.

I don’t see Nomura wanting to hold back the game’s potential by having it on older consoles, especially when this is a version of his unrealized passion project. I think they left the platforms out to avoid the negative publicity that it won’t be on current gen. People will be more accepting of that news down the road when more of the consoles are available.

Exactly, assuming Kingdom Hearts IV is a 2024 release at the earliest, the console landscape is going to be much different.

 

[Muke]

Honestly, we don't even exactly know what Nomura means when he says they are selecting new worlds. I can imagine some Disney worlds being well along the story writing process and they are still bickering and sending and receiving revisions to and from Disney. But even so, I really don't think developing and writing the Disney worlds is that hard -- they already know the story beats for the original content I assume, so even if they are just now selecting new worlds, I can imagine that, at least, the original stuff will be further along now. I am pretty optimistic for a 2023/2024 release year.

 

[Darkspawn]

Honestly, we don't even exactly know what Nomura means when he says they are selecting new worlds. I can imagine some Disney worlds being well along the story writing process and they are still bickering and sending and receiving revisions from Disney. But even so, I really don't think developing and writing the Disney worlds is that hard -- they already know the story beats for the original content I assume, so even if they are just now selecting new worlds, I can imagine that, at least, the original stuff will be further along now. I am pretty optimistic for a 2023/2024 release year.

Yeah for a series like KH, I think it makes sense to prioritize developing the original story content. That way once it is nailed down for the most part, it can inform the kind of worlds they want to pick to help support the original content and the themes. Getting the original worlds developed first can also help sort of out the base gameplay mechanics and that kind thing to make it easier when they implement it into the Disney worlds.