Kingdom Hearts 4 Extended Coco Trailer Breakdown
- AfroCloud
- 17 hours ago
- 8 min read
The first world and much more were revealed for the newest chapter in Kingdom Hearts!
On the eve of its big D23 panel, Kingdom Hearts 4 debuted its first world: Coco! After revealing Coco 2, the sequel to the original film, Coco was introduced as KH4's first world. Coco is a fitting world for KH4 with its vibrant aesthetics and themes of life, death, and memory.
But that was only a smaller trailer of an extended one. Tetsuya Nomura, the series creator and director, made a surprise appearance in the D23 Deep Dive Panel for Kingdom Hearts. Nomura had another surprise up his sleeve by showing us the full Coco trailer.
Land of the Dead
The trailer begins with a soul passing on to their final death. Hector plays one final song for him. The soul thanks Hector and moves on forever.
In the world of Coco, one experiences their final death when their surviving loved ones forget about their deceased one. Or there are no longer any living relatives or loved ones to remember them. Hector sadly explains this to Miguel as the old soul passes on for good. Everyone will have their final death eventually.
The Contest
Miguel is performing in the contest to return to the land of the living. Miguel is rocking the crowd, and they are loving it. However, Shadows come to crash the show. But they didn’t account for Sora and his keyblade!
Shifting to hero mode, Sora immediately summons his keyblade. Making quick work of the shadowy crashers. Miguel's continues his song without any other distractions. The title for KH4 appears as Miguel finishes his song.
Of course, Sora is blending in with the crowd as he takes on a similar appearance to them. But he still has KH4 fit on. Somehow, Sora still changes his appearance depending on what world he’s visiting. He is able to do this without Donald’s magic.
Before the Shadows and Sora, I wouldn’t have guessed initially that Coco would be the first world in KH4. Why? It’s because of the visuals!
The KH team managed to recreate and capture the beautiful, vibrant essence of Coco. Without Sora and the Shadows, the world could have passed as a 1:1 recreation of the film. It’s so brilliant and lovingly crafted.
We came a long way in visuals. KH4’s presentation surpasses KH3's. And I was blown away by how well KH3 managed to translate the aesthetics of KH into HD.
Quadratum
We get our first new look at the Master of Masters as he looks up at the purple sky. The scene transitions to a floating dandelion and then to Sora. Sora is looking at the same sky as the Master of Masters.
This sequence may have been part of KH4's opening. Square Enix Image Studio Division (formerly Visual Works) has certainly evolved and elevated their game. These FMVs are gorgeous, and the animation is just as great.
Streliztia introduces Sora to the city of Quadratum in a more spectacular glow-up than the reveal trailer four years ago. Thanks to Audrey Aitaikimochi, we know now that this location is the top of the Shibuya Scramble building. This is an iconic tourist spot, and it’s called the Shibuya Sky.
Dandelion Dispatch
Sora and Strelitzia are in the streets of Quadratum. Sora has a phone with a Mickey symbol and a Jiminy Cricket chain attached to his phone. They both received a call asking for Dandelion Dispatch.
Quadratum receives a city-wide warning that a Darkside Heartless is attacking the city. A military force is moving towards the Darkside. The titanic Heartless is attacking the city and the populace with spheres of darkness.
Sora and the rest of the Dandelions are defending the city. Sora rescues a woman and her cat. Taking notes from a certain webslinging hero. After saving the woman and her cat, Sora goes to Vali's aid. He warns Vali to watch his back.
Sora confirms Vali’s identity with that warning. Vali was one of the upperclassmen who was fatally struck down by the darkness in Dark Road. Initially, he was just missing along with his other classmates. During Dark Road, Xehanort would later learn that Vali was struck down instead.
Sora and Streliztia receiving a call for Dandelion assistance. Sora backing up Vali, another member of the Dandelions.
Who Are The Dandelions?
For those who don’t know, Dandelions were a group of exceptional Keyblade wielders that were gathered by Ava, one of the lost Keyblade Masters from the Age of Fairy Tales. This was one of the roles given to her by the Master of Masters. Ava was to create this group since the Keyblade War would bring ruin to the world.
The Dandelion's duty is to survive the Keyblade War by leaving the world once the war starts. More importantly, Dandelions are there to protect and preserve the light, which would expire during the Keyblade War.
Coco Style Keyblade
Sora is manifesting his Keyblade, and it’s the one based on Coco. Musical notes and sheets gather as Sora summons the Keyblade. The vibrant, exquisite keyblade perfectly captures the essence of its respective world. The keyblade itself is a guitar with calaveras and vivid flower motifs.
Of course, this keyblade isn’t just for show either. Sora is chasing a large Heartless while riding the keyblade. There is also a chain tethered to the Heartless. Sora grinds on a rail to catch up with the Heartless. Then he nails it with the Keyblade.
Hector and Miguel join Sora as his party members in the Land of the Dead. Sora and Hector are putting on a show through their team attack. The Heartless are not thrilled with the show as it is causing them pain.
In the upper left corner of the screen is a Coco-style bar. This bar gradually fills up as Sora and Hector are performing their flashy team attacks. Sora’s big finisher with pinata and the stars fills this gauge up even more. Team attack finishers seem to fill this gauge at a larger, rapid rate.
The Coco Keyblade Sora riding on his Keyblade going after an enemy. Sora and Hector are performing team attacks against the Heartless.
Mickey in Scala Ad Caelum
Mickey discovers a lot of new information about Sora’s rescue. The king feels confident that his new information can help find clues to rescue the missing Sora. Before he can put this information to good use.
Mickey is sucked into a magical book. Inside the book, we are treated to some Mickey gameplay. The King is seen lifting thumbnails to create bridges. We get side-scrolling paper Mickey, which is pretty cool.
Lastly, we have a large paper Mickey effortlessly smashing through large paper obstacles. In the menu, we can swap between the original Mickey and his paper forms. The paper forms also act as party members to the King.
There’s one more element to Mickey's gameplay. It’s the objective. In the top left corner is a golden paper icon with a counter. Mickey’s objective in these mystical books is to find these pages. Perhaps these mysterious pages will provide the clues to rescuing Sora.
Mickey is exploring the mystic book. A side scrolling paper clone of Mickey. Mickey's giant paper copy.
Donald and Goofy
“When folks disappear above, do they always end up here?” Goofy asks Hades, the God of the Underworld. Hades's answer shocks Sora’s main Disney duo! “But Sora isn’t here!”
Does this mean that Sora didn’t experience a form of death? Did Sora’s abuse of the Power of Waking just cause him to disappear? Or did he perish and just disappear to Quadratum?
Donald and Goofy are also playable. Donald and Goofy are sliding through the Underworld. Next, they are taking on a wave of Heartless. According to the Heartless wave counter, the duo will be facing more than one wave.
Donald is shooting the Heartless with magic. Goofy is attacking Heartless with his shield. Donald has Magic in his command menu, while Goofy has Skills in the same place. Both the court magician and the guard captain have Combat Styles.
Donald and Goofy also have their own team attack. They both ride on Goofy’s shield. Donald imbues the shield with firework magic. The Heartless are getting pummeled with the duo's team attack. Donald and Goofy finish their combination with a firework show.
Donald and Goofy shocked about Hades's answer to Sora's appearance in the Underworld. Donald and Goofy teaming up to take out the Heartless waves. Donald and Goofy's UI with a button for possible swtiching.
Seeing Ghosts
Sora sees Donald and Goofy. But our hero sees them as ghosts or holograms. Strelitzia asks Sora, What’s wrong?! While Vali asks him what Sora sees. Sora faints after seeing the apparitions of Donald and Goofy.
Furthermore, Donald and Goofy are in the Land of the Dead themselves. Naturally, they take on the appearance of the citizens in the world. They gazed upon the scale of the Land of the Dead. Donald doubts they will find their lost friend in such a large world.
Sora seeing apparitions is an ability that Noctis once had. At least, the Noctis of Versus 13 had this ability. But Noctis could see the dead with his ability. He could also see souls about to depart. Noctis also shared this ability with Stella as well.
Of course, Donald and Goofy are alive. But they could be temporarily dead in the Land of the Dead. Sora could be having these visions of friends because of their presence in the Land of the Dead.
Sora fainting or falling asleep isn’t anything new. Sora would fall asleep in Dream Drop Distance and switch to Riku. But it does make me wonder if this is how Sora will explore the Disney worlds. Could we have a similar system of sleep and drop where Sora goes to Disney worlds while Donald and Goofy explore them later?
More importantly, Sora could see other ghostly visions of his friends. I feel there’s more to these visions that meet the eye. They could be extremely vital to KH4’s gameplay and narrative.
Sora seeing the visions of Donald and Goofy in Quadratum. Goofy and Donald in the Land of the Dead.
Xehanort and Xigbar(Luxu) REUNITED!
Xigbar, or Luxu, reunites with young Xehanort. He remarks that Xehanort looks good for an old coot. Xehanort does not respond to Xigbar. We also don’t know if Xigbar has any plans for Xehanort. Since Xigbar’s real identity, Luxu, likes to take over vessels. Xigbar/Luxu could have plans to take over the youth body.
Of course, we don’t know if this Xehanort remembers Xigbar. Plus, you never know what any Xehanort has in store. Plus, we have seen him come to Sora’s aid in the previous trailer. Former comrades could become enemies this time around.
Xigbar(Luxu) finds Young Xehanort in Quadratum. Xehanort looking at Xigbar with his umbrella.
Riku Saves the Day!
Sora, Strelitzia, and Sigurd are surrounded by Heartless. The trio and the guards are beset by Darksides, a freighting raven Heartless, and the creepy humanoid ones. The Heartless pounced on Strelitzia before she manifested her Keyblade. Sigurd is losing his cool against the Heartless.
Sora is fending off the Heartless. He urgently screams out Strelitzia and Sigurd’s names. Confirming that the suave keyblade wielder is Sigurd. The Heartless are about to attack Sora’s comrades. Yet, another keyblade wielder familiar to Sora saves the two.
Riku has arrived to save the day. Sora is shocked by his best friend’s appearance. With his new drip and keyblade, Riku prepares to strike down the Heartless. Three Darksides prepare to meet Riku's challenge.
Strelitiza frightened by the Heartless. Sigurd is nervous about facing the Heartless. Riku saves the day!
Sora! Wake Up and See!
While she doesn't appear in the trailer. Kairi tells Sora to wake up and see. What is Kairi referring to? Is Sora in a state of sleep like he was in Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 2? Or could it be related to Sora's visions and his subsequent fainting?
Kairi could be the key to saving Sora. An act that she has performed for Sora several times. Personally, I am hoping Kairi is playable. More importantly, I hope she's a major part of the action and narrative in KH4.
Late 2027
The trailer confirms the game is coming out in late 2027. Both Tetsuya Nomura and Tae Yasue confidently pledge that Kingdom Hearts 4 will release in late 2027. Tae Yasue even said that he is 100 percent confident about the game’s 2027 release.
Concluding Thoughts
First, Nomura and Yasue’s confidence about the game’s release gives me confidence in the release too. Second, everything from the mobile games and KH3 will be important to KH4’s story and beyond. Third, Nomura is clearly using KH4 as his way of bringing Versus 13 to life in a different way.
Sora’s ethereal visions, Crownsguards who look similar to the ones in Versus 13, and what we have seen in the past with Yozora and Verum Rex confirm it. Do I blame Nomura? Absolutely not!
Quadratum Crown Guards?! Comparsions of the KH4 guards who have resemblances to Crownsguard of Versus 13 and FF15. The similar sceeso of both Noctis and Yozora sleeping in the car.
Square Enix’s leadership at the time took Nomura’s game away from him. Versus 13 was changed to Final Fantasy 15. Tabata had to change a lot of Nomura’s vision for Versus 13 because of Square Enix’s leadership at the time, to sell Final Fantasy 15.
I’m happy Nomura is finally realizing his visions through Kingdom Hearts 4 and Verum Rex. Beyond the Versus 13 comeback, the game is looking really good so far. Also, thanks to everything that they’re including from the mobile games, KH4 is returning the one element that KH3 was largely missing: the mysteries.
Overall, I’m over the moon about KH4’s progress. I'm confident in the late 2027 release date. It means I can get a physical copy of the game too. The marketing train has just begun! And I have a feeling it’s going to be a joyous and thrilling ride.
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