Kingdom Hearts 4 Already Has a Problem Kingdom Hearts Collection Can’t Solve

Though Square Enix has made it easier than ever to play Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts 4 still has to do the work of welcoming people who don’t have dozens of hours, or years of franchise history, behind them. Looking at the collection, I realize that it is not simply just the first three mainline Kingdom Hearts games. There’s also Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, Dream Drop Distance, 0.2, Back Cover, and plenty of other material to get through before I can feel properly positioned for the new saga.

A simple recap might not be enough. A conventional “Previously on Kingdom Hearts” sounds like the obvious solution, but the franchise has accumulated so much lore that a comprehensive recap could become its own feature-length experience. Stories overlap and intersect, and after looking at The Kingdom Hearts Wiki’s timeline, I’ve seen the full extent of the X-era material. In my opinion, Kingdom Hearts 4 has a responsibility to remain comprehensible.

The Kingdom Hearts Collection Is Massive

Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts Collection [1-3] combines three separate packages: HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix, HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts 3 + Re Mind. And if you thought that was a mouthful, HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix alone contains six narrative experiences: Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Re:Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, Birth by Sleep Final Mix, with 358/2 Days and Re: coded as HD cutscene compilations. This is what Square Enix has called an “essential collection of the first six stories.” And after some light math work, I’ve calculated that this adds up to just under 190 hours of Kingdom Hearts, giving newcomers a sizable backlog to work through before Kingdom Hearts 4.

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When the series came to Steam in 2024, Square Enix playfully marketed it as bringing the series to “a whole new world of players” and described the games as spanning the Dark Seeker Saga. For PC players like myself, this was a great way to finally experience the series on the platform, but it made me realize how much story there is to catch up before Kingdom Hearts 4. Having the games readily available is one thing, but expecting every newcomer to work through all of them before Kingdom Hearts 4 arrives is another.

Newcomers Can’t Be Expected to Play Everything

It’s not that I think that getting through all the Kingdom Hearts material is impossible, but I fear it may feel like homework for newcomers. Considering Square Enix has marketed the collection towards new players, Kingdom Hearts 4 needs to offer some kind of newcomer-friendly storytelling. For years, the question was where we could play Kingdom Hearts, rather than what we actually needed to know. Making the series more accessible is a great move from Square Enix, but for anyone hoping to catch up before Kingdom Hearts 4, the sheer amount of material makes it difficult to know what is essential and what can safely be skipped.

I don’t think that every piece of Kingdom Hearts lore needs equal weight. A newcomer doesn’t necessarily need every detail from previous games, but they do need the context that directly affects Kingdom Hearts 4. Ultimately, a new saga is beginning, so it has every opportunity to establish its own narrative foundation. I think that the game could reward longtime fans with deeper references, without making them mandatory to the main plot, and that would let Square Enix preserve what makes the franchise so appealing.

Kingdom Hearts 4 Already Has Reason to Explain Its New Characters

We already have an indication of where Kingdom Hearts 4 will take place: it’s not just a continuation of the previous saga; it’s the beginning of the Lost Master Arc. With the Dark Seeker Saga and Xehanort’s story now behind it, Kingdom Hearts 4 has the opportunity to establish a new central conflict. That way, the story can introduce new characters and set up a different kind of journey for Sora. I think that this gives Square Enix some breathing room to build a story that newcomers can understand, without having to know every detail of what came before.

The new game also introduces new concepts that even longtime fans still need to understand. Quadratum, for example, is an entirely different kind of setting for Kingdom Hearts, existing with the series’ idea of “unreality” and giving Sora a world that looks very different from the Disney settings we’ve explored before. Yozora and his connection to this strange world adds another layer of mystery, meaning even veteran players don’t have every answer. For me, that could work in newcomers’ favor. Kingdom Hearts 4 can introduce its new world and mysteries naturally, and that gives new and returning players something to discover together.

Kingdom Hearts 4 Can’t Leave Its Newcomers Behind

I don’t think Kingdom Hearts needs to hold newcomers’ hands through every event in the series, nor do I think Square Enix needs to turn the opening of the game into a massive lore dump. The collection already does the important work of making the series easier to access, while Kingdom Heart 4‘s new Lost Master Arc gives the developers a chance to establish a fresh story. That means returning players can experience new content too, without newcomers feeling like they’ve missed their chance to understand the game.

If Square Enix can make Kingdom Hearts 4 welcoming without stripping away the deeper connections longtime fans love and expect, a whole new wave of players could make their way into Kingdom Hearts. This would reflect what Square Enix set out to do with the new collection: make the series more accessible to a new audience.

Released

October 8, 2026

ESRB

Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol

Franchise

Kingdom Hearts