Square Enix offers a brief tease of the Kingdom Hearts 4 soundtrack

A simple, clean version of the trailer theme

Square Enix had a surprise for folks who bought the Kingdom Hearts vinyl collection, and that surprise was a Kingdom Hearts 4 soundtrack tease (thanks, TheGamer). The collection includes a single from Kingdom Hearts 4, the song that played during the RPG’s reveal trailer, but cleaned up and without all the combat sounds and voices.

If you missed out on the vinyl, never fear. YouTuber UmbraMuninn uploaded the track on YouTube for everyone to listen to, and without all the background noise as a distraction, you can pick out a few substantial departures in tone and style compared to the series’ usual airy tunes.

The piece, “Reality in the Dark,” features a heavier, more purposeful sound from the strings section in the beginning, before relying more on brass in a style not dissimilar to Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV. It’s a new sound for Kingdom Hearts, though traces of the main theme’s signature haunting tinkle remain in a few areas.

When we’ll hear more from, or about, Kingdom Hearts 4 is anyone’s guess. Producer Tetsuya Nomura recently dropped a hint that the game had a significant change in direction behind the scenes after the announcement trailer debut, though he didn’t give any indication about what those changes were.

Meanwhile, Square Enix is gearing up to release Final Fantasy 16 for PS5 on June 22, 2023.