Tetsuya Nomura has to watch Kingdom Hearts YouTube videos to keep up with the lore that he helped create

The next Kingdom Hearts game is still a ways off, but series creator Tetsuya Nomura shared a few details about what's in store for Kingdom Hearts 4’s story

Square Enix

The next Kingdom Hearts game is still a ways off, but series creator Tetsuya Nomura shared a few details about what's in store for Kingdom Hearts 4’s story. Nomura made the comments in an interview with Young Jump, where he also said he has to watch Kingdom Hearts videos on YouTube to make sure he stays fresh with the lore. Folks might consider it one of the best RPG series around, but it's not always easy to keep up with.

Kingdom Hearts demands that you remember details from multiple games released across two decades that are, occasionally, a little confusing at the best of times. Even wrestling fans hold up signs complaining about it. Considering Nomura is also still working on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project, another dimension-hopping, mind-bending piece of fiction, it’s a wonder he only sometimes needs the refresher.

• Read more: Square Enix offers a brief tease of the Kingdom Hearts 4 soundtrack

Perhaps that’s why Kingdom Hearts 4 will be different. Nomura said it’s a soft reset for the story, the start of a new saga and one that Square Enix wants to make welcoming for newcomers. So if you don’t know your Xehanort from your Ansem and just like spiky haired heroes and Disney cameos, it sounds like you’re in luck - for a little while, at least. Nomura also said Kingdom Hearts 4 will start moving the series toward its final conclusion.

Kingdom Hearts details from Tetsuya Nomura from his recent Young Jump interview:

- KH4 being made with the intention of new comers to easily jump in

- KH4 story considered a story reset (New Saga)

- Quadratum isn’t a 1:1 of real life Tokyo, described as “feels like a dream,… pic.twitter.com/uRBVMD02cZ

— Cynical (@thegamersjoint) September 18, 2024

Nomura also teased a few small details about Kingdom Hearts 4’s setting. Quadratum – Kingdom Hearts-speak for the Shibuya-like location in the game’s reveal trailer – is a dream based on reality. That means it won’t be a 1:1 recreation of Shibuya like we see in The World Ends With You and probably explains why Sora can run up walls and the presence of monsters in the heart of Tokyo.

Read more: Square Enix promises FF7 Remake Part 3 won’t ‘betray fans of the original’

Finally, Nomura said the line Sora utters in the original Kingdom Hearts, “Is any of this for real or not,” has a deeper meaning that’s important to the broader series. Whether we learn it in Kingdom Hearts 4 is still a mystery, but he did say it will “eventually” be explained.