It’s finally here! Kingdom Hearts 3! For those who may be new to the series, Kingdom Hearts is a series filled with Disney characters and worlds that Sora, Donald, and Goofy come across in their adventures. As you fight to defeat the darkness, players will have the chance to visit old worlds AND new worlds based off of both Disney and (for the first time) Pixar films! And while Kingdom Hearts 3 may wrap up the main storyline, the franchise is so beloved that there is a possibility that more games could be developed down the line. Now that Disney has acquired Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm properties, the characters and places that can be explored in Kingdom Hearts is endless! Here are just a few ideas of what we’d like to see in the next installment!
Worlds
Knowhere
Throughout the series, story encounters don’t just occur solely on the worlds. They can also happen in space. In the original Kingdom Hearts, you and your crew are flying between worlds, when suddenly Monstro (the whale from Pinnochio) appears and devours you and your ship whole. I believe a similar encounter would be perfect for bringing Guardians of the Galaxy into the franchise. Sora, Donald, and Goofy are cruising in their Gummy Ship when it suddenly stops. The ship is then immediately pulled from its current course and is drawn into an unfamiliar sector of space: Knowhere. While in this world, players would fight together alongside the Guardians in stopping the Heartless from taking over the spaceport. A team of Groot and Rocket would be the added party members for this world. Likewise, you would have the chance to fight alongside Gamora, Star Lord, Drax, and Mantis in other stages of Knowwhere before defeating the final Heartless boss. This world would have a lot of fun spaceship combat, as well as some cool team-up fights with our favorite Guardians. The Keyblade you would receive after completing Knowhere would be “We Are Groot”, and would resemble a combination of tree and tech, visually reminding the player of Rocket and Groot.
The Bayou
We’ve seen throughout Kingdom Hearts that sometimes Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s appearances change depending on which world they’re in. In Halloween Town (The Nightmare Before Christmas), they get a spooky costume change, and even in the Pride Lands (The Lion King), they take on animal forms. Now, picture our three heroes…as frogs (or maybe just Sora as a frog, and Donald as a duck and Goofy as a turtle again)! The Princess and the Frog would be a great setting for another world in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Our heroes would find themselves transformed into animals by none other than Dr. Facilier himself. Not soon after, they are tossed into the Bayou to “meet their demise”. Upon exploring, you would run into Tiana and Naveen who are trying to break the spell that was cast upon them as well. Together with your new amphibian friends, you would fight the Heartless and Nobodies that emerge from the Bayou. The adventure would culminate in an epic battle against Dr. Facilier and his “friends from the other side”. Finally, when it seems like all hope is lost, Tiana’s kiss breaks the spell on everyone! The Keyblade Sora would receive after completing The Bayou would be “Evangeline”, and would be a winding design of water lilies, greenery, and a cluster of firefly light.
Star Wars
Disney not only has access to the Marvel and Pixar properties but Star Wars as well! Personally, I can see Square Enix adding Marvel characters and stories before our beloved Lucasfilm heroes. But this article is about imagination! Similar to the Knowhere World pitched above, Sora and his crew could easily find themselves in front of the Death Star. You could even have Goofy or Donald saying the classic line “That’s no moon”. Likewise, during their escape from the space station, our heroes could meet up with Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, C3PO, and R2-D2. And who doesn’t want to fight Heartless in a time-trial trash compactor level? Another great Star Wars World worthy of some Kingdom Hearts exploration would be Endor. I don’t know about you, but I can definitely see Sora fighting alongside Ewoks. Finally, the Keyblade for any of the Star Wars World would absolutely be lightsaber inspired. We’ve seen Kingdom Hearts explore live-action film properties in the past with The Pirates of the Caribbean levels. So, to see the likenesses of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, or even the late Carrie Fisher, is not out of reason. Will we find future games in a galaxy far, far, away? Only time will tell!
Endor from Star Wars Battlefront (2015)
Summons
One fun combat feature in the Kingdom Hearts games are the Summon characters. Sora has the ability to Summon an assortment of characters from the Disney Universe that can help him in battle. These quick cameos are not only fun but also pack a punch! Here are a few ideas for characters we’d love to see Summoned in future games.
Mary Poppins
Arguably, one of THE most powerful characters in the Disney Universe, Mary Poppins would be an excellent Summon character added to the franchise. As soon as you Summon her, she flies down with her umbrella and lands beside Sora. During your fight alongside her, she distributes MP to you while dealing ranged damage to enemies. Furthermore, in Mary Poppins final summoning move, the Carousel Horses appear (from the”Jolly Holiday” scene) and she and Sora ride and stomp out enemies! Her Summon is finished with her disappearing into magic followed by the line, “Practically Perfect in Every Way”.
The Avengers
Speaking of integrating more Marvel into Kingdom Hearts, adding the Avengers as a Summon would be Infinite-ly awesome (get it?). Once summoned, Sora would be greeted one at a time by Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye as they each deal a devastating blow to the Heartless around them. These attacks would vary from ranged (Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye), to some quick melee hits (Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow). The Summon would culminate in the Avengers forming their trademark cinematic circle (now joined by Sora), and releasing a powerful burst of energy that wipes out the remaining enemies around you! And of course, with that awesome Avengers Theme scoring the attack the entire time!
Wall-E and Eve
It’s really fun to see the franchise expanding with Toy Story and Monsters Inc. Worlds! However, there are so many more incredible Pixar stories and characters to explore. Two Pixar characters that would be out of this world as a Summoning duo are Wall-E and Eve. Who wouldn’t want to fight alongside the world’s cutest trash compacting and Hello Dolly! loving robot? Once summoned, Wall-E would appear at your side, and then proceed to “clean up” the enemies that lay in your path. As he cutely deals destruction, he would also be dropping off a lot of HP for you to collect. And the finale of the Summon would be tossing Wall-E up into the air, only to be caught by Eve as they recreate the “Define Dancing” moment around you (dropping off more items & HP) before taking off back into the stars.
Overall
There are so many different Disney properties that Square Enix could explore. This piece could honestly be much longer, and even include more obscure worlds based on properties that the company owns. However, the future of the Kingdom Hearts series remains uncertain. Will there be other games that are released in this beloved series? Could we possibly see new worlds and characters in those future games? Or is this the ending of Kingdom Hearts? Only time will tell, but to quote Cinderella, “Well, there’s one thing: they can’t order me to stop dreaming”.
Which worlds and characters would YOU want to see added to the Kingdom Hearts Universe? Let us know in the comments below!
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