Aug 172026
After the surprise Kingdom Hearts IV trailer released Friday evening, which revealed the Coco world, I wondered if they would announce more during the Kingdom Hearts panel the next day.
Well, they didn’t reveal another world… but they did have something to share.
It turns out that trailer was the shortened version. During the panel, they followed up by showing the full nearly 4-minute version, and it’s even more exciting.
Note: The trailer and my discussion of it will touch on some Kingdom Hearts 3 spoilers, so if you haven’t played Kingdom Hearts 3 yet, continue on at your own risk!
The extended version starts out the same with the introduction to the Coco world, but then we get to see a longer scene with Sora, Strelitzia, and the character now confirmed to be Vali. After a slightly longer look at gameplay in the Coco world, it then goes to an extended version of the scene with Mickey… and reveals gameplay.
Yes, Kingdom Hearts IV has sections where you will play as Mickey exploring the pages of a book, and it looks like this could be a really inventive part of the game. On top of that, we also see a gameplay section where the player is controlling Donald and Goofy, seemingly able to switch between them. I never counted on these characters getting their own playable sections.
Later on in the trailer, there’s also a new scene of Young Xehanort (although it could be Master Xehanort with his younger self’s appearance) being confronted by a hooded figure who is clearly Luxu/Xigbar. Keeping his face hidden feels suspicious, but it could just be for in-universe reasons.
Finally, Riku’s arrival in Quadratum is revealed at the very end.
This was an exciting trailer, and arguably more exciting was their adamancy that Kingdom Hearts IV will not be delayed past its late 2027 release window. Nomura said outright it will not be delayed, and co-director Tai Yasue doubled down on it by saying it’s not 80% or 90% but “a 100% thing.” That’s a lot of confidence, so it’s good to hear.
Now, I have a decision to make… will I continue to watch Kingdom Hearts IV trailers despite Square Enix’s tendency to include spoilers I’d rather not see ahead of time, or is this the point where I decide I’ve seen enough and stop watching? I’ll need to decide.
What are your thoughts on the full Kingdom Hearts IV trailer?
(And in sad news, it was revealed today that Hayden Panettiere tragically passed away. Since she was the original voice of Kairi, that’s cast a somber shadow over the otherwise upbeat Kingdom Hearts news.)