Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts has long been the beloved, if complicated, love child of Disney and Final Fantasy. With Kingdom Hearts 4 deep in development, it’s a poorly kept secret that Star Wars will be included in the game in some form.
As one of Disney’s biggest properties, Star Wars’ inclusion is as obvious as Pirates of the Caribbean was back in 2005. Alongside the addition of Marvel, the world of Jedi and Sith is all but guaranteed to play a considerable part of the next Kingdom Hearts game, but should it?
While some balk at the idea of Star Wars finding its way into a playful universe populated by Disney characters, it’s actually the series that fits the most with Kingdom Hearts’ narrative. At its core, Star Wars is a battle of light vs dark with its characters attempting to redeem themselves and their darkest enemies.
Star Wars: Episode IX — Return of the Jedi ends with Darth Vader fighting the darkness in his heart and turning to the Light Side to protect his son. Sure, it turns out that Vader’s sacrifice meant very little as Palpatine is simply chilling out at Exegol for 30 years, but at the time it was the heartwarming pulp ending we expected. It also happens to be one of the most Kingdom Hearts endings ever.
In the KH franchise, big-shoed protagonist Sora’s entire deal is attempting to convert people over to the light side. Instead of joining Organisation XII, Sora wants everyone to be his friend and fight for the good of the universe. He even fights to stop a giant space structure like the Death Star, only it’s made of hearts and we’re not quite sure what it actually does.
On top of this, Kingdom Hearts’ combat also fits Star Wars, albeit in an over-the-top way. The chunky keyblade could easily be swapped for a lightsaber, actual magic exists in both franchises and Sora can jump, flip and dash with all the grace of a Jedi Knight hopped up on death sticks.
As for enemies, the standard Heartless wouldn’t look too out of place in a Star Wars game. Simply give them sack cloaks and they’d look pretty similar to a Jawa. Or they could possess Ewoks on Endor and real fun could ensue.
In a franchise where we’ve gone to TRON twice, the addition of Star Wars doesn’t seem too far out there. However, with so many Star Wars games already released, can Kingdom Hearts 4 create a better story than Jedi Survivor or Star Wars Squadrons?
There’s no Kingdom Hearts 4 release date at the time of writing, and it’s been two years since the game was announced. Hopefully, we see more of Square Enix’s in the near future.