An extremely obscure bit of text in Kingdom Hearts 3 may provide some hints as to the future of the series. While it’s easy to dismiss this bit of text as filler at first glance, several major signs indicate that this could very well set the scene for Kingdom Hearts 4.
The secret ending of Kingdom Hearts 3 reveals that Sora isn’t quite dead following the moment when he vaporizes during the game’s normal ending. Instead, he has arrived in a city that looks very much like Tokyo. As he wanders the city, he is watched by Yozora, a mysterious newcomer with unknown motivations. The DLC epilogue Re Mind gave Sora a fierce battle against Yozora, but whether he wins or loses, Sora doesn’t learn why Yozora is targeting him. Later on, during the ending of Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, Riku learns that Sora is in a bizarre world named Quadratum.
The text in question appears on the back of the Verum Rex video game box, which features Yozora and appears in the Toy Story section of Kingdom Hearts 3. The box has some amusing details that evoke classic Final Fantasy games. In addition to supposed in-game screenshots that resemble those seen in games like Final Fantasy 7, the game is published by Square Enix. This hilariously confirms that Square Enix exists within Sora’s universe, adding yet another wrinkle to Kingdom Hearts‘ convoluted storytelling.
The back of the box mentions that robots play an important role in Quadratum, but humans will have their “KARMA” accelerate as a result. It’s unclear whether “KARMA” in this case is literal karma, or some other in-universe term. If literal, karma could be a new framing for the Kingdom Hearts series’ discussion of light and darkness. After all, at this point, Sora and friends have evolved as people, and could be said to have accrued good and bad karma. Alternately, “KARMA” could be a new game mechanic, like Final Fantasy 7‘s Materia.
The focus on robots may call back to one of the more confusing plot points in the Kingdom Hearts series, namely data and artificial beings. A major plot point in Kingdom Hearts Re:coded for the Nintendo DS was that a digital clone of Sora, known as Data-Sora, grew his own heart, signifying his person-hood. While the box art evokes pilotable mechas, rather than sentient robots, it’s possible that robots may be become major characters, helping players better understand how data works in this universe.
Finally, much of the text evokes Sora’s journey, suggesting that perhaps Sora was always fated to meet Yozora at some point. Phrases like “what is [an] eternal bond” and “a journey without a place to return” speak to the challenge Sora currently faces. After all, he has never been farther from his friends than he is in Quadratum. While he will hopefully return home at some point in the future, for the time being, he certainly faces a journey without a place to return.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is available now on PS4 and Xbox One, with a PC release set for March 30th, 2021.
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