Final Fantasy 7 Remakesaw Cloud’s leadership style emphasizing the efforts of the team, allowing players to swap between its varying party members during combat.Kingdom Hearts 4could benefit from similar qualities, letting its supporting cast aidSoramore directly.
TheKingdom Heartsseries has always emphasized the power of friendship through its narrative, with party members being a core component of combat. The iconic trio of Sora, Donald, and Goofy provide balance to one another not just through their personalities, but in their combat specialties. Though the player can choose Sora’s stat focus at the start of many games between an emphasis on magic, defense, or an equilibrium between the two, Donald and Goofy’s presence makes it so that the staff, shield, and Keyblade are all equally important to success.Kingdom Hearts 4will almost certainly see this team return, though its approach to the trinity could differ from its predecessors.
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Controllable Party Members Could Shake Up Kingdom Hearts 4’s Combat
While the trio makes for a competent team in fighting off enemies throughoutKingdom Hearts, issues have lingered regarding their AI. Complaints about Donald’s healing, or lack thereof, have set the stage for many jokes. Though the series has offered slight remedies in these respects, offering players the chance to customize the behavior of party members' abilities, combat style, and recovery focuses, the question arises whether futureKingdom Heartstitles could benefit from a similar combat style present inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake.
Final Fantasy 7 Remakeblended its real-time combat with the ATB gauge, allowing for nuance in battle that relied on both skill and strategy. Bolstering this system was the ability for players to switch between supporting characters at a moment’s notice, making it so that Cloud’s efforts weren’t the sole focus. TheFF7Rsupporting cast feature a bevvy of skills with increased applicability among certain enemies, meaning for both normal enemy and boss encounters, switching betweenBarret, Tifa, and Aerithwas vital. The player was able to experiment with attacks and weaponry beyond Cloud’s buster sword, adapting to the different play styles of each character.
Cloud’s leadership style inFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeemphasized just how important the efforts of the group were in battle; switching between its cast in combat further aided the cinematic qualities of the game, making its fights feel high-stakes through the collaborative efforts of the team. In instances where only certain party members were present, likeCloud and Aerithfighting as a duo through the collapsed expressway, the ability to swap between them felt conducive to the narrative. AsKingdom Hearts 4suggests there will be instances where Sora fights alone as Donald and Goofy search for him, their reunion could be made all the more impactful using similar methods.
Rather than showing Donald and Goofy searching for Sora through cutscenes alone,KH4could benefit from letting the player assume their roles in combat, making it so that the characters' efforts to find their friend corresponds with the player’s input. This would also allow for the continuation of switching party members as the team regroups, strengthening variety across the title. AsKingdom Hearts 4will undoubtedly include more Disney and original worldsfor Sora and the team to traverse, visiting party members could tie into this system as well; reaction commands for guests could differ depending on whether the player is controlling Sora, Donald, or Goofy, causing battle to feel more dynamic.
Kingdom Hearts 4is currently in development.
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