A few years ago, it might not have been a question whether or notFinal Fantasycharacters would make an appearance in a numberedKingdom Heartstitle. However, with the release ofKingdom Hearts 3has proven that Square Enix isn’t afraid to leave theFinal Fantasyaspect of the seriesbehind for future installments.
That being said, the initial backlash from having omitted theFinal Fantasycharacters fromKingdom Hearts 3eventually led to them being reintroduced during theRe:MindDLC. So, while there has been a pattern of leaving these fan-favorite characters out of the last few games, Square Enix may have learned a lesson about their inclusion in the wake of the most recent title.
The Last Kingdom Hearts to Prominently Feature Final Fantasy Characters
One thing that likely caught Square Enix off guard when fans voiced criticisms that theFinal Fantasycharacters had been omitted inKingdom Hearts 3is the fact that these characters had been gone for a while. Depending on how players see all of the extendedKingdom Heartsspin-offsand Final Mix rereleases, the last game in the series to feature anyone fromFinal FantasywasBirth By Sleep. Even in this case, it was a short cameo of Zack at Olympus Coliseum that constituted the entire representation of the franchise throughout the entire game.
Since then,Dream Drop Distanceand the various versions ofUnion Xnever included any characters that were specifically from theFinal Fantasyseries. The characters fromThe World Ends With Youact as the extended canon of Square Enix’s original series that appeared inDream Drop Distance, but no major characters from the flagship franchise. Looking at the situation from the perspective of how long it had been since these characters had appeared, it makes somewhat makes sense thatKingdom Hearts 3would be fine with dropping these extras altogether.
Re:Mind Reintroducing Final Fantasy
Well, as much as Square Enix thought that previous games had primed players to not seeFinal Fantasyplayers appear, the lack of these characters is still a major criticism to the story ofKingdom Hearts 3. As a result, a selection of these characters were later added to the game through theRe:MindDLCthat acts as the Final Mix upgrade for the first title to release in the era of online add-ons. It was only a handful of returning members that had found a home in Radiant Garden inKingdom Hearts 2, but they were at least there this time.
This reintroduction garnered its own backlash, with fans claiming that the short cutscene and limited available dialogue was too little too late. As understandable as it had been thatKingdom Heartshad moved on from includingFinal Fantasycharacters based on previous titles, they had still been a major draw for fans of the Square Enix side of the series. Additionally, there are a few ongoing storylines going on in this section of the series' lore, with the final fight betweenCloud and Sephirothhaving been teased as far back asKingdom Hearts 2.
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Kingdom Hearts 4
It would be difficult to imagine that these characters would be left out ofKingdom Hearts 4, especially given thehints ofFinal Fantasy Versus 13’sYozora connection. Combining what the series has been setting up in the last few releases with the backlash of leaving the characters out ofKingdom Hearts 3, and Square Enix is essentially guaranteed to keep them in the story moving forward. Fans might still have to wait for some time before the games get back to anything involving Cloud and Sephiroth, but Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith will certainly be returning.
There might be some theories to imply that the newly introducedWorld of Fiction could involveFinal Fantasy, but much of what is planned there is still up to speculation. So, it’s entirely possible that Square Enix will make a complete reversal ofKingdom Hearts 3and make theFinal Fantasycharacters into an integral part of the story. Seeing that these combining franchises are still one of the biggest draws to the series, players can only hope for now thatKingdom Hearts 4is able to make up for the previous title.
Kingdom Hearts 3is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
