YMMV / Kingdom Hearts IV

This page contains unmarked spoilers from all previous games. You Have Been Warned!

• Continuity Lock-Out: Strelitzia appears in the announcement trailer to introduce Sora to Quadratum. Until IV is released, good luck knowing who Strelitzia is or why she's important if you've never touched Kingdom Hearts χ.
• Epileptic Trees:
  • Based on what was in the announcement trailer, many speculate that Sora's design will only last as long as he is in Quadratum, similar to how Sora and crew transformed in certain worlds such as Atlantica and Monstropolis. The fact that Goofy and Donald look the same as always when they appear in the trailer's stinger helps fuel the theory. This would later be confirmed by Nomura in a Q&A panel after the anniversary event.
  • While it isn't confirmed yet, many believe that the blue flame that spooks Donald and Goofy in the trailer is that of Hades, and that the two are in the Underworld. In turn, many predicted that Donald and Goofy were there in an attempt to find Sora following his death in Kingdom Hearts III. A press release that confirms that Donald and Goofy are indeed in the Underworld lends further credence to this theory.
  • The resemblance between the forest shots in the trailer and the moon of Endor from Return of the Jedi, combined with a Freeze-Frame Bonus of what appears to be the foot of an AT-ST in one of said shots, has led fans to speculate that IV may feature worlds based on Star Wars and other live-action properties owned by Disney, as well as opening the door to other properties they've acquired like Marvel, The Muppets, and 20th Century Studios.
• Funny Moments:
  • During the reveal trailer, as everyone is fleeing the Darkside that has emerged in Quadratum, there is still one civilian recording the incident on his phone.
  • Donald and Goofy’s over the top reactions to being followed provide some much needed levity.
• Heartwarming Moments: Seeing Donald and Goofy searching for Sora. We knew they had been, but, it's good to see they weren't forgotten about; one concern going forward with some fans was that future games might try to excessively tone down the Disney elements that formed Kingdom Hearts' base. And assuming that is indeed Hades at the end of the trailer, it speaks volumes of their love for Sora that they'd be willing to seek help from someone who has tried to kill them. Thrice.
• I Knew It!: Following the revelations of Kingdom Hearts III: Re𝄌Mind, many players were anticipating that the next major installment of the series was going to be focused on Verum Rex. Indeed Nomura confirmed after the trailer's release of IV that he was going to make Verum Rex, but relented because he didn't want to confuse or worry fans.
  • Other fans speculated, given that it's part of his character to connect to others in some kind of trouble, in addition to her being sighted by the Union leaders in Union χ [cross], that Sora would meet Strelitzia at some point. They likely hadn't predicted that said meeting would be at the start of Kingdom Hearts IV, let alone that IV would be the next major entry in the series.
• Memetic Mutation: Has its own entry in the series' meme page.
• Shocking Moments: The mere announcement of the game could qualify, given that people were expecting at least a few more years and maybe some more spin-offs before any sort of word about a hypothetical fourth numbered game (especially giving the notorious gap between II and III), but a stand-out moment from the trailer has to be the moment where Sora is awakened by Strelitzia in Quadratum.
• Tainted by the Preview:
  • While Nomura confirmed that Sora's new look will only be in effect in Quadratum, it generated some mixed reactions among the fandom. Some love the more realistic and grounded look for Sora, while others think that it lacks the charm of his more cartoon-y designs.
  • The reveal trailer added fuel to the idea (first speculated about in III) that Tetsuya Nomura is trying to recreate something akin to his original vision for Final Fantasy Versus XIII in Kingdom Hearts, which not everyone is fully onboard with.
  • Nomura stating that, because of the game's graphics, the quantity and types of Disney worlds that could be added to the game would be severely limited made the fans quite concerned, as one of the major criticisms of Kingdom Hearts III was its lack of Disney worlds.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The footage shown in the trailer shows off just how far the series has come from its early PS2 days, with Quadratum being a gorgeous and stunningly photo-realistic city. And if that's not impressive enough, the developers have confirmed that the actual gameplay is going to make use of the cutting-edge Unreal Engine 5 (the test footage used Unreal Engine 4 for both cutscenes and gameplay), meaning the actual game is likely to look even better.