Many presumed that Kingdom Hearts 3 would be the epic finale to the everlasting JRPG series. At most, fans had waited over a decade for the successor to Kingdom Hearts 2 to finally release, and even now the story is still not done yet. Even in the wake of both the secret ending and DLC, Kingdom Hearts continues beyond Xehanort’s defeat with Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory. And like any traditional Kingdom Hearts spin-off, this rhythm game has pertinent lore information that’s canon.
With Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory releasing in November and teasers supposedly leaning into the overarching story, the future of Kingdom Hearts is a bit uncertain, but hopeful nonetheless. It’s possible the franchise is entering another interquel season, and Melody of Memory is the first evidence of that. Or perhaps there may be more DLC in store for Kingdom Hearts 3, and Melody of Memory will lead into that. That means there’s plenty more Kingdom Hearts planned for the future, while Sora’s existence hangs in the balance. Fans are likely wondering which direction the series could go now that several of the main antagonists are now gone.
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Judging from the trailers, it seems Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory could be the start of another slew of Kingdom Hearts spin-off games. The Kingdom Hearts series is infamous for this practice, considering between Kingdom Hearts 2 and 3, 10 additional games (seven if re-releases with additional content are not counted) released before Kingdom Hearts 3. Now granted there’s nothing wrong with a spin-off game in a vacuum, but the Kingdom Hearts series released seven different spin-off games, at bare minimum, before beginning development on the next mainline console release.
Now there’s strong indications that Melody of Memory will be pushing the story from where Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind left off. The “additional chapter” seems to be centered on Kairi’s efforts to save Sora, with the former Organization members diving into her heart to find any clues of his whereabouts. Optimistic fans would’ve thought this was a lead-in to another DLC expansion, but in true Kingdom Hearts fashion, the scenes will be tied to a rhythm game spin-off instead. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s no more Kingdom Hearts 3 DLC coming in the future, but considering Square Enix’s past, fans could be headed into spin-off season until Kingdom Hearts 4.
If that’s true, there’s not a whole lot of narrative leg room this time around, so Kingdom Hearts may not necessarily release another 10 games before a mainline release. That’s an exaggeration, but Sora and Riku’s fate at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3‘s original secret ending will be the subject of the next game(s) story. What the ReMind DLC seems to be hinting at is Sora was placed in some kind of pseudo dream world purgatory, where he met Yozora in the Limit Cut Secret Boss.
What’s interesting is Riku seems to have access to this dream world as well, so there could be another Dream Drop Distance scenario ahead. At the moment it’s unclear if the world Yozora and Sora are now placed in is some kind of dream world or real world. There’s theories as to whether this place is truly Shibuya, or if it’s some kind of realm that Yozora is from. It’s clear this world atop the 104 building isn’t a reality, and Yozora’s true homeworld is some kind of reference to Final Fantasy Versus 13. Either way, it seems the story is setting up another rescue attempt by both Kairi and Riku to find Sora in that dream world.
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That kind of adventure would be best left for either a full-size Kingdom Hearts spin-off like Dream Drop Distance, or a fully fledged mainline sequel. As for when to expect that, well, it can’t possibly take another 10 years. That being said, it’s been over a year and there’s already been the ReMind DLC as well as the additional chapter coming in Melody of Memory. The down time between Kingdom Hearts spin-offs from 2012 to 2017 was huge, but considering there’s already been two additional stories, it may not be as long of a wait for another mainline Kingdom Hearts game.
At least, hopefully. The optimism is there based on the last year of content, but there’s still the possibility it could be a while until the next game. At least now it seems there’s a clear and concise direction for the next Kingdom Hearts game(s), without the baggage of Organization 13 and Xehanort’s schemes. It’s a fresh start with Yozora and the Master of Masters, seen in the original Kingdom Hearts 3 secret ending. Of course there’s not much to speculate on in terms of the story ahead, but Kingdom Hearts seems to be on a more straightforward path this time around.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory releases November 11, 2020, on PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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