Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts 4 had a pretty busy weekend at D23, as bizarre as that sounds after years of silence, but suffice it to say that its extended trailer looked very good. Aside from featuring King Mickey in his own playable actions, it confirmed that Donald and Goofy would be playable for the first time in the series.
In the now-private Deep Dive panel (transcription via GamesRadar), co-director Tai Yasue provided more information on Mickey’s gameplay, saying it was a “sort of puzzle-based game design that’s very different from Sora’s adventure, and I think it’s really refreshing and interesting.”
As showcased in the trailer, Mickey ventures inside a book and effectively explores a paper world. Besides navigating a 2D side-scrolling plane, he also harnesses the paper to turn into a giant, smashing through walls.
Yasue noted that Mickey is actually creating “origami paper copies of himself,” including “paper-thin Mickeys, giant Mickeys, a tiny Mickey, and box Mickeys. When you’re a paper-thin Mickey, [you can] go through the cracks in the walls, for example. If you throw him, he becomes a paper airplane [and] you fly around. And by utilizing these special abilities of these copies of origami Mickeys, you can solve puzzles.”
It’s very intriguing, and provides a nice counterbalance to the more combat-heavy sections that Sora (and now Donald and Goofy) will engage with. Kingdom Hearts has always pushed gameplay mechanics that fit the Disney worlds, so seeing something more puzzle-focused is a breath of fresh air for the franchise.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is slated to launch in late 2027 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. And while that might give some fans pause or make them fear a delay, director Tetsuya Nomura assures that won’t happen.
