Kingdom Heartsbrought the big guns to its 20th anniversary, returning with two big reveals. In addition to another mainline entry,Square Enixalso teased a mobile title,Missing-Link. Both of these titles look immensely enjoyable on the surface level. As with anyKingdom Heartsgame, though, there’s more than meets the eye.
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This series has a plethora of plot threads, particularly in this prequel era. It’s no surprise thatMissing-Linkseeks to add more. The trailer offers several small clues to what the narrative may go or which characters/concepts may pop up. As usual, players might be too confused to notice them all, but that won’t stop them from speculating right up until the release date.
This seems to be the main setting of the game. Scala ad Caelum is the city from the end ofKingdom Hearts 3, but its origins stretch back much further. A place called Daybreak Town once existed here, but a universal catastrophe caused immense flooding. The survivors built the new city on top of the preexisting foundation.
Players see this inKingdom Hearts Union χ. The title “Missing-Link” and the taglines within the trailer indicate bridging the gap. This could possibly mean the time between the aforementionedχgame and later entries likeDark Road.
6A Heroic Image
At one point, the trailer’s hero gazes at a statue depicting a mysterious youth holding a Keyblade. This is Ephemer, a leading figure inUnion χ. He sought to uncover the secrets of the universe, questioning the will of higher powers likethe Master of Masters and Book of Prophecies. His journey eventually led to him founding Scala ad Caelum.
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Such exploits prompted his followers to erect this statue in his honor. This further cements the game’s setting. It obviously takes place after the aforementionedχ, firmly within the restored city.
5Xehanort’s Keyblade
The Keyblade with the creepy eye is immediately recognizable, asXehanort uses it to inflict untold misery throughout theKingdom Heartsseries. He’s not the wielder here, though. Instead, a mysterious hooded figure holds it. Who is he?
Fans' first thought might be the Master of Masters, the enigmatic manipulator fromBack Cover. However, this game occurs long after he vanished. It could be his loser disciple, Luxu, but he lost this Keyblade to Xehanort. Because of that,Missing-Linkis probably set beforeDark Road, where the villain learns to wield the mystical weapon.
4D-Links
The combat ofMissing-Linkappears mostly unchanged fromKingdom Hearts 3, but the hero occasionally conjures images of the series' other characters before performing the attacks of said characters. Essentially, players will call on these figures to shift combat styles and execute special moves. This brings back a mechanic long thought forgotten.
Namely, it echoes the D-Links fromBirth by Sleep. Here,players can briefly channel the characters they meet along their journey. This not only alters how they fight, but also gifts them new abilities. It’s a gimmick that quickly vanished from the franchise, butMissing-Linkbrings it back. That’s probably due to the word “link” in the title, as it makes no sense from a narrative standpoint. The characters summoned aren’t even born yet.
3An Old Bedtime Story
The trailer’s narration recounts the tale of how the universe came into being. It began in darkness, and a precious light was found. People coveted that light, leading to a destructive clash. They then rebuilt and repopulated. Considering the setting of Scala ad Caelum, this story’s presence is appropriate.
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What lends it greater importance is that it’s the same legend that Kairi’s grandmother related to her. It’s featured so heavily here that one wonders ifMissing-Linkwill tie into either character.Kairiis key (pun intended) to the series going forward, so this game’s events might affect the modern narrative in that way. It’s similar to howBirth by Sleepset the stage for Xehanort to clash with Sora and company.
2Corona
In addition to Scala ad Caelum, the hero also fights in a forest area. Players may recognize this as the kingdom of Corona fromTangled. Sora and friends spend time both fighting and frolicking here inKingdom Hearts 3.
It’s unclear what significance it has to this story, especially in the prequel context. The game is obviously set too far back to involve Rapunzel or any other movie characters (with the possible exception of Mother Gothel). Then again, the environment may be meaningless to the narrative. The gamealready uses many assets fromKH3. Therefore, Corona could serve as nothing more than an arena.
1Multiplayer
Blink and you miss it, butMissing-Linklooks to take advantage of mobile accessibility. Duringthe battle with Darkside, viewers can spot another Keyblade wielder in the bottom-right corner of the screen. No party members exist anywhere else in the footage, so this individual could be another player.
Introducing multiplayer intoKingdom Heartswould be a simple, yet, sizable leap in gameplay. The closest the series had come up to this point was acknowledging all theUnion χplayers during the climax ofKH3. How wellthis hack-and-slash combat translates to team-based gameplayremains to be seen. The franchise’s flashiness is chaotic enough with just one player.
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