While the Kingdom Hearts series started off as a bit of a risk heavily reliant on the name value of Final Fantasy and Disney characters, the series has now cemented itself as one of Square Enix’s most popular franchises. After the long awaited release of Kingdom Hearts 3 a few years ago revitalized the series, Square Enix surprised many with the announcement of Kingdom Hearts 4 earlier this year. Fans though were a bit disappointed with the lack of Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts 3. Now, the series’s creator has provided some updates on the potential return of Disney and Final Fantasy characters in the upcoming sequel.

GameInformer recently published an interview they conducted with Kingdom Hearts 4 director Tetsuya Nomura about the series’ recent past and future. During the interview, Nomura acknowledged fan disappointment about Kingdom Hearts III having barely any Final Fantasy characters. Nomura suggested that Final Fantasy characters were originally included in the first Kingdom Hearts games to help the players connect with the original KH characters. Since then, the Kingdom Hearts series has gained so many original characters, that leaves little necessity for the Final Fantasy characters to appear. As for Kingdom Hearts 4, here is what Nomura had to say about the potential return of Final Fantasy character inclusions:

With Kingdom Hearts III, since we did have so many original Kingdom Hearts characters, it was hard to find room for including more Final Fantasy characters. We’re trying to find a good balance for that. I know that some fans were concerned about that and weren’t too happy and wanted to see more Final Fantasy characters. That’s something we definitely are thinking about. But just with the sheer number of original characters that we have now, it’s hard to say what the exact balance is going to be and how it will play out in Kingdom Hearts IV. We can’t really give you a firm reply on this just yet.”

Nomura also takes the time during the interview to confirm that Disney worlds and characters will indeed by included in Kingdom Hearts 4. The reveal trailer for the game noticeably only took place in the real world-like Quadratum setting, leaving many to wonder if the Disney elements might still be present. The director also mentioned that Disney was quite excited to have Sora appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a fighter, and that he himself had more concerns than Disney or Square Enix. While Kingdom Hearts 4 is still likely years away from release, hopefully these tidbits of info help ease fan worries about the series losing its heart. Or darkness. Or light. Or dreams. Or 358/2. Whatever that means.

What do you guys think about these comments from Tetsuya Nomura about Disney and Final Fantasy characters potentially being in Kingdom Hearts 4? Let us know in the comments below! Be sure to say tuned for the latest Square Enix news, such as the stunning new Final Fantasy XVI screenshots, here on Don’t Feed the Gamers! Follow us on Twitter to see our updates the minute they go live!