‘Kingdom Hearts 4’ director Tetsuya Nomura confirms Sora’s realistic look is because he’s in Quadratum

It has been a few days since Square Enix unveiled the first-ever trailer for “Kingdom Hearts 4,” but fans still have too many details and questions to discuss the upcoming game. Luckily, director Tetsuya Nomura offered more information on the next title, especially about Sora’s new look.

Those who have not seen the “Kingdom Hearts 4” announcement trailer yet should be prepared to find Sora in a completely different look. Simply put, the main protagonist appears much more realistic than the familiar character model players have seen throughout the series. In a new interview with Famitsu, translated by content creator @aitaikmochi, Nomura confirmed that the main reason Sora looks different in the “Kingdom Hearts 4” trailer is that he is currently in the Quadratum.

To recap, the “Kingdom Hearts 4” trailer opens with Sora waking up from a week of slumber. He is welcomed by a new character named Strelitzia, who informs him he is in Quadratum. She says Quadratum serves as the afterlife to people who came from the normal world where Sora (and likely Strelitzia as well) originated. And, apparently, Quadratum looks very much like the real world.

By the end of the trailer, Donald and Goofy appear, and they still look the same as in the previous games because, unlike Sora, they are still in the normal “Kingdom Hearts” world. “If [Sora] were to return to his own world, his appearance would look similar to the shaders for Donald and Goofy,” Nomura added.

“Kingdom Hearts 4” will introduce the Lost Master Arc, but details are still, obviously, under wraps. Fans do not know yet if Sora will actually return to his normal world, but it appears that a significant part of the next game will be set in Quadratum. The director said the fancy apartment Sora was in will serve as a “base” at the beginning of the game. While the apartment looked quite empty in the trailer, Nomura said its interior design would change throughout the game’s development.

Before Nomura’s interview was released, aitaikimochi found through online maps the apartment building where Sora’s room was likely based from. At the time, the streamer said the building was located in Aoyama, an upscale neighborhood in Tokyo, which the “Kingdom Hearts 4” director confirmed in the same interview.