From the beginning,Kingdom Heartswas built on a crossover between Disney and Square Enix.Final Fantasyand animated Disney characters were interwoven throughout the game, appearing in all manner of locations.Final Fantasy 7’s Cloud Strife and Sephiroth showed up inHercules' Olympus Coliseum, while Squall fromFinal Fantasy 8and part of theFF7party appeared alongside Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Merlin, and the Fairy Godmother in Traverse Town. It was a strange concept, but somehow worked, and propelledKingdom Heartsto massive success.
However, as the series continued, what these two components brought to the crossover changed. On Disney’s end, live-action and Pixar movies also integrated into the series much like their 2D predecessors. Square Enix provided the occasional new crossover likeThe World Ends With YouinKingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, but its existing properties took a back seat. With the ever-growing number of originalKingdom Heartscharacters, it was deemed thatFinal Fantasywas no longer an essential part ofKingdom Heartscrossover nature, and the oldFFcast was marginalized. There’s no sign that this will change, but there may be other ways to bringKingdom HeartsandFinal Fantasytogether.
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Sora Can Follow Final Fantasy Wherever It Goes
The contents of theSuper Smash Bros. UltimateFighters Passes need little introduction. Not counting Piranha Plant, a whopping eleven characters from throughout the video game industry were added to the game. Both Passes were filled with surprises, but the second one held major boons for Square Enix fans.Sephiroth was added halfway through Fighters Pass 2, and he brought with him the CGI trailer Cloud never got, a stage that remade the ending ofFinal Fantasy 7, and many songs that fans felt were missing from Cloud’sSmash 4addition. Even though it felt odd to some thatFinal Fantasy 7got two representatives,FF7fans were too busy celebrating to care.
That sentiment was repeated whenKingdom Hearts' own Sora closed outSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate’s DLC. It felt fitting to have a character predicated on crossovers close out the largest gaming crossover thus far. Not only that, butSora was finally reunited with Cloudand Sephiroth, who both featured prominently inKingdom Hearts’ early days before disappearing almost entirely. Sephiroth is an iconic bonus boss inKingdom Hearts 1and2, and is also the focus of a subplot involving the light and darkness in Cloud’s heart. This story thread has been left hanging to the chagrin of fans, but they got the chance to act out the ending themselves inSmash. This reuniting of franchises felt almost poetic, and Square Enix should try to emulate it itself.
Final Fantasy Has Room for Kingdom Hearts Cameos
If Square Enix can make use of the parts ofKingdom Heartsthat they own, or reach some form of agreement with Disney, then Sora and friends could visit other Square Enix games. Most notably, Sora could show up in later parts ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake. This would probably be limited to the VR combat trials, but it would still be fun to have Sora reunited with theFF7party in a context where they could talk. TheFF7 Remaketrilogy already seems to be dealing with alternate timelines, so a simulated incursion from another world isn’t too far-fetched. Besides,Dirge of Cerberus' Deepground has already been integrated into the story, andCrisis Core’s Genesis Rhapsodosis likely to follow. A Sora cameo may not even be the most ridiculous sight by the time the series concludes.
There are other avenues for Sora to travel on as well.Final Fantasy 14comes to mind first, as the MMO already has a pattern of otherFinal Fantasyprotagonists falling through portals into Eorzea. Considering thatNieR: Automatagot an entire raid series devoted to itself, having Sora appear for a quest similar to theMonster HunterRathalos event wouldn’t be out of line. And, given the series’ existing gameplay ties,Dissidia Final Fantasyfans would be happy to have Sora inthe next bigDissidiaproject. Sora appearing in otherFinal Fantasyprojects may be hit or miss, but it would still be nice to see him, even if it’s just a small reference like a Keyblade weapon.Smash Bros.has proven that legal red tape isn’t as big of a concern forKingdom Heartscameos as many thought, so Square Enix should take a chance on expanding its crossover franchise a bit more.
