What if...Kingdom Hearts Was a Turn-Based RPG?

Kingdom Hearts is one of the most unique and popular RPG titles today. Deftly blending elements of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy franchise with the worlds and characters of various Disney movies, Kingdom Hearts was an off-the-wall crossover that has continued to see plenty of success since its inception in 2002. While there has not been a new game in the series since 2020, Square Enix did confirm that Kingdom Hearts 4 was on the way in April 2022, and fans have waited with bated breath for more news on this title.

While plenty of Kingdom Hearts’ appeal is owed to its combination of Square Enix and Disney, one other noteworthy element of the game is its real-time, action-based gameplay. Compared to several of Square Enix’s other titles, which are turn-based RPGs, Kingdom Hearts’ battle system stands out in its own unique way. The franchise’s natural tendency to stick with a real-time battle system, though, begs the question of what the franchise would look like if it pursued a turn-based direction in a future title.

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By LB Beistad

Kingdom Hearts Would Look Very Different If It Was Turn-Based

Part of Kingdom Hearts’ Identity Is Its Action Gameplay

If Kingdom Hearts were a turn-based RPG, the overall gameplay would look vastly different from what gamers currently have. Kingdom Hearts is often indebted to its reputation for having “button-mashing” action combat, and a turn-based RPG would thereby not retain such gameplay. As a matter of fact, the gameplay would appear much closer to that of the then-contemporary entries in the franchise it pulls the heaviest from: Final Fantasy.

Up until its most recent entries, Final Fantasy’s mainline entries have largely been known for having turn-based gameplay styles as opposed to the real-time battles seen in Kingdom Hearts. Had Kingdom Hearts debuted over 20 years ago as a turn-based game, it likely would've built on systems first brought forward in the Final Fantasy series. Considering that its original release came within a year of Final Fantasy X, it may have lost some of its appeal, appearing to casual gamers as little more than another Final Fantasy game with a Disney skin on top of it.

Turn-Based Kingdom Hearts May Have Given Fans Something The Current Games Haven't

That said, if Square Enix had taken Kingdom Hearts in a turn-based direction, it could've done one thing the current games don't do: allow players to control Donald and Goofy. While series protagonist Sora travels alongside these iconic Disney characters in the game, none of the mainline titles have allowed Sora to play as them. In a turn-based RPG, the developers would've more liked given players a traditional party system that allowed them to control Donald and Goofy, alongside any other Disney characters that show up in the adventure, such as Tarzan, Beast, and Aladdin.

Kingdom Hearts already has plenty of random encounters with Heartless as you traverse its worlds, and a turn-based title would likely have done the same. With that said, the scale of the battles may have to be just a touch smaller, as the current random encounter battles are loaded with an abundance of Heartless. In a turn-based setting, the sheer number of Heartless Sora and the gang fight would likely have to be decreased, as would the frequency of their appearances.

Kingdom Hearts is often indebted to its reputation for having “button-mashing” action combat, and a turn-based RPG would thereby not retain such gameplay.

Kingdom Hearts’ Story Would Largely Look The Same

A turn-based Kingdom Hearts game would probably not have to drastically overhaul the story or remove the sheer level of detail Square Enix puts into it already. After all, the aforementioned Final Fantasy X never had to compromise on its storytelling or cutscene length as a result of being a turn-based title. As Kingdom Hearts has become notable, at times even notorious, for the depth of its story, a turn-based game would probably not have had to compromise on the chaos of its writing.

From a gameplay perspective, though, the Kingdom Hearts franchise would look a lot different if it took on a turn-based direction. While it may have solved some issues fans have had with modern entries, such as being unable to play as the Disney characters, its proximity to another major Square Enix title may have gotten it lost in the pack for some. Kingdom Hearts as a franchise is nevertheless special in its own right and has certainly continued to stand out in a crowded RPG market.

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