Highlights

• Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts 4 faces pressure to improve on Arendelle from Kingdom Hearts 3 if another Frozen world happens.
• Gamers were disappointed by the lackluster depiction of Frozen in KH3, with issues like repetitive gameplay, a lack of story impact from Sora and the gang, and missed companion opportunities.
• With Frozen 3 on the horizon, Kingdom Hearts 4 has an obvious opportunity to redeem Arendelle's reputation and incorporate new content for players, possibly from Frozen 2.

Creating widely accepted video game adaptations of beloved pieces of animation is a tall task for even the most talented developers, as capturing the childlike magic of legendary movie franchises like Toy Story and Rapunzel in a console setting can prove rather challenging. Despite these long odds, Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series has amassed an impressive following with its enthralling adventures. That isn't to say there haven't been bumps along the franchise's climb to success, as Kingdom Hearts 3's implementation of the Frozen saga in Arendelle had fans of Elsa's icy tale clutching metaphorical pearls in anger. Although there's no official release date for Kingdom Hearts 4 yet, the excitement surrounding the upcoming Frozen movie gives Square Enix ample reason to revamp one of its worst worlds in the next installment.

Kingdom Hearts, for all its success, has had its fair share of disappointments; from incessant backtracking in the Tarzan-inspired Deep Jungle in KH1 to the lackluster Arendelle in Kingdom Hearts 3. Given that Frozen has grown into one of Walt Disney's most influential projects since the first movie made its debut in 2013, with a third movie slated for a 2026 release, Kingdom Hearts 4 is in a prime position to rework KH3's disappointing adaptation of the franchise's icy landscape so that its full potential can be realized.

Kingdom Hearts 4 Has a Golden Opportunity to Right KH3's Wrongs

There are always areas for improvement in video games, and there's scarcely a Kingdom Hearts realm that couldn't use a touch-up or two in the next installment to keep fans happy. However, in the case of Frozen, there's a sense that the KH3 world presented players with just about the worst experience in the Square Enix franchise.

Arendelle's Depiction in Kingdom Hearts 3 Didn't Capture Elsa's Magic

Locations such as the Ice Castle formed a core component of the 2013 film's charm, and there was palpable excitement when a Kingdom Hearts world based on Frozen, Arendelle, was first teased at E3 in 2018. Unfortunately, Kingdom Hearts 3's adaptation did not live up to expectations. Problems ranging from unappealing level design to repetitive minigames plagued Arendelle's landscape. Climbing the snowy mountain dominated the world's gameplay and got old quickly, and the ice dungeon had no semblance of the source material, with it fealing like most of the time and resources alloted for this world went into recreating the "Let It Go" cinematic.

Additionally, immersion is one of Kingdom Hearts' traditional strong points, but Arendelle only allowed players to glimpse Elsa's Ice Castle from the exterior without exploring its nooks and crannies. These issues were compounded by Square Enix's party member selection in Snowball. Some of the most popular party members in the Kingdom Hearts franchise have been headliners like Jack Sparrow, Rapunzel, and Buzz Lightyear. However, KH3 pivoted from this successful dynamic in Elsa's case, neglecting to add the Frozen protagonist to the playable lineup. Also, players couldn't impact Frozen's story in Kingdom Hearts 3, which was essentially a retelling of the film - albeit without Hans.

Frozen 3's Hype Cycle Could Inspire a Better Snow Experience in Kingdom Hearts 4

Naturally, this decision created a disconnect and gave Arendelle an overwhelmingly negative perception among fans. Despite the plethora of issues, Square Enix can turn its ill fortunes in the icy heartland around in Kingdom Hearts 4. With the third iteration of the Frozen franchise set to grace the silver screen in 2026, there's an opportunity for Kingdom Hearts 4 to do what KH3 failed to and leverage Frozen's expanded lore from the second (and possibly third) movies, allowing fans to interact more meaningfully with the overarching storyline.

If Kingdom Hearts 4 releases next year as many expect, that also gives Square Enix a window to include some of Frozen 3's content through DLC, taking advantage of the hype around the next chapter in Elsa's tale. Presumably, Kingdom Hearts 3's reluctance to let players interact with the Frozen story was to prevent tampering with sequels, but that problem no longer exists for KH4, at least in regard to Frozen 2.

Freed from such restrictions, Kingdom Hearts 4's Arendelle depiction should fare better than its predecessor - assuming Square Enix fixes the other issues that plagued KH3. However, indisputably, the developer has more than enough commercial motivation to right its wrongs, and it stands to reason that Kingdom Hearts 4 will attempt to redeem Arendelle's reputation to some degree.