'Kingdom Hearts 4' could "feel slightly different" from previous titles.
Director Tetsuya Nomura has teased what fans can expect from the upcoming game, with its reveal trailer showing a more realistic art style along with a modern-day setting and new characters.
He told GameInformer: "With regards to 'Kingdom Hearts IV', players are definitely going to see a few Disney worlds in there.
"I just want to mention that they don't need to worry so much about this aspect of the game.
"It might feel slightly different from previous 'Kingdom Hearts' titles, but once players have had a chance to play the game, I'm sure they'll be relieved to find that it is definitely a 'Kingdom Hearts' title.
"It’s the game series that they've come to know and love."
Meanwhile, Nomura noted that while Square Enix's game will be boosted by the increased possibilities with graphics, it also "kind of limits" the amount of worlds they can include in the game.
He added: "As far as the graphic qualities ... since with each new title, the specs have been really increasing and there's so much more we can do in terms of graphics, it kind of limits the number of worlds that we can create in a sense.
"At this time we're considering how to approach that, but there will be Disney worlds in 'Kingdom Hearts IV.' "
Nomura also addressed concerns about 'Final Fantasy' characters not featuring as heavily in newer entries to the franchise, but he insisted the game was never meant to be a "collaboration" between Disney and Final Fantasy.
He explained: "When we released the first title, we had only a few original 'Kingdom Hearts' characters. When they were interacting with really well-known, beloved Disney characters, I felt nobody really knew these new characters, so it was harder for them to stand their ground just yet.
"And so, we had a lot of 'Final Fantasy' characters involved to lend a hand for everyone to get to know these [original 'Kingdom Hearts'] characters better.
"Now, there are so many original characters from 'Kingdom Hearts' that are so well-loved, and people want to see more of those characters."
