Kingdom Hearts games have made a habit out of featuring multiple playable characters, and Kingdom Hearts 3 looks to be following in step with its predecessors, according to the game's director.

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“ There is an intention of adding a playable character aside from Sora."

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Speaking to IGN at D23 Expo, Tetsuya Nomura declined to say exactly who but did hint that Sora will not be the only playable character in Kingdom Hearts 3."So it would be tough to introduce many, multiple playable characters, but there is an intention of adding a playable character aside from Sora. Unfortunately we’re not able to disclose who it is yet, but there will be [another playable character]," Nomura said.Nomura also discussed why Kingdom Hearts 3 features a party system that allows for more than two additional members to fight alongside Sora. No longer will players have to make the decision of which characters to bring with them into battle. And it in part comes from the decision to do away with the Dimension Link feature included in the PSP entry Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep."D-Link, that has been done away with. It was actually a compromise in a previous iteration because we were not able to display multiple characters on that platform in that game," Nomura said. "We’re able to depict multiple characters. Up to five people can join, even more, multiple characters can join your party."That "five people" in question would likely refer to the D23 Expo trailer , which showcases Sora in battle alongside Donald, Goofy, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody all at once. And the Orchestra trailer that debuted during E3 2017 features Hercules, Donald, and Goofy all in battle.Nomura also spoke to IGN about the possibility of Kingdom Hearts III coming to the Nintendo Switch Earlier today, Square Enix revealed a new Toy Story world for Kingdom Hearts 3 and confirmed that it will be released in 2018 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.For much more on Kingdom Hearts 3, check out our full analysis of the new trailer and Toy Story world Reporting by Terri Schwartz.

Jonathon Dornbush is an Associate Editor for IGN. He talks about Kingdom Hearts, like, a lot. Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush