Kingdom Hearts III/0.2/X Back Cover Visual Analysis

[PrinceNoctis 1,011]

So...I've complained. I've complained A LOT, about the way KH3 looks since the E3 2015 trailer. Honestly, I could almost say I was let down by Square after seeing the way game looked on the Unreal engine 4 compared to the way it used to look on the Luminous Engine, BUT I'm more than happy to say that my complaints were absolutely pointless. Yep, the 0.2 footage from E3 convinced me that KH3 is going to look just as good as we all want it to look. How? Well let's see!

 

EXHIBIT A: The environments

They were never a problem, but it was great to see that the environments are still looking great. The textures, the details, the lighting, EVERYTHING is just perfect. But they looked just as good in the KH3 trailers so...Nothing to complain about here.

 

 

 

EXHIBIT B: The particle effects...and other effects x)

The magic, the effect it has on the environment it...it all looks so beautiful. Visually, it couldn't get any better. Once again, that's nothing new, it always looked great

 

EXHIBIT C: The character models

That was my main issue with KH3's look. The character models. In the very first trailer we were promised the characters would look a certain way and the latest trailers didn't live up to my expectations. They said Sora would look like this: Instead, he looked like that: And then we had terrible character models for Mickey, Riku, Kairi and Yen Sid. They all looked like Barbie dolls. The latest footage for 2.8 has shown immense improvement in the character models. As you can see in this screenshot featuring Ephemera, the character's hair and clothing are a lot more detailed and textured which is great. Their skin also doesn't look as "plasticky" as the previous screenshot which removes the doll effect  Strangely, in the 0.2 portion of the trailer, Aqua's model still suffers of the doll effect. Her hair and cloth are really detailed but her skin still looks like plastic. I think that's mainly because of the lighting. It looks like Square has been having a hard time with finding the right lighting for night time with the new engine and that gives the characters like Terra, Aqua, Riku and Kairi a weird look since they were all in "nightime lighting" (Mysterious Tower & Realm Of Darkness are "night themed"). But as we've seen with X Back Cover, the right lighting seems to fix every problem. 

 

EXHIBIT D: The Art Direction (See attached files)

As I mentioned earlier, with the very first trailer of KH3, Square showcased some graphics and they haven't really delivered what they promised. That's not because the Unreal Engine isn't good enough but because they changed the art direction. It wasn't clear what art direction they were going for with the 2015 trailers for KH3 but, for me, the 0.2 footage we've seen made the art direction clearer and it's actually something they teased in the very first trailer. If you look at the 0.2 cutscenes from the E3 demo, you'll notice that Aqua actually looks a lot like her model from the pre-rendered cutscenes. It doesn't really show in the E3 2016 trailer but it does in the demo.

Even Terra, whose model probably isn't finished since it doesn't look very detailed, looks a bit like his pre-rendered counterpart.

The main difference with their pre-rendered counterparts is that they look a bit more cartoony in the game. And I think that's exactly what Square is going for. Instead of making the characters look exactly like they do in the pre-rendered cutscenes, they are trying to make them look like their pre-rendered counterparts but with a cartoonish touch to capture the Disney aspect of KH. And they've shown that in the very first trailer, when "KH3D Sora" transitioned into "KH3 Sora". 

 

This might not be a revelation to everyone, but it enlightened things for me and I know other people like me complained about the visuals for KH3 so I wanted to show everybody that there is nothing to complain about. Square just has to get the "night lighting" right and everything'll be good  I'm satisfied with KH3's look. Share your thoughts

Edited July 5, 2016 by PrinceNoctis

[KingdomHearts3 2,591]

If one isn't satisfied with the graphics for 0.2BbSFP and XBC, then they won't be satisfied with KH3 graphics. That means, they can never be satisfied and have too unrealistic, stupid expectations. These graphics are fine. The 0.2 screenshots came from a demo OF AN INCOMPLETE TITLE! They haven't fully fine tuned the graphics yet.

[MythrilMagician 6,963]

Like KH3 said, the game is incomplete. So there is no use judging now. I, for one, actually like how they look. We've had Kingdom Hearts since the PS2 era and seeing how they look on the PS4 is so satisfying. The improvements are so visible and beautiful. 2.8 is going to give us a good insight as to how KH3 is probably going to look like when finished, so we'll have to wait until December.

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

The new art direction for Kingdom Hearts III definitely looks amazing, and I think it does the series justice, while paving the way forward for the future, ya know? I'm so excited to see how Kingdom Hearts III shall look when it's complete, and well, just by looking at 0.2, the amount of detail and lighting and structure is impressive! I have no doubt that Kingdom Hearts III shall look stunning!  The environments themselves are already looking stellar, so when the character models get tweaked just right, trust me, the game's gonna look unbelievable!  I can't wait!

 

Gahhh, I need to see more KHIII footage!

[PrinceNoctis 1,011]

If one isn't satisfied with the graphics for 0.2BbSFP and XBC, then they won't be satisfied with KH3 graphics. That means, they can never be satisfied and have too unrealistic, stupid expectations. These graphics are fine. The 0.2 screenshots came from a demo OF AN INCOMPLETE TITLE! They haven't fully fine tuned the graphics yet.

X Back Cover looks SO SO GOOD! I don't think the people who are unsatisfied have stupid and unrealistic expectations though. They just expected a different art direction, something closer to the pre-rendered cutscenes which can definitely be done with the current technology as we've seen with FFXV and FFVIII Remake. But I feel like Square really managed to perfectly blend the cartoonish aspect of KH3 with realism which is great. KH3 is going to look amazing.

 

The new art direction for Kingdom Hearts III definitely looks amazing, and I think it does the series justice, while paving the way forward for the future, ya know? I'm so excited to see how Kingdom Hearts III shall look when it's complete, and well, just by looking at 0.2, the amount of detail and lighting and structure is impressive! I have no doubt that Kingdom Hearts III shall look stunning!  The environments themselves are already looking stellar, so when the character models get tweaked just right, trust me, the game's gonna look unbelievable!  I can't wait!

 

Gahhh, I need to see more KHIII footage!

I'm excited for new footage too! Hopefully this winter

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

I'm excited for new footage too! Hopefully this winter

 

Indeed!  I'm just really hoping we get the game next year, as the 15th Anniversary title of the series!

[KingdomHearts3 2,591]

X Back Cover looks SO SO GOOD! I don't think the people who are unsatisfied have stupid and unrealistic expectations though. They just expected a different art direction, something closer to the pre-rendered cutscenes which can definitely be done with the current technology as we've seen with FFXV and FFVIII Remake. But I feel like Square really managed to perfectly blend the cartoonish aspect of KH3 with realism which is great. KH3 is going to look amazing.

I'm sorry, I wasn't specific enough. People who have complained in the past about the graphics we see in HD1.5 and 2.5 who complain about HD2.8 and KH3 aren't ever satisfied and have irrational expectations.

[Komali 594]

I just wonder if they stick to this look in future games or if they want to get closer to the pre-rendered cutscenes. PS5 maybe? This is so far a huge improvement compared to Luminous engine, especially the environment. The final product will look stunning and it is still more than a year away from release. Don't care about 0.2, because it's just a demo.

 

At least nobody can complain that they look like dolls in a Toy Story world. 

[KH4Real 749]

Like KH3 said, the game is incomplete. So there is no use judging now. I, for one, actually like how they look. We've had Kingdom Hearts since the PS2 era and seeing how they look on the PS4 is so satisfying. The improvements are so visible and beautiful. 2.8 is going to give us a good insight as to how KH3 is probably going to look like when finished, so we'll have to wait until December.

I think it is safe to say that the E3 2015/d23 is what we will will get.

 

But this are the cartoony graphics guys. It may fit eventually better.

After all this design was probably needed for Toy Story .

[MythrilMagician 6,963]

I think it is safe to say that the E3 2015/d23 is what we will will get. But this are the cartoony graphics guys. It may fit eventually better.After all this design was probably needed for Toy Story .

Doubt you'll get what we saw in 2015. They always change things. Also, we don't even know if Pixar is getting involved in this game. Sure, Disney owns them, but it doesn't make them obliged to share their assets.

[KH4Real 749]

Doubt you'll get what we saw in 2015. They always change things. Also, we don't even know if Pixar is getting involved in this game. Sure, Disney owns them, but it doesn't make them obliged to share their assets.

I'm pretty sure it is the official Sora and combat settings.

They are almost the same as 0.2.

[PrinceNoctis 1,011]

I just wonder if they stick to this look in future games or if they want to get closer to the pre-rendered cutscenes. PS5 maybe? This is so far a huge improvement compared to Luminous engine, especially the environment. The final product will look stunning and it is still more than a year away from release. Don't care about 0.2, because it's just a demo.

 

At least nobody can complain that they look like dolls in a Toy Story world. 

I'm pretty sure that if they wanted to get closer to pre-rendered cutscenes they would've done it already. It's possible with current technology. And 0.2 is pretty much a glimpse of what KH3 will be like and look like so it's pretty important.

[Jake 1,488]

Doubt you'll get what we saw in 2015. They always change things. Also, we don't even know if Pixar is getting involved in this game. Sure, Disney owns them, but it doesn't make them obliged to share their assets.

 

It's not officially confirmed or anything, but something awhile back shows more than likely Pixar will: http://kh13.com/news/new-leak-shows-kingdom-hearts-29-could-be-an-upcoming-title-for-playstation-3-playstation-4

 

This does too: http://kh13.com/news/kingdom-hearts-hidden-designs-found-in-the-kingdom-hearts-design-document

 

On topic: Kingdom Hearts III, 0.2, and Back Cover all look great, and so I see no issues with them. Hope it continues going down this path.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Jake

[PrinceNoctis 1,011]

http://kh13.com/news/lighting-improvements-shown-in-recent-kingdom-hearts-hd-28-final-chapter-prologue-tgs-2016-demo

 

Well, well! Looks like Square has managed to get the right lighting! Game looks amazing! Especially Terra.