Thank you! I really hope they adapt/change the style for KH4. The characters (especially Sora and Kairi) don't feel like themselves, it's almost like they're different characters entirely
Very good essay with good comparson in the kh scenes. I couldn't put it into words how i felt about Kairi kh3 design until i found this video of yours. Thank you, Stephanie. 👏😄
KH 2 was probably best PS2 game Compare to Jak-x racing and NFL Streets After Kingdom Hearts 3 I basically shut that shit down close to Game of Thrones ending After watching this video I now know why Very good video
Totally agree, KH2 is definitely my favourite PS2 game, it's such a great sequel and so fun to play! I feel like the lackluster visuals (character-wise) did such a disservice to KH3, especially the CGI scenes; the highly rendered CGI scenes are usually one of the charms/highlights of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, but it's like the opposite in KH3, such a shame!
I don't think it looks bad, but it does look off. Seems like growing pains of the new engine. But I do adore the texturing work they did on the clothes.
Yeah it does seem like maybe the animators/developers haven't gotten used to the new engine yet. The clothes textures in KH3 do have an amazing amount of detail though!
You nailed it. I personally do like Sora’s KH3 outfit, but his hair is a step backwards. He also has a different personality compared to KH2 and even KH1. He’s lost his sass and attitude, and is just a total goodie goodie. Kairi’s new look reeeeeally sucks. I hate the short hair, and you captured why: it makes her look young and almost weak again.
So true, Sora lost his sass in KH3 and it's such a shame, he's more than just a nice character! Both Sora and Kairi sometimes feel like completely different characters in this game compared to the others and it's jarring
@@StephanieKimPascaruSora lost his sass? Calling the nobodies “has-beens,” in tangled, making fun of organization xiii’s cryptic ramblings in Monsters inc., mocking Xehanort in keyblade graveyard that he would think he’s the only one with the power to time travel/warp reality, did we play the same game?
From what I’ve heard. The hair styles for kairi is actually heavily inspired of Utada Hikaru’s hairstyle at the time of each game. I do agree tho..even with her dress outfit all you see is her bending her legs in to stop the dress from moving..it sort of bugs me how she fights
After watching this video I have two things to say, firstly the game was going to look like the rendered cutscenes in kh2 when they were using the Square Enix engine to make the game before whatever reason they switched over to Unreal Engine which none of the KH3 developers knew how to do having Epic games be heavily involved in KH3s development which I think definitely made KH3 worse; story and visually. The characters distinct styles and skin tones are lost for all characters in UE and a lot of people I remember complaining about that. Secondly, for the Destiny trios outfits and by extension Micky and Lea's, they didn't choose them. Mickey looks fine, Lea's has no color at all but seems okay and then you have what you said in the video which I agree with. I wanted to say something I said on another video about KH clothes and that's Sora didn't choose his clothes, none of the five people did. And it's not like in KH2 where Sora was present when his new clothes were made for him, no. Yen Sid had them made, and if you look at it through that lens then all three of their outfits do makes sense because let's be honest, Yen Sid doesn't know these kids. Although, he knows what they should be; A princess of heart should be pure and kind and innocent, a Keyblade Master should be formal and regal but he's also young and needs to not be too so, the flunky who almost needs fell to darkness needs to be mature and focus on not being a child anymore. I think that their outfits are supposed to reflect who they either should be or what Yen Sid thinks that should be due to who they are. That's the way I'm choosing to interpret it so I don't cry.
Those are very good points! I think they probably had to switch to unreal engine for technical/practical reasons etc, though I wish it wasn't at the cost of the characters' appearances (though hopefully it will improve as the developers become more familiar with unreal engine). I also agree with your interpretation for the clothing choices, so I guess Yen Sid is ultimately to blame lol 😭
KH3 uses extremely hard lighting. Specular lighting is what is giving everything this plastic look like you used the wrong clearer on glass and makes everything foggy. Also, I don't know how they managed it, but they made Sora seem way bulkier like he's made out of clay. They should have retained the FF CG style of Sora instead of what we got. Pupils are big and their eyes do not pierce through you souls anymore. This is just 2 different development styles. If it was the OG team it would have retained the consistencies of the first 2 games.
I have always thought the KH3 models were pretty off since the get-go, I think Ansem is one of the best examples, Ansem’s 3D model does not compare in design to his design in every other game. Like how his hairline isn’t how his hair actually should be, like how it should be an all spiky edgy anime hairline like he has in every other game, and yeah just his whole model. Yes Riku looks much better in KH2 and 3D than in KH3, but I think Mickeys 3D model got the worst treatment, he looks way better in every other title, and Vanitas Keyblade looks like a toy Lol. Yeah I hope they do improve upon these issues in the future. Really nice video taking about this.
I'm so glad this video exists. There is so much wrong with the animations as well. There is no style. Just a bunch of flips and stiff movement. Cutscene Facial animations are pretty bad with little eye work and expressions. Every scene feels the same but in a different area. Stand, Pose, move arms. Canned animation. Stand, Pose, moves arms. Canned animation
Loved the vid. It's a little bit awkward too that the Disney characters are (by nature) so vibrant and colorful and the non-disney characters are soooo.... uninteresting (visually). I always found it to be jarring when they stood alongside each other.
I love Kh3, but always thought the character models looked like clay or playdough. It was always a little distracting. I did like the more realistic textures in secret episode though.
Personally, I don't like how everyone's color becomes mostly general black, even Hayner Pence Olette. I also don't like that Donald and Goofy don't get new outfits! Kairi's hair is based on Utada Hikaru's current hair. So, I liked KH2 Kairi's.
Personally I don't really have any issues with the way KHIII looks. My ideal would have been to essentially retain the exact same graphical style of the older games, but with higher detail. Same with the menu aesthetic, I think that the radical visual shift would have been better placed _after_ the end of the saga. But naturally a decision like that simply isn't going to happen for a modern AAA video game with the kind of insurmountable hype that plagued KHIII. So the way it did end up looking, is fine. I do think that KHIII's troubled development, including the switch from Luminous to Unreal Engine (which lost them a year of development), interference from the various Disney teams, and just the fundamental struggle of developing for a platform(s) and engine(s) the team had never used before, is ultimately felt across many vectors of its design. There was an interview around the time Sora's new look was revealed, where Nomura explained that his initial idea was to keep Sora's KHII outfit for this game, but that he created a new design at the request of his team. It stands to reason that Kairi, Riku and Mickey's redesigns were done as an extension of this decision. Which does mean that these outfits are resultant from obligation, not creation.
Yes that is a very good point! If the team never used the engine before, etc then it must've been difficult getting used to it alongside adapting KH's art style to the new engine. I didn't realize that Nomura initially planned on keeping Sora's KH2 outfit! If he didn't want to give Sora a new design for this game then that actually puts a lot of things into perspective 😅
Great video KH2 definitely had the better outfits IMO too. Also to note about Kairi's hairstyle is that her hair is reflected on Utada Hikaru's hairstyle at the time as well. She had short hair during KH1 development, long hair for KH2 and back to short for 3. I believe she has long hair now during this time so there could be another longer hair Kairi for KH4 but that remains to be seen.
What I have to say: Haha the cat ears is so real. I think something that should come back is the hair physics from KH2 from what I can see. I just think it's cool when you see Sora's hair and Riku's being so flowy.
I plan to at some point address this in a video myself, but KH3 has a serious saturation problem. It feels as if the art direction focused too much on making the characters pop to the front of the screen; versus being within the area in which they existed. The eyes are sharp unrealistic colors in the pre-rendered cutscenes that makes it look as if a flashlight is beaming strain into them. And even that wouldnt look so straightforward in color. This extends to the oversaturated (and undersaturated) elements within the gameplay. There are too many special effects filling up and large empty sections.
Yes so true!! I'm not a fan of the colouring/saturation choices in the third game, it's so bright at times but not in an aesthetically pleasing way; it definitely adds to the overly cartoony look the third game has. Looking forward to your video!!
FINALLY SOMEONE'S TALKING ABOUT THISSSS!!!! I'm really glad that I found this videooo, like I can't believe how the art style changed!! Y'know? The art style of the previous kingdom hearts games was so beautiful and unique, their eyes had these very beautiful details that made them look like diamonds, and also their 3Dness was really so perfect (lol I dunno what to call it, dimensions?) Like the characters had this very unique look and art style that had such a big charm, and I don't think that any other game or anything had an art style like the one kingdom hearts had, it felt...just so kingdom hearts-ish, lol, but now that they switched to unreal engine.....WHAT ON EARTH AM I LOOKING AT? THIS ISN'T KINGDOM HEARRTSS AAAAAAAAAA NOOOOOOO!!!!! The art style is so ehhh and their eyes are soooo dull, they just look kinda ugly in my opinion, it looks like some weird ugly cartoon-ish art style, specially compared to the previous kingdom hearts games.....there's something too gorgeous about the art style of the previous games...I dunno how to describe it waaaaahhhhh (Btw your voice is so cute
Yes I completely agree!! Kingdom Hearts had such a distinct, unique art style and everyone looked so beautiful imo. The new look in Kingdom Hearts 3 was such a disappointment, it just feels so bland, lackluster, and uninspired 😭
@@StephanieKimPascaru OH MY GOD!!! THANK YOUUUU!! It's such a relief to see that some people agree~! Do you think there's a chance that they'd get back to the old art style or anything like that?? Alsooo, I forgot to mention that what you said about the characters looking like the CG version of themselves throughout the game was so smart!! they should've done that TwT
@babybobo9723 I wish they would go back to the old art style, but I highly doubt it 😭 Hopefully they do at least update the KH3 style in KH4 so that it's more visually appealing and less waxy-looking. But yeah I really wish they had kept the CGI style of the old games throughought the new games, like if FFXV can do it then feel like Kingdom Hearts could too!
Thank god someone thinks the same. I personally hate the KH3 designs. The game was already too childish for my liking to begin with, it didn't need all the baby faces to go with it.
Huh, interesting. There was always something off about it to me, your points kinda nailed it. KH2 was peak design choice, but unfortunately I have a feeling that the designs we are going to see in KH4 are just going to be less interesting as time goes on, especially if they're going to focus on the Noctis / Yozora / FFVersus13 inspiration thing that Nomura is clinging to.
KH3 is so ugly. I’m sorry but I HATE the art style. The first two games look so much better. The worst part is the graphics at the end. Usually we get these beautiful Final Fantasy graphics to look forward to after beating the game but in 3 we get there’s terrifying character models with all these ugly ass bright eyes. I was shocked at how the character looked at the end of the keyblade graveyard.
I completely agree with you!! I was so disappointed at how the final scene looked. The characters had such dead eyes, everything was too shiny...the CGI in KH1 and 2 (and BBS) were so pretty. I loved that era of 2000s Final Fantasy cutscenes; they had this nice soft lighting/shading that made everything look ethereal and otherwordly and very much a fantasy. I hope they incorporate that again for future games (both in KH and Final Fantasy!)
@StephanieKimPascaru I never grew up with Kingdom Hearts, but my older bro did. He got me into the series, but I seriously couldn't finish Kh3. It's been over a year since I've played it so Maybe I should try again, but something just felt so off about it.
Oh my god thank you for saying this. I never stop seeing people say KH3 looks good because of its graphical fidelity. Yes, it's the first time (outside 0.2) that these characters finally evolve from their PS2-ass models. The art direction for the KH, and- especially- the FF characters was just not good. On Sora's clothes, I kinda like his designer streetwear thing. Noctis and co got Nomura thinking in black on black and I think it looks good. It does not fit well with his character at all in this game though. I truly hope he's less stupid in KH4. I also don't hate Kairi's outfit on its own, and I don't think its inconceivable that a 16 year old girl would wear that (in KH years). But I do agree that it regresses her arc which sucks.
Thank you!! Personally I'm fine with Sora's design with Smash Bros, it's cute and matches the overall style of the game, though I still think his KH2 design is the best of course 😅 I'm just glad he's in Super Smash Bros, and with so many of his actual outfits too!
would you like the outfits much more if they were a combination of the kh3 and kh2 designs with slight color tints similar to kh1's design?(note: i'm talking about Sora)
Hmm maybe! I'd love if there was some more colour in Sora's outfit, but I wouldn't mind if they did something new/different from his previous clothes, so long as they still keep some key elements
I thought it was ugly when I played on release, and on replay this year I still thought it was ugly. Like you said, design and artistic choices for this game made them look ugly, it feels like the graphics are bad because of how wax-y and plastic the KH characters look. I like soea redesign personally, but I think Riku's and Kairi's are atrocious. Riku looks like recoloured Sora and Kairi looks like a KH1 design reject.
Same, I could never get over how the game looks (even five years later 😅). I agree, the waxy look the characters have makes the graphics look worse despite technically being better than other games. Now that you mention it Riku does look like recolored Sora--I wish they had at least made their hairstyles more distinct 😭
I love Sora's outfit in the pirates level, the hat and the jacket was such a nice touch. And it was a good move to make Sora Donald and Goofy more realistic to blend in with the world. Definitely an upgrade from Port Royal in KH2 😂
My complaint with KH3's visuals has always been that its art style stopped looking similar to Nomura's way of drawing. With the "PS2-era" graphics some of the older games used, there was a feeling of "Oh, this is like Nomura's art style was given a 3d form." In KH3, it feels like that art style was replaced with a "generic Final Fantasy cg" aesthetic, especially in the pre-rendered cutscenes. After watching this video, however, I realized something: this art style shift seems to mostly be with the main characters and the guardians of light. People like the Twilight Gang, their NPCs and even some of the Real Organization still retain some of that Nomura art style. Sora and the main gang, however, just look so different for some reason. It's really jarring, to say the least.
If all the KH4 cutscenes look like the trailer, it will be the first main KH game to not have the generic repetitive animations, sure in KH3 this is more criticized due being a modern game but it has been a thing since the PS2 era where characters would just have PNG faces with 2 frames in cutscenes that was bad even for the time, at least they managed to blend better the characters bacause i don't care how much hate KH3 graphics style get, i can never consider it nowhere as horrible as Port Royal blending in KH2 lol
For me, Kairi's kh1 design was cool, given that she was a tomboy kid at the time. Her kh2 design was heavenly and graceful, representing her maturity and growth into her beauty, god tier. Her kh3 design looked like 3 random things too many put together: the bob haircut, bottened hoodie that had one side of the skirt with pink and white line and the other side that's completely black, and the combat boots. I don’t hate her kh3 design, I think it's fine. It's just that I don’t feel like it fits her very well. My tier list: KH1 - A tier 👍🏽 KH2 - S TIER 😇 KH3 - C tier 😐
Yes that is a beautiful description! Her KH3 design has so many elements put into it that (on a technical level) fit well together, but don't suit Kairi. She seems like a completely different person (the new VA also definitely contributes to that, but I digress lol). At the very least the KH3 design could've parted her bangs the same way as the other two games, since in 3 it almost completely covers her head and changes her face shape. Though I agree, all 3 game design are good, but 2 is definitely the best!
Did you give ff7 rebirth a try? Lotta good lotta bad imo. The line delivery is flat in a lot of scenes but the visuals are good. Its so weird for me because I genuinely believe the text from tge original game is better delivered with its pacing and little character models waggling their polygons around to set tone and create mood. Curious on your opinions.
I genuinely don’t understand this opinion. I’ve seen it multiple times over the years, and I just don’t get it. They don’t look younger. Shorter hair does not equal “younger.” Their clothing looks much more natural and fits them in the third game than the second. I feel like from a nostalgia perspective, you might like how the graphics “look,” in the earlier games more, but you would have to be insanely biased to genuinely believe the new graphics are worse. And if we’re going to use the “they look like dolls in kh3 ” criticism (which I’ve also never understood, since they look more lifelike in this game than any of the previous ones), the characters look objectively speaking much more doll like and less life like in the earlier games. You must not have been around for the in development kh3 footage from 2015 where it actually looked doll like to have this opinion. Also, you used footage from 0.2 to show earlier games having more natural looking graphics, even though that game is running on the same exact graphics engine as KH3. Doesn’t really make sense. The title is also extremely clickbait to be honest. The game does not have a “design problem.” It’s more like “you don’t like kh3’s character designs,” which is a much less clickbaity and engagement baiting title. To each their own, I just don’t understand this perspective, and never will.
@@ivanatinkle8083it’s my opinion how can it be “entirely wrong?” Please see an eye doctor? Lmao give me a break. Sorry I don’t blindly agree with this person’s opinion and give actual arguments, and all you do is insult me. Nice!
Sorry I just think is the emo type hair is cringe and old is like vsauce once said: is it the look or we that are changing? And is the looks We got past from that era already lol
The kh2 outfits are so clean! Loved the video❤
Thank you!! ❤️ Yes the KH2 outfits are simple and clean 🎵 and suit them really well!
"It looks more like catears", I can never unsee that now.
I couldn't unsee it either 😭 they should not have cut Sora's hair in KH3, or at least not in that style
This video explains it so well! The kh3 designs and overall texture of the characters had always rubbed me the wrong way and i never knew till now.
Thank you! I really hope they adapt/change the style for KH4. The characters (especially Sora and Kairi) don't feel like themselves, it's almost like they're different characters entirely
Excellent analysis.. Your other videos are very good too! You deserve a lot more subscribers.. May the force be with you :)
Very good essay with good comparson in the kh scenes. I couldn't put it into words how i felt about Kairi kh3 design until i found this video of yours. Thank you, Stephanie. 👏😄
KH 2 was probably best PS2 game
Compare to Jak-x racing and NFL Streets
After Kingdom Hearts 3 I basically shut that shit down close to Game of Thrones ending
After watching this video I now know why
Very good video
Totally agree, KH2 is definitely my favourite PS2 game, it's such a great sequel and so fun to play! I feel like the lackluster visuals (character-wise) did such a disservice to KH3, especially the CGI scenes; the highly rendered CGI scenes are usually one of the charms/highlights of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, but it's like the opposite in KH3, such a shame!
I don't think it looks bad, but it does look off. Seems like growing pains of the new engine. But I do adore the texturing work they did on the clothes.
Yeah it does seem like maybe the animators/developers haven't gotten used to the new engine yet. The clothes textures in KH3 do have an amazing amount of detail though!
@@StephanieKimPascaru The FF team can do it right. Maybe if we had the OG FF team back, we wouldn't have 14+ years worth of development problems.
Hey, bro, wake up ! Stephanie just posted !
Hey bro, wake up! Raph just commented!
You nailed it. I personally do like Sora’s KH3 outfit, but his hair is a step backwards. He also has a different personality compared to KH2 and even KH1. He’s lost his sass and attitude, and is just a total goodie goodie.
Kairi’s new look reeeeeally sucks. I hate the short hair, and you captured why: it makes her look young and almost weak again.
So true, Sora lost his sass in KH3 and it's such a shame, he's more than just a nice character! Both Sora and Kairi sometimes feel like completely different characters in this game compared to the others and it's jarring
@@StephanieKimPascaruSora lost his sass? Calling the nobodies “has-beens,” in tangled, making fun of organization xiii’s cryptic ramblings in Monsters inc., mocking Xehanort in keyblade graveyard that he would think he’s the only one with the power to time travel/warp reality, did we play the same game?
@@Erikthedood Yep, Sora lost his sass and gained an a**
From what I’ve heard. The hair styles for kairi is actually heavily inspired of Utada Hikaru’s hairstyle at the time of each game. I do agree tho..even with her dress outfit all you see is her bending her legs in to stop the dress from moving..it sort of bugs me how she fights
love your videos, you clean my eyes with every clip that isn't KH3
After watching this video I have two things to say, firstly the game was going to look like the rendered cutscenes in kh2 when they were using the Square Enix engine to make the game before whatever reason they switched over to Unreal Engine which none of the KH3 developers knew how to do having Epic games be heavily involved in KH3s development which I think definitely made KH3 worse; story and visually. The characters distinct styles and skin tones are lost for all characters in UE and a lot of people I remember complaining about that. Secondly, for the Destiny trios outfits and by extension Micky and Lea's, they didn't choose them. Mickey looks fine, Lea's has no color at all but seems okay and then you have what you said in the video which I agree with. I wanted to say something I said on another video about KH clothes and that's Sora didn't choose his clothes, none of the five people did. And it's not like in KH2 where Sora was present when his new clothes were made for him, no. Yen Sid had them made, and if you look at it through that lens then all three of their outfits do makes sense because let's be honest, Yen Sid doesn't know these kids. Although, he knows what they should be; A princess of heart should be pure and kind and innocent, a Keyblade Master should be formal and regal but he's also young and needs to not be too so, the flunky who almost needs fell to darkness needs to be mature and focus on not being a child anymore. I think that their outfits are supposed to reflect who they either should be or what Yen Sid thinks that should be due to who they are. That's the way I'm choosing to interpret it so I don't cry.
Those are very good points! I think they probably had to switch to unreal engine for technical/practical reasons etc, though I wish it wasn't at the cost of the characters' appearances (though hopefully it will improve as the developers become more familiar with unreal engine). I also agree with your interpretation for the clothing choices, so I guess Yen Sid is ultimately to blame lol 😭
I feel like I’ve wanted to play these games ever since I was born but I’ve never been able to.
I highly recommend giving Kingdom Hearts a try if you like RPG and Disney and Final Fantasy, it's a really fun series!
Your videos are very good, i love them
Thank you so much!! 😄
KH3 uses extremely hard lighting. Specular lighting is what is giving everything this plastic look like you used the wrong clearer on glass and makes everything foggy. Also, I don't know how they managed it, but they made Sora seem way bulkier like he's made out of clay. They should have retained the FF CG style of Sora instead of what we got. Pupils are big and their eyes do not pierce through you souls anymore. This is just 2 different development styles. If it was the OG team it would have retained the consistencies of the first 2 games.
Something always felt off that kept me from coming back to KH3 and you finally explained it
I have always thought the KH3 models were pretty off since the get-go, I think Ansem is one of the best examples, Ansem’s 3D model does not compare in design to his design in every other game. Like how his hairline isn’t how his hair actually should be, like how it should be an all spiky edgy anime hairline like he has in every other game, and yeah just his whole model. Yes Riku looks much better in KH2 and 3D than in KH3, but I think Mickeys 3D model got the worst treatment, he looks way better in every other title, and Vanitas Keyblade looks like a toy Lol.
Yeah I hope they do improve upon these issues in the future. Really nice video taking about this.
I'm so glad this video exists. There is so much wrong with the animations as well. There is no style. Just a bunch of flips and stiff movement. Cutscene Facial animations are pretty bad with little eye work and expressions. Every scene feels the same but in a different area. Stand, Pose, move arms. Canned animation. Stand, Pose, moves arms. Canned animation
Loved the vid.
It's a little bit awkward too that the Disney characters are (by nature) so vibrant and colorful and the non-disney characters are soooo.... uninteresting (visually). I always found it to be jarring when they stood alongside each other.
I love Kh3, but always thought the character models looked like clay or playdough. It was always a little distracting. I did like the more realistic textures in secret episode though.
Yes the secret episode looked really good! Sora and Yozora's designs actually translated really well in the realistic style
Personally, I don't like how everyone's color becomes mostly general black, even Hayner Pence Olette.
I also don't like that Donald and Goofy don't get new outfits!
Kairi's hair is based on Utada Hikaru's current hair. So, I liked KH2 Kairi's.
Kh3 is that game you know exists, but don't wanna believe it.
Personally I don't really have any issues with the way KHIII looks. My ideal would have been to essentially retain the exact same graphical style of the older games, but with higher detail. Same with the menu aesthetic, I think that the radical visual shift would have been better placed _after_ the end of the saga. But naturally a decision like that simply isn't going to happen for a modern AAA video game with the kind of insurmountable hype that plagued KHIII. So the way it did end up looking, is fine.
I do think that KHIII's troubled development, including the switch from Luminous to Unreal Engine (which lost them a year of development), interference from the various Disney teams, and just the fundamental struggle of developing for a platform(s) and engine(s) the team had never used before, is ultimately felt across many vectors of its design.
There was an interview around the time Sora's new look was revealed, where Nomura explained that his initial idea was to keep Sora's KHII outfit for this game, but that he created a new design at the request of his team. It stands to reason that Kairi, Riku and Mickey's redesigns were done as an extension of this decision. Which does mean that these outfits are resultant from obligation, not creation.
Yes that is a very good point! If the team never used the engine before, etc then it must've been difficult getting used to it alongside adapting KH's art style to the new engine. I didn't realize that Nomura initially planned on keeping Sora's KH2 outfit! If he didn't want to give Sora a new design for this game then that actually puts a lot of things into perspective 😅
One of my favorite media critics only has like 3 videos. Thanks for the insight, dude. Your thoughts and observations are always interesting.
Ahh thank you dude!! I really appreciate it 😊
Great video KH2 definitely had the better outfits IMO too. Also to note about Kairi's hairstyle is that her hair is reflected on Utada Hikaru's hairstyle at the time as well. She had short hair during KH1 development, long hair for KH2 and back to short for 3. I believe she has long hair now during this time so there could be another longer hair Kairi for KH4 but that remains to be seen.
Ahh I heard about Kairi's hairstyle matching Utada Hikaru's, lol hopefully she does have longer hair now so that Kairi can have long hair too 😅
KH3 looks too rubbery
So true, "rubbery" is the perfect way to describe how everyone looks, it's off-putting
Great points brought up here!
What I have to say:
Haha the cat ears is so real. I think something that should come back is the hair physics from KH2 from what I can see. I just think it's cool when you see Sora's hair and Riku's being so flowy.
I agree, their hair moved really nicely in the KH2 CGI scenes, it was so nice to see. They should bring it back! (And make their hair longer lol)
@@StephanieKimPascaru Yes
Well done on this video! Good attention to detail
Thank you so much!! 😊
I did like what they did as far as the design went, though I can see your point, hopefully KHIV does something that that addresses those points.
I plan to at some point address this in a video myself, but KH3 has a serious saturation problem. It feels as if the art direction focused too much on making the characters pop to the front of the screen; versus being within the area in which they existed. The eyes are sharp unrealistic colors in the pre-rendered cutscenes that makes it look as if a flashlight is beaming strain into them. And even that wouldnt look so straightforward in color.
This extends to the oversaturated (and undersaturated) elements within the gameplay. There are too many special effects filling up and large empty sections.
Yes so true!! I'm not a fan of the colouring/saturation choices in the third game, it's so bright at times but not in an aesthetically pleasing way; it definitely adds to the overly cartoony look the third game has. Looking forward to your video!!
I couldn’t agree more with this
Huh, I could never intellectualize why kh3 bothered me so much. Thanks for the vid.
FINALLY SOMEONE'S TALKING ABOUT THISSSS!!!! I'm really glad that I found this videooo, like I can't believe how the art style changed!! Y'know? The art style of the previous kingdom hearts games was so beautiful and unique, their eyes had these very beautiful details that made them look like diamonds, and also their 3Dness was really so perfect (lol I dunno what to call it, dimensions?) Like the characters had this very unique look and art style that had such a big charm, and I don't think that any other game or anything had an art style like the one kingdom hearts had, it felt...just so kingdom hearts-ish, lol, but now that they switched to unreal engine.....WHAT ON EARTH AM I LOOKING AT? THIS ISN'T KINGDOM HEARRTSS AAAAAAAAAA NOOOOOOO!!!!! The art style is so ehhh and their eyes are soooo dull, they just look kinda ugly in my opinion, it looks like some weird ugly cartoon-ish art style, specially compared to the previous kingdom hearts games.....there's something too gorgeous about the art style of the previous games...I dunno how to describe it waaaaahhhhh
(Btw your voice is so cute
Yes I completely agree!! Kingdom Hearts had such a distinct, unique art style and everyone looked so beautiful imo. The new look in Kingdom Hearts 3 was such a disappointment, it just feels so bland, lackluster, and uninspired 😭
@@StephanieKimPascaru OH MY GOD!!!
THANK YOUUUU!! It's such a relief to see that some people agree~!
Do you think there's a chance that they'd get back to the old art style or anything like that??
Alsooo, I forgot to mention that what you said about the characters looking like the CG version of themselves throughout the game was so smart!! they should've done that TwT
@babybobo9723 I wish they would go back to the old art style, but I highly doubt it 😭 Hopefully they do at least update the KH3 style in KH4 so that it's more visually appealing and less waxy-looking. But yeah I really wish they had kept the CGI style of the old games throughought the new games, like if FFXV can do it then feel like Kingdom Hearts could too!
@@StephanieKimPascaru Totally agreed TwT
Totally agree with this nicely detailed analysis. The game felt wrong for me for so many reasons and design is sure one of them
Thank god someone thinks the same. I personally hate the KH3 designs. The game was already too childish for my liking to begin with, it didn't need all the baby faces to go with it.
i just started playing it this month and immediately don’t feel the magic that kh2 gave me. like it doesn’t feel the same, you spilled in this video
Huh, interesting. There was always something off about it to me, your points kinda nailed it. KH2 was peak design choice, but unfortunately I have a feeling that the designs we are going to see in KH4 are just going to be less interesting as time goes on, especially if they're going to focus on the Noctis / Yozora / FFVersus13 inspiration thing that Nomura is clinging to.
100% exactly my opinion since the beginning
All of the attention went to FF7 remake
KHII was peak
Riku is no longer a sexy guy, and i am mad. # Not my riku
KH3 is so ugly. I’m sorry but I HATE the art style. The first two games look so much better. The worst part is the graphics at the end. Usually we get these beautiful Final Fantasy graphics to look forward to after beating the game but in 3 we get there’s terrifying character models with all these ugly ass bright eyes. I was shocked at how the character looked at the end of the keyblade graveyard.
I completely agree with you!! I was so disappointed at how the final scene looked. The characters had such dead eyes, everything was too shiny...the CGI in KH1 and 2 (and BBS) were so pretty. I loved that era of 2000s Final Fantasy cutscenes; they had this nice soft lighting/shading that made everything look ethereal and otherwordly and very much a fantasy. I hope they incorporate that again for future games (both in KH and Final Fantasy!)
@@StephanieKimPascaru Luxord is so hot in kh2. So so evil and pretty. Then when I saw him in 3 I was like omg??? What did they do to my man??? 😭😭😭😭
@jonathanorduno5843 ikr?? They did everyone in KH3 so dirty 😭😭 BBS Terra >>>> KH3 Terra
Why is kh3 sora so thicc tho
HELP 😭😭
I still haven't beaten KH3
Can't blame you, the character designs are distracting enough 😅
@StephanieKimPascaru I never grew up with Kingdom Hearts, but my older bro did. He got me into the series, but I seriously couldn't finish Kh3. It's been over a year since I've played it so Maybe I should try again, but something just felt so off about it.
The raw visual fidelity might be better in KH3 but the original art direction is completely gone
Oh my god thank you for saying this. I never stop seeing people say KH3 looks good because of its graphical fidelity. Yes, it's the first time (outside 0.2) that these characters finally evolve from their PS2-ass models. The art direction for the KH, and- especially- the FF characters was just not good. On Sora's clothes, I kinda like his designer streetwear thing. Noctis and co got Nomura thinking in black on black and I think it looks good. It does not fit well with his character at all in this game though. I truly hope he's less stupid in KH4.
I also don't hate Kairi's outfit on its own, and I don't think its inconceivable that a 16 year old girl would wear that (in KH years). But I do agree that it regresses her arc which sucks.
What do you think about Sora in Smash Bros? Also, I love all of your videos and your soothing voice!
Thank you!! Personally I'm fine with Sora's design with Smash Bros, it's cute and matches the overall style of the game, though I still think his KH2 design is the best of course 😅 I'm just glad he's in Super Smash Bros, and with so many of his actual outfits too!
would you like the outfits much more if they were a combination of the kh3 and kh2 designs with slight color tints similar to kh1's design?(note: i'm talking about Sora)
Hmm maybe! I'd love if there was some more colour in Sora's outfit, but I wouldn't mind if they did something new/different from his previous clothes, so long as they still keep some key elements
I thought it was ugly when I played on release, and on replay this year I still thought it was ugly.
Like you said, design and artistic choices for this game made them look ugly, it feels like the graphics are bad because of how wax-y and plastic the KH characters look.
I like soea redesign personally, but I think Riku's and Kairi's are atrocious. Riku looks like recoloured Sora and Kairi looks like a KH1 design reject.
Same, I could never get over how the game looks (even five years later 😅). I agree, the waxy look the characters have makes the graphics look worse despite technically being better than other games.
Now that you mention it Riku does look like recolored Sora--I wish they had at least made their hairstyles more distinct 😭
00:53 dragon quest xi has the same plastic face problem but its way worse
Kh3 looks best in the pirates level
I love Sora's outfit in the pirates level, the hat and the jacket was such a nice touch. And it was a good move to make Sora Donald and Goofy more realistic to blend in with the world. Definitely an upgrade from Port Royal in KH2 😂
My complaint with KH3's visuals has always been that its art style stopped looking similar to Nomura's way of drawing. With the "PS2-era" graphics some of the older games used, there was a feeling of "Oh, this is like Nomura's art style was given a 3d form." In KH3, it feels like that art style was replaced with a "generic Final Fantasy cg" aesthetic, especially in the pre-rendered cutscenes.
After watching this video, however, I realized something: this art style shift seems to mostly be with the main characters and the guardians of light. People like the Twilight Gang, their NPCs and even some of the Real Organization still retain some of that Nomura art style. Sora and the main gang, however, just look so different for some reason. It's really jarring, to say the least.
0:14 nearly 5 years old*
If all the KH4 cutscenes look like the trailer, it will be the first main KH game to not have the generic repetitive animations, sure in KH3 this is more criticized due being a modern game but it has been a thing since the PS2 era where characters would just have PNG faces with 2 frames in cutscenes that was bad even for the time, at least they managed to blend better the characters bacause i don't care how much hate KH3 graphics style get, i can never consider it nowhere as horrible as Port Royal blending in KH2 lol
Most Kingdom Hearts games have characters look similar to The Sims 4 in my opinion. Kingdom Hearts 3 takes on a look more like The Sims 3.
For me, Kairi's kh1 design was cool, given that she was a tomboy kid at the time. Her kh2 design was heavenly and graceful, representing her maturity and growth into her beauty, god tier. Her kh3 design looked like 3 random things too many put together: the bob haircut, bottened hoodie that had one side of the skirt with pink and white line and the other side that's completely black, and the combat boots. I don’t hate her kh3 design, I think it's fine. It's just that I don’t feel like it fits her very well.
My tier list:
KH1 - A tier 👍🏽
KH2 - S TIER 😇
KH3 - C tier 😐
Yes that is a beautiful description! Her KH3 design has so many elements put into it that (on a technical level) fit well together, but don't suit Kairi. She seems like a completely different person (the new VA also definitely contributes to that, but I digress lol). At the very least the KH3 design could've parted her bangs the same way as the other two games, since in 3 it almost completely covers her head and changes her face shape. Though I agree, all 3 game design are good, but 2 is definitely the best!
Did you give ff7 rebirth a try? Lotta good lotta bad imo. The line delivery is flat in a lot of scenes but the visuals are good. Its so weird for me because I genuinely believe the text from tge original game is better delivered with its pacing and little character models waggling their polygons around to set tone and create mood. Curious on your opinions.
KH2 could’ve and probably should’ve been the end of the series
Ngl, I hate the new designs. Every sora design outside of kh1/kh2 is dookie buns.
They are taking Soras design to be androgynous on KH4, they took the guy how saved princeses and are transforming him in a princes
I genuinely don’t understand this opinion. I’ve seen it multiple times over the years, and I just don’t get it. They don’t look younger. Shorter hair does not equal “younger.” Their clothing looks much more natural and fits them in the third game than the second.
I feel like from a nostalgia perspective, you might like how the graphics “look,” in the earlier games more, but you would have to be insanely biased to genuinely believe the new graphics are worse. And if we’re going to use the “they look like dolls in kh3 ” criticism (which I’ve also never understood, since they look more lifelike in this game than any of the previous ones), the characters look objectively speaking much more doll like and less life like in the earlier games. You must not have been around for the in development kh3 footage from 2015 where it actually looked doll like to have this opinion. Also, you used footage from 0.2 to show earlier games having more natural looking graphics, even though that game is running on the same exact graphics engine as KH3. Doesn’t really make sense. The title is also extremely clickbait to be honest. The game does not have a “design problem.” It’s more like “you don’t like kh3’s character designs,” which is a much less clickbaity and engagement baiting title. To each their own, I just don’t understand this perspective, and never will.
Congratulations on writing an entirely wrong paragraph! Please see an eye doctor and never become a designer :D
@@ivanatinkle8083it’s my opinion how can it be “entirely wrong?” Please see an eye doctor? Lmao give me a break. Sorry I don’t blindly agree with this person’s opinion and give actual arguments, and all you do is insult me. Nice!
Sorry I just think is the emo type hair is cringe and old is like vsauce once said: is it the look or we that are changing? And is the looks
We got past from that era already lol
Bs. This game looke amazing.
Did you watch the video?
@@nelevenchts yes and it's pure bullshit. She's talking about it like it's an fact but it's 100% a subjective opinion.
@@maxderholzrusseokay so, if what she is saying about the character models is her opinion, what is you calling it "bs" and that it looks good?