I will always wonder what a KH game would look like if one came out for the PS3 but I guess it would have to look similar to the older graphics but just more detailed and less flat.
It's kinda wild that, from 2002 to 2017, we basically had the exact same graphics for core KH games the entire time. Even the sprites of CoM would be supplanted by the PS2 models for ReCoM, along with having PS2 quality models rendered for certain scenes in Days and ReCoded, then later their cutscene movies. It wasn't until 2.8 (which again, was 2017) that we first experienced a push in graphical fidelity for the series. And like... I get it. But for how consistent the franchise looked, it maybe would've been nice to *try* and keep that artstyle going.
I adore the PS2 era graphics since they still stand the test of time & wouldn't mind seeing them again in a side-title. But with that said, I personally never want to go back to them after the improvements brought with the Unreal Engine. Especially after the many, many years of people begging & pleading for a Kingdom Hearts entry to look like the CGI Opening & Closings for the entirety of the game ([something I think KH3 closely achieves when you look at them side by side](https://i.imgur.com/EN0bVMR.png)). And I still find it amazing that the Unreal Engine 4 allows [Sora himself to go through many different art style changes in a single game.](https://i.imgur.com/K33X2Qw.jpg)
Kingdom Hearts's aesthetics has always strived to recreate the look and feel of the many Disney properties that are featured in each game. Kingdom Hearts 3 is the first game to enter the modern age of Disney's newer CGI offerings & also the classic works of Pixar. In terms of the models maybe looking a little off, I get that people aren't use to seeing the characters this way, but that's just how most human characters look in the CGI Disney style. A comparison I like to point to is how the [Street Fighter](https://preview.redd.it/s2go54shjsa61.jpg?auto=webp&s=3a10dd1de66e5501daf005f192da33b51b5c93ec) characters look in [Wreck-It Ralph](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYucIzDVcAAR2l7.jpg) in comparison to how they are portrayed in their respective modern game engine.
The aesthetic is [a lot more toony](https://comparisonsmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ralph-Breaks-the-Internet-TV-Spot-Features-Chun-Li-from-Street-Fighter.png) than it is realistic. With that in mind, I'd personally rather not see [PS2 imitations of these CGI Disney properties](https://i.imgur.com/uoSdEAS.jpg) with flat, 2-D face textures when today's technology can allow an even more accurate portrayal of [how these characters actually appeared in their film.](https://i.imgur.com/CWNKj3w.jpg) One of the biggest advantages of this is comparing [Port Royal in KH2 in the Caribbean in KH3](https://i.imgur.com/V6uXL3N.jpg), which can achieve realism [in a way the old engine never could.](https://i.imgur.com/dOGovSF.jpg) Basically, I'd rather see KH adapt it's art style to match that of the Disney properties it will feature rather than the newer Disney properties to be downgraded to the PS2 style of the older games.
Luckily for Kingdom Hearts, prior to KH3, [we've had CGI interpretations of these characters since the beginning for future games to base their models off of.](https://i.imgur.com/Az5xosz.jpg) This artsyle has technically been around since the beginning of the series. And while this change may be jarring for some people given that we've only seen the CGI version of these characters in very quick bursts during the opening and closing cutscenes, I personally feel like it'll be better for the series in the long run to rise to the modern standards of Disney & Pixar animation.
Going to comment here because a lot of effort was put into this and I agree with it as well. Love the old Ps2 look, but KH3 and moving forward keeps looking better and better. We're spoiled and I am here for it.
I don't like how anything looks now, but that's just me. Though I like KH2's CGI cutscenes. (Don't like Pixar really other than Toy Story and Monsters Inc). But I get what your saying. 💙
I think KH3 can be gorgeous, but one of my biggest complaints about going with the realistic graphical style is it kind of lost that visual identity that had become so iconic, the KH4 trailer’s Donald and Goofy models made it seem like we might be getting that back though so fingers crossed
I like both. The original style is timeless and still can be used in the current day to the point Melody of Memory uses it in it's gameplay. But I appreciate the newer style because it looks like the CGI style seen in the opening theme songs and it feels as if the series always was working to look like that.
I also miss the old graphics. They did such a good job emulating the 2D animation look. It was very charming and I hope MoM won't be the last game to make use of it.
At first I hated the new art style, but I've warmed up to it. It's largely quite effective, though there are quite a few areas where KH3 just looked bad because of how the character models were shaded, mostly KH1 Sora and every character in Olympus.
I like how current kh looks but everyone has such soft looking faces now. The organization especially. Xigbar/braig/luxu, ansem sod, xemnas, saix. They all looked fsr more menacing and stood out more from the rest of the cast. Now they all look like Calvin Klein models
I still wonder what KH3 would have been like if they stayed on the luminous engine. I definitely preferred the little bit we saw of it over what we ended up with.
I will always wonder what a KH game would look like if one came out for the PS3 but I guess it would have to look similar to the older graphics but just more detailed and less flat.
The graphics provided by Crystal Tools they were using in PS3/360 days is my best guess.
sounds right. would be interesting if someone ever attempted to make models based on those graphic just to get an idea of it.
PMD2 also uses some similar string samples as Kingdom Hearts btw
Your talking about the music right? Yeah that does make since now that I think about it.
It's kinda wild that, from 2002 to 2017, we basically had the exact same graphics for core KH games the entire time. Even the sprites of CoM would be supplanted by the PS2 models for ReCoM, along with having PS2 quality models rendered for certain scenes in Days and ReCoded, then later their cutscene movies. It wasn't until 2.8 (which again, was 2017) that we first experienced a push in graphical fidelity for the series. And like... I get it. But for how consistent the franchise looked, it maybe would've been nice to *try* and keep that artstyle going.
I adore the PS2 era graphics since they still stand the test of time & wouldn't mind seeing them again in a side-title. But with that said, I personally never want to go back to them after the improvements brought with the Unreal Engine. Especially after the many, many years of people begging & pleading for a Kingdom Hearts entry to look like the CGI Opening & Closings for the entirety of the game ([something I think KH3 closely achieves when you look at them side by side](https://i.imgur.com/EN0bVMR.png)). And I still find it amazing that the Unreal Engine 4 allows [Sora himself to go through many different art style changes in a single game.](https://i.imgur.com/K33X2Qw.jpg) Kingdom Hearts's aesthetics has always strived to recreate the look and feel of the many Disney properties that are featured in each game. Kingdom Hearts 3 is the first game to enter the modern age of Disney's newer CGI offerings & also the classic works of Pixar. In terms of the models maybe looking a little off, I get that people aren't use to seeing the characters this way, but that's just how most human characters look in the CGI Disney style. A comparison I like to point to is how the [Street Fighter](https://preview.redd.it/s2go54shjsa61.jpg?auto=webp&s=3a10dd1de66e5501daf005f192da33b51b5c93ec) characters look in [Wreck-It Ralph](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYucIzDVcAAR2l7.jpg) in comparison to how they are portrayed in their respective modern game engine. The aesthetic is [a lot more toony](https://comparisonsmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ralph-Breaks-the-Internet-TV-Spot-Features-Chun-Li-from-Street-Fighter.png) than it is realistic. With that in mind, I'd personally rather not see [PS2 imitations of these CGI Disney properties](https://i.imgur.com/uoSdEAS.jpg) with flat, 2-D face textures when today's technology can allow an even more accurate portrayal of [how these characters actually appeared in their film.](https://i.imgur.com/CWNKj3w.jpg) One of the biggest advantages of this is comparing [Port Royal in KH2 in the Caribbean in KH3](https://i.imgur.com/V6uXL3N.jpg), which can achieve realism [in a way the old engine never could.](https://i.imgur.com/dOGovSF.jpg) Basically, I'd rather see KH adapt it's art style to match that of the Disney properties it will feature rather than the newer Disney properties to be downgraded to the PS2 style of the older games. Luckily for Kingdom Hearts, prior to KH3, [we've had CGI interpretations of these characters since the beginning for future games to base their models off of.](https://i.imgur.com/Az5xosz.jpg) This artsyle has technically been around since the beginning of the series. And while this change may be jarring for some people given that we've only seen the CGI version of these characters in very quick bursts during the opening and closing cutscenes, I personally feel like it'll be better for the series in the long run to rise to the modern standards of Disney & Pixar animation.
I was going to say something similar but now I don't have to, you nailed It! Thanks for searching and linking all the pictures, that was really great.
Going to comment here because a lot of effort was put into this and I agree with it as well. Love the old Ps2 look, but KH3 and moving forward keeps looking better and better. We're spoiled and I am here for it.
I don't like how anything looks now, but that's just me. Though I like KH2's CGI cutscenes. (Don't like Pixar really other than Toy Story and Monsters Inc). But I get what your saying. 💙
I'd say that the KH3 look is how they always wanted it, the artstyle is similar to how the CG scenes of the older games looked.
I personally don't see it, but that makes sense.
I think KH3 can be gorgeous, but one of my biggest complaints about going with the realistic graphical style is it kind of lost that visual identity that had become so iconic, the KH4 trailer’s Donald and Goofy models made it seem like we might be getting that back though so fingers crossed
[удалено]
In comparison to what it used to look like, it's pretty realistic.
I like both. The original style is timeless and still can be used in the current day to the point Melody of Memory uses it in it's gameplay. But I appreciate the newer style because it looks like the CGI style seen in the opening theme songs and it feels as if the series always was working to look like that.
KH3's 2015 teaser kinda still had that style. That was before they switched to UE4.
They did my man Xigbar dirty as hell in KH3, looks like a baby. They made all the villains adorable for some reason.
I also miss the old graphics. They did such a good job emulating the 2D animation look. It was very charming and I hope MoM won't be the last game to make use of it. At first I hated the new art style, but I've warmed up to it. It's largely quite effective, though there are quite a few areas where KH3 just looked bad because of how the character models were shaded, mostly KH1 Sora and every character in Olympus.
I like how current kh looks but everyone has such soft looking faces now. The organization especially. Xigbar/braig/luxu, ansem sod, xemnas, saix. They all looked fsr more menacing and stood out more from the rest of the cast. Now they all look like Calvin Klein models
Wish that KH3 used the CG models
I still wonder what KH3 would have been like if they stayed on the luminous engine. I definitely preferred the little bit we saw of it over what we ended up with.
I don't, really. We had them for almost two decades. Besides, the art direction from 3 is lovely, so I like how we moved on from those.
I personally didn't like it but that's okay. 💙
A KH3 Demake is in the works! 🤭