The visuals of Kingdom Hearts 3...

Discussion in 'General & Upcoming Kingdom Hearts' started by Afro-Lion, Jul 31, 2014.

  1. Afro-Lion Moogle Assistant

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2014
    Gender:
    Male
    3
    7
    [​IMG]

    So this is the Kingdom Shader....


    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]




    Cool right?

    Despite me finding these visuals very clean and pretty, I'm kinda sceptical on Square's choie here...


    The Kingdom Shader is designed to offer Disney's coloful visuals, however with recent feature films of Pixar and Disney animation studios, I think it would've been better if square actually troed to reach the CGI cinematic look they had in their previous games, it felt more adequate with the actual look of animated feature films...


    Don't get me wrong, the Kingdom shader is good but it look like an excuse for square to not work properly on their visuals...Too many game developpers make their games with cel -shaded visuals so they don't have to bother on the grpahics, what do you think?
     
  2. Eric Luna Destiny Islands Resident

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    California
    15
    99
    I feel just like you. Like the photos.
     
  3. Ars Nova Just a ghost.

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2009
    Gender:
    hungry
    Location:
    Hell 71
    2,986
    Hey man, that look isn't easy. Anyway, I'm the opposite; I think devs focus too much on graphics in the design phase and end up pushing out a lot of content and good ideas as a result. Every game has cut content, that's just how the process works, but it's one thing to labor over the decision. Besides that, what exactly is "too many" with regards to cel shading? Because there aren't that many cel-shaded games that don't have a good reason to be that way.
     
  4. Explode Who?!

    Joined:
    May 20, 2007
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    New York
    656
    I don't think it's at all lazy of them to not go for a hyper-realistic look. As nice as it is to see a game with crazy high-res textures and displacement maps, I'd much rather see a game that has solid art direction, which is what Kingdom Hearts has always been about. It's the reason why KH1 still holds up, whereas games that WERE on the cutting edge of graphics for their time, like Devil May Cry 1, Half Life 2, FFX, etc. don't age as well. Yeah, Kingdom Hearts didn't have realistic textures or dynamic lighting, but it made up for it with a clear style and great facial rigging, and animation that, while not super intricate, feels very natural. A lot of games from that era had lip-syncing that was god-awful, and animation in general was clunky (you could see the characters starting and stopping as they go through their cycles).

    The Kingdom Shader, as we've seen it so far anyway, is by no means a simple cell shader. It has Ambient Occlusion, and interactive lighting. I don't think the series would benefit from pushing it fully in the direction of their CGI sequences. Ignoring the fact that it would be near impossible to get the same feel (since each shot in those FMVs are lit individually like a film, whereas in real-time you generally just use the one light setup of that location in-game), that extra detail and shading would clash with all the Disney parts of the game. Whenever I see the ending sequence of KHII, where Mickey, Donald, and Goofy appear, they always look so out of place to me. I think the pastel look of the KS is a step in the right direction. Mind you, it will still take me some getting used to it.

    Bear in mind, this is not necessarily what the final product will look like. They're still in the early stages and a lot could change. I am however, cautiously excited to see what kinds of things they do to change their shaders to fit with different worlds, as they mentioned they would be doing. It's a new idea for the series, which makes it a bit scary, but it could end up being pretty awesome.
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2014
  5. Amaury Legendary Hero

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2007
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Ellensburg, WA
    1,692
    Donald and Goofy's faces on their HP and MP meters are angry-looking now compared to past games.
     
  6. Antidote Façade

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2006
    294
    I actually just noticed that they're using CGI for the character portraits. I know it's still early in development and it all could change, but I'm hoping they stick with the animated look for that one like all of the past games have done.
     
  7. A Zebra Chaser

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2013
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Canada
    1,953
    I think a key thing people are missing is that they CAN'T make the graphics look like CGI, even if KH3 came out on PC. There's nothing powerful enough for that right now, most PCs chug to render Laura Croft's hair properly, it'd be even worse trying to do that with multiple characters, never mind the huge poly count
    I also think it's important to remind people that these AREN'T the final graphics. They said in an interview they're starting with these graphics and downgrading them to make it work on PS4/XB1
    Anyways, I'm glad the game is just going for an advanced version of the PS2 graphics, I'd rather the characters stay consistent than suddenly look wildly different just in time for the finale
     
  8. Labrys King's Apprentice

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2012
    Gender:
    Male
    1,450
    467
    I think we're more better off with the normal kh2 look. I mean this is newer design is good, but I get the feeling that square is too focused on the graphics rather than the game itself.
     
  9. Ty Traverse Town Homebody

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2010
    Gender:
    Male
    49
    120
    Those are still from very early stages of development; I think the next look at the game will look more clean and crisp.
     
  10. Labrys King's Apprentice

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2012
    Gender:
    Male
    1,450
    467
    I'm not very sure about that, it looks like this could be the best they could get. Well if anything, I can see the graphics downgrading instead.
     
  11. Sokhu Merlin's Housekeeper

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2014
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    A frenchie in London !
    12
    28
    I must be really slow but I've seen that video only yesterday [ Though it came out last year ], and I must say i'm happy and a bit disapointed at the same time.

    The graphics are amazing for sure, but... during gameplay ? Really ? It'd be during a cinematic I wouldn't mind at all, but during the playing parts that's a bit too much. I almost found it ugly. Well the game isn't finished yet but still... I hope they will make that a bit... I mean smoother. Otherwise it looks good !

    The big what fhe f*ck was the flying Chrismas-like train xD That makes the fight a bit less... serious. But by saying that, I know someone will be like '' Yeah well it's Kingdom Hearts, not Assassin's Creed ''.

    But as long as I have my favorite Trio back i'm more than happy even if he rides a train or a horse from a Caroussel haha But i fear it might be a bit KH3D-like because of that [ And everyone said at some point that this game has been created under cyanure xD ].
     
  12. Fellangel Bichael May

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2007
    Location:
    US of A
    197
    To be honest, this was probably their best choice. Why?

    Kingdom Hearts, unlike Final Fantasy, has its unique art style. Instead of being all hi-res CGI, KH has this aura of a more cartoony CGI. That actually was my main concern when I was thinking about KH3. How would they bring KH to the next gen without ruining the art style? It needs to be upgraded to that specific point where it's good enough to satisfy the fans, but not so much that it looks like another Final Fantasy game.

    To an extent, one could call it being lazy, but in my opinion, if they tried to enhance it any further, it wouldn't look like a KH game. I'm rather satisfied with how the game looks.
     
  13. Loxare Hollow Bastion Committee

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2009
    Gender:
    No
    Location:
    Flower Field
    906
    659
    Probably because they're in a battle.


    Personally, I like the new style. Every game that comes out these days is trying for the CGI look and they're all starting to blur into the same graphics to me. Something different, as long as it's well executed, is very much welcome. Plus, if it can render the Disney into a more natural feel, that would be spectacular.

    Any word on what the graphics will do to the load time? More? Less?
     
  14. Arch Mana Knight

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2007
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Anywhere
    2,430
    Given that you'll have to install several gigs of the game onto the PS4, load times will probably be pretty fast. Or maybe just one or two long load times(maybe for worlds) with next to none in between.
     
  15. A Zebra Chaser

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2013
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Canada
    1,953
    I'd imagine the load times will be a bit longer than what we currently see with the HD remakes
    Assuming the game isn't THAT intensive on the system, and is well optimized
     
  16. Fellangel Bichael May

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2007
    Location:
    US of A
    197
    Tbh, the game doesn't look THAT intensive. We're not talking about Crysis 3 or any sort of crazy eye candy. It should be relatively fast. Not to mention the HD remakes are on the PS3. Next gen should handle it rather well.
     
  17. A Zebra Chaser

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2013
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Canada
    1,953
    we're talking a lot of physics based motion on characters though, never mind the models are ridiculously high poly right now
     
  18. Afro-Lion Moogle Assistant

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2014
    Gender:
    Male
    3
    7
  19. A Zebra Chaser

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2013
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Canada
    1,953
    well it won't be pixar quality in terms of pure graphics, nothing is powerful enough for that yet
    in terms of aesthetically looking like Pixar?
    [​IMG]
    Sonic did that years ago
    if they wanted to make KH look like that, they would have
     
  20. Fellangel Bichael May

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2007
    Location:
    US of A
    197
    I don't think KH3 is going for that look in the first place. KH has a rather unique look to the game. It's actually very dangerous ground when it comes to visuals. One small mistake, and you'll just get another FF game or worse.