Back again for another game tweaks thread where I explain a teeny tiny detail or details that I think should be taken in account for KHIII so that it looks/plays/feels better.

 

Despite the great designs and structures of the worlds we've visited over the years in the various other Kingdom Hearts titles, they've all felt, for the lack of a better word... dead. Yeah, that's right. Dead. Lifeless. Boring...... BLARG. And the way I see it, this needs to go and the worlds need to be given way more realistic environments

 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not shitting on those designs or how they looked, and I thought the little that we saw in the actual gameplay of KHIII we got all that time ago was good, but still, creating a nice setting is one thing. Making it feel like its actually there and not just something simulated and not real is another. I mean, we're in a day and age where making video game characters and settings look more akin to real life is very very very very possible. New tech and new techniques are being used to better capture the essence of real life into a video game, and Kingdom Hearts III should be thrown into that mix. Its gonna be current-gen consoles PS4 and Xbox One exclusively anyway, so it might as well get a current-gen treatment so that when we step into a new world, we're gonna feel like we're actually stepping into a new world.

 

But anyways, you might be asking now: "But what can be put in to make the environments seem more real, Firaga Sensei-Senpai-San-Sama-Kun???"

 

Well, you see, its the little things that matter. Picture it: you step into Agrabah, you see the roaring winds pick up sand and dust that flicker in the air as we're walking around the desert or even through the kingdom, as the hot sun above beats down, casting shadows on all the character models and reflecting off objects like vases in the market stands. Then you step into the more dreary world of Halloween Town, where the air is a lot more creepier and tense. The wind whistles are you hear sounds of creatures laughing and maybe even screams of horror. You see gunk and decay in the town, reminding you of all the hideous and disgusting, scary creatures that live there, as well as the moon above that casts down upon the endless night.

 

Oh yeah, and remember how it rained in The World That Never Was in the Deep Dive movie but never again did that in Kingdom Hearts II? That needs to be fixed, imo. It would make the already dark and mysterious environment of TWTNW even more dark and mysterious, just to see the rain pouring down, maybe with some thunder or some clouds and the drip-drip-drip sound of the water hitting the ground. And maybe we can add in that camera effect where it looks like the screen is being rained on too.

 

See, stuff like that can really make a difference aesthetically. Its not exactly something that I think a lot of you really have a high demand for, and I can understand why, but personally, I think it'd be a nice touch. Again, we're going into the current generation now, we should be able to get more than we have in the past in terms of that kind of thing. Especially if when we saw the gameplay, it was still supposedly "in development", because that leaves a lot of room for improvement in it of itself.

Edited August 26, 201411 yr by Firaga Sensei

Yeah, I think the best detail of the movies can be brought out best with the power of current gen consoles.

I like your idea, but you said "next-gen treatment" even though PS4/Xbox-One/Wii U are all current gen and you even said that earlier on. ._. Sorry, but nitpicking. This is a great idea.

I like your idea, but you said "next-gen treatment" even though PS4/Xbox-One/Wii U are all current gen and you even said that earlier on. ._. Sorry, but nitpicking. This is a great idea.

 

I fixed it now Mr. Nitpicker... oh who am I kidding, this entire thread is a nitpick.

Ok, for a second it sounded like you wanted all the environments to actually look like real world locations, such as Agrabah looking like an actual realistic Arab city or the Disney characters looking like actual humans/animals. You know, stuff that, I believe, no one wants to see. But then you started focusing on smaller details like warm air and reflections of the sun and such and I felt a little more relieved.

 

I'm not sure if you've been very clear about what you mean in terms of wanting Kingdom Hearts III to look more "realistic", but from what I can guess, it sounds like you just want a little more realistic detail in some things for a more interesting and believable aesthetic presentation. Now if that's the case, than I completely understand and even share a little bit of that interest, some little details like a perfectly reflecting sun, a warm or chilling breeze, or the refraction of light in underwater environments are things that can really complement the fantastic and artistic landscapes and environments of the worlds.

 

However, if it was what I feared and you meant that you wanted all of the worlds, Disney and original alike, to look totally and 100% Next-Gen realistic, then I would have been horrified. For some games where a near-realistic looking world is the main setting, like Uncharted or Metal Gear, that's perfectly acceptable, as they have clearly established the nature of their worlds being more or less identical to our own. But for a game like Kingdom Hearts that uses the environments of several famous animated Disney feature films, the attention to detail should stray less towards how realistic it looks and more towards how close to the original film it looks. A world based off of a movie like Frozen or Aladdin should look as much like those movie's environments did as they were depicted in those films' art styles. Sure, they're both based off of real world locations, most Disney films are, but they still had their own style, their own appearance. A pine tree in Frozen would be drawn differently than a pine tree would be drawn in Pocahontas, and a rock in Hercules would be drawn differently than a rock in Peter Pan, and so on. As such, each of those worlds should be created not with the goal of trying to look like an actual environment you could find if you took a plane somewhere, but rather with the goal of bringing the style and appearance of those animated worlds to life, as if you really were "in another world."

 

But for some worlds like Tron and Pirates of the Caribbean, those two concepts might be one and the same...but that said, I still think an effort should be made to try to make them resemble their movie counterparts more, while using that new shader aesthetic they have to make it so characters like Sora, Pete, or Donald don't blatantly stand out in the otherwise near-realistic environment.

 

That's not to say that I don't think that realistic and life-like environments don't have any place in a fantasy setting. Games like Final Fantasy that make up their own worlds with their own styles don't really have to worry about how real or accurate they get, because everything is being made to enhance the fantastic and creative nature of the setting each game takes place in. I only say that Kingdom Hearts has to follow these rules because they've already made a great effort to make each and every world and character closely resemble their film counterparts, rather than tying everything down to just one style and adapt all of the cartoons and environments to that one style. Imagine if the base art style of the series was to resemble the art style of, say, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and every original and Disney world and character, be it Whinnie the Pooh or Pirates of the Caribbean or even Radiant Garden, had to be artistically altered to fit that style. It would certainly be interesting to see, but it wouldn't feel true to those other worlds or movies. It's kind of a ridiculous example, but it would pretty much lead to a similar outcome if the artistic focus was to make everything look as real as an Uncharted game, only more real.

 

But like you said, certain details that we see everywhere in day to day life that we often take for granted like how the light hits objects or how water moves, or even how the hot air can leave a shadow or a visible ripple, those things could actually enhance the style of each world. Whether it's light hitting a building in Port Royal or Disney Town, I definitely think that details such as that should be utilized more in Kingdom Hearts III, especially since they feel keen on upping the artistic quality of each environment and character.

 

Sorry for my rant, I guess I was just really confused about what you meant exactly by "realistic" when it came to a Kingdom Hearts game. I hope it turns out that we're on the same page.  ^_^"

Edited August 21, 201411 yr by Hero of Light XIV

I agree with you that this would make all the worlds a lot more interesting, but it's not on top of my priority list. What I want to begin with -- something most of us want -- is more NPCs. Make the worlds more lively by filling it with people! It's decently done and understandable in some worlds. Traverse Town has a okay amount of people in the first district and characters scattered across the world in various places. You can excuse the second and third district with being evacuated due to the Heartless. Also it's night, so a lot of people might be asleep. However the NPCs we do have in the first district just stands there. Wouldn't it be a lot more realistic if these people actually moved around? And if NPCs ran away when the Heartless appears? This is kind of what you're talking about. The smaller things that adds a lot to the environment. Again, you can give the excuse I already mentioned with areas being empty due to evacuation from whatever monsters, but when it carries over to other ridicules things such as: the ball with six guests; the castles with no guards; the fun fair with no visitors; the army with no soldiers; the list goes on but let's end with the invisible crowd cheering at the Olympus Coliseum. Seriously!? I never even thought about the fact that the coliseum had no audience until that stupid cheering scene in BbS. Just add more citizens to the worlds.

 

Another thing I want and miss from KH1 is how you could stand on edges, hang off the roof, slide down vertical objects, lift and throw boxes, and the many other tiny interactions you could do with the worlds. Ah, KH1, how I love thee! Make the worlds more intractable, fill it with people, and give it a atmosphere and an actual environment. Make the worlds unique!

Edited August 21, 201411 yr by JTD95

I wholeheartedly agree. On top of what you mentioned they could also have Sora react to unique conditions in the environment such as stumbling and sliding when running on sand or muddy grass etc.

 

Having varying weather effects and changing the time of day(where appropriate) would also bring some life to the worlds. Even with cases like Twilight Town where it's supposed to be always twilight they can play around with the colors to still keep it Twilight but noticeably different. Weather and time of day could even play apart in what kind of heartless/enemies appear or how the NPCs behave.

 

Destructible environments beyond just crates and cracked walls would be good too. Something like your battling heartless and a window breaks or the fruit on a fruit stand spills and scatters or a tree gets knocked down and all this stays like that until you leave the area. Maybe even scratches or burn marks etc could be left on objects.

 

The little details can add up to make a huge difference so that each section you enter is memorable and makes you want stop to look around. By KH's own logic every world has a heart so there should definitely be more life in them.

Ok, for a second it sounded like you wanted all the environments to actually look like real world locations, such as Agrabah looking like an actual realistic Arab city or the Disney characters looking like actual humans/animals. You know, stuff that, I believe, no one wants to see. But then you started focusing on smaller details like warm air and reflections of the sun and such and I felt a little more relieved.

 

I'm not sure if you've been very clear about what you mean in terms of wanting Kingdom Hearts III to look more "realistic", but from what I can guess, it sounds like you just want a little more realistic detail in some things for a more interesting and believable aesthetic presentation. Now if that's the case, than I completely understand and even share a little bit of that interest, some little details like a perfectly reflecting sun, a warm or chilling breeze, or the refraction of light in underwater environments are things that can really complement the fantastic and artistic landscapes and environments of the worlds.

 

That's it right there.

 

 

I agree with you that this would make all the worlds a lot more interesting, but it's not on top of my priority list. What I want to begin with -- something most of us want -- is more NPCs. Make the worlds more lively by filling it with people!

 

My first game tweaks thread was actually about including more NPCs in the worlds. Here, take a look: http://kh13.com/forum/topic/64427-game-tweaks-better-populated-worlds/

That's it right there.

 

 

 

My first game tweaks thread was actually about including more NPCs in the worlds. Here, take a look: http://kh13.com/forum/topic/64427-game-tweaks-better-populated-worlds/

I guess NPCs would be interesting, but it would have to be actual characters from the movies and not a bunch of clones like The Land of Dragons and Port Royal had. If worlds like Halloween Town were to somehow return, it would really be great to see all of those secondary characters you see throughout the movie just roaming around the place, like the clown with the tear-away-face or that hanging tree. Oh, and actually have Atlantica be populated by mer-people! I know they're there! They're all just hiding from me, but I know they exist!!....but Atlantica would have to have a reason to be brought back, and right now I have none. More NPCs in places like Twilight Town, Destiny Islands, and Radiant Garden would be nice too. I want to love the people! X3

Well, I agree with you mostly since I see most of the KH worlds as abandoned playgrounds. I mean...they're void of any people. There are other details that need to be taken into account other than that obviously, but you've already listed them in your complaint.

 

Well, realism isn't something that should really be taken into KH3. All I think we need is something that looks as gorgeous as Mario Kart 8. A game that's so gorgeous in detail, surroundings, and color that it takes a while to adjust to reality's dullness when we take our eyes off of our television screens.

I would love to see a more realistic atmosphere in the kh series. I think that they can do with the next gen systems they have if they put the effort in to making kh3 the greatest kh game yet.

Well, I agree with you mostly since I see most of the KH worlds as abandoned playgrounds. I mean...they're void of any people. There are other details that need to be taken into account other than that obviously, but you've already listed them in your complaint.

 

Well, realism isn't something that should really be taken into KH3. All I think we need is something that looks as gorgeous as Mario Kart 8. A game that's so gorgeous in detail, surroundings, and color that it takes a while to adjust to reality's dullness when we take our eyes off of our television screens.

 

This isn't a "complaint". It's just a suggestion, a tiny suggesting, towards making KH3 as good as it can be.

 

Also I think that you and some other people maybe confused on what I mean by "realistic". You see, I'm not necessarily saying the graphics and designs of the game have to look like real life, I'm saying that they need to be more than they already are. You said it best, most of the worlds are "abandoned playgrounds" and don't really have that much life to them. Realistically, they should have much much more life, especially if they're based on the styles of Disney and Square Enix, who are both highly capable of creating enviroments that can be lively and visually appealing.