It’s rare to see a game receive a notable graphical upgrade after its release. The likes of Watch Dogs, Mass Effect Andromeda, and Anthem are merely a small selection of titles that wowed fans through their flashy marketing prior to release yet looked much worse when they finally hit shelves. However, it appears one of last year’s most prominent releases is looking to buck this long-hated trend.
Shown through a tweet by Twitter user Miraculous Maku, a new update for Kingdom Hearts 3 appears to provide a significant upgrade to the game’s visual quality in cutscenes, with the lighting system in particular benefiting from a massive improvement. Displayed through a before and after image of one of Kingdom Hearts' lead characters, Kairi, it’s overwhelming just how much the game’s graphical quality has improved.
For one, the new lighting accentuates the character model's features far more, allowing Kairi’s eyes to sparkle in the sunlight and casting improved shadows across her face. With the original picture looking fairly flat, this new visual flair makes the game appear more cinematic than ever before, which is essential seeing as these new graphical improvements will be utilized in cutscenes. Evidently Square Enix has spent a long time making sure that Kingdom Hearts 3 looks the best it possibly can, and it will no doubt be greatly appreciated by the game’s loyal fanbase.
Speaking of which, it appears fans are already loving Kingdom Hearts 3's new visual flair. Commenting on Miraculous Maku’s Twitter post, the reactions have been unanimously positive towards this new visual improvement, with one fan simply exclaiming “OMFG SHE LOOKS BEAUTIFUL.” Another commenter states, “you can really tell that they worked on the CG models a bit more. A lot of the missing detail was just covered up by a soft filter all over the image.”
It will no doubt do a lot to entice fans back into playing Kingdom Hearts 3, which is crucial for Square Enix right now as the game’s first major DLC pack, Re:Mind, drops today on PlayStation 4 and next month on Xbox One. Seeing as the DLC looks to be a fairly substantial piece of content that will clear up a lot of the hanging plot threads left by the main game, a visual update improving the presentation of cutscenes will make for the best way for fans to enjoy the next chapter in the Kingdom Hearts' story.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is out now on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.