Cutscene Worry

[Launchpad]

I've been playing 0.2 quite a bit lately, and they do something in the cutscenes that I don't love.

The game frequently uses flashbacks to BBS and one flashback to KH1, and in all instances, they use the original footage, complete with PSP and PS2 grade visuals. It's extremely jarring to jump back to these low fiselity graphics during this new HD era.

I'm not saying they should remake every scene from the ground up, but they should be more creative. Do we need flashbacks? Couldn't Aqua just recount important events briefly in one of her countless mental soliloquys?

KH3 really shouldn't rely on these flashbacks for exposition... If they need to flashback, they should do it with the newer graphics. That visual sense of continuity is very important.

 

[Ven_Roxas]

This bothered me with 0.2 as well. I’m guessing it was a time thing for that game and hoping it won’t be an issue for 3

 

[Meow Wow]

I always just kind of laughed at the flashbacks. Like "hey look, old graphics, aaand back to the new ones"
I do agree however that if there are flashbacks in KH3 that they should probably be in the new graphics. Otherwise it might just look weird and also create a negative feedback on the game itself.

 

[Luminary]

Yeah I’m hoping any flashbacks will be in the new graphics. With a game as detail-oriented as this seems to be, I don’t see why they would cut that corner for this game. Like Ven_Roxas said, it was probably not worth the time to recreate those scenes for .2. But in KH3, using those old scenes would be a big mark against the game when it gets reviewed.

However, I’m hoping they just won’t deal too much in flashbacks unless it’s never before seen moments, like with Young Eraqus and Xehanort.

 

[Ranma]

Hopefully all of the flashbacks will be relegated to the recap video that is hopefully included in-game. KH2 is the only other game on the top of my head to heavily rely on cutscenes from previous games to recap in the form of Roxas' dreams and that was fine because the graphics weren't that different.

 

[Chuman]

I love the hell out of 0.2 but yeah, game was full of little inconsistencies like that. most bothersome thing is when they don't even remaster the new graphics, like, come on dude?? but I will add that for much of the remasters, they had to recreate most assets from the ground up because they lost them so I can easily see them pulling those bitches out again smh

 

[kirabook]

Well, if they're going to cater to newer fans and try to catch them up, old cutscenes and images will probably be used. I have a feeling they aren't going to use their dev time to redo old cutscenes. But hey, they could. We saw that they at least made a puppet Riku for 0.2 for the door scene. The only characters they'd need to go out of their way to redo would be younger Sora, Kairi, and Riku. (everyone else who will appear in KH3 will already be done). They'd also have to consider rebuilding worlds in the new engine, or at least the specific rooms the cutscenes take place in.

 

[Alpha Baymax]

I was personally fine with them reusing the HD Remix cutscenes. It's a nice callback to those games, and it's free advertising for previous entires if a flashback or plot point is ripped from a past game.

 

[Vasquez]

I doubt there will be much of that in KH3 if at all.

 

[TruestSyn]

I don't know what you're complaining about, the world used to be all black and white until color was invented in the 60s so if we did flashbacks we'd see everything with old graphics too some people are just so picky.

Seriously though, if KH 3 does flashbacks they better be in the same art style and quality as KH 3 or I'm going to riot. I don't want to see triangular blocky angles in my beautiful KH 3 HD resolution or my eyes may burn out.

 

[Launchpad]

This also opens up the conversation about flashbacks as a valid convention. What does a flashback achieve if we've already seen the contents of the flashback?

 

[TruestSyn]

This also opens up the conversation about flashbacks as a valid convention. What does a flashback achieve if we've already seen the contents of the flashback?

Well, usually it'd be to show what the character is remembering or seeing at the time. Something that has just flashed into their brain. Like remembering what someone said years ago that might have been a clue to solving a problem in the current situation. Like if Xemnas as Mysterious Figure said something like "Sleep is your key to salvation" and then Sora remembered it in CoM and decided to regain his memories because he remembered that. Just an example of course.

 

[Wallflower3582]

Personally I kinda felt like they did it intentionally. 0.2 was practically a big demo teaser for KH3, and by interjecting those not-necessarily-so-important flashbacks in the old quality, it was like getting a real time side-by-side comparison of the new graphics and the old. I really doubt they'd cut corners like that for KH3, and I would be disappointed if they did.

 

[Launchpad]

Personally I kinda felt like they did it intentionally. 0.2 was practically a big demo teaser for KH3, and by interjecting those not-necessarily-so-important flashbacks in the old quality, it was like getting a real time side-by-side comparison of the new graphics and the old. I really doubt they'd cut corners like that for KH3, and I would be disappointed if they did.

That's an interesting interpretation. The old graphics look good and have aged pretty well, but some characters look really different now.

If Data Sora appears, he should retain his PS2 style appearance.

 

[Alja]

Personally I kinda felt like they did it intentionally. 0.2 was practically a big demo teaser for KH3, and by interjecting those not-necessarily-so-important flashbacks in the old quality, it was like getting a real time side-by-side comparison of the new graphics and the old. I really doubt they'd cut corners like that for KH3, and I would be disappointed if they did.

My thoughts exactly! That's why I even enjoyed these flashbacks so much, it was as if they were trying to tell us "look how far we've come!". As 0.2 was such a short game, it was perfect. I wouldn't have wanted it for a full game, but for this it was amazing.

 

[SuperstarSaga08]

I hated that too, but can you imagine KH1 Sora with Unreal Engine 4 Graphics.

 

[TruestSyn]

I hated that too, but can you imagine KH1 Sora with Unreal Engine 4 Graphics.

>inb4 KH remakes using Unreal 4 in Kingdom Hearts 1.6, 2.6, and 2.9 editions and they improve and make playable 358/2 and re:Coded and make a game out of Back Cover.

 

[Amadeus]

If Data Sora appears, he should retain his PS2 style appearance.

Ah. A Porygon amongst Pokémon, then.

On topic, I liked the old-style flashbacks because, as Alja said, it really showed how far the KH graphics had come. Except I'm also biased towards the old style and miss it dearly, so there's that too. In any case they'll probably remake the flashbacks in KH3, because I doubt they'll use that many. If I recall correctly 0.2 only had 2 or 3 of them, and that only felt like a lot because it's so short. In such a huge game as KH3, I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

[Launchpad]

Ah. A Porygon amongst Pokémon, then.

On topic, I liked the old-style flashbacks because, as Alja said, it really showed how far the KH graphics had come. Except I'm also biased towards the old style and miss it dearly, so there's that too. In any case they'll probably remake the flashbacks in KH3, because I doubt they'll use that many. If I recall correctly 0.2 only had 2 or 3 of them, and that only felt like a lot because it's so short. In such a huge game as KH3, I'm sure it'll be fine.

0.2 had six or seven PSP flashback montages.

 

[alexis.anagram]

I'm hoping KH3 doesn't rely on flashbacks much if at all since they often break narrative momentum, and in KH3's case it would feel like retracing story elements we've all been through more than enough times. I'd like to see KH3 maintain a sense of uncompromising narrative self-determination: anything rooted in the events or ideas of previous installments should be spoken for within the story of KH3 itself and made clear via context and characters, allowing for the avoidance of heavy-handed techniques like flashbacks and exposition.

That said, it seems likely based on Nomura's recent comments that scenes which don't need a playable component to them (like Kairi training with Lea) will be movie-styled (which I assume to mean like the opening/ending?), so that might apply to flashbacks as well? It would make sense to do them that way, since it would give them a cinematic flair and maybe make them more interesting to (re)watch than just re-compositing the old footage from past games.