Question is… would it fit KI?
It really depends on how it’s done. Well 
it could inch in that direction, but not full blown Pixar.
It’s pretty much a given that a new KI will be built from scratch with a different, probably more robust and flexible engine. (Plus hopefully more stable development.) But that won’t have much to do with the creative direction of a new game.
^^^ On a side note, I really like the current art style and hope they stay close to it.
so more like Team Fortress 2?
Real talk. For all the people who want a new engine for KI, how many of them actually know what an engine is, what engine KI uses, and the limitations of said engine. Most of the things aren’t even related to the engine. Just development priorities.
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I said Inch and you went a mile…
Yeah, i would want it to inch closer to Overwatch
I can guarantee one thing, if there is another KI, it’s going to look stunning. Xbox is in a weird situation right how. Most powerful console but not enough games. In this case, Microsoft is going to make any exclusives including Ki to look as good as it can be.
LoL… Thats what I said…
Actually to be honest I don’t really care about aesthetics. I just want them to use whatever style and method that will get people to stop whining about how Dated the game looks.
People think the game looks outdated?!?
■■■■■■■ what!?!
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Nah, the engine for KI is pretty outdated. I think even the Iron Galaxy devs (or maybe the Double Helix devs) said that the engine was not made for long term evolution and updating.
KI is a pretty game, but it definitely has its…things, such as Sabrewulf’s 2D fur, the human characters’ skin looks a little weird, and a weird shine on some of the characters:
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Yeah the game is showing it’s age, it looks great in 4K on my One X but the limits of the base hardware it was initially designed for are really showing.
Personally I want an all new clean slate KI4 on next gen hardware.
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I just hope we have a whole game right up front. I’m not a fan of how much money I spent on this game.
I know right !!! I don’t see it either. Of course I’m not really looking for any imperfections in the graphics… I got my hands full just trying not to get my @ss Kicked.
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Animated as in drawn. Honestly if the darkstalkers animation style was applied to KI, I think it could add a lot of character to some of the more bland roster choices right now.
Oh god no. Unless we want this game to have a dev cycle as long as cuphead. 2D can no longer be done well quickly. Unless we want a “retro” asthetic (which in my opinion, is people just being allowed to get away with making lackluster graphics).
That is a really pretty screen shot. 4k maybe?
Xbox one X screenshot. Downsampled to 1080p 
I believe the current system of borrowing normals is intentional, as it aids in recognition for breaking. You see Jago’s cl.HP in practice just playing the game, so when he starts a heavy auto with it you’re already primed to see it and say “aha!”
I dunno, I think all this game’s villains with the exception of Aria look quite intimidating. Eyedol and Gargos (and especially Gargos) aren’t exactly characters you’d mistake for the good guys. 
As relates to the actual question of engines, I personally think the Hex engine was quite gorgeous, but am also certain that a new engine would be used in any sequel, even setting aside any licensing issues. Hex wasn’t great for continual updating (becoming standard for FG’s), is a proprietary system (and not a widely understood/used one like Unreal) with all the headaches that entails from a programming perspective, and yes, is 4ish years old at this point. It’s just not worth the effort to keep using it for a brand new game, even if Amazon wanted to give it to MS for free. Which they almost certainly don’t.
But a lot of the visual issues people have with KI now aren’t really tied to Hex per se. The janky animations are just that - janky animations. Double Helix has some truly gorgeous idle and movement animations in their characters, and IG likewise grew consistently better about making characters that looked cool and believable as they moved across the screen. Maya and TJ aren’t indictments of Hex, but rather the natural result of tossing a brand-new team on unfamiliar tools and telling them to make something quickly. The lighting change was an artistic decision (that half-worked on some things, half didn’t on others), as was the shift in shadow animations. The inability to pan the camera without blacking the screen is a function of how the team decided to build their (gorgeous!) dynamic levels, not a limitation of “Hex can’t pan cameras”.
As to changing the art style in the next one, I’m pretty “meh” on that. A 2D or cel-shaded design makes zero sense given the series original claim to fame of gorgeous 3D models, and trying to ape a comic style would be neither recognizably “KI” nor even particularly good if we’re talking about using the old comics as a base. I’m dubious on Unreal, as I don’t think that shiny MKX/Injustice 2/Tekken 7 look is really all that special, though each are pretty games in their own way. But I concede that Unreal is probably versatile enough to handle some of the stranger aspects of KI designs, though I suspect some (a lot of) hand tweaking of certain things would be necessary.
So yeah, a new engine is almost guaranteed, but I’d like one that still allows for the vibrancy and flair of KI 2013. Unreal might be it for that, but then again it might not.
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As an idea I think hand drawn animation of the KI characters (in any of several different styles) would be really neat. But the game was never hand drawn so it would be a huge change for the series. And the reality is hand drawn animation (or even pixel art of high quality) is a dying art. Even most indie games are using 3D models these days. It’s really challenging, expensive and time consuming to get this done and it is also really difficult to go back and change, add or update the animations. There’s a reason Capcom spent a decade making games with the same sprites.
So while I agree it would be really neat to look at, I think the chances of this happening are incredibly slim (even if there’s a KI sequel, which I think is an outside shot at best).
Obviously I agree with this. But the one exception would be that the KI games were always visually impressive. And in 2018 and beyond it seems like hand drawn animation is something that can get people to stop and say “wow, look at that.” Even just limiting it to fighting games, which all currently look great in my opinion, the most attention is going to DBFZ because of the graphics style. So there’s one small point in favor of it.