After watching many videos of season 1 and particularly the time period around announcement and E3 2013, and just using my own memory from when I got the game on launch day; I have to wonder why the game looked so different back then. I know about the whole " crushed black " look that they say it had back then, but there’s more to it than that. The game overall just seemed to look better graphically back then. It looks smoother, and sharper, and in a way, more " next gen ". This is just my opinion and some may disagree but to those who agree with me, what could cause a game to change its appearance like that ?
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The orginal E3 videos were of KI on a PC. I think it was 1080p 60FPS at the time as well. Also hype announcer was hype then people complained that he didn’t sound like the old announcer so they made him less hype.
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Well yeah that makes sense about the e3 footage being on PC but even aside from that season 1 just has a really different look. If you go back and watch season 1 gameplay it’s hard not to notice the difference right away. I know this has been talked about before and I don’t wanna beat a dead horse, but I haven’t ever actually seen someone say what caused it to change ? Like what happened along the way.
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The motion blur was more apparent too.
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It’s nothing that the devs need to add but I always was more of a fan of the original vs screen after character selection. I would enjoy it if they allowed us to switch back to that one if we wanted.
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Could be psychological too, I mean after staring at the game for over two years and watching it evolve the luster is mostly worn off. At least with me I know my Xbox One looked like it came from outer space on launch day playing games like KI and Dead Rising, now I kinda take the improved visuals for granted.
I don’t like one more than the other. They’re just different.
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Didn’t the xbox use to have a sharpening filter on? Maybe that’s why, i remember noticing how blurry the game got when they removed it but that’s back when ki was 720p.
One thing I’ve observed recently - KI looks beter @ 720p than SFV does.
I’ve had to play SFV on a monitor recently that only supports 720p - and that game looks kinda wonky in that resolution. Not that this is saying much at all, since that’s not the intended resolution.
The lighting was also significantly different. As soon as IG took over that’s one of the first things they worked on. Not only that but if you look at original videos some weird particles would go flying towards the screen whenever you were knocked down.
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I just can’t agree with this. I know you are couching this in “this is just my opinion”, but I think objectively you can look at the KI seasons and see that the game has only gotten graphically better.
Pre- Season 1: This could be on PC as presumably this was captured from a Dev kit pre-release. Regardless, it would still be at a less powerful standard than what can be pucshed on the PC version today.
Season 1:
Season 2:
Season 3: (I honestly can’t tell if this is PC or not, I lean towards Xbox though.)
Season 3: PC version
Season 2 objectively is closer / equal to pre-season 1 footage, and Season 3 is on par or better than that. I think the only thing you can argue that is “better” in season one is animation and transitions in animations, but even that IMO has exceeded S1 level as S2 and now S3 have progressed. Characters like Riptor or Gargos animate amazingly, equal to or greater than characters like Spinal or Glacius from S1.
IMO saying S1 was “better” than subsequent season in regards to graphics is seeing this game through rose tinted glasses. Objectively it just isn’t true (as far as I can tell that is).
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Is that head tracking I see on the pre release build ? 
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Maybee I shouldn’t say better. Let me rephrase it; I think season 1 had a certain look that I am very fond of. That of course is up to whoever is looking at it. Idk if you were playing the game throughout the entirety of season 2, but if you were you’ll know that there were many occasions in which the lighting and textures were changed due to something the Devs did and it inadvertently effected the lighting. In those occasions, the stages looked really bad, which in turn made the game as a whole look worse. I do agree that season 3 has for the most part brought the game back to looking amazing. I guess like I said that season 1 just has a particular look that resonates well with me. Just SOMETHING about it I can’t quite put my finger on.
Well other than the lighting, it was things like particles that were flying out during Combo Breakers and things like that. I’d like to believe that they removed those so they could add more to the game itself but I don’t really know.
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Yeah that too for sure.
Not to mention the CB seem to hit harder with S1, it was like there was more impact behind the break.
Combo Breaking has changed each season. It changed in Season 2 from being a Hard Knockdown to being techable. Now in Season 3, it changed with the addition of Flipout. I know that’s all gameplay-related but it’s still something.
Yeah I know the mechanics changed. However the impact isn’t as powerful. I was watching varoius Gargos streams and the breaks he made…it looked like a normal hit.
Well that’s the fault of the animation. That’s the best reversal type move they could have given him in that situation.
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That’s true.