Odds and Ends of Supervising: Sora Edition [Graphics]

When polishing a game, I give each and every detail a thorough check-and today, I'd like to introduce a small part of my supervision feedback from the development of Sora.
By the way, this is the final video in the Graphics category, and the last time on this channel I'll be discussing my role as a supervisor.
• Supervising Art Throug...
• Odds and Ends of Super...

[@terrabits]

7:33 Churro looking structure gave me a chuckle. And yet, feels like an appropriate description

[@nicocchi]

I'm not a Kingdom Hearts fan, so I don't pay much attention to that stage's detail despite how often I play on it for being tournament standard. I won't be able to unsee the Churro Tower now

[@BJGvideos]

And he still didn't say what it was made of

[@logandunlap9156]

@@BJGvideospipes? 90% of hollow bastion is pipes

[@LordYggdrasill]

I didn't expect him to know what Churros were, but that's EXACTLY what I thought it looked like when he asked. 😂

[@mmking9999]

Wow, he even found a tiny pixel on Sora's face? Nothing gets past Sakurai.

[@KamonShirow]

If that had made it into the final version of the character, fans would've been outraged! 😆

[@HypercatZ]

He's a really meticulous person in his job.

[@CameronFulkerson]

If you look closely at the hair swirl on donkey Kong’s head you can actually see a polygon missing

[@UndertakerU2ber]

What about Daisy’s third eye?

[@ロペ-u9l]

Nah,look at Shulk result face.

[@datalphalion]

Knowing that Disney and Square Enix gave their permission to have these pre-release designs be shown is truly heartwarming.

[@tpastudios8681]

I know right…. Sora was my 3rd pick of my most wanted character in smash… That’s why I love kingdom hearts so much

[@Kingdom850]

Why wouldn't they?

[@andrewpotts]

And yet the biggest obstacle, despite fan speculation, was Tetsua Nomura himself. He wanted to oversee the production of the dlc and had a say in what can and can't be done, simply because he wanted everything Kingdom Hearts related to be canon.

[@MentalLiberation]

​@@andrewpotts And, if you watch or follow HMK, this actually could be canon. Gotta love that guy.

[@CaptainFalcoyd]

That's almost Stockholm Syndrome level of praise for corporations for simply not actively being dicks.

[@connordarvall8482]

Looks like being a design lead/director involves giving a lot of specific instructions or at least getting people to understand a feeling you're trying to convey. A breakdown of the design process is actually pretty helpful. That aside, I didn't realise just how much Sora does the splits in his animations.

[@BlueAizu_]

All of the splits Sora does are accurate to the source material, too!

[@flaregamer64]

The section on Hollow Bastion made me appreciate how much Sakurai cares for player clarity even down to the smallest things.

[@TronicSpeed]

That is definitely meant for those hardcore fans. The way many players have done repeat playthrough of Kingdom Hearts, they would have known if something felt off.

[@GimR]

Sakurai really is a perfectionist. No wonder Ultimate is so polished!

[@catluvr2]

That Animal Crossing stage was definitely the right choice for Sora's end picture.

[@LightningCayo]

I find it kinda interesting that some of the development images show Sora in Smash For Wii U’s Battlefield stage. And nice that Square Enix and Disney were ok with all of this.

[@Dairunt1]

Sakurai once slipped a development "picture of the day" of Pit fighting in Wii U's battlefield stage. They probably have all of the Wii U stages compiled for Ultimate, including the ones that got cut (like Orbital Gate Assault or Woolly World). My guess as to why they were cut is because the game notably dropped frames when having 16 Ice Climbers at once.

[@DarktheEagle]

It actually makes sense to test on the Wii U stage if it's more graphically intensive. If there's no performance drop on the harder stage to render, then you know it should be fine on less intense stages.

[@Kingdom850]

Disney and Square allowed him to be in the game in the first place, why wouldn't they be okay with this?

[@jasonball3496]

​@@Kingdom850companies often want to keep development details secret, even for products they were fine with releasing

[@TheLobsterCopter5000]

There's a long history of development screenshots being taken on Smash 4's Battlefield instead of Ultimate's. For some reason, they do a lot of their testing on it. Don't think we've ever gotten an official answer on why.

[@SuperButterBuns]

I am sat and ready to be educated on game design Mr. Sakurai ☺️

[@Zimbabwe_Queen]

tell it how it is Buns 👌

[@TheRealBatabii]

"am sat"? That isn't right

[@willuigi64]

@@TheRealBatabii grammar police over here policing slang

[@BJGvideos]

Wow it's Buns!

[@diyromania]

​@@TheRealBatabii it's almost as if they did it intentionally as a flourish

[@fishsticxz]

i love sakurai's doodle for sora's pose in the final smash! it looks silly but it gets the point across, which is the most important part

[@DanielOfDuty]

What a true ending way of finishing of this outstanding game in the Super Smash Bros. Series. Masahiro Sakurai, Tetsuya Nomura, Disney and Square Enix. We are all thank you very much for adding Sora from Kingdom Hearts to reviving all of the characters in the last and final character trailer. Thank you Sora you made it!!!

[@UltimaRedFireEskimo]

Don’t need to imagine why a game takes a long time to make. These details add up to what can be considered a company’s “signature polish”.

[@arx_5744]

I didn't know Mr. Sakurai paid attention to design to this degree. The amount of things he considers, and how much better it looks afterwards is amazing!

[@PhilipWalker]

Yup, your comment is spot on. There wasn't a single change in this video that led to a worse result. His ability to understand what is lacking and how to improve it is absolutely incredible.

[@TeamSoraPresents]

Most ordinary people wouldn't notice a single errant pixel on a character's model. I've missed an odd pixel or two while posting my own 2D art, and it tears me up inside. But not our Sakurai-sensei. This is why he is a master.

[@jokered1133]

This dude can run without quality assurance, because he is the quality assurance

[@Skyward]

Very cool of Square to let Sakurai show off Sora like this!

[@MasutaMJ]

Finally an episode on Sora. I was almost under the impression that Disney made him off limits for a video but idk.

[@TheLobsterCopter5000]

This is why Sakurai is in charge.

[@JasLamArr91]

It’s so crazy seeing Disney being represented in Smash. So glad they started to bring in 3rd Party characters!

[@SonicTheCutehog]

I thought it was about your company at first

[@Cashbans]

Well, they do have the same name

[@tumultuousv]

@Cashbans that's the point of the comment.

[@TheCosmicPope91]

I appreciate the attention to detail that makes all of this seem so much more cohesive and alive. These are the types of things you don't notice immediately, but you'd notice the overall effect (or lack thereof) in the final game

[@WaToArt]

Sakura's sketch for Sora's final smash is so adorable. I can just imagine Sakura handing off his sketch to his team and saying, make this and them knowing exactly what he wants. xD

[@bornabrawler]

Still reeling from the fact that Sora is in Smash Ultimate. I've always wanted him since Brawl and to see him come to life in this game is so special. Thank you to Sakurai and the dev team for their hard work! 🙏

[@dabi_]

The attention to detail is incredible and inspiring

[@zakiemon]

All of this for just 1 of the fighters in Ultimate's roster. Making a Smash game is a such a huge undertaking.

[@Loyal_Samwise]

The best character to finish an amazing game. Thank you for Sora.

[@thezx5795]

Sora's a good choice to show this off. I also wonder if it's because he was the last character, Sakurai had an easier time remembering what he did with Sora 😄

[@TheMack625]

Seeing that Sora was the most requested fighter for Ultimate, it's fair that he gets an entire behind the scenes video. There's a lot that goes into making a single fighter, huh? Even the tiniest of details get taken care of. I liked seeing two of his color variants covered. Sora is a fine inclusion.

[@andrewpotts]

You really went above and beyond to perfect Sora and Hallow Bastion in Smash Ultimate. All the more reasons us Kingdom Hearts fans are happy.

[@2bitbyte]

It's cool getting this behind-the-scenes look at my favorite addition to Ultimate's roster, Sora. Smash Bros. is a truly magical series, and Sakurai deserves all the praise he gets for making it possible.

[@Mopsamaxwell]

Interestingly, ive noticed that Sora's design in this game more resembles his character artwork from kingdom hearts 1, and not the actual in-game model from it! Pretty cool!

[@svenbtb]

It's all those small details that makes ALL the difference. Having so much care into every single aspect makes the game feel SO much more polished. It's that extra attention and care that sets Smash apart from all the other wanna-be platformer fighters out there, they simply don't hold a candle to the level of quality. Plus, you know that if the fans of that particular character you're tuning (for any given character not just Sora, but probably especially Sora lol) found things that looked weird, they would really stand out to them and all of those weird inconsistencies would be pointed out all over the Internet.

[@dannyboots]

Sakurai and his team are really masters at what they do

[@BigApple2AM]

It would be really interesting to see this type of video for other newcomers, particularly Ridley since he was so adamant for so long that he would never get in for one reason or another. I'm sure there was an insane amount of back and forth between Sakurai and the design team there.

[@danielbetts6771]

What I find interesting is how they are using the Smash 4 Wii U Battlefield stage.

[@jonathand827]

A lot of switch games were wiiu games first, pretty much every first party title was.

[@BreakGlassForMemes]

@@jonathand827 Uhh no?

[@Obsidian8R]

Ultimate must have borrowed a lot of assets and models from smash wiiu probably to save development time, especially early on. Like using the smash wiius character models and stages temporarily to test the characters move-set until a new model was finalized (however I'm assuming the game mechanics themselves were redone from scratch). For example there is a bug in fox's illusion move, the after effect only still uses fox's old smash 4 model although it is very difficult to notice and is definitely not intended to be there and most likely got overlooked. It's the same thing for them using the old stages in beta and developer versions of the game being borrowed too.

[@GK-ym9fx]

Real ones know that the reveal of Sora in Smash is one of the biggest moments in videogame history

[@StarrBomba]

wow the ending image is actually super clever, using animal crossing as destiny islands, and a star effect as a paopau fruit.

[@rotallyPumpered]

This is the kind of exacting animation feedback you can expect from the guy who drew Kirby's sprites.

[@MrWarners14]

Sora is a delight to play in Smash. Thank you so much.

[@Cashbans]

Not against though.):

[@ivrydice0954]

I'd watch a whole hour of these tips. Maybe more. The little trivia is so fun to watch.

[@leftyfourguns]

Sensei really is going through your work pixel by pixel. Slackers don't stand a chance

[@TrueStormlore]

Wow. Sakurai is so incredible

[@ScrubReborn]

I love how Sakurai just keeps around Smash 4 Battlefield for whatever reason lol. He must really like it

[@gustinex]

So many of these are so subtle and tiny details that most people, even devs never think about. Sakurai is just too good, and you can see how much he cares and respects his work, game dev and the IPs

[@DarkBloodbane]

Attentive to small details as always Mr Sakurai! It's lovely to watch this kind of supervision videos.

[@MomoPkmn95]

Sora in Smash made me cried tears of joy 😭

[@Leopez02]

That's the beautiest thing I've ever heard it made me cried Tears of Joy too! 😢

[@supervideogamer3607]

I was sick and I wanted to cry

[@-._____-]

Sakurai giving a super advanced lesson here. Gonna spend the day studying this video to the best of my abilities.

[@toastoftriumph]

6:04 I feel like way too many games out there let the foreground, midground, and background get mixed into each other without much contrast. I've always appreciated Sakurai using shading, color tone, and saturation to make these stand out. Other platform fighters often just blend into each other IMO and it's much harder to keep track of the character.

[@b2j135]

I love how he is very meticulous and attentive to detail he had always been It's one of the reasons I love how true to form the roster is from their original games

[@MeteorFalcon]

I literally cried seeing this boy in the game

[@Spin_Music]

Sakurai: can i plz show this funny image of Sora T posing? Disney: sure it looks funni :) SQEX: *Nomura shaking how T Posing Sora would make sense in the KH lore*

[@ExploDjinn]

There's a part of me that thinks that no one would ever notice one single out of place pixel, and another part that knows how obsessive people can get and could imagine videos trying to break down what it means.

[@AndersonTenecela]

I still laugh yet shocked how Disney actually like the idea of Sora in Super smash bros Ultimate but it was Testuya Nomura holding back on the idea. As a fellow final fantasy fan, this is why the fandom simultaneously loves and hates Nomura

[@DarkAura19]

People always say this then conveniently forget Sakurai mentioning that the only reason Sora happened was because of a chance encounter with a Disney Executive at an awards show. And literally mentioning how much of an undertaking getting him in was at the beginning of Sora's presentation. Believe me, I also think Nomura can be well beyond full of himself, but people pretending it's somehow his "fault" is silly.

[@rije9776]

El amor que el maestro le puso al desarrollo de Sora es simplemente increible. Thank you, Mr. Sakurai.

[@losalfajoresok]

Imagine working for this legend. No pressures at all.

[@ajmm2991]

I wish other third-party characters had this detailed edition. Really interested to see how they did the same thing for Banjo and Joker (for example).

[@KARLOSPCgame]

I can look at the thumbnail cross eyed and see Sora in 3D 😂

[@JetrinLee]

I feel like more people should really take notes on Sakurai's approach. He's transparent with the intricacies of game management and shows the importance of minute details in art direction. If we want to repay our respects to Sakurai, we should learn from his legacy and follow in his footsteps.

[@Alex-95-Gaming]

I understand why, but seeing Sora on Smash 4 Battlefield is a trip lol

[@shawnheatherly]

The dedication is so appreciated here.

[@lionheart4424]

Always love these in depth showcases from Sakurai-san!

[@DavidTheCastle]

And yet people still think anyone can do Sakurai’s job. We appreciate your hard work, sensei!

[@officiallyolu]

What an awesome insight on Sora's development for Smash Bros.

[@keybladeuser2121]

I would love to see more of this kind of odds and ends videos with the other dlc characters too!!

[@_SereneMango]

The amount of detailing a team has to adjust for a big game, and this is just one character and one stage (and Kirby).

[@thecunninlynguist]

kingdom hearts fans will be happy about this vid

[@majoraswrath6182]

It's amazing the attention to detail and eye one must have

[@RebelliousTreecko]

The development images of Sora being on the Smash 4 Wii U Battlefield are interesting, as Sora only got developed around 2019 iirc, so the Ultimate Battlefield was already available.

[@ArceusDX]

I guess they kinda just use it as THE testing stage

[@maxspecs]

If Square hired Sakurai to help out with Kingdom Hearts 4’s development and finishing touches, you know it’ll be a masterpiece.

[@raabbbbid56]

I love sora in smash, specifically his kh1 design, sakurai please make rayman in the next smash game, plz this is a wish i wanted you to grant it

[@Palhum]

man this is some nice quality control that seems to be missing in many recent games

[@keynanmartinez]

I'm still happy Sora is in Super Smash Bros!

[@ToddBlackToddTalk]

Sora is finally here...and Sakurai made sure that EVERY DETAIL MATTERED!!! lol

[@ElTaitronAnim]

This was fantastic to see, thank you for sharing with us.

[@meteorain2940]

Churros sound pretty good right now

[@remarkablezeal9568]

I just completed Kingdom Hearts 1 this morning. The timing couldn't be more perfect!

[@Haymdahl]

3:13 Developer: I'll smuggle an intended wrong pixel in nearly the same colour palette into the game as April fool's and to leave my footprint. Sakurai looking at the costume for 1 second:

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

Anime graphics are the best in saving memory size to allow extra gameplay content. They also help separate fantasy from reality as should. Video games are meant to be played to interact with the characters and worlds in fantasy.

[@christianpadin567]

Crazy how sora in smash looks even better than it's cgi counterpart.

[@biggreen1456]

I remember hearing that they initially wanted older Sora, I dont know the truth behind that but if there's a smash 6 I would love to see their take on older Sora and the mechanics he uses later on

[@oK-lc1op]

simple and clean, my keyblade masters

[@brannycedeno6823]

I came here after this had 20 seconds uploaded. 😂

[@RobinsonV007]

That CG version and in-game model of Sora both look better than the KH1 sora model from KH3. It’s so true to the original I love it. 8:31

[@Aperez]

Was someone on the team eating a churro while designing the Hollow Bastion stage? I can never unsee it now! 🤣

[@MG64OdysseyProductions]

Even though the Dive to the Heart stations don't have the other Disney Characters (besides the KH original characters). it's still my favorite stage

[@supervideogamer3607]

I already wished for sora to get in. Now, it is crash bandicoot who I really love to see gets that treatment.

[@irohdw6055]

I didn't realize until now that the Timeless River costume has Pac-Man eyes. XD

[@smashcop1]

Now I want to go to one of the parks to get myself a churro

[@Blitz-eo2iw]

Seeing all the hard work put into making this character come to life is truly great. Thank you for all your work Mr.Sakurai!

[@SobmicSSBB]

"With permission from the involved parties" shows once again how much of an impossible task it was for Sora to get into Smash Bros.! A lot of the pre-feedback graphics do look off and unpolished, so I wonder how much Sakurai noticed himself and how much was his colleagues asking "this looks off but where exactly?" I'm also surprised with how honest and thorough Sakurai is with his feedback. I'd be worried I'd be coming off as too petty and strict in his place. But in the end what he says is the most important thing, that the team is built on mutual trust.

[@michipeka9973]

I don't know if the BGMs used for this channel are from royalty-free music libraries, past games soundtracks or if Sakurai San had them composed especially for his channel, but I quite like the music starting at 0:40 Same kind of vibe as in "A Short Hike".

[@tomoinu]

God is in the details

[@tiarabite]

4:15 this part was not translated properly. He said that Sora's axis of rotation was on his butt. The subtitles made me think he was talking about it being on the overall back of his body, including the legs facing backwards, so confused me. You can even tell from the images shown what Sakurai actually meant.

[@BingBangPoe]

3:16 Sakurai noticing a single pixel out of place just shows how keen to details he is, striving for perfection.

[@laggalot1012]

3:13 Now I get they have tools and stuff for this, to help really take in every detail of a character model, but that is truly impressively thorough! Definitely a mark of dedication to product quality and polish.

[@cowserthekhelinace]

We NEARLY had a Toby Fox pixel in Smash, so close!

[@MultiPlatGamerGuy]

Thank you so much for adding Sora to the game!

[@chrisbeach423]

Please do Banjo Kazooie next Sakurai!!!! They are the most charismatic characters in the game with so many little details to cover!

[@Mexican_Robobot42]

Sora!

[@spudsT]

It’s not a request when the boss wants it 😂