Original VS Final Mix - Review of Every Heartless Design in Kingdom Hearts 1 

Oop I made a mistake with the Phantom, it is in the JP release. Might be a couple other things too but shit happens. Might make a few shorter videos for now to get some downtime after this big one haha

I think the problem with recolors is that the original designs were for the most part made with a clear design vision to them to fit within their setting while the recolors just went "Just make it different"

Alternative title: Every Shiny Heartless rated

I personally like the boss fight with the Stealth Sneak and its rider, the Man Person

The wyvern recolor is superior IMO. It is reminiscent of the various depictions of Bahamut in the Final Fantasy games.

Elemental variations of the Stealth Sneak: Fire Burn Cold Cooler Thunder Zapper Gust Wind Wet Moisture

I REALLY want a KH PC mod that reverts to the old heartless colors.

One nifty thing about the Sniper Wild is that on the left leg the “stripes” actually form a sort of cross section, implying crosshairs. I think that the lines on its head going toward its left eye is meant to imply the same.

I still wanna know why the recolors went from dark and scary to colorful and goofy. Like I'm not opposed to having a recolor for a heartless but it's a bit hard to call Heartless beings of darkness and all that when a Guard Armor looks like he belongs in a circus LOL Great video as always Nova!!

When I first played the Final Mix version of KH1, I was genuinely confused why the heartless had a different color scheme. I was like: wait a second, they looked different back in the day

I honestly think the Angel Star should've been a pure-blood instead of emblem heartless. They could've gone further with the abstract idea of biblical angel designs, which I feel they took inspiration from since they didn't make it a humanoid "angel".

I kinda like the irony of the Green Requiem's name. Since it's the healer of the bunch, yet Requiems are a song related to death. (Then again, if they're healing others, then they're linked into being the song of YOUR death.) I'm definitely mixed on quite a few of the recolors themselves, though I will admit, as much as the original Red Wyvern will always be a fav. I do like how the recolored version is trying to be a reference to typical colors of Bahamut in Final Fantasy. (Maybe a nice throwback to him apparently being cut as a summon in the original game?) Overall definitely a nice and enjoyable video, it's always nice to catch others' thoughts on the recolors in this series!

I prefer the original colours. But some of the final mix colours are fine

Everyone forgets the worst recolor of the best heartless: Ansem's voice

I think Guard Armor's original Purple will always be my favorite Heartless design, I think it embodies KH1's mood of "Dream-like Darkness" the best. Dark saturated purples gives me that feeling more than the more pop, exciting colors the recolors get.

I'll say what I said half a year ago again...Honestly, the recoloring doesn't really do it for me. From a design standpoint; the overall motif of dark purples, deep blues, and saturated red being present on most enemies really made them aesthetically appealing from a storytelling viewpoint. Especially since some of the enemies that more closely resembled humans had little bits of brown or pieces of clothing that were reminiscent of real-world clothing. Ghosts had chains and wore shirts, Air soldiers had kneepads and propeller hats, large bodies, soldiers, etc. I also think bosses like the Guard Armor, trickmaster and the parasite should have remained with their original color scheme and textures. The new pallet feels a little too out of place and I think overall it tones down the intimidating nature of the heartless and the game as a whole. (The Phantom is a two-way debate for me) But I will say the Behemoth (flames) does look more appealing visually in the FM albeit a little busy. Thank you for covering this series (especially KH 1) in so much depth and really putting your all into making these videos! A dedicated analyst and remarkable individual, keep up the good work!

I was with you until you recommended that second rate RU-vid channel :/ (Great stuff as always Nova)

When i played Final Mix for the first time i had no idea that the heartless were recoloured, so i was questioning myself "Did these guys always looked like this?". But then i got to the Guard Armor and it was imposible to mistake

y'know i never thought about it, but i'm kinda disappointed that anti-sora just uses a black kingdom key, considering how much heartless _hate_ keyblades. sure, that means there's some weight to one wielding a replica, but consider how much cooler it would be if you took a closer look at anti-sora during the fight and noticed it's not swinging a keyblade around, but instead something closer to the invisible's sword or soul eater. something to really sell the fact that even though it _looks_ like sora, it's still a heartless and thus either doesn't want to or flat-out _can't_ replicate the keyblade or, hell, this kinda goes against that last bit, but imagine if it wielded a shadowy _keyblade of heart._ there's a lot you can say about how that's worse than the kingdom key, but it'd keep the same idea of a heartless replica that wields its own replica keyblade while _also_ being a subtle bit of foreshadowing. plus since it's closer in its proportions to the rest of the keyblades, you could slap a black texture on it and call it a day, which can't necessarily be said for the other ideas

Technically, the Gigas Shadow is a regular-sized Shadow with the actual Shadows in Wonderland being mini-sized. The Invisible would later receive a recolour of sorts in 358/2 Days in the form of Orcus (though the Invisibles are still present).

I like the FM Stealth Sneak more cause the tribal tattoos make it look more like a heartless. If it wasn't for the emblem, the regular version would just look like a giant, weird chameleon.

I would like to see a KH2 version of this video. I’d also like to see a BBS version even if you haven’t played the original. It’d still be nice to know your opinion on the changes and if you even prefer any of the originals looking back.

The Powerwild recolor really one of the only ones I don't have a problem with-the new yellow/orange colors invoke more of the Tarazan movie in my mind than the blue one

YES. Regular Pat shoutout. I love his heartless video. Everyone should go check his channel out!

The Nobodies and original KH1 Heartless designs are my absolute favorite enemy designs in any game I've played. KH1 Heartless are oddly cute and cool, and then you have some of the later Heartless that are rather intimidating. And the Nobodies are just so weird with the way they move and behave that I can't help but love the twitchy little buggers. Unversed are ok, and Nightmares are, uh... well the meow wows are cute. New Heartless designs are fine, I guess. Great vid, mate.

I really don’t like the recolor of the Solider heartless. They’re my favorite heartless. So simple yet so good. I don’t know why I like it so much. lol

It’d be cool if recolors were treated like shinies in Pokémon. Hard to find but would give you better rewards once you kill em.

I think the monkey redesign was pretty good, it matched the theme of the world, they managed to look silly but also intimidating at the same time, the original monkey kind of looks too much like the soldier and air soldier

*sees the FF12 reference* ah i see you are a man of culture as well

As a person who player OG kh1, and didn't get my hands on final mix until a decade and a half later, I'm glad to have found this video. Just because I've been remembering these heartless as their original color schemes, and when I play the final mix, I just assume my 8 year old brain remembered the colors incorrectly.

I love Nomura's enemy designs but the guard armor recolor and the dream eaters make me think that he should stay away from colors

In the Final Fantasy series, white mages can cast a spell named Holy. So when it says the Angel Star is born out of holy spells, I think it referes to that.

I'm pretty sure that Phantom was the only secret boss in the original Japanese version, hence him being redesigned for Final Mix. Kurt Zisa, Ice Titan, and Sephiroth were the English exclusive bosses.

The original trickmaster was actually scary for me with his intimidating color pallette and sheer height advantage. Now he just seems like a roll of sweet tarts with arms that just climbed out of the arts and crafts segment of an animated show for toddlers.

Incredible video man loving the effort put in

Here are my "Stealth Sneak" names: Fight Attack, Range Shoot, Spell Magic, and Defense Guard. Any others?

Nobody said that the Heartless have any fashion sense.

No matter what version of Kingdom Hearts I play, I still love it no matter what.

Top 5: Invisibles Neoshadows Kurt Zisa Wyvern Defender Hm Behemoth Angel Star Soldier Shadows Darkside Guard Armor Pirate Gargoyal

I really love that your voice sounds like Xaldin and Luxord had a beautiful baby. Very fitting lol

"Mmm... I don't think it's pink, it's more of a... lightish red!" "It's pink, Donut."

Nice video man. Keep up the great work.

i really like the invisible, and find funny that while he became a super rare heartless, the neo shadow that was the rare heartless in the final area of the game took his place in subsequent games as an end game normal mob

i wonder if the defender is meant to be the heartless counterpart to the beserker nobodies? both are kind of dragged around by their weapons, which could be considered the true heartless/nobody, and the two of them make a nice sword and shield pairing

"a mobile game that is thankfully ending soon" dude don't remind me i already cry myself to sleep because of that

You have fantastic videos, can't wait to be able to say "i was here since 8k subs!!"

Trickmaster: Is red and black, perfectly matching with the color of the average deck of cards, which was a major theme in Alice In Wonderland. Also Trickmaster: W H A T I F I T W E R E P I N K ? !

I do like the OG colors more for most heartless. Only a little nostalgia bias there. But I can say and I noticed this even when I I was a kid that they did like the color purple a lot. Perhaps (and why I think so many of us really champion it over other entries) is because KH1 was pretty dark at times, themes and design wise. I like it a lot more but I guess to get the newer generation into it and probably to appease the Disney side more they went with recolors. Also purple is a wonderful color to use to appeal to darker schemes/themes without just using black. Which is why they probably used it so much. But my nostalgia and I think "good taste" does prefer the OG colors. I do think at the time I felt they overused purple. But it also worked really well with the designs so I'm not gonna really hark on that much. The guard armor recolor truly is a sin though lol but also agree that the original heartless designs were pretty much masterclass. Invisible, Darkside and Neoshadow. I wish they were in the game more before the end, but they are themed well where you first encounter them. Peace to you and anyone who reads this

Seems like the common denominator between all of the Heartless that were recolored was that most of them had the classic dark purples and blues that Heartless tend to rep. Guess the logic with them was that the enemy variety in the game was solid but they were all so "dreadfully similar" in terms of color variety. Most of the late game purple/blue Heartless kept their menacing original designs or were still redesigned but still given more dark colors

Another video already? You work fast! Glad you did this video. It was fun trying to remember them. Really wish some weren’t changed like the soldier and large body. And the Wyvern’s recolor is so uninteresting

What I'm most excited for now that we might expect easier access to modding with KH coming to pc is a mod that reinstates the og colour schemes, well that and a playable fan made Days remake

Your Ansem "come forth" impession took me by surprise. You had no right to be that accurate! Haha

Original Guard Armor: Perfection. Recolored Guard Armor: Look how they massacred my boy... 😭

The Chimera reminds me a lot of that no heart experiment in Halloween town in KH 2

Both versions of the angel star design are cool in my opinion but they give off very distinct and very different vibes. The original, with it's warmer colors and off-white wings actually felt more holy and divine, matching well the "angel part of its name, while the recolor marxhes more with the "star" portion of its name, appearing much more alien and UFO-like, like it's something out of Deep Space.

I love that Angel Star is a mix of a heartless, light bulb, robot, and biblically accurate Angel.

32:32 Funny thing is, Phantom _was_ in the original Japanese _Kingdom Hearts._

I don't know if this is confirmed, but the mushroom heartless somewhat resembles the ones from Fantasia. Considering how Chernobog was originally intended as the final boss, I'd say that gives it more credibility. edit: I would also love to see the Bit Sniper return. Darkness cries and they are his tears.

If you think about the original intention of the recolors they are fine as it was intended to just give some visual variety for people replaying the game in the final mix version. Like a special New Game Plus change in a way. There should be a toggle in the HD Remix versions though that is wild that they never added that! Or at least make the normal colors appear in normal difficulty and the recolors appear in Proud Mode or something as an extra bit of variety on the hardest difficulty.

I always assumed the Mushroom Heartless just looked like a Shadow without it's clothes, maybe a little rounder like ti might not have the claws

I just subscribed after realizing I haven’t after I watched all your videos since your Chanel was born lol I really enjoy your videos tho I have a bothersome auto immune disease I deal with every day and when I can’t get out of bed your videos on one of my favorite game series helps me feel a lot better so thanks to you dude keep the content up I was wondering your top favorite kingdom hearts characters your own personal list and probably a poll for your fans.

Daaaaamn shouting out my boy Regular Pat 👌👌

You acknowledged the Pink mushroom heartless dancing, but I was totally expecting a caramelldansen joke 🤣

when I first saw the Phantom in the final mix version i actually thought they changed it into a nobody, since the color scheme reminded me of them. I only realized it had the emblem on the back after doing the boss fight a couple of times.

I remember avoiding the Phantom fight as a kid because the og design always scared the shit out of me 😭

It bothers me so much that I won't be able to play KH1 with the original textures, but at least this gives me some catharsis. I'm under the impression that they only changed them so that it wouldn't feel so bad paying for the same game twice, so they made them look different for the sake of looking different.

12:38 OK. Here's my Stealth Sneak like heartless. It's this pure purple multi part heartless called Guard Armor

Kingdom hearts 1 content is my favorite form of kh content

I KNEW THEY LOOKED DIFFERENT! The entire time I swear I thought I was crazy because I swore I remembered they had different colors.

Excellent idea for a vid!

One of my favorite thing about KH enemies is that so many of them are thematic Adjective + Noun: Blue Rhapsody, White Mushroom, ect. I ❤ groupings and it makes it so fun to follow the pattern.

I wish we could choose the design in the settings. PC release might be a good place to do it.

Ah the Neoshadow. The Jak II of the Shadow family.

I would love it if the recolors were rare, stronger version of the enemies.

The sheer amount of detail. This series will always hold a special place in my heart, warts and all.

Something funny about the Large body is that in the Italian translation it's actually called Blu Ciccio ("Blue Chubby"). Which doesn't make sense in the Final Mix where it's not blue.

Holy is actually the white materia in FF7, so the angel heartless is probably referring to that

ahhhh yes the GIGAS SHADOW

Imo the coolest and one of the hardest Darkside’s to come from KH is the one from Recoded. The fact it evolved with data Sora was such a cool idea. I kinda hope they do the same with Anti-Sora and they eventually fight again. Instead of Sora destroying it, he accepts it and gets new abilities because of it. Though it might be hoping for too much…

Nice to see someone speak about common enemies in games.

Really well done video! Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Heartless designs in KH2 & 3. Plus the Unversed designs ^^ Admittedly have a soft spot for the Trick Master and Parasite Cage recolors. While the originals are far better in fitting with their environment, I do like how the Parasite Cage's recolor makes it look like some sort of pineapple/tropical fruit, and the Trickmaster's recolor makes it look sort of like a poisonous birthday cake.

When I played the final mix games for the first time starting with 1.5, I was shocked to see the Heartless, and the Unversed, have their colors swapped. Some redesigns I find passable, others are just an eyesore.

My siblings jokingly throw this word combo out as an "insult", and it fits the bill of Stealth Sneak quite well: Nerd Dork

This video made me realize how the design of Heartless on KH1 is much more creepy than the other games

I honestly prefer the recolor guard armor. In my opinion it fits a lot better with the arena where you fight it and I generally like the vibrant colors it has.

KH2:FM video on the same subject would be great! Brilliant video btw.

I honestly miss the classic designs of the heartless, the recolors and redesigns aren't BAD and some even fit as alternative color pallets, the heartless were always a colorful sort but their primary color pallet almost always involved darker colors, which i'm sure I don't need to point out fits the overall theme of "creatures of darkness", the new colors are just a bit too fruity and pop too much imo.

I wish KH3 had all the color variants that spawned at random, I don't mind the re-colors so much.

I vastly agree with your take on guard armor and basically nothing else LOL

I'd love to see a followup to this vid with the heartless from kh 2! I'd also want to hear your comparison on heartless designs from kh 2 compared to kh 1, as you alluded to in the vid that prefer the kh 1 designs over kh 2's

I really enjoyed this video, as well as Regular Pat’s that you shouted out at the beginning! I know full well that 3D is pretty widely considered meh overall, but I really hope videos of a similar light are created for the dream eaters. They’re some of my favorite enemies in the KH series, though I probably only have that soft spot since KH3D was the first in the series I was able to fully complete at the time of its release. Personally, I quite like a *lot* of the Recolors for Final Mix. There aren’t many that I prefer the original colors for, though for the vast majority I have no overall preference. I’d actually have to strongly disagree on your opinions on Angel Star, because the lighter colors work much better for the design’s holy vibes. The dirty yellows and creams make it feel tarnished, which could also work in its own way, but considering how the Angel Star has this air of regality and ethereal beauty, I think pristine whites fit it much better overall. Great video by the way! I love hearing folks talk about the design aspects of any video game, but especially for KH. Keep up the amazing work!

I think the recolored Heartless were used as a test, but in the worst way possible. For example, Gaurd Armour Original was ment to appear in Traverse Town. Red Armour was ment for areas like the Collusseam and the Caribbean. And Final Mix Gaurd Armour, Disney Castle and the Toy Box. I know that some of the variations are already in the base game in the Olympus Colluseam, but what I was getting at was World Variations as a whole. Like certain boss heartless would appear as normal enemies when you re-enter the world or just as an enemy on another. So a White and Blue Gaurd Armour for the Frozen World and a Gold and Black Gaurd Armour for Mount Olympus, complete with a theme change to boot.

I didn't even know the tear drop looking ones exist. Eyes were always too focused on the big swingy man that I was attacking.

Random but I still think it's so cool how Ansem himself is a Heartless. He was so damn rad in the first game.

huh, I never played much of KH1 on ps2, I only really played it years later on PS3, I hadn't realized these recolors were a thing, hopefully when it comes to PC a mod can change some of these back.

the alternate Soldier color palette reminds me of Lingering Will's colors, i wonder if that was intentional or a coincidence. blue tones fit perfectly for heartless as is the closest to dark tones without going full black. I'd like the monkeys on the first version because blue and orange are opposite colors so make sense giving male and female opposite colors, not sure what happened with final mix

The white mushroom was a reference to final fantasy white mages! Rare truffles are black mages! the cage one is a reference to the Prison Cage boss from final fantasy 9! The pirate is a reference to airships from final fantasy! behemoths are a final fantasy reference, purple was the original colours of thems!

Yes we want to see the second part

Grand Ghost is cool but imagine there were a Grand Wizard lmao

*In regards to Ansem* Billy Zane is an INFINITELY better and more charismatic voice for a dark manipulator than whoever they got afterwards. Change my mind ☕