A Kingdom Hearts 3 modder recently revealed their work-in-progress mod, which inserts Tournament Cups at the Olympus Coliseum into the game. After the Square Enix action RPG was released on PC this past March, an active Kingdom Hearts 3 modding community has emerged - with modders adding alternate outfits, new weapons, and completely different character models.
The tournaments at Olympus Coliseum were included in the numbered Kingdom Hearts titles. The recently announced final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC, Kingdom Hearts series protagonist Sora, clashed with the likes of Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud Strife and Sephiroth in the venue from Disney’s Hercules. While Olympus Coliseum was in Kingdom Hearts 3, these tournaments were no longer included. However, the omission of this feature has not stopped one modder from starting to recreate the mode in Unreal Engine.
Aproydtix shared an early alpha build on YouTube, showcasing their mod's gameplay and functionality. The video shows nine matches of the Phil Cup, named after the first-ever tournament in Kingdom Hearts. The Heartless enemies challenged by Sora, Donald, and Goofy include Satyrs, Anchor Raiders, and the colossal Rock Troll. Sora breezes through each match in this impressive new take on the former game mode.
Aproydtix’s early build of the Olympus Coliseum looks grand. The arena appears to be a completely new and original model, seemingly taking design cues from the Realm of the Gods at the top of Mount Olympus. Aproydtix’s YouTube channel also includes a virtual walkthrough of the arena. There are screen space reflections on the ground, which are at a higher level of quality than what was used in the base game. Aproydtix also included additional, easy-to-install Kingdom Hearts 3 mods that improved Sora’s movement and showed individual health bars for each enemy.
While it is a work in progress that appears to be in early development, it is a unique idea to include high-quality Coliseum Cups in Kingdom Hearts 3. Because both KH3 and Final Fantasy VII Remake run on Unreal Engine, perhaps modders could collaborate and allow Sora to have Kingdom Hearts 3 rematch with Final Fanatsy's Sephiroth in this revamped Olympus Coliseum. After seeing Aproydtix’s undertaking, modders are clearly bringing a some new (and returning old) entertaining features to Kingdom Hearts 3.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is coming soon to Nintendo Switch; available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Aproydtix/YouTube