KH3 Light vs. Darkness [PC mod]

@kh3lvd.bsky.social

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We're the team behind the "Light vs. Darkness" PC mod for #KingdomHearts 3! This fan-made #gamemod is a full rebalance of KH3's gameplay, adding depth, new mechanics, music and enhancements. Get it here: nexusmods.com/kingdomhearts3/mods/1186

Montage of Sora posing in the Final World in KH2 formchange outfits from the "Light vs. Darkness Edition" mod for KH3. Top row, left to right: Strike Form (as Valor Form) + Highwind; Element Form (as Wisdom Form) + Blizzard Claws; Guardian Form (as Master Form) + Hunny Blasters; Ultimate Form (as Final Form) Bottom row, left to right, showing new outfits for KH2 Sora: Dark Form, Light Form, Blitz Form + Nano Arms, Double Form. Not shown: Second Form (as Limit Form for KH2 Sora only), and Rage Form (as Anti-Form) which existed already in KH3 without mods.
A text summary of the 2.0.1 update of the "Light vs. Darkness Edition" PC mod for "Kingdom Hearts 3", shown in front of an endless sea at night. To the right of the text, Roxas, Aqua, Riku, Mickey and Kairi are shown in action poses.
In-game tutorial screen for the "Unison Strike" ability from the "Light vs. Darkness Edition" PC mod for KH3. It describes (in text) and shows (with an image) how to directly combo together with an ally in proximity of the player character.
Montage of three illustrations showing the different installable paths in the "Light vs. Darkness Edition 2.0" PC mod. From left to right: Warrior, Mystic, Guardian
Composite image of the optional moves that can be installed alongside the main "Light vs. Darkness Edition" mod for "Kingdom Hearts III". Top row, left to right: Dynamic Dash, Mystic Flash, Mighty Guard Bottom row, left to right: Doom Dash, Malice Flight, Mighty Syphon - Dynamic Dash vs. Doom Dash: hitstun enemies and damage their armour gauge (Dynamic Dash), or teleport around for effective evasion (Doom Dash) - Mystic Flight vs. Malice Flight: escape and punish enemies below you (Mystic Flight), or hitstun airborne enemies with area-of-effect damage (Malice Flight). - Mighty Guard vs. Mighty Syphon: for a small MP cost per use, deploy a barrier with automatic countering (Mighty Guard), or absorb HP by successfully blocking (Might Syphon)
Edited screenshot of the Game Help tutorial screen for Classic Kingdom LSI games in "Kingdom Hearts III", as seen with the "Light vs. Darkness Edition 2.0" PC mod. Its illustration image, in addition to the UI from Classic Kingdom, shows the dark outline of the Classic Tone Keyblade against a flash of light (as a hint). The tutorial body text describes how a "surprise" will be given to the player when collecting all Classic Kingdom games.
Animated image showing Sora in "Kingdom Hearts III", opening the first large chest in Twilight Town. Unlike the non-modded game, it contains with "Light vs. Darkness Edition" an an Ability Ring (as opposed to a map or a Classic Kingdom game).
Screenshot of Sora in "Kingdom Hearts 3" using Clock Drill's form finisher, with it inflicting the Stop status on several Heartless around him. The entire image turned black and white as a result of the finisher. Image source: KH Wiki
Screenshot of Sora, Riku and Mickey being incapacitated by the "Slow" (or Stop) status effect, cast by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness in a pool of red darkness during the Nort Court fight in the Keyblade Graveyard. Large clocks appear on party members to signify that they are slowed. Image taken with the "Light vs. Darkness Edition" PC mod for "Kingdom Hearts 3".
A music reel of the "Light vs. Darkness Edition" mod for "Kingdom Hearts 3", showcasing 6 sequences with new arrangements in the mod's 2.0 update: - The Darkubes fight (San Fransokyo) with an arrangement of "No More Bugs!!" (based on "Kingdom Hearts Re:coded") - Roxas, Axel / Lea and Xion's fight against Saïx and Xemnas (Re Mind episode) with a "battle edit" of "At Dusk, I Will Think of You…" - Sora and Nameless Star (Final World) with an arrangement of her theme (based on "Melody of Memory") - Kairi & Axel / Lea joined by Sora to fight Saïx and a hooded girl (Keyblade Graveyard) with a new arrangement combining themes related to all these characters - Hiro introducing the Big Hero 6 team to Sora & co. (San Fransokyo) with an arrangement of "Heroes Gathering" (based on "Kingdom Hearts 3") - Ansem and Xemnas antagonising Sora about Roxas (Twilight Town) with an arrangement mixing themes related to these characters (of which "Organization XIII" is heard in the reel)
Screenshot of the "Expanded Command Menu UI" PC mod for "Kingdom Hearts 3", showing a slightly edited Command Menu design for Scala ad Caelum, used when fighting Master Xehanort there. The menu's original colours were stirred towards hues of purple and indigo, matching the in-game lighting in the final arena where Master Xehanort is fought. On the header, all windmills are removed, and replaced by large golden and silver chess pieces representing Master Xehanort (gold) and Sora (silver), on each side of a drawing of Scala ad Caelum's main island.
Visual showcase of "Ultimate Form" recoloured UI logo alongside Sora in said form with his weapon in Scala ad Caelum. Notably, the colour palette of the "Ultimate Form" logo (crème and rainbow) now matches Sora' blade during the actual formchange, as opposed to be based on Ultima Weapon's non-formchanged blade (white and red). It's all in the details that quality is forged!
Montage of 4 command menus from the "Expanded Command Menu UI" for "Kingdom Hearts 3", showing designs for (clockwise from top-left) the Dark World, the Land of Departure, the Final World, and Radiant Garden. Art by Mr. Puzzles
Montage of in-game screnshots from "Kingdom Hearts III". From left to right: - KH3 Riku in Olympus Coliseum, without (left) and with (right) correct leg positioning (inverse kinematics, or IK) on slopped terrain; our mod will have correct IK, fixing one of KH3's unseen bugs for Riku - Sora guarding during the Frying Pan formchange, now with an actual "Barrier" VFX to visualise the guard's actual hitbox - Aqua cartwheeling in the Land of Departure, illustrating how this dodge (and a few others) are faster with the "Light vs. Darkness Edition" mod.
Gameplay showcase of playable Roxas with the "Light vs. Darkness Edition 2.0" mod for "Kingdom Hearts III" on PC. The video showcases Roxas' Unique Commands (well, almost unique): Light Rain, Golden Hour, Rook's Gambit, and Miracle Hour. Also showcased or mentioned: additional abilities for Roxas (with the usefulness of Cure Converter shown when charging the Situation Command meter with Curaga), and Roxas's existing toolkit (Cross Slash, Dual Shoot, Reversal, Dual Smasher, etc.)
Montage of images from the "Light vs. Darkness Edition 2.0" mod for "Kingdom Hearts III", showing various sections of gameplay: unique commands and animations for all 5 playable characters, revamped enemies, guarding together with allies, Mickey's Stopza spell, etc. In the centre, the mod's logo is shown on top of a blurred endless sea at night, with "May 30th, 2026 on NexusMods" written below to indicate the mod update's release date, and where to find it.
Screenshot of "Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory", with Kairi flying through the endless seas and skies of the Final World to piece her heart back together. The UI showing progress on this task is shown on the upper right corner of the image.
Montage of in-game footage from "Kingdom Hearts III" with the "Light vs Darkness" 2.0 mod, showing Kairi's capabilities as a playable characters: Unique Commands that heal her when landing hits (Phoenix Shift, Ocean Shift, Radiant Flight, Flower Shoot), extra combo animations (Blossom Flash, Berserk Slash Combo), additional abilities (Endless Magic, Cure Converter, Wizard's Ruse), guarding together with Sora if he is a party member… all tying into remaking and expanding Kairi's toolkit towards "offensive healing".
Video montage of Aqua's new techniques with the "Light vs. Darkness 2.0" mod for "Kingdom Hearts III". It showcases her Unique Commands (Mega Flare, Tidal Wave, Chilling Gale, Energy Magnet), her ability to regen Focus by landing combo attacks, her Teleport ability (both alone and with Mickey), and briefly showcases her Wayfinder team attack with Mickey. Aqua is shown fighting sometimes alone, sometimes with allies (Sora, Ventus, Axel/Lea, Mickey, Terra) in a variety of locations (Monstropolis, the Keyblade Graveyard, the Land of Departure, the Olympus Coliseum…), and fighting different enemies in each place (the Lump of Horror, Terra-Xehanort and Vanitas, Xigbar and Luxord…)
In-game video showing some Riku's new mechanics in "Kingdom Hearts III" with the "Light vs. Darkness 2.0" mod: Unique Commands (Dark Thundaga, Dark Aura, Dawnhammer, Onset Storm), MP replenished when landing combo attacks, and using Barrier with Sora. The video shows Riku fighting enemy crowds in a couple of different environments: the Olympus Coliseum (with the eponymous mod installed), and the Dark World.
Composite screen shot of all four main magic styles in "Kingdom Hearts", with a short description of how they function with the "Light vs. Darkness" mod. Clockwise from top-left: Basic Magic ("each spell has its own impact"), Dual Magic ("multiplied shots, but far weaker damage and stagger"), Proximity Magic ("push foes away with powerful AOE damage… wih higher revenge values"), and Artillery Magic ("destroy your enemies' Armor with explosive shots"). Each of them is accompanied by a screenshot of Sora using Water with each style in a different situation: no formchange (basic magic), Twin Yo-Yos (dual magic), Oathkeeper's Light Form (artillery) and Hyper Hammer (proximity).
Animated image of a LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet, showing some of the stats of Sora's magic spells in "Kingdom Hearts III", modified for the "Light vs. Darkness 2.0" mod. The data entries in this image cover all spells (Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Aero, Water), all their variants (regular, finisher, grand magic, sea magic) and all these variants for every formchange casting style (regular, artillery, double, proximity).
Raw text from Notepad++, listing abilities in "Kingdom Hearts 3" whose in-game descriptions will be revised with the "Light vs. Darkness" mod to provide more accurate info about their actual effect.
Visual comparison of in-game descriptions in "Kingdom Hearts III" for 3 abilities (top to bottom): Hidden Potential, Pep Talk, and Walk the Dog. Left column: umodded descriptions. Right column: New descriptions provided by the "Light vs. Darkness" mod, now giving accurate and complete information on the 3 abilities used as examples.
Cropped screenshot of KH Wiki page for "Flood", highlighting its journal entry from "Kingdom Hearts III": "The Unversed equivalent of a Shadow. Agile, but otherwise unimpressive."
A video showcase of Light Form's and Dark Form's enhancements in the "Light vs. Darkness Edition" PC mod for "Kingdom Hearts III". The video showcases new magic spell casting styles, modular combos, and new form and weapon abilities.
Gameplay sequences from KH3 with the "Light vs. Darkness" mod, showcasing various mod added to revamp Blitz Form and its associated formchanges.
Showcase of Starlight's new formchange, "Ancient Star", coming in the "Light vs. Darkness Edition" mod for KH3. The video shows successively: air combos; ground combos (with all Re Mind combo modifiers); area-of-effect magic casting; elemental mobility (Thunder Dodge and Ice Slide, plus Fire Glide mentioned but not shown); a new LV2 Finish command inspired by the QTE against the Demon Tide in KH3; and a fully charged Shotlock (with the UI disabled specifically for this showcase).
4 vertical banners displaying changes in form clothing assignment for formchanges, in KH3 with the "Light vs. Darkness" 2.0 mod, illustrated by corresponding Data Greeting photo shots in these formchanges. From left to right: - Blitz Form + Twin Yo-Yos (illustrated by Monster Sora in Monstropolis, with green fur and his Blitz Form green jacket) - Element Form + Blizzard Blades (with Sora in his blue outfit with white stars on sleeves, looking menacingly at the camera in Sköll's stormy and icy battle arena) - Light Form + Ancient Star (with Sora cheerfully brandishing an evolved version of Starlight from KH χ, wearing his white Light Form outfit against a white wall) - Dark Form + Doppelfeuer ("Double Fire" in German) (illustrated by Sora wearing his dark purple and black Dark Form outfit, looking at the camera threateningly while brandishing two of Yozora's guns against the backdrop of Shibuya… I mean Quadratum) At the bottom of the image, the logos of each of these formchanges are shown.
Composite showcase of "Kingdom Hearts 3" with the "Light vs. Darkness Edition", "Enemy Healthbars", "Damage Numbers" and "Olympus Coliseum" PC mods. It compares the speed and the HP damage dealth by Sora's base and Storm Flag combos, when timing inputs on a DualSense controller with said combos vs. when mashing the "Attack" input button. By comparing HP damage dealt by Sora to Xemnas during a Coliseum Cup, it shows that timing inputs allows slower combos with full HP damage, while button mashing leads to faster combos with less HP damage due to many hits skipped.
Tentative table of story rewards given in Toy Box and the Kingdom of Corona, in "Kingdom Hearts 3", with the "Light vs. Darkness Edition 2.0" mod.
In-game combat footage of playable Kairi and Riku in KH3, with the "Light vs. Darkness" and "Olympus Coliseum" mods. It shows some Kairi's and Riku's additional combo animations, alongside Mickey's Stopza spell.
3 gameplay segments of "Kingdom Hearts 3" with the "Light vs. Darkness" and "Olympus Coliseum" mods, showing three possible combinations of multi-character Barriers: Sora and NPC Riku (against Dark Riku); Sora, NPC Riku and NPC Mickey (against the Nort Court); and Kairi and NPC Sora (in Olympus' Coliseum, with the eponymous mod active) The video shows examples of not only guarding, but also broken guards and risk dodging (only for Sora), and shows how party members are summoned to the player when they guard.
Video of 2 of Sora's animations from KH3 shown in an Unreal Engine editor: his regular Glide when flying straight (0043) and an unused Superglide variant (0044)
In-game capture of "Kingdom Hearts III", with the "Light vs. Darkness" mod. The image shows 5 different targeting reticles (yellow, cyan, violet, green and orange), showing the target of each character in Sora's party (Sora himself, Donald, Goofy, Mike, Sulley). Sora and his friends are seen fighting in Monstropolis' Monster Inc. factory, facing a few Unversed enemies crawling on the floor. Sora is also shielded by a transparent white sphere, showing the effect of a Panacea.
Gameplay showcase of "Kingdom Hearts III" with the "Light vs. Darkness 2.0" mod. This video shows how Donald's, set to have a "Commando" combat style, always attacks the player's (Sora's) target. When the player has a locked on (blue) target, Donald continuously attacks it with magic spells (unless he's out of MP). When the player doesn't lock on any target and only has a yellow target reticle, Donald only starts attacking after a clear signal from the player (eg. Sora attacks first), and follows the player around otherwise. The player regularly switches locked on targets to display how reactive Donald is with following instructions. The video also shows Donald using area-of-effect magic when surrounded by a few enemies. Also seen on-screen: Goofy and Eugene's combat style ("Synergist"), with them actively avoiding enemies and danger (and often running away off-screen as a consequence).
In-game footage of Sora's allies, Donald, Goofy and Baymax, fighting Ninja Nobodies in San Fransokyo, in "Kingdom Hearts III" with the "Light vs. Darkness Edition 2.0" mod. The player, Sora, is mostly doing nothing to showcase how his allies are able to handle the fight themselves. Labels are shown on-screen to highlight some of their behaviour, such as using Panaceas immediately when Sora gets afflicted by a negative status effect.
In-game video of Sora's party (Donald, Goofy, Baymax) fighting multiple enemies in the streets of San Fransokyo, in "Kingdom Hearts III" with the "Light vs. Darkness Edition 2.0" mod. The player, Sora, does nothing but moving around (even filming with his camera), as his allies are able to dispatch trash mobs quite easily. The video labels some key behaviours of Donald, Goofy and Baymax (such as when Donald switches to AEO spells when surrounded).
Animated image of party member Kairi defending herself against a mysterious hooded girl, in the Keyblade Graveyard, in "Kingdom Hearts III" with the "Light vs. Darkness Edition 2.0" mod. The scene is from Sora's point of view, showing him running on the sides while Kairi is using Barrier to guard her assailant's attacks. Kairi is counter-attacking 3 times with Starcracker while her opponent keeps on attacking.
Animated image showing NPC Sora formchanging into Light Form, then attacking Dark Riku in the Keyblade Graveyard. These events are shown from playable Riku's point of view, who is walking carefully on the side to observe Sora in battle. Transparent text on top of the image states: "Light vs. Darkness 2.0 - Fan-made PC mod for Kingdom Hearts III - Development footage - Subject to change"
Video of "Kingdom Hearts 3" with a WIP "Light vs. Darkness" mod active, showing a party of Sora and Mickey against Marluxia and Larxene in the Keyblade Graveyard. Early on, Mickey casts Stopza, which immobilizes both enemies in their track (with Marluxia even trying to teleport away but to no avail). Sora and Mickey are then free to attack their targets while they are frozen in time.
Three-part image exemplifying some changes to revenge values in the "Light vs. Darkness" 2.0 update. From left to right: - Sora in Toy Box, using "Proximity" (AEO) Firaga against Heartless, which is set to incur more revenge values than Fire or Fira - Sora in Monstropolis, casting "Double" Aeroga, spawning 6 projectiles towards Unversed enemies. This is set to incur less revenge values than before, but also less damage per projectile or hit compared to other types of magic. - Kairi in an Olympus Coliseum match, unleashing her combo finisher against Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. This illustrates how her combo attacks have lesser revenge values, allowing her to fully combo Ansem before he escapes.
Updated images (with no typo in the title) illustrating changes to attack data rebalancing in the "Light vs. Darkness" 2.0 update. From left to right: - Sora using Counter Shield's combo finish, with Thunder elemental damage based on the Magic stat (instead of the Strength stat) - Sora using the Storm Flag's "Water Kraken" formchange finish, now dealing Magic-based Water damage (instead of Physical damage based on the Strength stat) - Sora and Mickey using the Faith Volley team attack, now using the Magic stat to deal Neutral damage (instead of the Strength stat)
Three images illustrating changes to attack data rebalancing in the "Light vs. Darkness" 2.0 update. From left to right: - Sora using Counter Shield's combo finish, with Thunder elemental damage based on the Magic stat (instead of the Strength stat) - Sora using the Storm Flag's "Water Kraken" formchange finish, now dealing Magic-based Water damage (instead of Physical damage based on the Strength stat) - Sora and Mickey using the Faith Volley team attack, now using the Magic stat to deal Neutral damage (instead of the Strength stat)
Set of three images describing and illustrating Sora's different paths in the "Light vs. Darkness" mod. From left to right: - Warrior Path (Sora in Strike Form clothing) - Fast agility - Strength-oriented - Poor defense - Mid-game force - Mystic Path (Sora in Element Form clothing) - Airborne combat - Spell master - Glass cannon - Late-game force - Guardian Path (Sora in Guardian Form clothing) - Defense and survival - The team's tank - Prize-oriented - Late-game force
Composite screenshots of the equipment menu of "Kingdom Hearts 3", showing stats and stat changes of two weapons: Astrolabe+ (for Donald), and Clockwork Shield+ (for Goofy). The screenshots shows their specific abilities, text descriptions, stats, and the changes on Donald's and Goofy's overall stats (including changes to elemental resistance and weakness like Fire and Thunder).
Video of the Equipment menu of "Kingdom Hearts 3" with the "Light vs. Darknes 2.0" mod, showing the updated stats, abilities and descriptions of several of Sora's Keyblades.
Spreadsheet comparing the stats of most party members in "Kingdom Hearts 3". This includes comparing their total Strength, Magic and Defense stat during certain key points of the game's story. Columns are coloured to emphasise the relative values of these stats for all characters, and cells have different outline and text colours to reflect which party members are in the top 3 (golden accents) or bottom 3 (purple accents) for a given stat at any key point of the story.
In-game image of Sora and other Guardians of Light fighting in the Keyblade Graveyard a horde of enemies, including a massive Darkside and hundreds of Shadows. The user interface shows in the top-right that Riku, Aqua and Mickey are levelling up to LV67, with different bonuses for each character.
In-game screenshot of Sora and Terra in the menu of "Kingdom Hearts III", showing them in idle animations. Terra is a modded in a party member, and the camera is clearly not framed correctly around his body and face. Unlike Sora (showed from face to upper thighs), the camera is framed with only Terra's upper face showing up, the rest being off-screen or covered by the UI, making him look funny (or ominously hiding behind the UI) compared to Sora.
Gameplay video of "Kingdom Hearts III", showing modded Terra fighting as a party member in Sora's party, alongside Goofy and Hercules, in one of Olympus's battlegates.
Animated image of "Kingdom Hearts 3" with the "Light vs. Darkness 2.0" mod. It shows party member Kairi, attempting an attack against a hooded enemy, then cancelling mid-combo to use Barrier multiple times when attacked by her enemy.
Animated image of "Kingdom Hearts 3" with the "Light vs. Darkness 2.0" mod. It shows Rapunzel using Curaga on Sora.
3*2 grid of square screenshots from the video game "Kingdom Hearts III" with the PC mod "Light vs. Darkness 2.0": - (Left column, top row) Sora on the San Fransokyo bridge, engulfed in a green storm, rushing toward a massive mechanical troll monster as it spits fire towards the camera, creating blue lens flares on-screen - (Middle column, top row) Sora standing in the Badlands of the Keyblade Graveyard, facing an endless horde of enemies that include a black Darkside, a Sorcerer, Flame Cores, Shadows, Dusks, and more - (Right column, top row) Kairi and her ally Riku in the Badlands at night, caught mid-battle in their battle stances, facing a red, dinosaur-like enemy (Catastrochorus) flanked by flying ice-based birds (Frost Serpents) and larger-than-life dinosaur-inspired toys (Supreme Smashers). Kairi's other ally, Sora, is running ahead of her, rushing towards the enemies while in his Light Form attire. - (Left column, bottom row) Sora in his battle stance facing various enemies in Olympus (a gold and yellow Greek-inspired area with water features on the floor), flanked by his ally Terra as he transforms his weapon into a massive magical cannon that is about to shoot - (Middle column, bottom row) Sora in the Dark Realm (a place at dusk with organic contraptions and large arches madeof black rocks). He is surrounded by light (a light shield with particles of light), floating above a summoning arcane circle, facing a large Darkside in front of him - (Right column, bottom row) Sora, Riku and Mickey shielding themselves with a magical and transparent spherical shield with hexagonal panels, atop the brown and faded ruins of the Keyblade Graveyard
3*2 grid of square screenshots of the video game "Kingdom Hearts III", as seen with the PC mod "Light vs. Darkness" with: - (left column, top row) A Darkside in a nighttime water world, punching Sora to death with his heart exiting his body; - (middle column, top row) The Gummi Ship's Starlight Way area, casted in darkness with asteroids and vertical rock formations floating in space - (right column, top row) Sora, Riku and Mickey affected by a Slow status affect - (left column, bottom row) Sora in his KH1 attire, floating downward in a sky of starts towards his stained glass platform - (middle column, bottom row) Sora in his yellow Guardian Form attire wielding the Boom Hammer weapon, facing a white Ace Gigas robot in San Fransokyo's downtown at night - (right column, bottom row) Sora gliding on a ray of light in Olympus, with a Greek temple in the clouds in front of him, with the nighttime sky far behind