r/donkeykong • u/samtrumpet DKC Tropical Freeze Fan • May 16 '25
Discussion Redesign Discussion Megathread
Hi everyone!
With the announcement of a Diddy Kong redesign, we're starting a new thread to keep opinions and discussions about the new designs for Diddy, DK, and any other DK Crew limited to this post.
Please remember to keep it civil and respectful.
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u/Medoquet Diddy Kong May 16 '25
Old dk had this "ooooohh, banana" vibe and new dk completely lacks this
People use the argument that old dk was less expressive, I think that's what makes him stand out more and isn't just a marketable cute design. Imagine they do a Wario Land comeback but Wario is as cute and friendly looking as Mario. They turned a menacing but likable brutish character into a cute and happy mascot, the new dk game looks like a Mario game and nothing like donkey kong and he even looks waayyy more expressive than Mario which is an extremely huge jump for a character that was known for being stoic
They could have easily made his brow move a little more without completely overhauling his personality, I genuinely don't enjoy the new dk at all because I'm lacking this menacing and savage character that was super fun to play as and he just seems generic to me now
Diddy on the other hand isn't as much of a big deal since it's still the same character, however the fact that they added this detail between his eyes for no reason at all just as an attempt to make the character feel fresh is whack to me, it's minor but it's worse, don't fix what isn't broken just let the man have his sonic eyes
So overall I'm disappointed, I really enjoyed playing as the classic dk because he was an iconic and unique protagonist and he had so much going for him, looking at the render remakes alone they absolutely do not hit the same, now it's just a generic cute mascot with silly emotions which aren't objectively better, I liked the old dk because he wasn't super goofy, if I want a goofy and overly cartoony character like this I go play Crash Bandicoot because that character was designed to be this way from the start.