Some of the creators you mentioned, from what I know, are using blender and/or unity for their animations and visual polish after importing KK characters into them.
People often recommend these games as examples, without realizing that they are not just "better KK animations." They are often using a much heavier pipeline.
I played some of them before. - I can even say more. - Goddesses Whim is one of the games that made me start creating a game myself. I often mention this game on dev talks with my friends, because I want GG to look that good one day.
I am actively improving GG's visuals with every version, including better posing, lighting, cleaner shots, and more interesting animations, but I also want to be honest here:
I probably won’t reach that exact level anytime soon.
I tried learning blender and unity before i started making GG, and it was genuinely one of the most painful and miserable experiences in my life.
Not even in a funny "haha learning is hard" way, because outside GG i was working in graphic design programs since i was 15 and im not bad at the "Tech stuff".
More like: "I have been staring at this cube for 4 hours and I feel my soul left my body 3 hours ago" kind of way.
So for now, I'm focusing on improving the game with the tools I actually know how to use.
Because realistically, it’s either:
-new updates every 3 to 4 months, like im trying to do now, and a steady slow progress with improving everything.
or
-Frosty learns blender again and v1.3 drops in 2029.
I'll keep pushing the visuals and animations as much as I can, but Id rather keep improving at what im good at, than promise a massive tech jump that nukes the whole dev schedule and my mental.
If I'll have enough money from the game's patreon in the future, i would love to hire someone just to remake all h-scenes in blender, but as of now the money is still going toward my basic survival stuff and minor game improvements/commisions etc.
The main takeaway from this is that i am, and will be, doing my best at improving the game.
But advanced 3d programs are out of my scope. At least for now when I'm working 2 jobs outside of GG.
I hope you'll see the improvements in my style soon, and thanks again for playing! See you soon in 1.2 part2 <3