Kisekae Viewers

So which viewer should I use?

Just like any hobby, people in the KiSS doll hobby tend to have... opinions over which viewer is best. In the current age, though, only some viewers will run properly on modern OSes, and not all viewers will be able to run all dolls. I'm assuming as a given that you don't know a lick of this, and so I'm going to give a run-down of the four most currently-usable viewers here.

Note that I only use Windows; Mac and Linux users will have to ask elsewhere. My apologies on that! I can only offer guidance on what I know.

UltraKiSS

Created by William Miles
Last updated: 2024
Download Here

+ Still in active development
+ Platform independent; will work on just about any computer
+ Supports the latest FKiSS5 standard and is the only viewer to do so
+ Allows for doll creation
+ Has sample dolls for download
+ Has a good help file for beginning users, as well as tutorials for doll creation
- Can be tricky to learn to use at first
- Does not allow for loading multiple dolls at once or drag and drop to load
- Can be sluggish in loading and saving

KISSLD

Created by emk
Last updated: 2024
Download Here

+ Extremely simple to use
+ One of the original viewers; has a great deal of history and thus support
+ Works with most popular dolls
- Documentation in Japanese only
- Error outputs filled with mojibake unless using Japanese locale on Windows
- Does not support easy set creation
- Does not support anything past FKiSS2

DirectKiSS

Created by Dov Sherman and Stephen P. Lepisto
Last updated: 2008
Download Here

+ Created and maintained by two of the owners of OtakuWorld, one of the most known and notable KiSS webpages
+ Supports up to the FKiSS4 standard, which most dolls only use up to
+ Has a very readable help system for beginners
+ Allows for fairly easy set creation
- No longer being actively worked on
- Can be difficult to run under some modern versions of Windows
- Can have graphics issues that require significant troubleshooting

PlayFKiSS

Created by Chad Randall
Last updated: 1998
Download Here

+ Another classic viewer with widespread support and knowledge
+ The viewer most KiSS-people are likely most familiar with
+ Supports most of the most popular dolls
+ Allows for fairly easy set creation
+ Easy to learn and use
+ Can disable editor features for those who just want to play with the dolls
- No longer being actively worked on
- A truly ancient piece of software by this point
- Has some bugs when creating sets
- No internal help documentation

Bonus info: Back in the early 00s, Randall was also trying to get a second and third version of PlayFKiSS off the ground. You can try those viewers too if you like - the link to his old site is here. Be warned though - these are preview and alpha versions and may not work properly on modern Windows. Here there be dragons!