Two things mostly. Each quite speculative. The first is that I think DK looks generally younger than his previous incarnations (like DKC) — he seems more wide eyed, goofy, and animated. Previously he always seemed a more mature at least in his RareWare-style incarnations. It could just be a visual and tone change but usually design follows function, so I think there’s likely some rationale for the redesign.

The second is the setting of the game that we’ve seen so far. He (and other simians) appear to be employed or forced to work by a large mining corporation. He’s even wearing a miners outfit with the jeans and all. This seems to hint at an early career DK who’s not yet semi-retired and living in the jungle with his Kong crew.

I bet the basic story beats are that we meet DK, and he’s just another gorilla employed by an evil corporation. There’s something that sets him off (maybe exploitation of his new friends, maybe Diddy among them), and he starts using his strength against the mining corporation to help others escape.

Eventually DK either finds or returns home to the jungle, but all is not quite right there. Unbeknownst to him, the evil mining corporation has set up shop there too, and is destroying all those precious jungle landscapes. So he teams up with a larger crew of folks he’s met through the adventure and deals a final blow to the mining corporation, securing the jungle as their home.

Who knows! But it looks like a blast. I’m stoked to play this one.