30 Days of Video Games

[Octarine]

Yoshi's Island.

I'm gonna be honest here; I've never been a huge fan of the 2D Mario games. I kind of like them, and I can certainly recognize that they're good, but I've never found them all that interesting. Super Mario World in particular had a difficult time keeping my attention, with its relatively small selection of power-ups and its fairly drab graphics. Weird, then, that its direct sequel (kinda) turned out to be my favourite 2D game in the series, partially because it's totally gorgeous. The colouring-book style is perfectly suited to take advantage of the SNES' graphical capabilities, and totally adorable too... even this game's rocks and grass are cute. I'd call it easily the best-looking game of its generation.

Don't get me wrong, though: this isn't a situation like with Chrono Cross, where one great element is enough for me to forgive mediocrity in nearly everything else. Yoshi's Island looks fantastic, but it's also a legitimately great game. Trying my best to pretend I'm not biased toward its gameplay style, I'd still call Yoshi's Island one of the better 2D Mario titles.

...a close second goes to the cel-shaded Zelda games, particularly The Wind Waker. I've always loved the Zelda series' refusal to stick with a single art style, but if I had to choose a favourite style it'd definitely be this one. The Wind Waker was quite possibly the prettiest game of the last generation, and it still looks good today. Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword are both pretty games, but neither has the same kind of timeless charm. If only TWW had been a better game~

nnnnnnghsolly

Edited February 9, 2012 by Octarine

[T-Min]

Day 24: Favorite Visual Design

ohai

But really, even the Hate Dumb detractors of this game should be able to agree that this game is visually amazing. The environments are positively stunning - the crystallized Lake Bresha has to be one of the most amazing-looking areas from any video game ever and the lush beauty of such places as the Sunleth Waterscape and Gran Pulse is something to behold. The FMV's, one of which I even posted for Day 22, are a joy to watch, and the setpieces are all awesome. Whether or not you liked Final Fantasy XIII, the visual design of this game is an area where it completely excels, and judging from what I've played of it, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is much the same.

(I really was kidding about the Hate Dumb thing, k?)

[Smock]

Daytona Four: GAMES THAT MAKES YER EYES WANNA POP OUT AND COPULATE WITH THE WARM LCD

So I haven't played alla the fancy paintin' games that everyone else seems to have played. So let's make do wit what Socks got.

Brutal Legend (spoilered fer image dump)

*cue guitar solo*

In a nutshell, from the mind of Tim Schafer and the voice talent of Jack Black comes Brutal Legend, a hilarious epic about a roadie who is cast back in time to the era of 'every screenshot is a metal album cover'. He must teach it's inhabitants the ways of metal in order to overthrow the evil emperors or something like that.

Despite being an open-world game, Brutal Legend has no shame in throwing gigantic monuments (such as the Great Wall of Ghettoblasters and a giant Mount Rockmore with customizable mugs) at you at every given moment. While the graphics themselves aren't amazing, the thrill of taking a casual drive while the moon is being electocuted and meteors are destroying some unimportant background village can't be beat. The character designs are also pretty quirky too, like something out of an R-rated Pixar film. Always keeping in the spirit of heavy metal, Brutal Legend's art direction is pretty damn sexy.

Due to this post crashing way too many times to care anymore, let's just lookit the freakin' Runner Ups, shall we?

~ Rayman Origins: You is a sexy moving painting, ain'tcha?

~ Sonic Unleashed: More like being in an actual Pixar movie.

~ Limbo: Dark and mysterious, yet always holding that sense of child-like curiosity.

~ some other stuff

~ DOA: boobs

Tulta munille, folks

[Nix]

Day 24: Favorite Art Style/ Visual Design.

WELL SHIT, I DON'T KNOW.

This game isn't just a work of art, it's a goddamn masterpiece, and is still one of the best looking games ever because of it. The art style gives this game a whole new layer of life. It's stylish, colorful, and has its own personality. Though, I don't think stand-still shots really do this game any justice, it's still pretty, but when you see this game in motion... oh my fucking god, it's incredible. Tiny visual effects are sprinkled about this game like candy and it creates a truly stunning looking game. One of my favorite things to do in this game is to watch Amaterasu run full speed, just to see the grass and flowers grow and bloom at every step she takes. Marvelous.

[Shane]

It's a tie between Donkey Kong Country trilogy and Yoshi's Island.

(Thank you, Octarine.)

Donkey Kong Country was an innovater in 3D graphics. The pre-rendered sprites and backgrounds made these some of the most beautiful games of their time, and the atmosphere they created still holds up today. The sheer variety in level tropes is amazing and it's disappointing that Super Smash Bros. games focus on just the jungle style.

Shigeru Miyamoto was developing Yoshi's Island at the time, and he was under constant pressure to use the same style. How did he fight back? By going equally beautiful in the opposite direction, of course. Yoshi's Island pioneered the art style that would influence games like Kirby's Dream Land 3, cel-shaded Zelda titles, Wario Land: Shake It!, and plenty of other "hand-drawn" games.

The mid-'90s were a great time to be a gamer.

[null]

Day 24 - Favorite Art Style or Visual Design from a Video Game

Kirby's Epic Yarn - Nintendo Wii - 2010

Don't take this the wrong way, but this game was the least anticipated out of my most anticipated games from 2010. A Kirby game where you can't copy enemy powers? That's like a Sonic game where you can't go fast. It seemed as if they were just sacrificing gameplay for the sake of asthetics.

And somehow, it all worked out in the end. I can't remember the last time I messed around with arts-&-crafts material in real life, so seeing the clever and imaginative uses with pipe cleaners, buttons, zippers, and everything else in this game really made me smile inside. After the first world, I didn't even care about the lack of copy ability anymore. No game that I have played prior to Epic Yarn has had innocent and childlike charm of this level since Yoshi's Story.

Runner-Ups: Ōkami and Team Fortress 2

[krazystitch]

Day 24 - Favorite art style

Rayman Origins

To me, this game is pretty much the definition of beautiful. I just love the way that this game looks.

The levels in here are so bright and colorful that it's actually pretty unbelievable. It's honestly like they're just POPPING right at you! The smooth animations supplied with the hand drawn, crisp textures, character models, and details in every single level just helps add more to just how great all of this is. Every stage is just as unique and beautiful as the last and it's just something that you've got to love. Plus, I guess my love for cartoons like these just overpowers it all.

3D models are nice and all, but..a good 'ole fashioned 2D beauty like this is pretty damn hard to come by, and they did it amazingly.

[Zany Mallet Maniac]

You know, I think I am going to have to go with Kingdom Hearts. (I am actually surprised I chose this myself) The character models are a nice mixture of realistic, anime and cartoon, making no one look out of place, whether they are from Final Fantasy or Steam Boat Wille or just made specifically for the game! There is something very warm and welcoming about the graphics in KH.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Zany Mallet Maniac

[Badnik Mechanic]

Day 24 - Favorite Art Style or Visual Design from a Video Game

ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Sorry I had to cheat.

But to name one without naming the other for art style is a bit contradictory since they're both very similar.

I'll mainly be talking about ICO, but Shadow of the colossus does something that ICO does only it shows it off more than it gets shown off in Ico.

In Ico, you play as a boy escorting a girl through a castle.

Now click the spoiler and read the additional text.

In Ico, you play as a boy escorting a girl through a dream

I'm not telling you if my extra line there is the truth or not... but consider this... I showed you an images,you saw my original line, the image hasn't changed, nor has the truth about the original line, yet my line bout it being a dream has now change your perception of the game, we don't know why, but it has.

Ico's artstyle for me resembles two things. One of those beign a dream, the other a painting. When you navigate through the castle, the way the shaddows fall the way the light enters a room, it's almost like you're in a dream or you're playing through a painted world.

The design of the girl herself stands out against everything, she almost looks like a spirit of sorts.

The castle in Ico is huge, even though you play as a boy the size of the castle in constrast to the boy makes it stand out, it appears impossible to have been built by mortal hands, as you lead the girl through it and the shows cast onto the ground you feel a strong sense of the supernatural, that something else is at work here, and this is long before you even get to a cut scene that gives you plot information.

The enemies are also a contrast to everything else in the game, they almost appear like black smoke which takes human like form when they attack you, however their colour and contrast to the background and the characters leave no question in your mind that they mean you harm long before they attack...

Now I want you to look at the image of the enemies again... but this time read the bit of text that explains who they reall are...

They are the souls of young children from your own village

Again, when you learn that bit of information, their design hasn't changed, yet now they appear not just as enemies who have always been that way, but almost like victims suffering eternal torture. Are you setting them free? Or continuing to damn them?

Now I'm going to talk about Shadow of the Colossus.

The world here is similar to that of Ico's huge landscapes, giant structures which dwarf the character, but the colossi themselves, they're covered in rock and fur, it's almost like the environment itself has come alive and wants to attack you.

From this one, you can see how the Colossi almost looks like his environment, the environment is attacking you?

I mentioned how this game does something that Ico does only to greater effect right?

Thats the use of light, in this game, light is used to signify weak points and points of interest, you avoid the dark, but light doesn't mean safety, it means interest, or attention. The designs use the art to show you the way, as a guide of sorts without stating the exact route or task at hand.

Take a look at this...

Pay attention to the brightest areas.

The tusks - enemy weapons.

The stones on it's head - you need to climb here/use them to move the colossi

The grass on it's back - one of the possible ways to get to the stones.

Trust the light, it will help you guide your way.

The art direction is one reason why I love those games so much, you're never quite sure if whats happening is 'real' or just something in the characters imagination... or a story that you are living through, you're never led to believe 'this is actually happening.'

Honorable mentions

Dark Souls: The Painted World of Ariamis

My favourite area in Dark Souls is a side area called 'The Painted World of Ariamis' and the reason is down to the art style.

When you first see this area, it's a giant painting on the wall, examine it and you enter the world. It's a mountain castle covered in snow, only... it looks so different to the rest of the game, the snow, the castle walls, even the enemies look almost like oil paintings. It's hard to describe, the snow is snow, only it's colour and even the look of it's texture makes it seem 'different' to how it should be. Not wrong... but different. Almost otherworldly.

You need to play though Dark Souls then enter this world to understand what I mean by 'different' but not 'wrong' you feel like you are not only in another world from your own, but another world from Dark Souls, and one which is also evil.

Shadows of the Dammned

I don't know if it's the lighting, the shadows or the fact the designs on this game are so good... but I love the art direction on this game, everything from the flaming skull heads to the rams head lights just looks so good.

One of the first lines in the game is 'This is our own road movie!' well road movies never had cinnematography that looks this good!

[Chibinuva]

Day 24 - Favorite Art Style or Visual Design from a Video Game

Hmm, I could pick one art style I like, or four that are all awesome. (will post initial reactions)

Amazing Universe

"That black line around Spider-Man looks so out of place and, wait, this is like a comic book brought to life. That's fucking awesome!"

Ultimate Universe

"Oh wow, that's pretty sweet. It's like a cartoon brought to life, just with more realism."

2099 Universe

"WHOO FUTURISTIC TRON CITY FUCK YEAH!"

Noir Universe

"Okay, who took Spider-Man and replaced him with the goddamn Batman? Also, 1930's New York is totally badass."

If I need to add more substance into my descriptions because my initial reactions don't have enough detail, just tell me and I will do my best to paint mental pictures of them so those who are even those who are blind can enjoy the awesome art styles.

Day 24 - Favourite Art Style

Vinyl Scratch here again...

To be honest, I haven't heard about WET, I didn't care about WET, and I didn't like to hear about WET.

But I tried the demo. Boy I was missing stuff.

WET is basically a Quentin Tarantino video game, about a Rule 64 Nathan Drake that doesn't fear in using violence to get what she wants.

The art style of the game is really great and unique, it feels like an old movie made as a videogame. As you start losing your health you can see as if the game was a film-reel that is starting to break up, when you do something wrong you get the iconic "3...2...1..." screen from the introductions of old movies as a loading screen and you get sent back at the last part before you screwed up.

tl;dr WET is a film-reel videogame.

And that's why I love it.

[Nintendoga]

Day 24 Little Big Planet (series)

I enjoy LBP's style art. Maybe it's cause I'm a sucker for cardboard graphics (don't ask me how does that make sense), but the blurred background and plenty of graphical quality detail they give to the models and such make the cardboard style look incredible for well.....cut outs.

I also love the cartoony yet realistic appeal it can give off from time to time. I'm sorry but here for Little Big Planet, graphics DO matter.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Mike Dawson

[Gregzilla]

Day 24 - Favorite art style

Castle Crashers - I love cartoons. That should be all I need to say, but I guess I'll elaborate. This game's art style is very vibrant and at times cutesy, while contrasting by putting in blood, gore, and several buckets worth of animal excretions. I really like Dan Paladin's art style. It's very recognizable, very visually appealing, and filled to the brim with personality. On top of that, the animation style isn't really flowing, it's a lot of very short and quick movements. This really adds to the action in my opinion, making the blows with your weapons really feel like they connect, as well as add some good comedic timing.

Runners Up:

Rayman Origins - This game arguably has the best cartoon graphics ever. The backgrounds are beautiful, the framerate is solid, and the animation for the characters is silky-smooth. So why didn't I pick it? Well, to be honest, the whole atmosphere kinda felt like a step backward from Rayman 2 and 3. While those games had very unique character designs and a slightly darker mood, this game really went over-the-top silly, which I don't really like after having such artistically unique games precede it. Talking kitchen appliances? Anthropomorphic food? Evil zombie grandmas and cute little puffer fish? Those are all very nice cartoony elements, but in a Rayman game they felt kinda uninspired. Don't get me wrong, the graphics themselves are freaking beautiful, but I just think the art design could have been a bit darker and more creative.

Sonic Unleashed/Colors/Generations - I think these games have been pretty well covered by everyone else. Probably the closest any games have come to resembling Pixar movies. Unleashed had some nice realisitc visuals that didn't seem as out of place as the "realistic" visuals in Sonic 06. Colors had some very wacky areas that really felt at home in a Sonic game. And Generations recreated 20 years worth of art designs in glorious HD. Survey says: DAMN GOOD.

[Shoot em up Capbusta]

Viewtiful Joe: The art style of viewtiful really does suit the tone of the series. Like the character the cel-shaded graphics really help this game stand out. As a kid I remember first seeing viewtiful joe advertise at school and thinking wow thats soo cool. It really catches your attention, seeing joe jump from level to level it just felt *back then* like I was actually playing a cartoon. I knew I had to have it and I wasn't disappointed. Even though I never owned it this game was loads a fun and hard as hell too, makes me wish we had viewtiful joe 3 but the chances of that are slim.

[Noir]

TF2's art style is really fascinating, and kind of brilliant. The distorted proportions not only make for interesting designs, but do wonders for a class-based game because you can always immediately recognize a class just by its shape, size, animations, really everything. The colors work the same. Keeping neutral orange tones in the maps make the team colors pop, and the animations and models for weapons projectiles keep them always visible. There is nothing else that looks like a rocket zooming towards you, nothing else that looks like the aura of a medigun. The game makes a point of using its art direction not just to be aesthetically attractive, but to improve gameplay, laying all cards on the table so that every challenge you face can be recognized with no trouble. You always feel like you've died fairly because the art style makes sure you know what you're up against. Unless you lag. But that's another story.

If this were about a year ago I'd also mention how the weapons and even hats to an extent keep with the style but that's really kind of dying out with more user-generated content. Not that it's lost entirely, but admittedly there are a lot of things that don't fit into the mid-century 1900s theme. The pewpew guns aren't so bad actually, they have a good retro-futuristic look, though their projectiles blend into the scenery and that's a problem.

[The Kid]

Favorite Art Direction / Visual Design:

Crap, people have already chosen Rayman, Kirby, Zelda, and Okami. Those were my main choices :U

No matter, I'll just choose an art style I liked within in the last couple years.

SPOILERS AHOY!

LIMBO

The beauty in this game lies in just how little it shows in relation to the actual character and the world around him. With almost no color palette to speak of "Limbo" manages to show the desperate loneliness and isolation of the protagonist through layers of black, white, and gray. There is no direction given to you, no other characters to make you feel safer in your journey (I'm not going into the story because it was intentionally left to the audience).

Yet even if the game is rather dark in its style (possibly highlighting the loneliness the boy feels being away from his sister) we're still left speechless by the new enemies and terrain in each section of the game. For example, when you see the giant spider early on the lack of color or any distinguishing feature beyond its size only makes the spider more terrifying. Instead of giving the spider a true form by adding color to it, we're subject to an earth-shattering monster that seems more like a force of nature than an enemy. With each snap of its leg we see the ferocity of the spider and the obstacle it represents on our journey. It not only allows an interesting take on the story, but a window into the emotions of the boy, his fear and confusion on his never ending journey.

When seeing the other children for the first time, instead of immediately going to greet them, we're prone to running and hiding. They don't look like children, if anything they're just lost souls trying to stop you by any means necessary. This moment in the game wouldn't have had as big of an impact if the characters were given color and distinct designs to make them seem more like children. No, this way we can tell they're children, but not children you can trust. They become another obstacle on your quest to find your sister. Yet seeing their lifeless bodies still leave you with a hint of guilt, that they were possibly just like you, on a journey of their own.

Or you know... I could be reading too much into it. This game was interesting on so many levels from an artistic standpoint (the gameplay was pretty good too).

[Phantomime]

RAYMAN ORIGINS BECAUSE LOOK AT THAT.

This is how you do an artstyle. Such a variety of colors that are perfectly contrasted. Gorgeous and excessively detailed level art. Fluent and incredible animation. It's all there.

Wind Waker. HOLY SHIT BEST GC GRAPHICS.

The simple and cartoony look and feel makes everything unique. It doesn't even look very dated by today's standards, because of it's excellent visual design and aesthetics. Also, the unique character and whatever the hell you would use to describe things like pots and pushing blocks as are all unique so, like in TF2, you always know what you're up against at a glance.

[Winston]

Day 24 - Favorite Art Style or Visual Design from a Video Game

Rayman Origins (Rayman Series)

Just look at it and you'll know why I love it! I find this style artistic and beautiful, and I really love how it's hand-drawn and everything. It really shows the creators put alot of work into this game's art style, and I really love it. It was a tough match between this and Donkey Kong Country Returns dark levels where DK's tie lights up in red, which is beautiful as well. But this is a WHOLE games art style, so I went with this one.

Edited February 9, 2012 by The Scarlet Spider

[turbojet]

...Why the hell do we have 21 unidentifiable guests looking in this thread?

Fucking creepers.

[Tornado]

Team Fortress 2

I've always thought of the game as "what if Pixar made an FPS." The art style is hilarious, expressive and bright. Just watching someone play the game makes you think you are seeing some kind of ridiculous, absurdist comedy. This also reflects in the weapons and equipment in the game (ie. The piss jar).

And since everything is so bright and cartoony, I actually think it has the benefit of making it so you don't get as angry when you don't play as well; and I can't really think of any other game that do that.

Then there are the cutscenes, which take that wackiness and turn it up to 11.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Gilda

[Cola]

MY FAVORITE ART STYLE HAS TO BE...

PAPER MARIO

In a world...

Where everything is made of paper in cardboard...

One plumber...

WILL STAND UP TO THE FORCES OF EVIL

I mean, c'mon! Look at that! It's awesome! My favorite art style from the series has to be from the as-of-yet unreleased Paper Mairo 3DS because of how they're up-playing the paper element. Toads have been shoved in a cabinet as a prison! Goombas folding together to create a giant Mega-Goomba! You can't go wrong with Paper Mario!

Edited February 9, 2012 by Cola

[Red Cap]

The Paper Mario Series

I really, really like this art style. It's so expressive, so charming, and pretty unique. It's also impressive how the characters are actually in seperate pieces rather than just one solid sprite, and with how well animated the game is I wonder how long it must take them to make as many animations as, say, Mario has.

Of course, TLOZ:The Wind Waker and Okami are definitely good looking games, but that anwser is so generic. Not that this is more original pick.

[Sonic the Hedgehog in 3D]

Rayman Origins

Its awesome in gameplay and looks, by far my favourite art style of any game. It's hard to explain why I love it, the colours blend well and it simple looks amazing. You can simpley see why I love it by looking at it.

[Carbo]

Day 25 - Favorite Gaming Genre

[PSI Wind]

Oh, that's an easy one. I LOVE RPGs. The giant stories, the strategic gameplay, the areas you can go to, just everything about them. Now, I know RPGs haven't really evolved much, but what's the point if they're not even really broken? They work wonders to this day and the battle systems vary between each game in either a series or just as a whole. I also love how there are a variety of different ones, like SRPGs and Action RPGs for example.

[Your Vest Friend]

Today will be too short for me;

Platformer [sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Super Mario Bros, Rayman]

Simply put, I grew up on platformers. I like the exploration that you can do in platformers, I enjoy the collect-a-thon format that some specific ones get you to do (Spyro is most suspect out of the game franchises I listed), it all just fires up the imagination and I love when I get to use my mind.

Although I don't play them that often, I guess my second-favourite genre would be puzzle games. God knows I can't put down Mean Bean Machine or Columns for ages once I pick them up.