30 Days of Video Games - BONUS: Why Do You Play Games Pg. 142

[Covskin]

NO. 

 

No, SSMB, this will not do.

 

How can I be first to mention OKAMI.

 

This game is just beautiful to look at, the cel-shaded graphics aping the Japanese watercolour style so damn well. The best examples are the Restoration scenes: after freeing an area of darkness, light returs and everything blooms and its just...amazing.

 

 

I have the Wii version...I imagine the HD version is stunning.

 

 

Runner up would be Psychonuats for the unique character designs.

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

Favorite art style would have to be this one:



Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

The first three Mario & Luigis had a unique, cartoony look that I've always been a big fan of, but Dream Team really took it to the next level. Starting with the promotional art, EETZ SO SHINEE. The sparkly look of every piece of character artwork really fits the dreamy theme of the game and is incredibly eye-catching. This is one of those kind of games that's pretty to look at before you even start playing. As for the actual game, it's an absolute FEAST for the eyes. The combination of the traditional Mario & Luigi art style and sprites with some 3D graphic enhancements really makes everything pop and creates one of the most energized, colorful RPGs that I've ever played. I'd love for the regular Mario platformers to take a shot at using this kind of style.

[Conando]

Day 22-Favorite Art Style

Toon Shading in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Gamecube and Wii U)

 

There was a of controversy about this art style when it was first revealed. Many people wanted a more realistic Zelda game, but that's not particularly the MO of the series, now is it? Though it did look weird when first revealed, because Link was the only thing in the trailer toonified, once they showed off the actual game it was a sight to see. The ocean looked like paint, every character and NPC was more expressive, and the colors had to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately Nintendo has regulated this art style to DS titles in more recent history, which just don't do it justice. 

 

 

[buba]

Day 22 - Favorite Art Style

 

Basically anything done by Vanillaware, be it Odin Sphere, Grand Knights, Muramasa or Dragon's Crown.

 

 

I just love anything that uses this traditional Vanillaware graphics. Every piece of artwork is amazing, I could stare at it for hours and still be impressed. And the way they translate so well into the actual game's graphics? It's just unbelievable.

 

 

The way everything is drawn is so beautiful and the attention to detail stunning. Just looking at the games makes it all worth it, let alone play them and see everything in movement.

They know that their art is so amazing that they even made a gallery full of unlockable pieces of artwork in Dragon's Crown and let me tell you, you will want to unlock everything.

 

 

Obviously, in my opinion Vanillaware rules when it comes to art style. Would love to own every of their artbooks.

Also, loved this as an happy new year poster, but just make a damn game out of it already. I need a mecha game by Vanillaware.

 

 

I would like to talk more about this topic, but eh, I can't really say much other than that I really like the artstyle.

Honorable mention go to Skullgirls and the first gen of Pokémon.

 

[MamboCat]

Day 22 - Stuff that Mambo Likes the Look of... aka Favourite Art Style

 

Hmm... I'm assuming this means the art style of the game content itself, not things like the cover art or perhaps the art of media outside of games.

 

I think I will go for the presentation of Ni No Kuni; Wrath of the White Witch.

 

 

 

I love this mostly because it's designed by Studio Ghibli, and has the style that Miyazaki often uses in his animated films. The characters are often shaded with very strong light sources, such as Mr Drippy here. Look at his widdle nose-lamp! :3 *flicks the lamp so it swings* The backgrounds in particular are glorious; imagine running across green fields away from those 'orrible lil beasties over by here...

 

Not to mention that some of the cut scenes are animated in the usual Ghibli manner, not using the in-game models. Lovely stuff.

 

Honourable mentions: Sonic Unleashed - Because the way the world is presented is absolutely stunning. Sure, it's not how the 2D games looked but the different places Sonic and Chip visit seem so real without using the photo-realistic style Sonic 06 attempted. Fine work by the Sega Team, I must say!

 

Bioshock - I love the art deco style this game uses, and in fact it's what first drew me to the game rather than the gameplay or the story. I was just captivated by it.

[Lucky]

Day 22: Favourite Art Style

 

 

I've mentioned MadWorld a few times in this topic, but I'd been lying if I said it didn't have my favourite art style.

 

The style could have easily ended up being dull and could have had everything blend together, but instead it ended up giving the game an incredible graphic novel feel that made it stand out. Each level is so distinct and has its own unique feel despite the black and white (and red) everywhere, and the art style just creates such a cool atmosphere. It really does look like a graphic novel brought to life and it was pulled off so well, and the art style is a big part of why it's one of my favourite games.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Day 22 - Favorite Art Style

 

Gonna have to keep this one short again due to exhaustion.

 

So... there's only one new addition to my list... basically, if you read my post in the last 30 days topic...

 

ICO & Shadow of the Colossus.

 

Dark Souls: The Painted World of Ariamis

 

Shadows of the Damned.

 

But since then... I've played this...

 

 

 

 

Dragons Crown.

 

Dragons Crown is a game which is taking quite a brave step with it's outlandish artstyle, everything looks exaggerated and as a result the exaggerated combat and environments seems all the more crazy... or normal... it's hard to say.

 

But Dragons crown's artstyle helps to cement the sense that you're in a fantasy setting, that you're exploring a strange tomb full of strange creatures. The lizard men, the skelletons, the magic, the swords, the wizards! This is all normal!

[sploit]

Gonna go with one of the first unique one that popped into my head...

...so, Day 22 - Favourite Art Style?

Limbo...

...this game is a work of art, beautiful. It uses only black, white and various greys for the most part, to create a cartoon-like, yet detailed, ghostly - almost shadow puppet type world or something. From a visual/artistic standpoint it is one of the best indie games, and even best games in general that I have ever played. If you haven't played this and you like arty games, you must play this, no ifs or buts. End of. Haha.

[Chaos Incarnate]

This is a toughie for me, as there's so many games with such a vivid art style that makes it easy to be drawn into the experience. The JET SET RADIOOOOO games in particular!

 

 

 

I've always found myself enthralled in the crazy colorful, punk graffiti cel-shaded art style of The Jet Set Radio series. Everything is exaggerated and cranked to the top, which makes for some awe inspiring locations to stare at while going on a mission, being hunted by cops when simply representing the freedom of the people and spraying some of 'dat harmless Graffiti! 

 

But I digress. Both games have their own flavor of visual awesomness. JSR goes for a more traditional, insanely exaggerated style, while the sequel JSRF strives more for a somewhat realistic look that still manages to look plenty colorful, with crazy designs.

 

I may have my share of frustrations with the series, but I would be flat out lying if I acted like the art style wasn't one of the main aspects of The Jet Set Radio games that got me into it.

[NGw00d]

Day 22: Favorite Art Style

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

 

I've only played the HD version and barely any of that, but I do love its art style. I was never into the Zelda series, and I still don't care for it too much, but Wind Waker was the one game from it I always wanted to try out, mainly because of the way it looked. The cell shading makes everything look so vibrant and vivid that I can't help but be drawn to it. I had some fun with the little I played of it, but I really wanna go back just to see how the rest of the game looks because the art style is so charming.

 

WWE All Stars

 

When this game was first shown off, I was really put off by how action figure-y the wrestlers look, but when I saw them in motion, it changed my outlook immediately. Everything is so smooth, the colors are bright, and it reminds me of when I was kid just throwing around all my action figures. The way the screen goes black and white with the red and blue trails when they hit signature moves looks awesome, and all of said moves are ridiculously over the top, which adds to it even more so.

[KrazyBean]

NO. 

 

No, SSMB, this will not do.

 

How can I be first to mention OKAMI.

 

This game is just beautiful to look at, the cel-shaded graphics aping the Japanese watercolour style so damn well. The best examples are the Restoration scenes: after freeing an area of darkness, light returs and everything blooms and its just...amazing.

 

 

I have the Wii version...I imagine the HD version is stunning.

 

 

Runner up would be Psychonuats for the unique character designs.

 

Wow, how did I forget Okami! I'm playing the HD version now and I still forgot...LMAO, I feel stupid. 

 

To answer your question. Yes, the HD version looks amazeballs.

[Rusty Spy]

Day 22: Favorite Artstyle

 

Team Fortress 2

 

One of my personal favorite qualities concerning artstyle, and what TF2 does best, is having simple, stylized shapes and colors, while still having realistic detail. In both it's environments and character designs, to even it's particle effects, the artstyle does a great job of adding detail while keeping the clean, sharp silhouette shapes that makes them standout.

 

 

The color scheme and lightning are a personal favorite of mine. The shades they use for the Red and Blu teams and their bases are very distinct, but aren't overly saturated, allowing them to standout when they need to, while keeping subtle shades throughout the environments. The settings and the skyboxes make each map feel unique, and range from multiple different types of environments, while all looking and feeling very similar and interesting to look at, thanks to the illustrative style art used for the skyboxes. All of this and more blend together so well, and makes the game one of the most visually appealing games to look at.

[TearForFear]

 

Modernity

 

How can I explain... the modern, "standard" art used to portray Mario's and Sonic's worlds is simple, is "normal", is balanced, is colorful, is perfect.

 

While I can enjoy "variations" like Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi RPGs, Sonic Riders and Sonic Battle, the simple basilar style is my number 1 choice.

 

I know I know this is a bland post. But seriously, I don't know how to describe it any better

[Chaos Warp]

Day 22: Favorite Art Style

 

 

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions 

 

I love this game's artstyle, or should I rather say, artstyles. Each Spiderman has a different artstyle, which gives the game visual variety that many other game's don't have. Each artstyle compliments it's Spiderman really well, with Amazing having a very comic-book like artystyle, 2099's being appropriately futuristic, Spider Man Noire's being dark washed out and gritty to represent his time period, and Ultimate's...well Ultimate's has the same comic-book thing going on as Amazing but it still look quite different from Amazing's and was good in it's own right. Really, all the artstyles work really well for their Spidermen and that's what I really like about this game and it's art. 

[Tracker_TD]

Day 22: Favourite Art Style

 

No brainer.

 

 

 

The atmosphere of Skullgirls is absolutely fantastic. The character animations are like water, the backgrounds are packed with depth, and the overall tone evoked by the setting is fantastic. The hand-drawn sprites are really appealing to look at, and each attack feels seamless in it's transitions.

 

At lot of people worked as animators on this game, yet the style and finesse of the graphics are consistent. Skullgirls is a game that I wish more developers would look to in the graphics department.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Day 22: Artstyle

 

I normally don't care much about art style. I'll just say Okami as it really stands out for its vibrant watercolour style, giving it a feeling like your in a living Japanese scroll. That and I had the art book for it and it says something that you owned a book about the style of the game. Full marks Capcom.

[RustyRick]

Day 22: Most favorite art style?



Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island!

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this game before, but the art style of this game looks so childishly simplistic yet so charming. It has a wonderful crayon style to it and everything looks so amazingly fluid and colorful...

It really masks the BRUTAL difficulty of this game quite well, though!

I also like Yoshi's Story's more popup book-based art style, for a honorable mention.
 

[kalion]

Wow, how did I forget Okami! I'm playing the HD version now and I still forgot...LMAO, I feel stupid. 

 

To answer your question. Yes, the HD version looks amazeballs.

It was the first thing to come to mind..but I knew it would come up so I wanted to highlight a more underrated game..

[Mr Loopone]

Day 22: Favourite Art Style

 

Oh dear... This is absolutely hard since there are various art styles in various games that I really like to the point of having to do a honourable mentions section. The only least favourite art style are pre-rendered sprites at a low resolution such as Mario vs. Donkey Kong and some GBA games).

 

 

Bonanza Bros. (Arcade/Sharp X68000/PS2 versions)

 

This was a really really really hard choice however decided to choose this one by its style. It is on the bright and colourful side that appeals to me (since I prefer saturated brightness and due to having poor vision where any sharp detail is hard to notice since it gets blurred) however the art style is sort of like cartoony with hints of art deco. The characters pop out having a rounded look that is easier to spot when in motion while the backgrounds are angliar with its straight lines like a multicoloured art deco piece. Even the shadows, the sprites have a rounded look while the backgrounds are linear taking notice with this touch. What I like about this style is that it is simple to look at but has depths as well and actually would like to see some more games that use this style.

 

Honourable Mentions (This is going to be fairly long):

 

Sonic the Hedgehog (or more exactly Sonic 1, 2, CD, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Unleashed, Colours, Generations, Lost World) - Yes, the Sonic series would be my second choice since the series had various styles throughout the games from the pop look of the first 2 games, the more gritty Sonic 3&K, the sort of Model 3 look of Sonic Adventure (some parts look like a late 90s Sega arcade game), the polished and shiny Sonic Heroes, detailed and realisitic to a degree 06, Prince of Persiaesque look of Secret Rings, the detailed cartoony look of Unleashed, the rougher looking manga style of Sonic Battle (and the Advance/Riders series to an extent) and the simplified but slick at the same time Lost World. It is also hard to break down which of the Sonic games have my favourite art style, some days I really like the Unleashed look, others Lost World and some days the earlier games.

 

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team [bros.] - While the other Mario & Luigi games also have a good art style (a good looking GBA game too for the first game), Dream Team is like Alphadream evolved their art style to make it really eye catching with the sprites and backgrounds yet still keeping it a cartoony style like the first 3 games but more detailed with the shading. CC14 explained this very well and the art style was one of the reasons why I bought the game (the other reason is that it seems to be more of a beginner RPG and usually not keen on the genre so hopefully I should be able to enjoy the game).

 

Jet Set Radio/Jet Set Radio Future - ChaosIncarnate has also explained this one very well. The games have a sketchy cel-shaded look with Jet Set Radio being more colourful while Future is well... futuristic looking using more vector like colours. The style of graphics appealled to me even back when the game came out (had to play on a demo of it and only got the games recently with Future paying a bit of a pretty penny) and the hook towards the games.

 

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) - A racing game? I'm not very good at describing things but it is like a gritty style, a semi realistic style mixed with the clean stile look of a hospital and the presentation of the game was one of the reasons why I really like this game (gameplay too). The cutscenes also uses various styles, one of them being Virtual Boy style with its red and black colours so it does try to balance between styles. Would have also talked about the earlier game however have yet to play it and it does seem to fit with the gritty urban style of the game.

 

Ratchet & Clank (series) - Another it is pretty close to be a choice and like the Sonic series can't decide which of the games to choose and yet to play the Future series that shows an evolution of the art style. Still out of the games it is a bit of a cartoony style however adds some detail with its backgrounds and depending on the environment, it can get more of a darker style (something like Orxton, Blackwater City or the various swampy/spacey locations) or embraces its cartoon strengths like Metropolis.

 

TxK - As previous mentioned on the indie game topic, one of the reasons why I bought the game was because of its graphical style with colourful yet fuzzy vector based graphics. It was a hard style to achieve since most screens use a different display compared to vector screens and it is hard to get the glow of vector displays but I feel that this game does the vector style very well and is colourful since many vector graphics are just black and a grey white (Tempest, Asteroids).

 

Sly Cooper (series) - Rather like Sonic, Ratchet & Clank and in a way Jet Set Radio/Future this was also hard to decide due to liking bits of each game. What I like about this series is that the graphical style is cel-shaded making the characters appealing with some cartoony with some detail locations and the style of the cutscenes being appealing and of a comic book/cartoon style. Sly 4 adds extra detail towards characters and locations with a different style, even then the style is slightly different between platforms since the Vita version is less detailed and adds a border on the characters however it makes it closer to the original games than the detailed PS3 version.

 

Also out of the games that I've played but don't have a personal connection of the game (not having the game) and still really like the style are Dynamite Dux (bold bright colourful graphics and fairly detailed for 1988, really like both the original arcade and the slightly different Core Design handled Amiga/Atari ST style with a border and different facial look), Charlie Ninja (cartoony comic book style of the sprites mixed with a colourful backgrounds), Suzuka 8 Hours (detailed sprites and backgrounds), Vigilante (Master System version with it is colourful and fairly detailed for both the sprites and the backgrounds), Adventures of Batman and Robin (Mega Drive version, where the style is a saturated take of its art noir style of the show and it is pretty detailed), the various Asterix games where while they are different in style having appealing use of sprites and backgrounds (the Konami game being more detailed while the Core Design games being more of a comic book style with its borders/colour usage and Asterix & Obelix where its tries to emulate the look of the comics a bit more but still has its style with detailed backgrounds), The Chaos Engine of its gritty detailed industrial look and use of colours (later versions such as the Amiga AGA and the SNES versions are more colourful but keep the style), the watercolour style backgrounds of World of Illusion, the very detailed Wolverine: Adamantum Rage (Mega Drive version) with its sprites and background with an element of grittiness but still bright and colourful.

 

In other words, this was really hard to think about and took hours to think about.

[jords]

Day 22: 

 

Can I talk about this game? It's only 8 dayyyss

 

 

I'm so excited for this game I already know I'm gonna have loads of fun in this game. My brother who barely plays nintendo wants to play this game. 

 

But one of the things I really like about this game is that is so flippin' pretty! Everything is just bright and colorful and all of the tracks are so full of life. So much little details going in each track like airplanes flying around you. The characters look fantastic too, they show a lot of personalty in the game. Even the koopalings show a lot of personalty between one another.  They made the retro tracks look like completely new tracks, casuals wouldn't even know they are old tracks. It's so amazing.

[Celestia]

Day 22: Favourite Art Style

 

Hmmm...

 

 

Paper Mario style

 

While I can't really think of a game or series that has my absolute fav art style, Paper Mario's is at least the first thing that came to mind. I just really love this style, they really did a great job translating Mario into a fully "paper" world. From the locations and items right down to the characters, it's just really charming and, frankly, adorable.

 

Honourable Mentions:

• Sonic the Hedgehog. 
• Ultimate Spider-Man and all the different styles in Shattered Dimensions.
• Kirby: The backgrounds in particular are beautiful.
• Earthbound & Mother 3
• Metroid in general

[Serperior]

Day 22 - Favorite Art Style

 

 

I used it last year and it's kind of an obligatory answer, but really, I can't think of anything else that comes close to Okami's art style to me. Whether it's the concept art or the game itself, Okami's visuals look fantastic at every point. The game pulls off the Japanese watercolour painting style pretty much perfectly, and it really makes you feel like the world around you is your own canvas to paint on. Every area you go to makes full use of the visuals, and they really make each location stand out as a result. There are also some breathtaking moments that are in a large part caused by the visuals. Reaching a high up area with a good view of the terrain below feels more worth it in Okami than any other game to me because of how nice some of the areas look, and the afromentioned Restoration cutscenes are simply stunning.

[Captain Fun]

Day 22: Favorite Art Style

 

Super Mario Galaxy

 

 

YES YES this image is from 2, but they both use the same engine. 

 

To say this game looks 'good for a Wii game' doesn't do it justice. It still looks good. While there are some jaggies and it's not in HD (YET. Get on that shit Nintendo), the game's wonderful art style still shines through. The game makes good use of soft lighting, and that helps make it really easy on the eyes. It's a very pleasant game to look at. The game also uses what is, in my opinion, brilliant use of color. Everything just pops and it's generally really easy to see what's going on. It both looks good and is functional. It helps bring the game's super-creative levels to life. Visually the game still stands out and its smart art style has saved it from aging like other Wii/Gamecube games.  

[Senator NinjaShark]

Day Numbero 22: NinjaSharkopolis Asylum: Ninja's "put those MSP Scribbles of a game away, Kami" Favourite Art Style ever.

 

 

yet again I talked about stuff like TF2, Pokemon, Okami and Zelda last time, so lets talk again about something I havent mentioned much last time....

 

 

 

 

No, I still am not done talking about this series.

 

 

Metal Gear always had a very great Art style to me personally, it was rather stylish and distinct and fit the mood of each Game perfectly, but still keeping a very "Action Movie" feel to it all.

 

 

however, of special note are the designs of the tituler Metal Gears

 

 

 

as far as the Real Robot sub-genre goes, I have to say the Metal Gearsare my absolute Favourite design in that Regard, looking very much like a Robotic version of a Kaiju (right down to a Kaiju like roar for many of them) but still very much looking and feeling like something you could possibly encounter in a Warzone (well, not quite but you get my point).

[Solly]

Day 22: Favorite Art Style

 

My god this is a hard question. I guess Super Mario Galaxy is up there.

I love the soft lighting, and I love how infinitely creative it is. The colors are vibrant and pretty, and everything is designed like it came from the mind of a big kid-- and I mean that in a good way. Like, when you're young you don't really have a realistic understanding of what could exist in space. Well it DOES exist, and it's in this game. It's one of the prettiest "cartoon" games I've seen, and it doesn't even use cel-shading.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Okay, say what you want about Team Fortress 2 and hats and shit- this game still looks good. All of its textures are hand-painted, and it looks stylized without being 100% cartoony. 

 

The Castlevania series also really has some nice art.

It doesn't quite have the graphics to match, but the art style's really cool.