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[JordanN]

With next generation consoles on the horizon, Publishers are once again going for the lamest gimmick ever to sell new games.

"Buy our game because it looks like real life, LOL"

But how exactly is this impressive, especially when "realistic" games also look dated after a couple of months?

Meanwhile, my jaw just dropped for the longest time since maybe the first time I got a hold of a Gameube as a child when I saw this character
(timestamped @2:08)




Now you may be thinking "Big deal? Just another Anime character" but what impressed me is that, the whole point of stylized games is to make visuals or graphics that just look "cool".

And honestly, it was the most stylish thing I've seen in a long time.

And if you're still not impressed, ask yourself, when was the last time you could draw something that was so cool or different? It's easy to dismiss these games or visuals but it takes serious talent to make something that defies real life expectations and just make stuff that is pure imagination.

To me, that's better than just a game whose gimmick is "we scanned a real tree and a real rock, and put it in our game".

 

[Jack Peterson]

There's tons of realistic games and tons of stylized games. Why does it have to be a competition?

 

[JordanN]

There's tons of realistic games and tons of stylized games. Why does it have to be a competition?

Because as I pointed out, stylized games age better.

Developers will spend millions making games that attempt realism but it only works in the now. Whereas making a game with passion and soul, can be sold in any generation.

 

[Danjin44]

I personally also like stylize visuals more but there is room for both.

Also:

No offence

 

[Tschumi]

I tend to agree, graphically stylized games can be really great... But I don't think it's black and white, some games benefit a lot from how believable their visuals are (Witcher 3 really struck me to the core, for instance, and they clearly tried to make a 'what would it mean if monsters inhabited our daily lives' kind of effect) on the other hand OG WoW had a really effective visual style that had nothing to do with realism~

 

[The Fartist]

I hate the term 'stylized', not saying a have a better one. It just sounds stupid.

 

[JordanN]

I personally also like stylize visuals more but there is room for both.

IMO, any game could work better if it was more stylzied.

For example, I remember back in the PS3/360 era, there was a game called Brink. We had tons of generic shooters back then, but I was happy when someone actually made a shooter but also focused on pleasing character designs.

Or another example. TF2 is also a shooter but the focus on really well thought out designs also had an impact on gameplay (because each character now a had a recognizable silhouette instead of them all looking like Soldier for example).

And of course, both of these games can be played forever because the artstyle will never age.

Meanwhile, the games that had good gameplay but realistic art aged terribly.

I loved Golden Eye 007 back in the day, but the character models look like a complete joke.

 

[brap]

Realistic games are just so ugly these days. We have all this advanced tech and they make shit like this. Imagine putting in so much time and hard work into something that looks like shit.
Give me stylized ugly like beavis and butthead.

 

[PleaseWaitStation4]

Japan is best at the abstract games. Always were. Europe ,too (old Ubisoft). The U.S. is good at concrete games (fps, sports). Got to have both. There are always exceptions. Realistic games depend on technology and in the U.S. there are a lot of tech fans. In the U.S. when artists try to stylize, they mostly just end up copying a trend (like no textures)

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Their faces/eyes actually bother me.

This is better.

Also damn shame this game is THAT type of genre/is in Chinese Korean. (audio)

 

[zcaa0g]

Stylized is a politically correct way of saying bad graphics. I have no problem playing old games that had great graphics at the time if they were great games.

And that's not because of the gameplay over graphics bullshit, it's because I understand the graphics are dated because it was made several years ago.

With today's tech and tools, there's no excuse for any game to look like complete ass. This is 2020. Good graphics assumed, good gameplay expected.

 

[Explosive Zombie]

Their faces/eyes actually bother me.

This is better.

Also damn shame this game is THAT type of genre/is in Chinese Korean. (audio)

I'm getting a feeling I don't normally get when perusing this forum... someone help!

 

[brap]

Stylized is a politically correct way of saying bad graphics.

With today's tech and tools, there's no excuse for any game to look like complete ass. This is 2020. Good graphics assumed, good gameplay expected.

What fucking planet are you living on?

 

[Danjin44]

IMO, any game could work better if it was more stylzied.

Same way I don’t want to see every game to look realistic, some people don’t want to see every game to look stylize, having variety in visual styles is a good thing. my problem is 90% of western developers just do realism.

 

[JordanN]

Their faces/eyes actually bother me.

This is better.

Also damn shame this game is THAT type of genre/is in Chinese Korean. (audio)

I actually love that Korean and Japanese games have their own styles.

Don't get me wrong. Japan does really nice cartoon designs or authentic anime, but Korean studios take lots of risks making these characters that are super slender or super thicc.

You can tell right away this is a Korean design.

Meanwhile, Japan makes art that pushes traditional paintings to the limit.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Before this becomes a east vs west thing let me show you this

Same company

Same company

Realism sucks.

 

[radewagon]

Is this kind of thread a thing now?

 

[Bkdk]

Agreed, Though my grip is mainly focused on horrendous character design. Biggest disappointment is SE’s project athia, I really hope there’s at least 1 JRPG or game with Japanese art style and there is just none from that whole event. It’s extremely disappointing. Even a 30 seconds teaser of ff7-R second episode would make me feel somewhat better. Hopefully there will be at least 1 for the Xbox Lineup reveal.

 

[Rikoi]

Stylized is a politically correct way of saying bad graphics.

No, that's pixel art.

Also yes, I agree, stylized games age way better than games that push for realistic graphics, because realistic graphic can always be improved with technology, but the art? Good art will always be good.

 

[Deleted member 471617]

I'll play stylized games but much rather have realistic visuals.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

I actually love that Korean and Japanese games have their own styles.

Don't get me wrong. Japan does really nice cartoon designs or authentic anime, but Korean studios take lots of risks making these characters that are super slender or super thicc.

Nah Koreans mostly rip off Japan.

 

[JordanN]

Another example of a game/genre that's better stylzied.

Auto Modelista had cartoony art, but still used real cars.




And it only needed PS2/Gamecube level hardware to run.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Wtf is this Chinese trash lol.

 

[Keihart]

I get what you are saying OP but...you are picking as an example a character with very much non stylized shading or textures or anything more than proportions?
Yeah...although i highly prefer stylized visuals to just realistic reenders, there are way better examples and even better examples that even come closer to realism without stop being stylized.

Before this becomes a east vs west thing let me show you this

Same company

Same company

Realism sucks.

Tekken characters used to look so much better before jumping into the Unreal ship. Same thing for Soul Calibur.

I would consider RE characters realistic tho, those are very much stylized, in fact i think they have some weird Silent Hill CG look to them, you could see a RE2 or 3 character out of context and know that it is from the game if you are familiar with the style.

I would say the same for ND characters although since they started using real people face models in TLoU2, some characters stick out sometimes as not look as stylized as the rest (Owen for example)

 

[JordanN]

I get what you are saying OP but...you are picking as an example a character with very much non stylized shading or textures or anything more than proportions?
Yeah...although i highly prefer stylized visuals to just realistic reenders, there are way better examples and even better examples that even come closer to realism without stop being stylized.


Tekken characters used to look so much better before jumping into the Unreal ship. Same thing for Soul Calibur.

Technically speaking (heh), a stylzied design can still incorporate realistic shading or texturing.

Ancient Greek or Roman statues where exactly that. They were made of real material, yet they clearly represented exaggerated portrayals of man.

As long as it's clearly something birthed from the imagination and not just a carbon copy of real life, it still counts.

 

[Keihart]

Technically speaking (heh), a stylzied design can still incorporate realistic shading or texturing.

Ancient Greek or Roman statues where exactly that. They were made of real material, yet they represented stylzied portrayals of man.

As long as it's clearly something birthed from the imagination and not just a carbon copy of real life, it still counts.

which is why i think you are not making a real case here for your argument.
what you are calling "real" is also stylized or looking from the other side, what you call stylized is not so far from what you are calling real looking.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I’ve seen 3D model homes that looked better than 80% of what the gaming industry makes. A lot of the times the interior inside a open world game is super bland. Who cares that they duplicated he foliage across a gigantic landscape. The houses, boxes, and sometimes they layout lack the appeal. This is why I really stopped paying attention to the ultra realistic stuff. Resident Evil VII and VIII are fine to me. I don’t need it to round off all the curves of the trees and I honestly think if the game is good- it won’t matter.

I think companies make good looking games, but it’s purely subjective to the wide audience that comments on them. Theres more style to some older games than some that are made with today’s technology. The game has to sell and people want to use their $2,000 video card with the “latest AAA game”.

I think it is sometimes foolish to believe you’ll get what you want when you can put out 120 FPS on your rig. When did games ever hit that mark and stay at that level? There’s always some limitation and that’s either in hardware or the fun factor.

 

[JordanN]

which is why i think you are not making a real case here for your argument.
what you are calling "real" is also stylized or looking from the other side, what you call stylized is not so far from what you are calling real looking.

Except those statues still required an artist's input as opposed to it just forming naturally.

For example, I explained this in the OP where game developers would just scan a real rock or tree and put it in a game. That's not stylized.

But if you made a rock in real life that was either sculpted or handpainted, then that is clearly something that requires imagination instead of being a real object.

Stylizied real life object:

No style:

 

[Keihart]

Except those statues still required an artist's input as opposed to it just forming naturally.

For example, I explained in this in the OP where game developers would just scan a real rock or tree and put in a game. That's not stylized.

But if you made a real rock in real life that was either sculpted or handpainted, then that is clearly something that requires imagination instead of being a real object.

Would you call The Last of Us 2 Stylized? how about Death Stranding? or an easier one God of War?
All those games have characters made from a mix of real actors and artists input in the characters models.

Landscapes in those games are even more of an artist stuff even...lighting isn't even just accurate, but usually controlled to communicate a certain mood.

Almost everything can be considered stylized if touched by artist, there are things that are not ofcourse.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Goldeneye aged so badly it looks stylized now.

I agree with you, OP. But some games need realism, like some types of simulators. People wouldn't appreciate the new Flight Simulator if it looked like Mario Odyssey.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Tekken characters used to look so much better before jumping into the Unreal ship. Same thing for Soul Calibur.

Soul Calibur has mostly looked the same for the last 3 games though. Something something budget.

Tekken peaked at 4 (or Tekken Tag hd/5) art style wise. Nowadays all they do is copy paste bodies unto faces...or vice versa and the alt costumes are so uninspired.

 

[JordanN]

Would you call The Last of Us 2 Stylized? how about Death Stranding? or an easier one God of War?
All those games have characters made from a mix of real actors and artists input in the characters models.

Landscapes in those games are even more of an artist stuff even...lighting isn't even just accurate, but usually controlled to communicate a certain mood.

Almost everything can be considered stylized if touched by artist, there are things that are not ofcourse.

Going off the examples posted by brap , I would say no.

They clearly tried to make those games mimic real life.

Except the end result is something uncanny that will look outdated the next time more powerful hardware comes along.

 

[Deleted member 740922]

How can you offend a game?

 

[bumleforce]

I dont know I love games like red dead for it graphics and I also love horizion and other games like nier and Code vein wich are very stylized. They are both good

 

[Keihart]

Going off the examples posted by brap , I would say no.

They clearly tried to make those games mimic real life.

Except the end result is something uncanny that will look outdated the next time more powerful hardware comes along.

Take a look at this, it's very much like paintings more than a real life look


Death stranding has more accurate materials for example, because ND makes most of them by hand, but the way Kojipro used them was more surrealistic.

 

[Dacon]

I would generally agree, I vastly prefer games that have their own style and tone over something that attempts to mimic reality.

I live in reality, why tf would I want my games to be more like it?

 

[namekuseijin]

there is a whole generation whose whole upbringing in fine arts is very questionable

they care neither for realistic nor for stylized looks. They care the game is mostly untextured and cellshaded so it both reminds them of animé and runs well on switch

 

[JordanN]

Take a look at this, it's very much like paintings more than a real life look

Death stranding has more accurate materials for example, because ND makes most of them by hand, but the way Kojipro used them was more surrealistic.

The problem with this is that even realistic games on the N64/PS1 had this same line of thinking.

Yet they still "aged" because their entire gimmick was chasing after photorealism when the tech wasn't quite suited for it.

Back in 2005, I thought the bottom image was incredibly realistic. At the time, Call of Duty started using Normal Maps which was very advanced for video games.
Yet it's no longer impressive because game technology continues to push for better rendering techniques that now leaves 2005 technology feeling obsolete.

Meanwhile, here was another game from around the same time that isn't actually "ugly" today. Because 13 didn't want to be photoreal, it wanted to be a cool looking shooter instead.

 

[Keihart]

The problem with this is that even realistic games on the N64/PS1 had this same line of thinking.

Yet they still "aged" because their entire gimmick was chasing after photorealism when the tech wasn't quite suited for it.

Back in 2005, I thought the bottom image was incredibly realistic. At the time, Call of Duty started using Normal Maps which was very advanced for video games.
Yet it's no longer impressive because game technology continues to push for better rendering techniques that now leaves 2005 technology feeling obsolete.

you are not using the term right then, because that it's not a lack of style. They are just different styles. Movies can be stylized even using real people and locations in them.
How your game ages visually depends more on how close you were able to get to your concept art.

 

[JordanN]

you are not using the term right then, because that it's not a lack of style. They are just different styles. Movies can be stylized even using real people and locations in them.
How your game ages visually depends more on how close you were able to get to your concept art.

So why do remakes exist then? Or HD remasters?

If your game was like Call of Duty which tried be photorealistic on now technically dated hardware, the problem is realistic styles date badly as technology progresses.

Movies can be stylized, but that's because real people already look real to us. Aint no one saying Jim Carey or Tom Cruise don't look photoreal anymore.

 

[Danjin44]

there is a whole generation whose whole upbringing in fine arts is very questionable

they care neither for realistic nor for stylized looks. They care the game is mostly untextured and cellshaded so it both reminds them of animé and runs well on switch

Are these looks like "untextured" to you?

 

[TheSHEEEP]

Definitely agreeing with OP here, though maybe not in the same degree.

I can still dig games from back then that tried to look realistic (but didn't because they couldn't), but if we're only talking about graphics here, then yes, stylized games just age much better.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

there is a whole generation whose whole upbringing in fine arts is very questionable

they care neither for realistic nor for stylized looks. They care the game is mostly untextured and low budget so it both reminds them of 1990s and a time they had hair.

Savage.

 

[Keihart]

So why do remakes exist then? Or HD remasters?

If your game was like Call of Duty which tried be photorealistic on now technically dated hardware, the problem is realistic styles date badly as technology progresses.

Movies can be stylized, but that's because real people already look real to us. Aint no one saying Jim Carey or Tom Cruise don't look photoreal anymore.

i guess you missed the point where i said that it's not about being stylized but about how you can realize that style in the game.
Some styles are easier to achieve and even then, you are dependant of technology.

Let me remind you of games with great concept art and crappy renditions to it like Vagrant Story or any Final Fantasy of the PS1 era. Great concept art but too ambitious for the tech available.

Also fuck remasters, those usually look worse than the original game since if the game has great visuals, it's usually made with the limitations of the tech in mind.

 

[Twinguistics]

I watched a tiny bit of the video and don't get it at all. Which one was supposed to look cool? Looks like anime to me. No more, no less. I thought I was in for a unique and interesting design. T'was a let down.

 

[Nemesisuuu]

I like both, just don't get your point - stylized and then you put most generic anime characters as example.

 

[JordanN]

I watched a tiny bit of the video and don't get it at all. Which one was supposed to look cool? Looks like anime to me. No more, no less. I thought I was in for a unique and interesting design. T'was a let down.

A generic anime character would be a moeblob or a brooding pretty boy.

Much less, actual anime does not popularize really tall and slender female characters, which is what the video had.

This has more soul,

than this.

 

[The Scrivener]

If you're a "TrueGamer©" you're gonna prefer this. I even thought about the Resident Evil 8 game trailer, meh, the characters still look N64 wooden AF.

 

[Jaguar Victory]

I like both. Video game artists are really amazing. I love this medium.

 

[Soodanim]

Games that strive for realism are the "State of the art" pieces that help games get where they're going, which is lifelike. They help push the boundaries of how close games can get at any given time. They can also help convey a different tone that might not land otherwise.

Games with solid art styles live forever, and are the truest form of games in an old school sense. My go to example is Mario 64. Not exactly swimming in polygons, but it doesn't matter. It looks great.