• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Which "Metroidvania" has the best graphics?

Robb

Gold Member
I’d go with Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Metroid Dread might be second.

I love the more simplistic look of Hollow Knight as well though, but I’d put it below Dread and Ori.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I generally don't like that kind of art direction Dread has. I'm more of a 16-bit guy when it comes to 2D. I like the aesthetics and designs of Super Metroid more. No one mentioned Strider? I think that looks better than Dread as well. Strider retained the art direction of the PSX sequel, looks colorful albeit a bit too industrial perhaps. But its a good looking metroidvania.
 
Last edited:

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
For 3d looking fist forged in furryland, not even close

fistforged_in_shadow_torch-5478592.jpg
maxresdefault.jpg
FIST-Forged-in-Shadow-Torch-1-1.jpg
giphy.webp
maxresdefault.jpg

For cartoony looking it's probably ori sequel, no need for pics to show why.

Well damn, I wasnt aware of this game. Will try once it comes to XBOX
 

GametimeUK

Member
Don't get me wrong a lot of Metroidvania games look great, but Ori is just a cut above the rest in its presentation. The visuals are just astounding.
 
S

SpongebobSquaredance

Unconfirmed Member
I am legit laughing at all the metriod Dread posts...

I get it its a Nintendo game and the genre is even named after the series, but it's also one of the worst looking titles in the series. Compared to how Nintendo normally nail a solid look on the weaker switch hardware via amazing use of stylised graphics, Dread sadly is just bad, it looks at times like some fan project made in Unity.

Metriod Dread has alot going for it, but graphics sure as hell ain't it. Christ when it was first shown one of the big things people made fun of was how it looked and unlike Halo it didn't get a year delay to be reworked it released looking the same.

Honestly think Nintendo should have tried for a 2D or 2.5D look to get that 60 FPS while maintaining a good look via use of Sprites, but that's just me.
754210.jpg
 
S

SpongebobSquaredance

Unconfirmed Member
Ori probably looks the best but I remember when they revealed this out of nowhere, Record of Lodoss War

30c9287326947e6171a99151d42ad4aa3b840240.gif


8XcizXO.gif


81c8ffe1e3a43838e548a450982af65c7f7b1ea4.gif


basically SOTN at 4x the pixels
C2CB20752534BCA65BBE9A8225373EF8E37C1491
looks fantastic. how does it compare to castlevania?
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
I can't tell if this post is meant to be a parody. Even this games most ardent haters came around to loving this games graphics after giving it a whirl.






Metroid-Dread-screenshot.png

I don't get it... you literally ask if my post is a parody and then post a screenshot that is a perfect example of what I'm talking about, It just looks bad.

Metriod Dread at times reminds me of Shadow Complex on the 360, good back then but no sense of style, it's just feels muddy.
 
Last edited:

Dr. Suchong

Member
Ori.
I've gasped and gawped through a fair proportion of it.
Ludicrously pretty.
I do agree that the busy visuals make it hard to determine what's going on, and enemy patterns tricky to fathom sometimes.
Especially that spider boss.
 

Holammer

Member
looks fantastic. how does it compare to castlevania?
SotN? Not as good. Still a fine game! The annoying bit IMO is the Ikaruga style polarity switching mechanic. Otherwise it's very similar in look and feel.
I think the devs felt they needed something to make it distinct. Like the time freeze mechanic in Touhou: Luna Nights by the same developer. A much better game, especially if you're into Touhou at all.

 
S

SpongebobSquaredance

Unconfirmed Member
metroid-5.jpg

shadow6-1920x1080.jpg

1578928659_screenshot-2-strider-2014.jpg


out of the 3D-Metroidvania games Dread Is clearly the best looking, although those games look much better in motion.

In general, the best looking one is Ori though.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
S

SpongebobSquaredance

Unconfirmed Member
SotN? Not as good. Still a fine game! The annoying bit IMO is the Ikaruga style polarity switching mechanic. Otherwise it's very similar in look and feel.
I think the devs felt they needed something to make it distinct. Like the time freeze mechanic in Touhou: Luna Nights by the same developer. A much better game, especially if you're into Touhou at all.


might give it a go, its only 15 bucks on steam. thanks.
 
The Ori games are what I wanted 2D games to look like for a long-ass time. For several generations devs were sitting on better and better hardware and doing next to nothing in terms of 2D games (which is understandable since polygons/3D are just more cost effective). Some devs like Vanillaware were still doing good stuff but that was about it.

Ori WotW is amazing looking. The artstyle, the detail, the environment shifting in response to movement, the performance. Metroid Dread looks good for a 2.5D game, but I would kill for a Metroid game made with the techniques MOON used for Ori.

A Super Metroid remake, if ever one were to be made, would need to be real 2D, 2.5 would just feel wrong.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Symphony of the Night.
Sprites over everything. Timeless.
Dread's artstyle is pure generic garbo.

Symphony on a Sony PVM and original hardware? Its bliss.

Ori is beautiful in screenshots and select "GIF" moments, but it is far too visually cluttered.

Dread is the best looking 3D Metroidvania in terms of having enough things going on to be visually interesting but still completely understandable at a glance.
 

Lightjolly

Neo Member
Both Ori games by a country mile never had any problem with visual clutter.

Hollow Knights hand drawn aesthetic is also very clean and pleasing to the eye
 
Last edited:

cireza

Banned
Metroid Dread was okay, nothing special. At least in ran well on the Switch, which looks like an incredible feat as time passes.

Ori games are the clear winners here, obviously.

Deedlit has some very nice pixel art.
 
Last edited:

partime

Member
I, for the life of me, can't get into Will o the Wisp. I don't know why, I loved playing Blind Forest and was hooked instantly.
 

bender

What time is it?
Ori trounces everything and I'm not even a huge fan of the series. Speaking of games I didn't like, Blasphemous is beautiful too.

Ori probably looks the best but I remember when they revealed this out of nowhere, Record of Lodoss War

30c9287326947e6171a99151d42ad4aa3b840240.gif


8XcizXO.gif


81c8ffe1e3a43838e548a450982af65c7f7b1ea4.gif


basically SOTN at 4x the pixels
C2CB20752534BCA65BBE9A8225373EF8E37C1491

I can't wait to play this.
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
Absolutely, suspect that's the reason there isn't a poll. Nothing even comes close to Ori, especially Will of the Wisps
As I said Metroid Dread is a new game on a single platform and Ori has had years to accumulate fanboys on every platform. The results would be severely biased and quite frankly there are too many Metroidvania's to list in a poll.

And TBH, I don't think the Ori fans would be screaming so hard here if the tiny, muddy, little gifs and pics they posted in this thread looked half as good as the Dread shots posted.
 
Last edited:

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
As I said Metroid Dread is a new game on a single platform and Ori has had years to accumulate fanboys on every platform. The results would be severely biased and quite frankly there are too many Metroidvania's to list in a poll.

And TBH, I don't think the Ori fans would be screaming so hard here if the tiny, muddy, little gifs and pics they posted in this thread looked half as good as the Dread shots posted.

Here's a tiny gif for ya

16501f6cedeab9c2d0b956c8139516d3.gif
 

SirTerry-T

Member
I am legit laughing at all the metriod Dread posts...

I get it its a Nintendo game and the genre is even named after the series, but it's also one of the worst looking titles in the series. Compared to how Nintendo normally nail a solid look on the weaker switch hardware via amazing use of stylised graphics, Dread sadly is just bad, it looks at times like some fan project made in Unity.

Metriod Dread has alot going for it, but graphics sure as hell ain't it. Christ when it was first shown one of the big things people made fun of was how it looked and unlike Halo it didn't get a year delay to be reworked it released looking the same.

Honestly think Nintendo should have tried for a 2D or 2.5D look to get that 60 FPS while maintaining a good look via use of Sprites, but that's just me.
For Mercury Stream/Nintendo to keep the same quality level of the animation that Dread has with its 3d graphics but using traditional sprites and pixel art would have cost an absolute fortune in the man hours needed to create them. More so when you take into consideration the native resolution of the switches display.

Castlevania SOTN, long held up as one of the standard bearers for pixel art (justifiably so) ran at 640x480 and had the luxury of reusing assets from a previous title.

Traditional pixel art is great but from a dev perspective it's a very expensive luxury when staff, time and development budgets are taken into consideration.
 

SirTerry-T

Member
As I said Metroid Dread is a new game on a single platform and Ori has had years to accumulate fanboys on every platform. The results would be severely biased and quite frankly there are too many Metroidvania's to list in a poll.

And TBH, I don't think the Ori fans would be screaming so hard here if the tiny, muddy, little gifs and pics they posted in this thread looked half as good as the Dread shots posted.
In all fairness chap, I don't think the fact that Ori being an older game over multiple systems is why people are choosing it. It's one of the best looking games out there, whatever the system or game genre.

One of the best art directed games of recent times, in my opinion.

I do think Dread looks great, the clean looking aesthetic works in the Switch's favour. It would look far too messy if they added needless texture details in the characters and environments...that's why Bloodstained's art style doesn't work nearly as well on the Switch.
 
Last edited:
As I said Metroid Dread is a new game on a single platform and Ori has had years to accumulate fanboys on every platform. The results would be severely biased and quite frankly there are too many Metroidvania's to list in a poll.

And TBH, I don't think the Ori fans would be screaming so hard here if the tiny, muddy, little gifs and pics they posted in this thread looked half as good as the Dread shots posted.
You’re the only one acting like a fanboy and it’s extremely evident in most posts/threads you make. Chill out a little dude and stop getting so uptight about other peoples’ opinions.
3CWfYSr.gif
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
For Mercury Stream/Nintendo to keep the same quality level of the animation that Dread has with its 3d graphics but using traditional sprites and pixel art would have cost an absolute fortune in the man hours needed to create them. More so when you take into consideration the native resolution of the switches display.

Castlevania SOTN, long held up as one of the standard bearers for pixel art (justifiably so) ran at 640x480 and had the luxury of reusing assets from a previous title.

Traditional pixel art is great but from a dev perspective it's a very expensive luxury when staff, time and development budgets are taken into consideration.

and yet we have truly fantastic pixel art games made by indie dev teams again and again releasing on Switch, from Crosscode to Owlboy, it seems to me that if a small team of indie developers can bring something of amazing quality out on a shoestring budget often via Kickstarter its not really fair to say that budget or staff or time are an issue.
 
Last edited:
S

SpongebobSquaredance

Unconfirmed Member
I do think Dread looks great, the clean looking aesthetic works in the Switch's favour. It would look far too messy if they added needless texture details in the characters and environments...that's why Bloodstained's art style doesn't work nearly as well on the Switch.
I especially like the use of color. It's indeed very clean, but used to great effect. It's the exact opposite of muddled. Everything makes sense. As a comparison, Strider 2014, while not a bad looking game per se got repetive and samey way to early. The environments didn't pop. It looked to generic, too bloomy. Dread on the other hand has an appealing art style.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Marty-McFly

Banned
You’re the only one acting like a fanboy and it’s extremely evident in most posts/threads you make. Chill out a little dude and stop getting so uptight about other peoples’ opinions.
3CWfYSr.gif
Ori

Dread looks trash

Neither of the above are remotely true.

Claiming one looks better than the other is subjective, but Dread looks way better imo

But saying Dread looks trash is just absolute nonsense. Get some glasses.
 
Last edited:

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Dude, we already got Dread is your favorite, you said it in the first post, you don't have to reply to everyone posting theirs with "cool cool but Dread looks so much better, imo, but cool, I like this too, if it's your thing, cool for you, but Dread looks better" then wonder why people call you a fanboy.

And lol @ falling for the trash talking and about adding a poll and attempting to deflect it rather than simply ignore it and discuss the topic without trying to prove your favorite is the one true favorite, like anyone can tell anyobody else what to do with the thread they started. You all sound 12...
 
Last edited:

Marty-McFly

Banned
Dude, we already got Dread is your favorite, you said it in the first post, you don't have to reply to everyone posting theirs with "cool cool but Dread looks so much better, imo, but cool, I like this too, if it's your thing, cool for you, but Dread looks better" then wonder why people call you a fanboy.
I like to actively participate in my threads (I do in pretty much every thread I make I just don't make many recently). I have no problem exchanging opinions with my thread contributors even if we disagree.

That's the point of a message board.
 
Last edited:
Neither of the above are remotely true.

Claiming one looks better than the other is subjective, but Dread looks way better imo

But saying Dread looks trash is just absolute nonsense. Get some glasses.

It looks trash. It deserves to be at the bottom of the barrel

Add the poll. You'll see
 
Last edited:

Komatsu

Member
Nintendo are absolute wizards what they do with their hardware.

Nintendo had very little to do with the development of this title, which was outsourced to MercurySteam, a Spanish studio. Fumi Hayashi received a credit as co-director as he kind of oversaw the Spanish team and Sakamoto produced it.

Far from receiving tips from Nintendo on how to handle their hardware, in fact Sakamoto said that Nintendo revived the project after seeing what MercurySteam had already done with its technology on the Switch
 

CitizenZ

Banned
Art is too subjective to say this is best, its about personal preference. I can name a dozen each with a different style and never could one that is the best.
 
Top Bottom