Alex Rants About HD2D Game Graphics: Does The Style Work?

[@mikeuk666]

Octopath Traveller & Triangle Strategy look amazing ❤

[@traesmit3680]

We need a HD remaster on Golden Sun 1&2

[@BlueBARv5]

We need Chrono Trigger more.

[@BladeV8]

Fuck me up and take my money

[@profchaos354]

@@BlueBARv5I agree with Golden Sun remake/remaster. Chrono Trigger is already perfect in it’s look and style.

[@BlueBARv5]

@@profchaos354 ...😡.. You Looking for a fight!

[@kierenbuckley370]

that's not a square enix ip

[@somesayKosm]

No joke this is the most unhinged take I can recall hearing on Digital Foundry 😂

[@KillianC1C2]

Part of me is glad I don't see stuff like these guys do sometimes. HD2D to me looks visually gorgeous and is what I'd want from modern titles if they're gonna do pixel art or do something like Eastward; do pixel art in a way that wasn't possible with older hardware.

[@devilmikey00]

Yeah, a lot of throwback games try ape the style of old games but what they are really doing is mimicking what those games looked like on emulators played on LCD monitors, not actually what they looked like.

[@felix_xb]

Sea of Stars & chained Echoes are just better to me, but I don't mind hd2d

[@yewtewbstew547]

The games they flashed up on screen here look really nice imo, but at the same time I think I get where Alex is coming from. When you play these games at high resolution, the 3D assets will inevitably clash with the 2D ones to some extent since they're being rendered at a much higher resolution. It's just a matter of personal taste though imo. The thing John is talking about with the downsampling is gold too though. If you have Duckstation, boot Castlevania: Symphony of the Night up and go to the enhancement settings page. Set the rendering resolution to 720p+, then set downsampling to "box downsampling". Ideally you'll also wanna do this with a post process CRT shader (the "CRT Lottes" one that comes with Duckstation is good, might need to up the brightness setting a tad though) to sharpen it back up a bit, or play it on an actual CRT. Otherwise it will look blurry. The end result is the high internal resolution completely eliminates aliasing on the 3D assets, but then the downsampling outputs the entire image at the game's original native resolution causing them to blend in perfectly with the 2D. Last time I played SotN like that I almost forgot about the 3D rotating book case in that one room, because it literally looked indistinguishable from the 2D ones until I accidentally walked into it and caused it to move. This also works well with games like Resident Evil 1-3 and Dino Crisis 2, which used 3D character models with static 2D backgrounds.

[@mkVision424]

I absolutely love this art style

[@wagnerpaivafernandes]

Me too. I actually seek these games

[@Granadico]

I can understand thinking the post-processing effects can be a little much, but I really li ke the whole HD-2D style and wish there were more games like it. I never want pixel art games to go away but I think we've been relying on nostalgia a bit for the pixel art indies for the past few years. High resolution pixel (32bit or up) should be a lot more common place but is probably more expensive and not worth it. Something like Blasphemous is gonna look timeless.

[@wagnerpaivafernandes]

I love this art style

[@balaam_7087]

I’m with John here-all Alex’s points are true and valid, but it just doesn’t resonate the same with me. I very much like HD2D when it’s done well.

[@ray4k]

I yearn for an HD2D remake of pokemon gen 5

[@awesomereviews1561]

I just love that style

[@3lldot]

Not to pile on the general opinion in these comments, and I do have a deep love for the original sprite based RPGs of times gone by (and even of more recent games on GBA/DS etc). But the ‘HD2D’ style currently in vogue, to me, is absolutely stunning. Completely floored the first time I saw it (octopath) and still amazed by it in Star Ocean etc. keep em coming!

[@lanceruis]

Alex: It’s just taste. Us: Correct. You need taste. 😂 Just messing around Alex. You’re awesome. We just disagree.

[@Skay.]

My only issue is how much those games struggle with blur and how smudged they are. Half the time you can't really see anything in the first place.

[@TheGershon]

I'm with Alex on this. It's the fact that they go SO HARD with the post-processing effects, and especially when the rest of the assets aren't ALSO sprites; the game at 1:39 is a good example, where every single thing on the screen is made with normal 3D graphics, but then you just have these sprite characters that look so out of place. I say make all textures in the world at sprite resolution to keep things cohesive, and turn down the effects by maybe HALF. The example at 0:46 is just ridiculous, if it was in a game with standard graphics I feel everyone would agree that it's too much but you put a few sprites in the scene and suddenly it's great.

[@mlgcactus1035]

Do you mean for the resolution of the 3d assets to be the same as the sprites? Because that dosent sound bad, system shock remake did something similar to that.

[@maiksonstrife]

It's totally bad taste, bloom: Max, Vignette: Max, Lens Flare: Max, Chromatic Aberration: Max. The result: Everything blurry, golden, and shinier, looking like you are seeing the game through a humid fogy mirror under a lantern. Typical gamer: wow so much style!!!

[@mlgcactus1035]

@@maiksonstrife It was definitely stylish when it used to be a new thing, but it hasn't aged that good. Especially with newer games cranking this post-processing effects even further than they were before.

[@TheGershon]

@@mlgcactus1035 I mean for textures on 3D models to be sprite resolution, and for anything detailed like the foliage at 1:32 and the fence at 1:35 to be made with sprites

[@cheat13]

A HD2D remake of Pokemon Yellow with all the 151 only and all unlockable in the same game would be the dream.

[@christianr.5868]

Hopefully with the gba sprites

[@protocetid]

Personally, the fan remake video/demo using gen 1's art style is way more appealing. It's too creative and nice looking for Game Freak so they'd never make it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGnJeaanoJV8fpY

[@LexiconPrime7]

I'd prefer another pkmn gold/silver in hd2d. I played those games to death when I was a kid.

[@quintessences]

i really think that GameFreak needs to do HD2D remakes of the older games and move the newer games to HD2D maybe then they’ll make a decent product

[@xtr.7662]

Black n white definitely

[@kanive1566]

HD2D is awesome and unfortunately, it's the generation that got skipped. I wish gaming developers would fill that void more.

[@initialfd-3716]

Agree to disagree on this one

[@aardsnark940]

Judging by the comments people are split on this. Speaks to preference rather than an objective “good” art style.

[@sodapopinksi667]

Some people don't even like 2d sprite art. That always takes me aback a bit.

[@markwebster4996]

Love the HD 2D style. Looks good and unique in Octopath 1/2. Dragon Quest is using it and now others. Pokémon absolutely should imo. I know what Alex is saying and he’s technically right but sometimes it just works. Things don’t need to be technically perfect to be good imo

[@catalystzer0344]

I like the HD-2D style. Can't wait for Dragon Quest 3.

[@pinto5012]

HD-2D Chrono Trigger please! 🙏🏽

[@Zveebo]

I quite liked Octopath - but I do have to reluctantly agree that Alex has a few valid points here 😅

[@josephzamer5802]

I rather prefer the style of something like Chained Echoes or Sea of Stars, the later being a piece of art, graphics respected, not bother with HD2D, but neither the "magical" revolution they want to sell

[@joesterling4299]

Exactly. Use the same resolution for the entire image, not HD for backgrounds and blocky pix art for characters. Pick one or the other.

[@GFSCN69]

Yeah, never seen one of those where the character looks like part of the world. I guess the least worst is Paper Mario gamers.

[@nessunnome8500]

It's normal for a PC Gamer to have bad taste.

[@kodemasterx]

Such an ignorant comment… Is “normal” that’s his opinion. I could say is normal for console gamers to have bad taste in gaming as they buy COD and every EA/2K sports games every year, now that’s bad taste indeed.

[@ThisisCitrus]

It's also normal for an ignorant comment like yours on a PC gaming video.

[@mikeuk666]

​@@kodemasterxnot as ignorant as the usual 'just buy a pc' comments

[@kodemasterx]

@@mikeuk666 I haven't seen any one those in a good while, neither a PCMR reference. PPL have moved on, the only people I see console waring is a minor group of PS owners.

[@godspeedmaximus]

HD-2D is the best thing to come out of the modern era of video gaming to me

[@starpier]

We have seen unmatched resolutions in the past, for example Capcom 2D fighters on Dreamcast were notorious for having low res fighters and hi def backgrounds. In the case of 2D-HD this is done on purpose and the final result is for sure more pleasing to the eye than those DC games. It is a matter of personal taste of course. But, in any case, John is right. If Alex does not enjoy modern 2D JRPGs, what is the point of even discussing about this.

[@secretysecret1551]

The ones that look and move like Daniel Tiger are terrible. Aside from that, I like it, especially games with that depth of field trickery

[@Vynzent]

Based For me this also applies to mods for old 3d games. People often make all this eye candy that completely clashes with the game assets. Example: Voxel Doom fits into classic Doom. On the other hand the tons of hd texture packs, post fx, particles and even rtx mod just look absolutely awful mixed into those low res pixelated enemies and props which are obviously everywhere.

[@MrBirchieBirch]

Yeah...you lost me on this one, Alex.

[@maiksonstrife]

It's totally bad taste, and I hope so many games have it that people wake up how annoying that is as soon as possible. bloom: Max, Vignette: Max, Lens Flare: Max, Chromatic Aberration: Max. Color correction: Everything Over Saturated. The result: Everything so blurry, golden, and shinier, the color saturate blur the pixel so much you can't even see it correctly, its effects on top of effects with maybe some art under, looking like you are seeing the game through a humid fogy mirror under a flahslight, a simple screen movement burn your eyes. Remember when people do cares that blur destroy the pixel art? This is just like that, but with a ton of post processing on top set to max its the worst case scenary to present ANY piece of art, this style will look old soon enough.

[@outsideredge]

I like the style, and I wish games like FFIII and Chrono Trigger got remade with the option to turn these effects on. I do concede that turning everything up to the max in Octopath can be a bit much, but again, I like the style and I think it's a good showcase for Unreal because it shows that not everything that uses it has to have a 3D rendered look.

[@markwebster4996]

We need to add an element to the DF “bingo card”. John with giant water bottles 😂

[@Helghast73]

Wandering Sword is another with this art style, I love it.

[@prateekvasireddy5166]

This reminds me so much of the Red Letter Media Star Wars reviews, which were ultimately a huge influence on the creatively insulting sequel trilogy. Alex names a ton of technical concepts, but that does not mean he actually has good taste

[@stprinz]

One of the worst takes ever 🙈 Btw, still waiting for a Terranigma remake in this style ☺️

[@Shezbaern]

Alex, take a look at Sea of Stars. Best 2D modern art style I’ve seen.

[@IHeart16Bit]

None if these games were ever going to appeal to him anyway, what a strange rant. I think Squares own implementation of it look fantastic.

[@CheckmateStallioN]

Mandragora is a prime example where you push HD 2D graphics to the max and man what a looker it is. They actually used UE for a 2D sidescroller which is almost unherd of and the results are insanity! Unity is usually used for 2D games since it has a very hard time rendering full 3D assets without major performance cost. Cant remember the last time a 3D Unity game ran decent. Thats what you get with Unity when it doesnt support C++ and low level API access. Terrible engine. Hope they get sued for the dirty stock manipulation they pulled only to backpedal

[@yewtewbstew547]

This is the first I've heard of Mandragora. It looks to be mostly 3D up front, but then they're using 2D background layers to create a parallax scrolling effect with some depth of field. Looks really impressive.

[@takehirolol5962]

For me...it's fine. Not everything is Training Sessions when all combat drones are destroyed...

[@nxnw3741]

And that is why I take whatever Alex says with a grain of salt.

[@hoaxlayer]

Because he has preferences? wtf?

[@nxnw3741]

@@hoaxlayer this is not a hard concept….

[@hoaxlayer]

@@nxnw3741 well you seem to struggle to understand it

[@nxnw3741]

@@hoaxlayer how so?

[@K7TZ]

I wish this hd-2d is more hd sprites instead of pixel art

[@dhdurhueur-qe5pn]

That isn't hd2d lol

[@IsraelLazoPlus]

if it looks good, it is good.

[@phpShinobi]

Wow. I know it’s kinda pointless to argue about personal taste, but that’s gotta be one of the worst takes I’ve heard recently.

[@plagueofangel8694]

Rare Alex L

[@devilmikey00]

I do find the bloom/depth of field obnoxious in Octopath. Great games but I was never fully on board with everything it did visually. I really don't have anything against the style in general though. It looks really good generally.

[@HalfpennyTerwilliger]

I think they're aiming for the look of a diorama filmed up close (narrow depth of field + bokeh). I think it works for Octopath but maybe it's not something to do sytematically.

[@Zenzuu]

I get what Alex says, but I'm John in this one. I share the same preference and outlook as him the majority of the time.

[@stevesquick92]

Octopath travelers world and traversal and 2dHD are done very well… to me it’s just the game itself that’s lackluster and not great.

[@mdjey2]

I don't understand why 2d games should be pixelated. Original NES or SNES games was not suppose to be pixelated and it certainly didn't look that way on CRT TV.

[@msansjr]

Xenogears remake in HD2D, please!

[@MegaPewPew]

I love Breath of fire 3 style, but I hate octopath traveler style. I also didnt like Breath of fire 4 style compared to 3. So I defiantly get where Alex is coming from and mainly agree.

[@CasepbX]

I really like how Octopath and Triangle Strat look and then the new Dragon Quest 3 remake. Star Ocean the Second Story R looks kinda terrible though. The characters just don't belong and the mismatch completely kills the immersion for me. I doubt I will ever play it unless there is a mod to make the characters feel like they belong in that world. It's just too jarring for me.

[@kevinf2757]

With Star Ocean 2 I think it's right in line with how the original used pre-redered backgrounds and low res scaling sprites. I wasn't a fan of how the og Star Ocean 2 looked at the time either.

[@HArryvajonas]

I thought the System Shock remake had a really cool retro look. I am not a fan of many retro games that go to far into modern tech, and at the same time, I think a game like the recent Warhammer FPS retro game, I feel it used to many flat sprites.

[@mlgcactus1035]

Do you mean boltgun? The whole thing of the flat sprites it's done intentionally.

[@HArryvajonas]

@mlgcactus1035 Yes, but I think going with such a small amount of animations makes objects, characters, and explosions look far too flat. In otherwords, adhering too much to the original standards.

[@derptyderp5287]

HD2D feels like the "half-arsed" remasters where they just randomly upscale things to a different degree, like Final Fantasy type-0 HD. Imagine if Square Enix released FF8 HD and everything was upscaled except Squall with his little pixelated meme face.

[@randomcharacter6501]

Triangle Strategy was disappointing imo. I liked the graphics but the story is kinda boring and overdone. It's also too grindy imo. It just doesn't hold up to the great PS1 tactics games

[@madson-web]

I also don't like it a lot. I like when they are in the same resolution. Also those has some nasty color banding. Gosh. It CAN work but it doesn't mean every dev can get it right.

[@Fuuntag]

Nothing like a good Alex rant. Not mean-spirited but still mean enough. 😂❤

[@dunamis1382]

I think you have a valid point Alex Sometimes I think having more "32 bits" 2D games, would be a good trade off. We've evolved with a lot of good technology that we could go crazy with the mix of 3D and 2D. Games that I like to put as examples are: 3D Dot Games Heroes And more recently modern "boomer shooters" I sometimes dream of a shoot em up game like the ones on Neo Geo with superb pixel art a la Metal Slug, but cool looking particle effects and a sense of grandiose. And with different play styles! Star fox like gameplay, plus shoot em up ganeplay plus run and gun xD Great channel.guys! Love DF and especially DF Retro content

[@Frame16Gaming]

Huntdown looked great to me!

[@fireheart4560]

It's the best thing to come out of the switch gen

[@wagnerpaivafernandes]

I love it too

[@sinisis_sinisis]

If the environment is consistent with the pixel art. Yea…

[@Zinkolo]

Ehhhh

[@mikeuk666]

​@Zinkolo the sprites don't look out of place

[@rodrigo1503pa]

I usually don't like it as well, there are some rare ocasions where I think things fit together nicely, like in Star Renegades. Don't know if that fits your 2DHD description

[@StuCheeks]

I very much appreciate the jovial agreement on each person's opinion being valid. Good video!

[@tokyobassist]

Octopath 2 and Star Ocean 2 Demo I do like but I don't know if it's going to be a thing I want to see in all titles.

[@twinblades-thewilltokeeplo6084]

I'm with Alex. I really hate hd2d

[@greyfuller1025]

I wonder if my guy actually plays jrpgs.

[@Bajolzas]

what about everything being high resolution? HD sprites on HD background, I really dont get why people like pixelated stuff...

[@ShadowMan64572]

I hate modern pixel art. Unless it has a good crt filter, it just looks like a bad attempt at mimicking NES era games.

[@protocetid]

I mostly agree with Alex

[@arcadeperfectreviews2653]

Why does youtube continually recommend this channel to me? I never EVER agreed with what they think. Is it because i have a high quality gaming PC?

[@yewtewbstew547]

Probably lol. If you watch other PC gaming related content it will recommend DF based on that as well.

[@arcadeperfectreviews2653]

@yewtewbstew547 youre probably right. Although I already hit "Don't recommend videos from this channel" like 3 times.

[@mikeuk666]

Shader stutter

[@babyjoker997]

Not gonna watch this but HD2D is realllly stale, it seems like most hd2ds just look so similar

[@tomgreen2058]

I will download twitch and subscribe if Alex makes a channel devoted to hate-playing games

[@Floodsye]

It does work. They look beautiful. Nostalgia is a negative human trait.

[@godspeedmaximus]

Nostalgia is the reason I like HD-2D

[@Vynzent]

Nostalgia is why these exist lol

[@DGFTardin]

I hate "HD-2D" with a flaming passion. Either do proper pixel art or proper 3d, I don't want to play with blocky cardboard cutouts on my Epic RPG story.

[@santiniperico8627]

Until Nvidia sponsors it, then they love it.

[@ilVice]

I felt the same when trying Octopath, I just couldn't keep playing, the visuals were a bit off-putting and weird.

[@Zinkolo]

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion or not but HD 2D games like the one SquareEnix make look ugly as hell. They're way too brown and dull looking.. and the fact that they use them for a remake is an awful choice I just don't understand why they desaturate them so much

[@superboy9431]

I actually completely agree with you octopath traveler looks so desaturated it drives me crazy but its not a square enix thing. If you look at the dragon quest 3 hd trailer thats an hd 2d game with actual saturation and color and doesnt overdo the blur. Also I think live-a-live does hd-2d well.

[@arashairshiraz1046]

i really love hd2d style but i hate jrpg .this style can be used in other genres its really cooollll .imagine retro gamine golden axe with this style or a horror game.really cool style i love it alex is so freking wrong

[@sinisis_sinisis]

i think hd2d is the laziest art direction a game can take, Id much rather have older snes games get widescreen ports than a bloom filled REALISTIC CASTLE with pop-up 2d snes pizel art REMAKE

[@subliminallime4321]

The Final Fantasy pixel remasters have some of the negatives they're talking about here with the menus & dialog boxes not matching the rest of the game.

[@strangevision99]

I don't really like HD-2D much. It looks fine, but Star Ocean 2 looks especially bad to me.

[@dhdurhueur-qe5pn]

I think that's one of the better looking ones

[@joesterling4299]

Completely agree with Alex. Mixing HD worlds/backgrounds with blocky pixel art is so jarring, not to mention needless. Pick a resolution, any resolution. Make it all pixel art, or make it all smooth-looking HD.

[@andrewmcgivney3433]

too much color grading? you mean oversaturated?

[@Kango234]

L take.

[@0.974]

I agree with Alex, HD2D reminds me of awful Fallout ENBs.

[@Tochir0]

Hoping for an Alex hate-play stream