Good Design, Bad Design Vol. 2 - Great & Terrible Video Game Graphic Design Examples ~ Design Doc

Graphic Design is EVERYWHERE in games, but rarely do we ever actually talk about it. We take a second look at some of the best and worst of graphic design in games.
DANGANRONPA V3 SECTION ONLY CONTAINS FOOTAGE FROM THE FIRST TRIAL AND THE NON-CANON DEMO TRIAL
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[@DesignDoc]

For those wondering, the Danganronpa V3 section only contains footage from the first half of chapter 1 and the non-canon demo. I tried to keep spoilers to a minimum.

[@kevinvu5432]

Warbot Can you make a video no one is talking about? How UI for console designed for PC. But horrible on console. For example: Monster Hunter World is text heavy and yet all The text is incredibly small. The average person playing on console is about 5 feet away yet Monster Hunter World requests you to be 1 feet away. I know there are more games that have this problem. And I think it's super important to make a video about it.

[@CheshireCad]

Glad I checked the comments, then. Some people probably just closed the video immediately after seeing Makoto. I know you had limited footage available, but please keep that in mind in the future. A really quick spoilerscreen with this info would have done the job.

[@ShersterQ]

Well, it spoiled me hard, I only recently finished DR1 and 2, not buying 3 just yet, because the price on Steam is IMO pretty crazy... But welp, I will not know if the certain part is canon until I actually get to playing it, but what I saw made me super sad. Holding out hope tho, I hope it's the non-canon part.

[@DesignDoc]

The only notable spoiler in the footage is the identity of the first victim and even then, you'd have to look pretty close.

[@85Esparta]

Hahahahahahahaha How Are Spoilers Real Hahahaha Just Walk Away From The Screen Like Close Your Eyes Haha

[@tetsuoseragaki]

One part of Danganronpa's UI that I've always really liked was the graphic in the upper-left corner that shows the name of the background song playing. Danganronpa's always had great OSTs, so I like that they make the BGM easy to identify.

[@lordhighlordofthehalfgays2456]

Tetsuo Seragaki makes finding your favourite tracks so muchuch easier

[@MrLuizilla]

More games should do that honestly

[@Stephen-Fox]

Agreed. At least where appropriate, as it absolutely is in Danganronpa.

[@milliethecoyote]

Tetsuo Seragaki you came for dang a rope but you HAS PERSONA 4 PFP

[@crimsonwizahd2358]

Speaking of, what song was playing during the first half of that bit?

[@BeastKonoha]

About text animations in NDRV3 - what I really love is that text animation isn't just a random spinning and stretching ect. For example, when someone says about some stuff "FALLING", that word is really falling. Or if they talk about "DROWNING", text animation also looks like it was drowning. Small detail, but I love it.

[@jorjastevens984]

BeastKonoha World kinda like the stuff that appears in the typography of the Geronimo Stilton books, if you’ve ever read those. Danganronpas typography kinda reminds me of that

[@Пашинамузыка]

Yes that's awesome.

[@apparentlythisismynewschoo1567]

As well as backgrounds for the chrs

[@rjd1922]

My favorite was when Miu says "Just admit it, ya shit-eating worm!" and the text crawls off screen like a worm.

[@Kururuko]

I also like it when Keebo talks about the hammers, and the words are shaped like hammers.

[@SLKibara]

I came for Danganronpa. I stayed for the rest of the video. Very informative.

[@photoshopronpa6178]

danganronpa v3's overall presentation is incredibly slick and just pleasing, happy to see it being mentioned here!

[@paulomachado7328]

Photoshopronpa Username checks out.

[@lemonov3031]

@theFizzyNator You just hated the ending and try to make the game look worse, don't you?

[@masterblaster2678]

@Haley Halcyon [a.k.a. theFIZZYnator] The difference is that Battleborn is an active shooting game. Danganronpa is a more relaxed visual novel. They tried to make it look more active and vibrant instead of like a book, and in my opinion, and in many other people's opinion, they succeeded. It's like a candy to the eyes despite being mostly a passive game. I'd very much like to see the games you prefer. Do you like seeing boring palette colors and static text everywhere? In that case, why play games? Go read a book. Leave games alone to who enjoys them. Mind you, I hate V3's ending with a passion. But the game was fun to go through anyway, and it's pleasing to the eyes.

[@tychoderkommentator2989]

@@masterblaster2678 In addition to what you said, I would also say that it isn't only a distraction from being a "boring" visual novel, but it also brings in excitement in itself. As we already agreed on, the fast font changes and vibrant, sometimes even jarring, colors are something that brings in attention. It simulates the high risk and high stress feeling the characters are in and puts the player into a similar mood. No matter how uninvested you may have been in the characters (which I doubt, because they are beautifully written), if you are barraged with these fast changing texts and colors you will be stressed and that will heighten your motivation to solve the trial.

[@masterblaster2678]

@@tychoderkommentator2989 Yeah that is another excellent point, Danganronpa is a game about a group of teenagers that will die if they don't find the culprit. They are no soldiers. They fear death. Danganronpa really succeeds in putting the player in the character's shoes. Imagine being in Nagito's trial. The killer is literally random, and if you don't choose correctly, you will all die. That has to suck going through. So most of the music is tense or sad (particularly, the Cross Sword theme that Sonia had), the characters look absolutely depressed in that trial, and the text goes really slow. V3's music, vibrant colors and moving text are even better at this. "Classmate of the Dead" is one of my favorite soundtracks, because it conveys the extreme stress of choosing the culprit, but there is also a bit of sadness in the song because you're delivering a friend to the chopping block. The active colors and the music in combination made this game as good as it is. You can feel the stress and pressure the characters are going through with visual and auditory stimulation. The text was so fun too. In trials it actually moves depending on what the characters were saying, like if they say "fall" the word falls down from the sentence, or "broke in" literally "breaks in" the other words in the sentence by getting between them. Sorry for the long comment, but I absolutely love V3's design. Everything is so active in trials and gets you stoked as hell. And outside of the trials, it's an eye-and-ear-candy. Everything except the ending was perfect for me in this game. But my opinion on the ending is subjective really, I just didn't like it being way too meta. I don't know why Danganronpa always makes the ending as over-the-top as possible, like in first game with the "Ultimate Hope" or the second game with Hajime going super saiyan. I like some meta here and there, but V3's ending was too meta, so much so that it warped reality in the game's canon.

[@luisjauregui2197]

How to make a viral video: Put danganronpa in the tumbnail

[@hwaht8084]

Luis Jauregui no put the Paul brothers

[@therogueadmiral]

Luis Jauregui it'd certainly draw my attention.

[@Tmalter]

Puhuhu....

[@nagitokomaeda3237]

...The start of a class debate Me: DA DA DADA DADA DADA DA DADADADA DEDE DE DE

[@ButterWentDark]

Luis Jauregui :)

[@tahseenkhan3629]

Sucks that the best part of the v3 kinetic typohgraphy is hidden in the extremely spoilery convos so that you cant show them here. I mean it's really ingenious, from the time they made white noise talking about a wall into a wall of the word wall itself, to one of the words crawling offscreen like a worm when someone said worm. Those are some of my favorite uses of the kinetic typography in v3, and what really sets it apart from the typography in previous games.

[@DesignDoc]

THIS! They do some awesome things with the type but the portraits of dead characters are too much of a spoiler to show.

[@masteromicron1107]

It's probably why it was mostly demo footage shown

[@brandonwithnell612]

yes i loved the improvements to the arguments in V3, especially with how the way the words moved matched what the people were talking about which not only looked visually stunning but since you have to shoot the words themselves it also helped increase the difficulty especially if your going for those new hard to hit V points. even some stuff in the background was cool like for example whenever a certain character talked about their religion some strange almost alien looking cult imagery appeared behind the words

[@CunnyMuncher]

Thankfully there are SOME points in every debate where it's nonsensical nonrelated info from the comic relief characters that can be used for examples.

[@Kmkmkms]

i love how danganronpa sets the idea of a debate the most when i picked up danganronpa 1 becaue i was bored and didnt know anything about the game i was blown away the game takes a simple idea of having a court like debate to solve a mystery and makes it so much more when playing the game for the first time i asked myself if i were to make a debate into gameplay how i would do it? and i just couldnt think of anyway to do that except for phonix wright way there is nothing wrong with that way but i sometimes found it hard to pay attention to all the words and continue but danganronpa grabs your attention in every single way

[@TheCaliMack]

V3 was good. But Danganronpa 3V blew me outta the water.

[@rustyfoxxo]

TheCaliMack nah fam, Danganronpa V is the best.

[@kurniapermadi9424]

nah man, daganronpa 20 : The Last Choice is faaar better IMO. The plot twist about that pornstar was very unexpected

[@eevee1583]

TheCaliMack What about Danganronpa S3?

[@simpy6060]

I dunno man, 3v was pretty lame compared to 4v

[@JDB100]

Danganronpa Anniversary was the best

[@victikirby15]

I see Danganronpa I C L I C C

[@HejtzerIV]

Same

[@OneLonelyGhost]

victikirby15 yup me too

[@therogueadmiral]

victikirby15 indeed.

[@szymsta1308]

victikirby15 same

[@razlol6362]

Sammeeee

[@soundlessorc8O8]

This video was what finally pushed me over the edge into trying out the Danganronpa series. No regrets, despite the constant anxiety of wondering if my favorite characters are going to die.

[@chatterbox1078]

They always do, they always do. If not ur favorite then your second. Or both 😔

[@Pebble-07]

We all know the first rule, never get attached to any character...its the rule everyone breaks! Well the Second rule is ignore rule 1 so-

[@mynewaccount2361]

When your favorite character starts acting weird in the class trial:

[@masterblaster2678]

@@mynewaccount2361 Egg-fucking-zactly, the despair you feel when you have to pick your favorite character as the murderer during the trial lol. V3's first trial broke me.

[@caramelapple5562]

@@mynewaccount2361 Goodbye Despair ch4 anyone

[@darkhorsesarz]

clicked so fast with that monokuma in the thumbnail

[@ursulaaldrich3974]

Kiki The Ink Monster same

[@eevee1583]

Kiki The Ink Monster ikr

[@seireiart]

Same thing

[@alaiyoooon]

wtf same

[@IKnowThatFeelBr0]

Same

[@nicolle2126]

Also if you're open to constructive criticism, if you're making another episode could you pair up the Bad designs with Good designs that are related and get contrasted? Like bad menus with good menus, bad fighting games with good fighting games etc. The list's flow sometimes seem all over the place when the items are unrelated

[@carjis]

So... it’s bad design?

[@talaset6208]

@@carjis that's what I was thinking the whoole video, lol.

[@Wter-oy1dh]

*_OH HOW HAS IT FALLEN FROM GRACE_*

[@solitonmedic]

I love everything about Danganronpa, especially its UI and visuals

[@naenoart]

As a graphic design student these videos are very intriguing! I'm so happy you did a sequel to your first episode. Graphic design is something people take for granted but is one of the most important things in our world, as you said: It's the "presentation of information" and thus it's there to inform, navigate/orientate but also be entertaining at the same time. The sad thing is, so many people don't appreciate good design and are not bothered by bad design.

[@CycloneFox]

I'm a huge Danganronpa fan and this is why I came. And everything said about it is true and all. But after watching this video, something else really grabbed my attention: Big shout out to Little Big Planet's menus! Especially during level creation. It makes me really look forward to Dream's menus. And everything we've seen about Dream, which is even way more complicated than LBP, seem to work really well and put your intention to what is really important at all times.

[@Stephen-Fox]

Indeed - My problems with level creation in LBP has nothing to do with the graphic design or general UI, as it is in most level editors, and entirely due to my ineptitude with getting the hydraulics to do what I want them to do. Dreams looks like it's not using the same physical construction metaphor, so really looking forward to seeing what can be done in it.

[@shortandsweet7860]

I came here for Danganronpa and stayed for the good content. I never paid much attention to how the menus and all that are designed and watching this reminded me of how good things like the menus have to look to easily help first-time players and have them stay with the game. Now I gotta watch Vol. 1 of this.

[@Triforce_of_Doom]

Going off the Danganronpa bit, it's also a case of how a unique & well made design can draw people in. I was recommended it by my friend & when I looked up the gameplay trailer, the cinematography & look of the NSD's got me really interested. A few years later & I've now played through the first 3 games, watched the anime of both the first game & 3, & have started V3.

[@moonlightact1792]

Vol.1 = Persona 5 Vol.2 = Danganronpa V3 i see a patron here

[@DesignDoc]

JxV16 What do you predict for Vol 3?

[@moonlightact1792]

idk, i think hotline miami 2

[@TheAndreWesley]

Persona 5 soundtrack, because it's just so good it can't be in only one video

[@noe4354]

Not really imo

[@poysona]

@@noe4354 idk what ur talking about persona 5's soundtrack is one of the best

[@noe4354]

@@poysona "imo" in my opinion.

[@poysona]

@@noe4354 yep I'm aware

[@marchdarkenotp3346]

Nice way to bait me with that Monokuma decal.

[@dontlookfo2763]

i clicked for danganronpa. i stayed for splatoon 2.

[@Obliviongamer124]

Same. Splatoon 2 is my favorite game. Edit: accidentally said splatoon 3 Alexa play despacito

[@AliceSiuASK]

Sammmmmme

[@Junaetzia]

same. also x pfp gang

[@CountCcrackula]

I clicked for Danganronpa. I got hooked on by Splatoon 2. I stayed for LittleBigPlanet.

[@TheDragonSeer]

@@CountCcrackula My people!

[@patchouli2229]

I found your channel a week ago, and wow. How do you not have more subscribers? Your content is really enjoyable to watch and listen to, without feeling like I'm being flooded with a boring string of words that come in one ear and out the other. As an aspiring graphic designer, I find your videos to be really insightful, so keep up the great work!

[@Dw7freak]

9:12 First rule of mentioning FF6: You have to show a clip of Sabin suplexing the train.

[@BioMatic2]

V3 kinetic typohgraphy (im not gonna lie i have to copy paste those words) is great, i've akways loved the non-stop dabates of previous games but v3 was on another level. The only part is that you cant show the really REALLY GOOD examples without spoiling the game. one thing love is how the characters personality is relfected on the words. Is someone is saying something happy (or as happy as someone can get after a murder) the words move acordingly.

[@tsanari]

I decided to play Danganronpa V3 after seeing this video a few weeks ago and boy, it was a masterpiece. Thanks for making this

[@nicolle2126]

"Anime high school hunger games" so....Battle Royale? Which hunger games seemed based off of? JK seriously great stuff man, I'm hoping this could be a recurring series :D

[@ilumilumi1854]

SORE WA CHIGAU YO

[@oriorchids]

NO THAT’S WRONG

[@kanna4697]

Battle royale for baby, real men straight to danganrompa series

[@miraie]

this video so well made im glad youtube recommended this piece of gem to me... (shed tears)

[@NocturnalNovelist]

I see Danganronpa. I’m here.

[@we4803]

Danganronpa is one of my favorite game series ever

[@liu_hrt]

Oh my god, Danganronpa. I love you more than everything i ever loved now. Thank you, thank you and thank you.

[@joesph7684]

I can see that

[@joesph7684]

@Mrs. Lop3z wat

[@sushi5326]

I was about to be like "Jesus Christ how much do you hate Mario Party 8?"

[@DesignDoc]

Not enough really.

[@burnstjamp]

Mario Party 8 is the best one in the series Change my mind

[@pkfire6328]

It makes me depressed because Mario Party 8 is one of my favourite games

[@eeeeggnog._.]

I played that game so much...

[@tornic531]

I am absolutely loving this series. It’s digging into an important but often over looked aspect of game development. As an aspiring designer these videos are fascinating to me. On that note I’d love to see your opinion of the UI/Graphic design of the Disgaea series. Specially Disgaea 5. Its a series that thrives on information overload, with a lot of the game being spent in menus (I mean that in a good way) though in my personal opinion never felt overwhelmed or out of place despite the title wave of information always being presented to me. I would love to get a deeper look into this from the eyes of a graphics designer.

[@watermelon5123]

Me:*sees danganronpa V3 in good design* Me:*Happiest noise*

[@fntthesmth423]

as a cs major, "programmer menus" was such a useful term for me when i was going through school, thank you Doctor

[@channelremoved32]

I wholly agree with your opinion on the PC remakes of old final fantasy games. The GBA remakes of 1, 2 and 5 had fantastic graphic design though.

[@flowerene2630]

When the V3 intro played, I sang along.

[@hmm8102]

i had a few problems with dr1 and 2s design, and ultra despair girls felt absolutely terrible but man, im so happy they learned from that, ndrv3 is near perfection

[@LambTAFFF]

Every danganronpa game is life but V3 gives me orgasms

[@squirtleislife1312]

The minigames are still pain though

[@eggi4443]

honestly I liked the first one the most... V3 looks "objectively" better but it just doesn't have the feel that I associate with danganronpa

[@SnowedAllDay]

when i first played danganronpa it never told me HOW TO EXIT THE GAME

[@ohcool8314]

LMAO

[@eggi4443]

I just save and click alt+f4 but I do that with every app lmao 😭😭

[@PepperoniMage]

"It's high-school anime Hunger Games!" You make Battle Royale cry so hard.

[@invio5590]

"font choice" How about if I ever make a game I use *comic sans*

[@tychoderkommentator2989]

Do a Toby Fox and name the characters after the font they use.

[@deactivated6046]

My favourite part of Danganronpa is the music. D-D-D-D-DANGANRONPA *intense head bopping*

[@TheGorobaiChannel]

im a simple man i see monokuma i click!

[@Mioumi]

All my fav games are being praised I feel blessed

[@PrimeHylian]

I love these videos so much. Visual design in games is definitely something needing of praise and criticism as of late and this series is the perfect answer to it. Fantastic work man!

[@fieratheproud]

I must admit, I know almost nothing about Dangan Ronpa. and tbh I'm not all that interested, I'm more of an Ace Attorney kinda person and tbh it looks a little too chaotic for me to be able to properly play it. But that class trial part you showed off? Gosh dang that's beautiful. Almost looks like a game trailer. .... In fact, it reminds me of the Ghost Trick announcement trailer. Gosh, I love that thing.

[@LambTAFFF]

Danganronpa trigger happy havoc is good danganronpa 2 is life ultra despair girls is life V3 is LIFEEEEEEEE :,DDD

[@GE-0530RN]

@@LambTAFFF uhh stop ya scaring the kids

[@LambTAFFF]

@@GE-0530RN wtf i dont remember posting that shit

[@figureLP09]

Every time I click on one of your videos, I leave feeling a little bit smarter. I really appreciate how you give insight on the things the average players takes for granted when playing a game. You make design concepts easy to understand and give numerous and detailed examples of your point to get it across. It's a really didactic experience.

[@gilagal777]

A saw monokuma, screamed, clicked the video, and fell in love with this channel. Also, I love little big planet!

[@justmonica9253]

In these videos you seem to have used trails in the sky as an example of bad design. I don't have a problem with that, but I don't believe you have explained why yet. It's one of my favourite rpg series, so I'd love to find out how it could be better! Keep up the good work.

[@Doruko666]

"Each element must harmonize..." while showing Zenyatta's gameplay I see what you did there.

[@gummigamer4614]

holy shit, the battleborn UI was so bad i didn't notice the minimap until you highlighted it.

[@maruchan7325]

screamed when it showed NDRV3

[@anadelamour2772]

The Great Desing choices was so well chosen that made me go watch the entire channel! As an artist, your channel fells like a blessing to me! Amazing joob!!! ❤️

[@fortnitejimmy-ih3dn]

How about JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven or All Star Battle? They're both based on the same manga and it has a pretty unique style

[@thepokemonbiatch3602]

99% of comments: I LOVE DANGANRONPA 1% other

[@justyouraveragemartian783]

Same boi

[@theretherebearbears7631]

Very insightful. I need more of this.

[@ProtonCannon]

In defense of Yatagarasu, one must note that it was just an indie project founded by an indiegogo crowdfunding campaign reaching barely more than a $100'000, with a just a few developers on a ludicrously tight budget so it is no wonder they cut a lot of corners.

[@TakeoKurosawa]

I was hoping for a sequel!

[@MrSTVR]

Just subscribed yesterday. Good to see you're still at it!

[@julioromanlopez8311]

MrSTVR Hahahaha no way, I did the same😂😂😂

[@Batbimbo]

Im a simple man, I see danganronpa, I click

[@joveegillen6966]

I wish I could unread your name.

[@imyuta2607]

I feel like some dude’s pushed a knife down my throat after reading your name.

[@sadpinkegg]

That pfp is legendary 😭

[@joesph7684]

I see that

[@zzMandy13zz]

Hey, I found your channel last week and I love it! Please keep it going, your videos are super interesting and well-made. I look forward to see what else you will produce!

[@tozendai840]

Slow paced games all seem to have the best graphic design, and I think it's why in an action game "dominated" world these games are usually seen as superior. When you're not busy focusing on making the moment to moment gameplay as flashy and as in your face as possibly as you try to grab the attention of what you assume is a goldfish you end up forgetting that a memorable well crafted gaming experience is far more charming and is going to leave a positive impact on the player. Slower paced games are, well, slow. And as a result the game designers but a large emphasis on making everything around the gameplay interesting, beautiful, important and impactful. These games respect the players, and as a result know that crafting a world that is beautiful, fleshed out, memerable and appealing to look at in general will more than make up for poor gameplay. For example look at Zelda breath of the wild, a stunning game that throws you in with no clue as to what you have to do other than save the princess and hyrule. The world is empty, there's little moment to moment gameplay, yet you can easily sink hundreds of hours into it and feel like the game you were given was exciting and memorable. Every single location was crafted to create a reaction from you, you can't help but want to explore what the world has to offer even if you have little time, because every unqiue region has landmarks, but it also able to cater to the true explorers who want some secrets they have to dig for. Persona is even slower, but it's world is such a beautifully crafted region and the UI is so impactful and nice looking that even though the combat is painfully slow, all the flashy effect that go on around the battle make it feel like the action so so much faster than it is, everything flows and you never feel like you're really hitting a brick wall in pace. I've not even played the game but I'm willing to bet that you can go through the entire game without something cool or beautiful keeping you from feeling bored or like the game has slowed down immensely, there's always some kind of movement going on beyond ambience. I honestly feel like even without a single second playing the game that Persona 5 has the best graphic design of any game, movie, novel whatever I can think of. I also think it ties into Japanese culture a lot of the time, there are plenty of great looking western games, but the Japanese focus on craftsmanship and making something not only beautiful/impactful but also just as usable as if there wasn't anything there at all is why we get so many Japanese examples given when we ask about great graphic design. Flow, presentation and quality are all hallmarks of Japanese art (especially flow), whereas in the west pure creative energy or the most realism you can think of is the focus. You can see this by comparing for example battlefield to splatoon. Splatoon focuses on the flow of battle, each side going back and forth between what is literally a liquid taking up more of the field, as well as the presentation of the game as you explained, and the quality of the mechanics and maps. Battlefield on the other-hand aims for realistic set pieces with realistic graphics and the raw creative power to destroy the battlefield how you see fit. This isn't meant to say that the Japanese are superior at making games, rather that due to the differences in their game markets and the small cultural nuances that separate them from the west, they tend to focus on completely different areas to the west. Compare for one second the raw gameplay of a JRPG to something like fallout or skyrim and you can obviously tell emphasis was put in different places despite both being RPG games. Videos like this might convince you graphic design is everything, but in reality some games with horrible graphic design are still absolutely amazing and deserve a lot of praise. Rather Graphic design is a way to support the quality of a game, it's a language that is much needed in games that aren't as flashy or action packed to give a sense of content to the game, I mean when you ask someone why they love for example xenoblade, they don't say "the gameplay is amazing" , they'll give you a massive epilogue about how the game world is beautiful, how the characters have so much charm and emotions, how the game presents itself is a cut above anything they've played. Graphic design is a testament to the fact that you don't have to make another call of duty or assassins creed to create a great game, beautiful presentation and a breathtaking world can mean so much more than another copy and paste combat system no matter how fun that system may be. Side note: Japan also focuses more on what I would call a caste, where for example the dev is above you and you are below the dev. You are expected to play the game how the dev lets you play it, once again splatoon, your focus is only on covering the map with ink, sure you can kill enemies, but you don't get too much utility out of it. By forcing your players to play how you want you can ensure they never stray far from the boundaries of what you crafted, ensuring the quality of your design never changes. The west though, with it's individualist ideas, focuses far more on letting the player manipulate the game how they see fit, in battlefield again, you can choose your objective, kill, heal, chase objectives, destroy buildings, start a levolution even that changes the entire map etc. etc. etc.

[@sofaris576]

"Personas combat is painfully slow". Ok I only ever have played one Persona game that being Persona 5 but this games combat is not slow at all. I mean yeah its turn based but through the excellent menu that makes use of many buttons each option is just one button press away. X fore mele attacks, triangle to summon your persona, circle to guard, square to summon the item menu, R1 to analyze the enemy, R2 fore tactics like escape and party member switch. If you know what you do battles go by pretty quick. P5 has the most fast passed turn based combat I have seen thus fare.

[@Pontif11]

Sofaris its relative wether Persona 5's combat is slow or not. Its very fast for a turn based rpg but Tozendai is comparing Personas combat to action games. From that perspective its still slow. I don't think he meant it as a negative rather a statement of fact when making a comparison with much faster games. PS to tozendai. Not a frame of Persona 5 goes by without something interesting on screen.

[@smolwaifu6477]

God bless Warbot, effective ways of explaining an equally weighted argument and provides the evidence SOO well. Thank God I found you today.

[@loaduscoolclipz5505]

this. this video is what made me discover danganronpa. i dont know whether to thank you or not

[@Ze33roX]

It's difficult, Danganronpa is an amazing saga and you're in a hell of a ride guaranteed, but it can cause you extreme pain too because your favorite characters always dies :(

[@DMMinthehouse]

Just found your channel and love your content. Looking into the design of games is something that I think is under appreciated. Keep up the good work!

[@gumispit4087]

I clicked for Danganronpa tbh-

[@elianewinter2638]

Thank you so much for agreeing wholeheartedly with me on Danganronpa V3's outstanding style 😍

[@RenovatedLee]

Jesus Christ The FFVI android sprites are like bad tumblr fanart.

[@Pontif11]

RenovatedLee i played the game a few months ago and almost decided to play that ugly Android remaster for portability. Glad i didn't.

[@zenswife]

Danganronpa AND Splatoon?? :0 Edit: And little big planet?!? You hit my favorite three!!

[@mr.monokuma4711]

5:27 Me:Looks at Rantaro Me: "Yeah...sure"

[@Cubannerd]

Dope series. I love your take and critiques on UI design for these games.

[@theworstbrianstormandrew4695]

Fun fact some people that made zero escape made dangaropa aka best game of all time

[@theworstbrianstormandrew4695]

Wow I’m honored

[@LeonGun8]

Same company, different team. So no.

[@shards-of-glass-man]

I'll be weird and actually mention an example of graphic design that actually stuck with me years after I've played the game in question, in hopes that it will maybe get noticed. So...remember Prototype? That viral sandbox game that (ahem) definitely never got a sequel (ahem) was eventually quietly shot in the head by Activision? Now, this game not only picks its colors and sticks with them no matter what (red, black, yellow-orange), it also has one heck of an immersive pause screen. It looks like a corporate information feed, complete with data readings and tiny cam windows, the map tells you everything you need to know at a glance and you can choose how detailed said information is at a push of a button, every little thing, from upgrades to statistic numbers, is neatly catalogued inside their own menu option, and the Web of Intrigue screen is a literal web of cell-like nodes connected by nerves. That form a brain when completed. Ah, it's the little things like these that make a game even better.

[@aperson9223]

99% of comments: Danganronpa 1% of comments: Other

[@teddysadcat]

Oh wow this is quick, absolutely loved it You should do this as a series, in fact, music plays a part in UI design too to give off a feel of the overall theme of the games design, say Gran Turismo 4, uses clean, white with many shades of grey for it's UI coupled with café music for that professional, snobbish feel to it

[@Kokisan]

i love how the danganronpa fanbase is so closely knit together. anything pops up with danganronpa and we all flock to it, no matter what it is lol informative video btw, very interesting!

[@PokeChamp22]

I was shocked when you put that contrast filter over the Splatoon part I had never noticed just how big it played a role in that game

[@theunicornsys]

I'm a simple woman. When someone mentions Splatoon 2 or Danganronpa, I C L I C K

[@LittleParade_]

I did not expect Splatoon to be the first thing I see, but considering that Splatoon has an amazing style and presentation, I can't say I'm surprised

[@SeasicTaters]

Appreciate the Fyrestone music outro.

[@KnakuanaRka]

Nice video, explaining complex ideas of aesthetic design simply, but it seems all over the place. Maybe later videos can more specifically do compare and contrast, say, comparing Battleborn’s distracting UI with a game that knows how to make a UI that gets your attention only when it’s needed?

[@Alex-xn8zr]

I actually like the design of mario party 8 and battleborn. The only problem I faced in battleborn is that you don't realize your almost dead. It's looks the same when you take damage with almost full like ans with almost no life.

[@skinnysnorlax1876]

I never had much problem finding my way around or ascertaining important information in the pvp aspect of battleborn. It feels like People just like kicking that game while it's down. That's not to say it didn't have problems, especially the level design in pve being a bit difficult to figure out on your first playthrough. But it seemed like he said 'danganropa rewards you for being able to see through the stylish clutter' and 'battleborn requires you to see through the stylish clutter, so it's bad.' Not really fair...otherwise a great vid.

[@malcovich_games]

Perhaps stylish clutter in Danganronpa being easy to read because it's necessary to do so, meanwhile Battleborn's stylish clutter can be toned down without losing info. As for Battleborn and dying, I think "bloodying" or grayscaling the screen like in other shooters make it easy to notice when you've taken damage to near death.

[@jesselochner412]

Thanks for making these types of videos! I want to be a game critic and these are a great place to start for me. have a great day!

[@AUBREYMAFIA]

best game of 2017? Danganronpa v3: Killing Harmony

[@DesignDoc]

It's in my personal top three with P5 and Sonic Mania.

[@ForceofNature99]

On the Vita yes, brilliant game, but there were numerous games better than it on the main consoles: Persona 5, Nier: Automata, Nioh, Horizon Zero Dawn, Wolfenstein 2 to name a few in 2017.

[@brandonwithnell612]

tbh 2017 was such an awesome year for games that i really cant narrow it down to just 3, i loved Persona 5, Danganronpa V3, Nier Automata, and Horizon Zero Dawn and that just the ones off the top of my head. it did so well that 2018 is going to have a tough time trying to even be on par with it lol

[@akio0191]

V3's ending made me want to smash my head.

[@brandonwithnell612]

in a good mind fucked kind of way or bad you didnt like it kind of way? lol the ending was pretty divisive for some people but imo i loved it

[@RaoulWB]

Just love your videos! As an aspiring game designer, I'd love to see more analyses like this one!

[@Chivi-chivik]

"Good design: Splatoon 2" ...INSTA-LIKE!!

[@ApostlicNinjaGirl]

I agree with all your choices and love your explanation. I've always loved Splatoon's vibrant color scheme and well designed world and gameplay. It's one of the only games out there with no story that I truly love, and I know design is a huge part of why I do love it. Danganronpa also is amazingly well designed. The art style is eye catching and while the color palate is kind of uncomfortable, it's a very intentional feeling that works well with the over all feel of the game. And that's not even going into the type and the way it's arranged and chosen. Basically speaking, if a game's art style and design do not appeal to me I won't play it, and your list here is a really good example of my tastes and the why behind them. I think your analysis skills are great. Keep up the good work. :)

[@RV-pw2tr]

4:58 this is for the people that wanted danganronpa

[@tatianaelagina8980]

As a gamer and a designer, thank you for putting out these videos! Good graphic design is so impactful yet so underappreciated

[@guy3480]

Danganronpa uses like 50 font types at a time tho...

[@SouloxYT]

Holy crap! This video was so well done. You definitely deserve more subscribers and views!

[@woozie_ztfo9285]

I'm a simple man, I see Monokuma, I click

[@razlol6362]

I'm so glad you added Splatoon 2, NDRV3 (for those who don't know, that stands for New Danganronpa V3) and Little Big Planet 3 to the good design list. Especially the first two. If you didn't, I'd probably flip the fuck out because I'm insane.

[@tsurugizaki]

Yatagarasu looks like a shitty flash game you'd find on one of those free games websites back in 2009

[@shiznitphantom]

Holy shit a new video just minutes after binging your videos. Keep up the good work man!! ❤️

[@NoctsukeYukimura]

"a mix between overwatch and league of legends" you mean paladins

[@LordHorseTeeth]

It's so weird to see Makoto and Hajime in a V3 debate eheheheheheh I'm assuming that's the demo

[@KittyPikaChu]

yee i love splatoon

[@EightyFourThousands84000s]

Dangitronpa! Hearing that music confirmed my decision to play the game after thinking about it subtly from seeing monokuma in the thumbnail...

[@TheSqoad]

For what you said about Danganronpa, your clips just made the game out as having terrible design to me. I'm going to assume the game features VA, because the text doesn't exactly beg me to see it and read it, considering how animate and erratic it is, and being displayed over distracted, moving backgrounds, and the text being obscured by clutter, and the large number of different fonts that can be on display at the same time. :T That's just a few of the issues I found. And, yes, I do have a visual impairment - but graphic design shouldn't be dependant on perfect vision; at least not as far as my years studying the subject would have taught me. You do admit to a bias, however, and I think that might be the issue here. You like it, but it probably isn't as great as you think it is. Not everyone can appreciate that kind of presentation. It appears very niche.

[@DesignDoc]

Sqoad There is VA and the debates will loop until you find the solution. Your argument is completely valid. It is chaotic and hard to follow at times. Danganronpa does break a lot of fundamental rules. However I will argue that V3 is well designed under the context of “Graphic Design as Gameplay”. It’s a gameplay adaptation of a chaotic, heated debate between eccentric teenagers over a murder mystery. The challenge of the debates is digging through that chaos to find the heart of the problem and I feel strongly in how DR uses that design to add to the experience that it wants to create. While it certainly isn’t for everyone and there are a few fundamental flaws in the system (the “lie bullets” system is poorly implemented from a ui standpoint), I feel that V3 succeeds in what it’s trying to do through its graphic design. Side note: If it was any of the earlier games it wouldn’t be in this video.

[@TheSqoad]

Thank you for the clarification. I feel that helped clear up a lot of my issues, as a person looking in from outside.

[@mayahope8782]

LittleBigPlanet's menus also give you options for how to sort objects, by Category, Theme, Recently Obtained, or by Color. This makes it even easier to look for a specific item or an item that fits your needs.