Video Games' Devolving Designs

[@quietchap]

4:11 That is the CUTEST, most WHOLESOME thing I’ve ever seen. I know very little about Pokémon, but the idea of a dad and daughter battling trainers together as a hobby is really sweet

[@Nekosage]

That would be the Poke-fan trainer class.

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

In general, there were a lot of such pairings from Gen 3 onward, when double battles were introduced. Twins fighting together, people in love, parent and child, mentor and pupil, etc. But nowadays? Yeah, tough luck, can`t remember any since Gen 7.

[@Allustar]

@@aureliodeprimus8018 I miss double battles honestly. The new games definitely don’t try enough to vary up the battles.

[@ZorkasIshmael]

@@Allustar Which is hilarious because VGC, the one good thing left from old pokemon games, is a double format.

[@testhekid]

i had the same feeling when i first saw this

[@michaelcooper3126]

One thing that felt weird to me about the fact that you have a bunch of middle age and old people running around as students in Pokemon scarlet and violet is the fact that we’re stuck as ten or eleven year olds when we could be older and still feel not out of place.

[@thecompareablezombie]

This, Seeing the adults looking like 10 or 11 looked odd to see. When there have been adult trainers in the past be it game or anime.

[@circumventboredom9463]

I think Fire Emblem: Three Houses did this well. All the playable student characters wear school uniforms, but they're all unique and tailered to each character.

[@xoLoveTruelySucksxo]

Its never too late to go to school

[@circumventboredom9463]

Whoops, I think I accidentally replied to the wrong comment.

[@thecod2345]

Beyond the major, very questionable problem of the 50 year old students, the designs to me just lack personality for the nonessential NPCs.

[@shonenbois]

I just really love Hi Rush’s Jet Set Radio inspired art style. Seeing that Graffiti look is always a treat to see

[@jeremylackey6587]

I haven't played it, but watching it reminds me of Jetset Radio meets Metal Gear Rising. Like if MGR went full into the music and memes. Gourmet shit🤌

[@Lin-ij9vk]

Also 808 is a gem

[@AsecasJavi]

I wish it was like jet set

[@knox7945]

Not my preference of art, but the gameplay was so good

[@mravg79]

HiFi Rush looks like Sunday cartoon - the style fits the narrative and game play. Another style I like (and while not the same as in HiFi Rush, it was used in old cartoons) and this one is hand drawn graphics like we see in some point and click games. This style also ages very well.

[@edgarperez9549]

Everything you said about Peppermint was spot on, but also what made her stand out more about others who have the same design is her personality and how it compliments Chai's. Because lets be honest, most characters of said design always complains a lot, are rude to others and for what ever reason, are loved by everyone in their story despite such bad traits. Meanwhile Peppermint has everything that others with similar character designs don't have: A relatable past that many can be sympathize, such as her relationship with family. Other characters actually acknowledging that she has anger and trust issues that ARE viewed as BAD traits. Her banter with Chai's aren't malicious, its to keep his overconfidence/pride in check. Has an ACTUAL character growth that makes everyone love her as a character.

[@seeinred]

To adress the point, it's not that realism is "Bad". What's bad is that people think "realism" equals "the lack of style". Which IS the problem. You can have both, but nope. Borespoken is actually a great example of this mistake. World doesn't have style, it's """realistic""" and that's about it.

[@zynet_eseled]

The key to making it realistic is you need to give it something. Hell, even dynamic effects could help out with it like, varied world design. Maybe infuse something strange into a deeper level that is jarring in a good way. Like something is eating away the realism. That would be style

[@seeinred]

@@zynet_eseled Good take on the idea!

[@electro_lux2232]

​@@zynet_eseled i think the best example is monster hunter, especially world and iceborne. The maps are realistic (deserts, forests, swamps, volcanic and flooded areas...) but there is that visual, or strictly tied with the lore, effect that makes them unique and fantasy-like (for example, the rotten vale from mh world is made by a gargantuan elder dragon's dead body.) Also, if you want wallpaper material, you should check out the painted waterfalls from mh frontier, to me is hands down the most beautiful map in the series

[@zynet_eseled]

@@electro_lux2232 precisely.

[@simplysmiley4670]

Pretty much, yeah.

[@angel__king]

Every npc in Pokémon should feel like someone else on their own adventure regardless of scale. It could be the father daughter going on a walk and deciding to duel you for fun or a trainer trying to get to the next gym in their own adventure. The new ones feel like they hit a random generator for “hat, top, pants, body type, theme” like yeah it’s an npc that works but it lacks the heart the previous games had

[@gamingk639]

I feel like its really just scarlet and violet with this problem, even legends Arceus Npc were better.

[@digishade7583]

@@gamingk639 I completely agree

[@Emily12471]

​@@gamingk639 Hell even Sword and Shield handled it alrifht

[@strangevol5264]

however, there were just... random clowns in Gen 1, iirc.

[@mattwo7]

@@strangevol5264 Clowns were Gen 4. If you mean Firebreathers, that was Gen 2. If you mean jugglers, those aren't clowns, they're Romani (the Japanese name is gypsy juggler)...

[@MarxMayhem]

Yakuza is one proof that style can exist in realism.

[@fluidthought42]

And Street Fighter 6. And any game by FromSoft.

[@zzodysseuszz]

Sekiro, dying light, dragons dogma etc

[@olotocolo]

Horizon, God of War... "realistic graphics" mostly mean real behavious of light and materials. Nothing more

[@fluidthought42]

@@olotocolo And realistic textures. And realistic shading.

[@raccoonofmotivation20]

Dmc5 as well

[@kartikayysola]

Considering that I didn't even recognize Whats-her-face from Forspoken in your thumbnail yet recognized Peppermint and 808 almost instantly pretty much proves your point lol

[@kitestar]

Let’s be honest, for every Hi-fi rushes of the world with its jet set (or grind, depending on where you live) radio aesthetic, you get like 5 or so games that try too hard with its realism, that it invokes the “brown/grey” era of gaming

[@slayeroffurries1115]

What we like to call the "piss filter game era"

[@kitestar]

@@slayeroffurries1115 oh yeah, a majority of the brown/greyness did look like it was smeared in piss didn’t it?

[@AFnord]

@@slayeroffurries1115 I thought the "piss filter" specifically referred to the weird yellow filter used in Deus Ex: Human Revolution (original release, not director's cut), which did not really invoke "realism" but rather... yellow. Instead that's the "brown is realism" era that's being invoked by the brown & dark green games that still pop up ever so often. Though it feels like in large the gaming industry has moved away from that since its heights, 10-15 years ago.

[@JNSStudios2]

to quote Max0r, the "2009 color scheme"

[@kitestar]

@@JNSStudios2 indeed

[@GoblinLord]

I think Dark Souls is also a great example of world design, it's dark and realistic but it still has contrast to it, some areas are autumn-y some are volcanic, some are the yellows of lothric, etc, it's designed in realistic shapes but uses environmental hues to bring the tone together

[@seeinred]

There's many bad things that can be said about Souls franchize, but they have a style, that is certain. Still waiting for Bloodborne on PC. Sucks to suck.

[@MoMoeMoais]

I have some beef with Elden Ring, but I gotta give it credit for being good about that too. It's a bit less realistic or grounded than Dark Souls, but it's still dark and ominous and crumbling while also being incredibly vivid and visually memorable. It's hard to pull off a borderline fantasy-post-apocalyptic aesthetic while having each zone be instantly recognizable on sight, but Fromsoft knows their stuff.

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

I would also recommend Have a Nice Death. Despite the game basically playing in Death Inc. the different departments all have a unique flavour to them, despite using darker or bleaker color palettes. The starting area is cubicle gray and white, the pollution department is sickly green and tar black, the poisoned food area has this unhealthy brown to it like moldy food, the sickness area is this dark purple like funghi or pustules, etc. etc.

[@seeinred]

@@aureliodeprimus8018 Yes! Game's pretty neat :D

[@khoanguyentranang1802]

​@@seeinredI remembered when I thought I would be begging my friend to borrow his pc to play bloodborn if it came out in pc. But now I have my own gaming pc already and bloodborn still doesnt have any announcement in pc lol :))

[@thecompareablezombie]

I enjoy the Unique NPCs in Pokemon games, while the school Uniforms were not bad. The lack of Clothing close was very bad.

[@crestofhonor2349]

It sucks so much. We know gamefreak knows how to design good clothes as seen by past pokemon games

[@kanekikingstorm2113]

@@crestofhonor2349 especially in X and Y. We were drowning in drip

[@XDarkEcho]

It also doesn't make sense that the clothing for the uniforms didn't have different tiers or something. Like, in many anime where the setting is school, you have plenty of ways to diversify the students of grade level by their collar colors, maybe cuffs, ribbon, etc. There's no reason why we should be seeing full grown adults dressed like the children in the game, when they could have a more...professional look like maybe the Headmaster? Things like skirts, blouses, sundresses for the older women, and suits, defined collared shirts, or different blazer designs. It just felt really limiting and both off-putting as well, to think that EVERYONE that's a student as this Academy(which I thought at first was mainly for kids to teens) have the same kind of uniform design.

[@bombomos]

This

[@WriterNZane]

Honestly, I couldn't agree more. As someone who doesn't have much money to spend on video games, I always end up going after ones with a unique style. Games like Cuphead, Omori, Yakuza like a dragon, and It Takes Two are all vastly different, yet I'm more drawn to them than games like COD and Halo based on art style alone.

[@Deliveredmean42]

Dang, it's kind of disheartening that Halo used to have an appealing and creative artstyle, and now you include it along side COD? Dang...

[@haydenchu58]

Halo is more fun than all of those games you just listed

[@Artemi22]

@@haydenchu58 okay now you're just sounding like a halo fanboy man

[@WriterNZane]

@@Deliveredmean42 Around the time I first got my systems Halo had became a more generic first person shooter with irl graphics. I never experienced the golden age of Halo's art style so it's on the list because of what it's become

[@Deliveredmean42]

@@WriterNZane Well... I would say "goofy" is more a appropiate than irl graphics. They did tried to fix that with Infinite, but thats another load of problems not worth mentioning to a degree.

[@thejman5683]

Forspoken’s failure to HiFi Rush is proof that Square should care more about TWEWY. When I saw HiFi Rush, I was reminded of TWEWY so much.

[@Azure9577]

Open up your eyyyyyyyeeeeees

[@thejman5683]

@@Azure9577 TRAAAANNNSSSFORMATION

[@Azure9577]

@@thejman5683 TRANNNNNNSSSSSFORMATION!

[@XenobladeNerd]

oh god please

[@deadphones5041]

Talking about Clive, It would’ve been great to have his idle animation be different, then accidentally switch to Clavell’s animation as a slip up only to switch back to the new one quickly before being found out.

[@the_godbodor7026]

For Pokémon, I highly prefer the design style and pixel art from the Gen 5 games. Pixel art is so charming and animating the sprites makes them feel alive. The trainers as well, both notable and npc, all have quite fun designs. Even in the 3ds games, Sun and Moon’s npcs had such charm to their designs that make them really stand out.

[@barrybend7189]

Compare Forspoken to the Bravely Default series. It's a major change especially with similar setting styles. Also I Caught that character.

[@D3th10rd]

"It has been... 6 years since Breath of the Wild came out." Damn, just throw me in the retirement home if you're gonna make me feel that old so suddenly.

[@zephyrerazortail5478]

Haha I was 11 when Ocarina of Time came out, so BotW feels relatively close.

[@Maxler5795]

You wanna know what cracks me up about the hifi and forespoken comparison? Tango, the creators of hifi, made the evil within 1 & 2. Which although it had realistic graphics, it had a lot of things to add to its style. Like the infamous letterbox, or how nuts everything went on some levels. Yes i do love TEW 1 and 2. 12:44 That reference was 100% they are not shy about their previous games. Edit: i am currentky playing hi fi thanks to a free gamepass month that came with my laptop. And i now see that SEB-AA (very subtle guys) is everywhere.

[@HarmlessRealityBreaker]

I think realism can work really well for the right game, but I agree not every game needs to be realistic where they are to their own detriment.

[@Deliveredmean42]

That said, there is also games that can be both realistic and colorful! But of course not every game mesh them well together.

[@midori_the_eldritch]

I'm personally a fan of internal realism. A world with magic, but no magic plants or creatures? Unrealistic. I don't care that your physics engine is 100% accurate to real life, and if this was vr I would think I'm in the real world, I care that the setting and art matches the lore, vibe, and story, because that's what I'm there for. Not your world that's so "realistic" it looks like it came from a popular asset pack, with a resculpted terrain underneath.

[@Azure9577]

​@@midori_the_eldritch THIS 100%

[@tcg2717]

@@midori_the_eldritch I think the word you might be looking for is "coherent". Which yes, is a huge thing for me in video games as well. The world needs to be consistent with it's own setting, and should have a coherent style throughout.

[@Subpar1O1]

Hi-Fi Rush is one of my favourite games of all time and I am amazed how little it took for it to get like that. All I needed to see was the music-oriented combat, art style and the funny drum cat and I was sold. Genuinely thinking about learning guitar, too, and I probably wouldn't have played HFR if it wasn't for the videos that came out 5 hours after the game did that just gushed over the 2D animated cutscenes

[@yuishishido8780]

One of the biggest things I find is with style helps you identify a game. It gives it a unique feel. If you showed me screenshots of Hi-Fi Rush, I’d have no issue identifying it. Meanwhile when you showed the first clip of Forespoken I honestly thought it was Skyrim loaded with high poly mods.

[@Johnnyb167]

I played Hi-FI: Rush it's such a fun game I love it. The cutscenes are the greatest thing in gaming I've ever seen.

[@fenrirsrage4609]

Ah the thumbnail, I still love how Forespoken and Hi-Fi Rush are rivals now and the Forespoken Defenders consistently have the most dogshit takes in defense "Oooh why do you guys like the cringey dialogue in this game but not in this game?" There's a thing we'd like to call tone and style.

[@CompSomAnichi]

Assassin’s creed (first one) is an example of a game that has style in the area than Forespoken despite being bot realisticy

[@Sunnysideup420]

Yup! Also Hi fi’s dialogue isn’t cringey, I’d say it’s cheesy and campy. There is a difference

[@nekonomicon2983]

Forspoken being in more comic book/cartoony art style would better complement its use of humor and magic mechanics.

[@achair7958]

Maybe but most of the writing still wouldn't have landed. Hi-fi is super simple but pay close attention to the details and there's a lot of really smart subtext in most characters

[@crestofhonor2349]

Final Fantasy 15 did it's style much better

[@themaster0496]

@@achair7958 forspoken's "humor" consist entirely in quipy and sarcastic dialogue, while Hi Fi Rush brand of humor has not only that but also absurd humor and physical comedy, chai constantly makes jokes and remarks but also he is himself the punchline of many other jokes where he gets called and acts like an idiot, CNMN drawing faces to express emotions because unlile other bots his face is just blank and unable to show any expresion, hell the robots themselves, both enemies and NPCs, are fun and charming in their own way, they get tired, complain, get scared of getting fired and even eat real food

[@jaysanj152]

Tbf, it'll still turn out to be a pretty crappy game EVEN if it has a more cartoony art style,The AI generated level of writing and dialogue is still gonna be there. the reason why Hifi rush is successful isn't just the Art style but also because it's writing oozes passionated personality and charm which compliments with its art style.something of course is ALSO possible if that game had a more realistic graphics so long as it's done right.

[@mr.goblin6039]

Honestly, Forspoken wouldn’t been much better if it was more like the initial trailers that came out. Like, from those trailers, I thought the game was gonna be this serious and dark fantasy land with a protagonist who’s a goofy isekaid chick from like NY or some other American city. As cringe as it was, the contrast was interesting. I now feel like we would’ve actually enjoyed THAT game instead of the misery emo fest we got instead. The MC in Forspoken is such an asshole for no reason for like 99% of the game. It’s so annoying.

[@misterzygarde6431]

I haven’t gotten Hi-Fi Rush but Chai is a fine looking husbando. Also given that you talked about that game and Scarlet and Violet. I’m wondering how the cast of SV would interact with the cast of Hi-Fi Rush.

[@namkwal]

i agree!

[@samreddig8819]

Honestly the cast of Rush would kill them in an over the top pg manner.

[@travisbishop782]

You should definitely play it. It's an awesome game.

[@viktortoldi6329]

I just hope that the next pokemon game protag's will have more personality to them. Also Hi-Fi Rush is one of the if not best rythm games out there (and a game of the year contestans for sure)

[@Nekosage]

I also prefer art-style over graphics. The NPCs in Pokemon SV do feel pretty lacking. While I don't mind varied body types, like the backpacker girls looking a bit buff(The female workers in Sword and Shield do it quite well); I find it odd that it's the only body-type they used for them. The same goes the guys in the game. Heck, the students are the only ones that are varied, to point where it gets jarring(Looks at the much older ones). The current clothing choices do irk me too, so much so that I was happy to see different outfit for the DLCs(Particularly the first one, I like them almost as much as the Mustard Dojo outfits).

[@Raph___A]

Youngster Joey has so much more personality than literally every unimportant NPC in SV combined. Like, I remember when the devs announced that they'd be getting rid of some, if not, most of the NPCs so that the game can run better (spoilers, it still runs under a stable 30fps), some people suddenly started to care about them, and I'm just like "do you even remember their names?"

[@V-Jes]

Since when did they announce anything like that? As the closest thing to something like that was just reducing how many Pokemon are rendered on more busy areas of the map.

[@TheMasterBlaze]

It's easier for me to remember some of the NPCs because I only gave like 15 or so the time of day. The only NPCs that I though were pretty cute were MC Sledge and the Three Dragon Sisters in the North-East of the Map.

[@chantelljordan3670]

Yeah because you had joey's number and he called you all the time to talk about his rattata.

[@marcjehle2480]

​@@chantelljordan3670 TOP-PERCENTAGE rattata.

[@lvndr9838]

check out how big the ocean and sky box are. the switch is being forced to render miles of water with barely any culling on the effects

[@nstar674]

In terms of design I mostly care about consistency rather than realism or being colorful and weird, mostly cuz I like both. With pokemon Scarlet and Violet in particular I definitely agree with the minor npc trainers you can fight they're generally bad looking, I think the problem with the world is moreso how you're allowed to traverse it. You basically wanna find the shortest route you can take and Koraidon/Miraidon can just let you skip past anything that could be interesting. Also I did in fact catch that one character in Hi-Fi Rush. Imagine not catching her.

[@arthurpprado]

One thing I've learned from games like Astral Chain and Guilty Gear Strive is that "grounded" art styles tend to function a lot better than "realistic" ones, at least for me. By grounded, I mean that while not trying to imitate reality itself, the art style incorporates some of the logic of reality. For example, a lot of the clothes the characters in Strive wear seem to be clothes you could see someone wearing in real life and not wonder why they would do that (with some exceptions, obviously). Meanwhile, in Astral Chain, the world is very sci-fi and cyberpunk-inspired but in a way which doesn't sound too outlandish to become real in a few centuries. So much so that the characters visit very tame-looking low-tech suburbs like Maison Forest and rickety slums built from scraps like Zone 09 and those places do feel like they could be near big urban districts like Harmony Square without much issue

[@videogamerzero1schannel]

Yeah I can agree with your statement because I was never a graphics guy to begin with & artstyle is gonna age better than any game trying to have realistic graphics, it's why Mega Man Legends holds up better than the PS1 games with realistic graphics due to artstyle, heck its why I constantly love Xenoblade & The World Ends With You, they ooze style and tie their themings within gameplay, said gameplay gets fun alongside being engaged with the setting they're in due to being stylized and having stories that completely hooks me in

[@darkjammin79]

The example that'll often come to mind for design philosophy(in games) is Zelda between Windwaker and Twilight Princess. How different both are received graphically today is a testament to the aging process of style over realism. Now that beaten horse is over with... I have come to like charm and style most in my graphical preferences these days. Sometimes there are oddly realistic designs in worlds that embrace a fantastical tone, where that contrast draws me to such characters. Hell, even certain shows I'll own up to passing on for a style I don't feel at time if the plot/preview I take in isn't a strong enough hook. Give me a wrestler thrown into a fantasy setting where the first action he takes is suplexing the princess. Back to what was said, that has been quite a struggle in the latest entries. I can remember specifically which variation of trainer is which and even notice their style of battling/pokemon lineup. But in Violet you can put most of these npcs into a 'Who that pokemon?' segment and it'd be harder than past titles. As the body type and poses are quite oversaturated throughout(in my eyes). Or perhaps its just there wasn't enough variations with the storylines and hit or miss boss' in the game. LARRY! Amazing how much I've enjoyed him

[@jayceallen6530]

I love all of hi fi rushes designs i just dislike seeing that haircut peppermint has so often, at least it subverts expectations cuz shes not a super annoying character with that sidecut and I can’t really imagine her without it. I also like games with style over realism because as an artist it can be inspiring and it feels fun to look at.

[@marcusaaronliaogo9158]

Peppermint is the only character with that hair cut that is likeable.

[@RaspyCh]

@@marcusaaronliaogo9158 true

[@imp360]

I can count on one hand the number of characters I think actually look good with that haircut. Admittedly peppermint is one of them.

[@Starcraftgamer97]

That haircut is very hard to actually look good with. I'm definitely in the same boat as others with how few times it has actually worked. The only real version I consistently like is the variant where it is pulled into tight braids on the side, not shaved. Something like Mira's haircut in Rainbow Six: Extraction.

[@cybertramon0012]

I saw a preview clip for the Dragon Prince cartoon about the badass deaf knight aunt. And when I saw her having the undercut style, my first thought was 'why does every tough badass woman seem to have this exact style? Why is this the shorthand for the archetype?' I want to see a badass woman with long flowing hair because she likes it.

[@AegisAuras]

7:11 “Are we actually giving them a moment, sir?” Kale: “hol up. Let him cook.”

[@mattwo7]

The AAA industry never seems to notice the good trends. They ignore the fact that stylized graphics and characters full of personality have been trending for a long time now. Games like Persona 5, Hades, BOTW (which may not have many characters but the few it does have (Zelda, Calamity Ganon and Link aside) are memorable regardless, it wouldn't be a Zelda game without them), Genshin Impact and now Hi-Fi Rush (and formerly Overwatch) have hit the mainstream in a big way and the industry doesn't care, they just want to keep pushing the realistic graphics angle as though it's somehow still impressive when it hasn't been for roughly a decade now because cutting edge graphics aren't improving as quickly as they used to.

[@BNuts]

I only play three games on the regular right now: _Star Trek Online_ , _Genshin_ , and _Honkai Impact 3rd_ . _STO_ fits the _Trek_ aesthetic and feel very well, and despite being 13 years old (the engine certainly shows its age), Cryptic Studios has managed to write a great story for the Prime Timeline about what might have happened after Abrams exploded a star and destroyed two planets for his movie in 2009. _STO_ works because of the people who've worked on it who have a passion for the franchise and its messages. Contrast this with some later story missions, especially the Klingon Civil War, and you can easily tell the difference in quality between passion projects and mandated actions. Fortunately, the writers seem to have picked the slack back up the most recent season, but it shows how these things can, in fact, come and go. Also, not only do you have customization for your character (and a tailor where you can change anything other than their species and gender at any time after character creation), but you also have options for most of the ships, as well as your bridge officers. Nice! _Genshin_ , of course, offers no options for customizing characters' appearances, outside of a few outfits, but those are pretty sparse, especially considering what Hoyo has, and continued to release, for _HI3_ . Thankfully there are different ways you can build your characters, and their aesthetics and feel fits the world of Teyvat very well. While the Genshin team isn't very generous, and they raised the RNG way too high for far too many things in the game, they do at least care about the story their telling, as well as their world design. Each subsequent region added to the game has been different from its predecessors, with added mechanics and enemies to learn, and the story has steadily been getting better. While you don't need the gacha characters or weapons to play through the game, they can make things easier, and some of them even add to the game's style. The game can be a lot of fun, but only if you play it at a relaxed pace. If you try to rush things and min-max anything, you will get burned, and burned hard. Thankfully Teyvat is a beautiful world where you can just stop and enjoy the scenery and music for a few minutes if you want. The game has a lot of problems, and it also has a lot to enjoy. With _Genshin_ , Hoyo proved what a global, cross-platform release could do. This is important for a later release especially. Mihoyo sold _HI3_ mostly on its character design appeal, you can tell: they know what the playerbase likes, and they give it to us in spades, more so than in _Genshin_ . Mind you, a lot of things were changed because of what the Chinese players wanted, but not all those changes were bad. Plus, although things do get censored by the government, the censorship doesn't hit quite as hard as it does for _Genshin_ . The character designs across the two games are leagues apart. But it's also obvious that the Honkai team cares a lot for their story and character writing: nobody, not even our main three girls, is entirely good or evil. They make mistakes, and have to deal with the consequences of them. As the game goes on, the bar just keeps getting raised as well, making for a great player experience, as well as a very emotional one. But, and this is incredibly important, it's not like the devs knew absolutely what they were doing. They struggled, and struggled hard, to release something that their players would enjoy and want to keep playing. There's a documentary that was recently released, 'The Stories Left Behind,' that covers all this very well. Mihoyo, to keep the experience fresh and avoid having everything repeat over and over, worked to create something they had never done before, and which looked good, because they had to build it all from the ground up. This passion for their art, the games and the characters, is what makes _HI3_ my favourite current game. And oh yes, by making it as a 3D actioner, they broke the definition of what a 'Chinese mobile game' could be. This also goes for other games. My first MMO was _Cartoon Network's FusionFall_ , and you could tell the devs really liked CN and its characters and franchises. Although it was designed for kids, it also gave a lot of customization options. While the original game was eventually shut down, someone else seems to have brought it back. Returning to Mihoyo / Hoyoverse, they have a couple known upcoming games that demonstrate how they will never release the same thing twice. _Honkai: Star Rail_ , set to release next month, will be a partial open world game with turn-based combat. Some of the characters are, again, expies of some from _HI3_ , but they and their worlds all look fantastic. _Zenless Zone Zero_ , which currently doesn't have a release date, is supposed to be a roguelike with a _Persona_ - like feel to it. It's also their only work currently not to take place in the Honkaiverse. All of Hoyo's games have a slightly different feel, at least through their music and the look of their worlds, and the attention to detail they put into things shows how much they care for these projects. And that's the biggest gap between people like them and companies in the West: Passion.

[@SupahTrunks7]

finally someone else who knows how good STO is! i felt really sad when they removed some of the borg character stuff in the side missions bc it conflicted with the Picard series lore (like having Hugh giving you a mission at one point and iirc representing the Borg Cooperative) but their dedication to the lore and to the franchise really is what makes me love the game. The romulan republic storyline genuinely had moments that shook me (the brainwashing where all the "good" options disappear when you click them and you are forced to obey Sela anyways really stuck with me as a brilliant use of the mechanics to inform us as players of what our character is going through) and sparked my love of the romulans as a fictional culture. the passion in STO is amazing and honestly now i want to go redownload it and see what i've missed in the past couple years. Jolan tru! maybe i'll see you out there in the galaxy one day

[@peterthomas6151]

I agree. If working with constraints boosts scope for creativity, then the advancements in graphic technology available as hindered rather than helped a lot of video game designers’ creativity.

[@Zetact_]

My belief is that the reason why so many games are pushing towards realism now is because the time and money it takes to make graphics are so outrageous that it is to a company's best interest to reuse things even if it ends up hurting the game's style as a result. Like Capcom's shift of Street Fighter towards realism seems less like a specific desire in the artistic direction and more like it's partially being fueled by the move to the RE Engine which, while it is a solid engine, doesn't really work for cartoony styles. It is true that a lot of it is just uncreative types being given positions of authority, but there also is the practical reason nudging them towards it. It's probably why lower budget games, especially indie titles, end up having more memorable art direction than AAA - because they're already making all the assets from scratch and may not necessarily have any expectation to make more games, they can tailor their art to the one thing they're wanting to do. Having NPCs that feel like actual people in the world and who have design motifs that are on the same level as the main characters seriously helps the world feel lived-in. If the cast are either TOO standout or TOO bland then they break the immersion of the game. Incidentally, Cross Code does this perfectly.

[@Kuzna22]

I'm not sure how you can come to the conclusion that RE Engine cannot work for cartoony games when they just haven't made many games with that engine yet. Even among the games that do utilize the engine, we have hyper realistic games like RE4 remake, stylized realism with Sf6 and cartoony games like Monster Hunter Resurrection. I'm sure it would.be no different than something like Unreal Engine. Gears of War, Kingdome Hearts 3, Tekken 8, Guilty Gear Strive and Hi-fi Rush...all on the same engine. It just takes a developer wanting to hit that unique style. SF6 uses RE Engine because they are used to it, they don't have to pay royalties for another engine and going back. To the 2D style or even something similar to Arcsys games means they can't sell DLC costumes. So they go stylized realism for all of the above and because it's eye catching and will sell more games.

[@SoicAngellis]

AGREED KAMEN, I love the pixel art style of the older games! The models just look.. soulless! It's genuinely great to see I'm not the only one seeing this

[@turtlenator6249]

Think my biggest problem with the main character in Scarlet and Violet is that, besides the removal of boy and girl, it’s that you just look like a generic blob most of the time, with very little ways to stand out other than specific clothing accessories.

[@dragoongod1603]

Pokemon scarlet and violet didn't really remove genders, npc still call you Master or Miss and your mom call you her Son or Daughter but I do agree with you.

[@singoflovesongs]

they've been doing character select the same way since sun and moon though... and they didn't even properly get rid of boy/girl, you're still referred to as a boy or a girl in the game depending on which avatar you picked anyways lmao but that just makes the school uniform issue even more annoying since the gender thing isn't a factor to begin with. (and speaking as someone who would would personally prefer removing the gender... that doesn't mean i don't want more variety in my wardrobe, tf, i've always hated how dorky the uniforms look)

[@riotkitty]

It’s hilarious but only the English version removes boy and girl. Technically it’s even still there. It’s just now you’re stuck with bland and boring outfits.

[@officerbucktuddrussel394]

6:00 This reminds me of a constant irritation I have with voiced games that give me the ability to name myself and then completely disregards that name to call me 'Champ' or 'hero' or someother generic name. I understand how difficult it would be to solve but serious it annoys me to no end.

[@mrhalfsaid1389]

I think the thing about realism is that it's used for ease and not for narrative or stylistic reasons, instead being used as you said, a crutch

[@laurenfirewhisper349]

pretty sure there's at some point a mention of how the academy has no age limits in scarvi explaining all the adults and elderly folks in uniform. it doesn't really feel that way in any cutscene when taking classes where every student appears to be around the mcs age but there's definitely folks who are, at least in canon, coming back to or furthering their education at the school.

[@DICEBOY22]

I've been playing Scarlett recently and I'll say... I'd rather have a whole Pokemon RPG based on the Area Zero part because to me that looked the most interesting. I want maybe.... The RPG story telling of Coliseum and Arceus with the classic gameplay and breaking ground as far as making a character. Wouldn't Gen 10 be a cool shocker if their was no default trainer this time? Instead a grand custom character trailer from body type from tall to kid size? I know I'd be hyped. I want custom characters to get to at least where Battle Revolution was.

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

Agreed. While Battle Revolution only had 6 types of generic trainers, all the clothing options made up for it.

[@dragonoverlord2010]

My favorite game series is Devil May Cry. That statement alone expresses my feelings on the topic of "style vs realism". Publishers, more than developers but them too, need to understand that the only thing necessary to make a game stand out is to have an underlying thread of tone to string everything together, and the visual style should reflect that whenever possible. If everything looks and feels bat shit crazy that is only a positive thing as long as you are consistent about it, which doesn't bar the ability and option to create dramatic tension. It's all about what matters in your world from the perspective of the people in it, and how they choose to present and express themselves. I find one of the better terms is to just "be extra". "Extra" just means doing something that is admittedly entirely unnecessary, but it just _feels_ right in the moment. That's how you bring across personality.

[@jurtheorc8117]

I'm reminded of the Darksiders series here, not just because it's a fellow hack-and-slash/character action style franchise, but because it also succeeds very well in regards to tone and having the visual style reflect the tone. The central conflict -the too early release of Armageddon- is very bleak and depressing, not to mention that the demons have actually won the End War. But it doesn't linger in the sadness or depression, you're in the game to go out and mess stuff up, as well as use your noggin and explore the world. The character designs are oftentimes exaggerated, as are the environments, and takes itself very seriously as well. And it works very well. The most comedic the series has gotten is with Darksiders Genesis, thanks to the main character Strife, and he seems to be *meant* to be the more light-hearted one of the group. So in terms of art direction, that's where Darksiders gets extra. Huge shoulderpads, skeletons wielding swords and maces as long as themselves, spider creatures with deep fanged mouths and legs thicker than a baobab tree, and screaming faces engraved on the first main character's (War) sword and armor. There's also *great* voice acting, good script, and cutscenes and animations showcase the main character's personality very well. In the first game, this is best exemplified with the introduction of the Abyssal Gladiator boss, who enters the arena riding a horse. Specifically, War's horse, Ruin. Man had his ride stolen. "You disappoint me, Horseman. You look quite small from up here." "You can look me in the eye when I kill you." "Let's see how you fare, Horseman, with only two legs to carry you." Keep the Gladiator's words in mind. Now, in the transition cutscene where War slams the Gladiator off of Ruin, the Gladiator loses his sword. But War kicks it back to him. Great way of using "Show, don't tell" to convey that War, brutal and over-the-top as he is, also fights with honor. And as the finishing execution of the Abyssal Gladiator can attest, War keeps his word. In one clean movement, War slices off the Gladiator's legs, impales him through the chest, and holds him close while impaled on the sword... at eye level. Make a threat, keep good on the threat, and a poetic "F*bleep* you" as a cherry on top of the cake. Apologies for the fan splurging on Darksiders here, one gets enthousiastic talking about things they love. If you took the time to read through this all, thank you for doing so, and I hope that what you read was interesting.

[@dragonoverlord2010]

@@jurtheorc8117 Bro, Darksiders is one of my biggest passions, especially in this topic of conversation about style. Seeing that pop up here after this comment made my heart *leap* with joy. The scene of Samael re-awakening War's Chaos Form, urging a being who is angel and demon by nature, but more instinctively bound by the same instincts that keep angels bound in a caste system, to fully give into his overwhelming rage and thirst for destruction is a thing of beauty. War kicking that sword back is such a wonderful "get up" moment that exemplifies this for me, mixed with a bit of Ulthane's "you dare touch that which is mine". He destroys that bastard thoroughly, but not before making it clear that even with every advantage against War it was never a real contest. Contrast that with the final fight against Uriel which is so filled with respect that I won't even use War's maxed out Wrath powers against her. (Especially if you read The Abomination Vault, which reveals War first met Uriel barely into her adolescence and had immediate respect for her. Combined with their similar betrayals against them he wouldn't want to hurt her.) I just completed a recorded playthrough of the Warmastered Edition for my friends and had a blast with it. ^^ Death is my favorite incarnation of the Reaper, highlighted best by a three hour video I watched all of and another called "A More Humane Death", and again, The Abomination Vault. That book just adds a deeper level to Death's motivation, while giving us so much more of War to enjoy and cherish. DSII was the least polished and most incomplete because of THQ going bankrupt (rip), and every area of the game, even every _character_ has so much personality dripping from them no matter how small their role it can be easy to miss what's missing. Death himself is such a flawed being in stark contrast to other incarnations of the Reaper that he's fascinating. Thanks to additional context from the aforementioned novel, Death's realization that he's simply being used to cover up the mistakes of others while trying to ignore his own mistakes hits hard, and makes the confrontation against the Archon all the more intense and gets me so focused on ripping him apart; seeing the Archon as a reflection of what Death is trying to overcome in himself. Darksiders III is that game that made me miserable the first time I played it since the combat system changed so severely ^^;. Seeing the world before it fell completely into the state of ruin we saw in the first game is such amazing environmental storytelling I can look at the world for longer than I actually play the game. Not to mention Fury having her mistakes shoved in her face over and over again to be met with the quiet praise of a mentor who's felt her betrayal and purpose being ripped away from them is touching. That's without mentioning Jones and how impactful he was (and you know damn well what I'm talking about). Genesis for as much as I LOVE IT is just a preview of what we're all looking forward to/praying for. War and Strife have such a great dynamic, and god almighty does the bang bang boy make me laugh XD. That he even gets WAR of all people in a mood to laugh is heartwarming. Also Samael. I cannot get enough of Samael, and getting him as a main character again was so delightful. And of course, Keith David clearly enjoyed play Moloch. Seeing Eden from before it was hidden away, so many demon structures to enjoy smashing through for a good look at how their "society" works. So much good level design, and a blast to play through and explore. I'm looking forward to when I replay it again with my bro, who is himself looking forward to playing War as he can borderline on Khornite berserker at times. I even keep a list of what I view as the most beneficial soul cores to equip based on what increases the effectiveness of Wrath spells and War and Strife's blocking and dodging abilities. The fact that in any of the games you can turn your Horseman into a force of devastation (as long as you play them in the manner that is intended) if you take out the time for a bit of grinding is so nice on the part of the devs and is another thing I love about this series. Thanks for giving me an excuse to blather on about it.

[@Broomer52]

I’ve been trying to crack down on what exactly is wrong with Scarlet and Violet because on paper it should be great but it feels lacking. I feel like their is that distinct “Style over Substance” at work which could also explain the issues like terrible frame rate. They spent more time making a graphically intensive world rather than making an engaging one. It’s why a game that looks less nice like Arceus is still better than the current game. People were hoping gameplay from Arceus would carry over but it didn’t, the characters all have better graphics but are overall a lot more bland. Theirs more Pokémon in the overworld but theirs so many you’re practically tripping over them. The game is less stable than any other game but has way better graphics. It’s visually pleasing but that’s about all it has.

[@maidenlass]

The graphics aren't even better, everything looks like plastic toys rather than an immersive world

[@Broomer52]

@@maidenlass you see the strands of hair, the threads of fabric, the buildings and plants textured to look real. I have no idea what you’re talking when you say everything looks plastic. Graphics don’t equate to immersion and I have no idea where you got that idea

[@maidenlass]

@@Broomer52 You can see some alright textures in places, but the overall lighting is so flat that everything looks.. well, like plastic. It also feels like the saturation got turned way down for some reason which doesn't help. Graphics don't equate to immersion, but poor graphics equate to poor immersion. You need several factors, and the graphics are one of them. If you're blatantly missing on factor it's gonna be off.

[@Broomer52]

@@maidenlass i disagree, the world is extremely colorful bright

[@Sir_Bone-Head]

I’ve always preferred games that have style over realism. I will say that I do think about the topic of visuals mostly when I think of Kirby Fighters 2. The game is fine, but among other things, I feel like it needed something to make it visually stand out way more. Also just to mention realism, I think it can work when the environment actually has something worth looking at, or is at least memorable in some way. For me Left 4 Dead 2 comes to mind, specifically the chapter with the sugar mills. I really liked that level, especially when the rain started to come down heavily on the way back.

[@hikaru9624]

Probably not the best example but one that came to my mind was Stray. Its world design realistic yet bright and colourful with the use of lights.

[@jesserivera2043]

An example of a game series in which the character designs clearly evolve is the Trails series. You can tell which game came first and which ones came out later based off how the characters are designed. That even extends to previously established characters getting older. If I can share photos in comments I can definitely show how Estelle as an example has grown from a country bumpkin type character to a more worldly and sophisticated warrior. It ties in well with a theme of how the series' timeline tends to advance a lot quicker than real world timelines.

[@breendart134]

Something I find crazy on the world design front is that I find myself much more immersed and interested in Genshin Impact, a freakin' gacha game, than most recent fantasy that's been dangled in front of me. I'm a fantasy person, not a gacha person (what's the opposite of an addictive personality?), but Genshin's aesthetics draw me in and make the game worth playing and honestly relaxing. On the other hand, I'm also not a Pokemon person, and nothing I've seen from the more recent games makes me want to be. It's just not a world I want to explore.

[@BS-vm5bt]

I would say more its a lack of experimentation. They have used the same basic formula for years, I actually think digimon will produce better games in the future even with a extremely low budget and following. Since they experiment with new ideas, game freak generally does not like to take risks which is really common when a ip gets large enough. This stifle creativity and experimentation.

[@themphantom9138]

The Style and Music are why I love NSR so much, The Game is Colourful and Vibrant, I never got tired of it!

[@jurtheorc8117]

oh *Heck yeah*, someone who knows of No Straight Roads! Right there with you!

[@Aibadenshi]

5:55 Thinking about it they could try and design a Pokemon game world like the Yakuza series where you have a ton of stuff to do and it feel like an actual place where people live.

[@hisshoes1107]

I’m just commenting because I do like your content and yeah, have a good rest of your day, however far into it you may be!

[@Strato_Casterrr9898]

Tbf with the school theme in SV, its really hard to stand out from the crown in an actual school setting, especially if your school forces/needs uniforms. Back in elementary and high school, I and te rest of my classmates and friends are basically npcs with no discernable personality unless ou talk to us. Same goes for japan's school system. Its a deliberate design choice by gamefreak to make sv feel like a school adventure, event hough it technically is not. Also, don't trust anime when it comes to what high school is like in japan. I live in a conservative asian country, our early schools are conservative, even a majority of our universities and colleges, but even I know that japan is much stricter than we are regarding "standing out". Japan is very strict, and, dare I say, devoid of personality when it comes to schools and work, but that's why the other colorful aspects of their culture stand out so much.

[@riotkitty]

That’s why games do their own style. I mean, screw realistic school uniform standards, go ham with it. Team Star leaders even has refurbished uniforms to show their delinquency. I would love more distinctions like with the Persona 3-5 casts, etc etc.

[@makootithebionicman3612]

Me: I want longer hair as a guy in a pokemon game * Monkey's Paw Curls * fuck

[@johanstenfelt1206]

Hm, interesting, i can see where you’re coming from, i hope we’ll see good designs in the future, you did a good job covering this topic, I will look forward to see what you talk about next.

[@autisonm]

I'm not sure if I'm understanding this correctly since I havent played Scarlet or Violet but did they restrict clothes to school uniforms? The only other game that I can kinda recall doing that is Bully and even then it was a soft rule that you could break with the risk of teachers trying to catch you for breaking the school uniform rule. And that at least made more sense since the setting was a semi-realistic school for delinquents or something. Pretty sure there was even a decent variety of school theme'd uniforms in that game too. Some like the mascot suits I think would get you into trouble but most ones wouldnt.

[@amirgarcia547]

You can wear different hats, accessories, leggings and footwear, but yes, your main outfit is restricted to the four main school uniforms (fall, winter, summer and spring.)

[@notmaifox]

I missed the korsica qte. It came out on nowhere in a fight I was struggling on, and I am glad I failed the first time. It was hilarious.

[@dayvonlouis5187]

Gen 3 - 6 had the best character designs in my opinion though I do like the models they used for Legends Arceus

[@jgn]

I'd also like to see TWEWY and NEO TWEWY brought up more often in these types of discussions

[@gracefullwetrat]

I want a hyper realistic game that mixes 2d and 3d animation, I think it would be cool to see what would happen!

[@Zathurious]

Yeah, main character design has always been a sore point for me. I would really like to play an older character. Nonetheless, I miss the customization options I had is Sword and the generation just before that. Violet was a major step back, in my opinion.

[@vincentpey3929]

Im so excited for this was a Bedman main in xrd and i love this rework, they took away some of his zoning, traps and some movement options (in xrd he had a teleport move, a crawl and a counter dash that teleports bedman behind an oponent when hit while dashing) but they doubled down on his Preassure wich is a really cool direction to go down.

[@emikochan13]

Forspoken really needed to introduce the different magics sooner, In hifirush you get new pieces of your kit quite rapidly. And yeah it'd have been so much better if it was linear. You can tell the artists were skilled, it just seems like they didn't have the time/money to build the world out. I'm an artist and unrealism is way harder to make, so it makes sense that when people pull it off the final product is better :D

[@kazkatgamer6722]

would love to see you do a review on octopath traveller 2

[@matrixster6238]

Agreed, I’m curious as to if my unpopular opinion is shared. That is, that the writing for 2 felt so predictable and forced, in comparison to the beauty in simplicity of 1.

[@phorchybug3286]

Yeah, the newer Pokemon stuff is kinda sad but it always gives me some new favorite dudes. I still got old favorites, too. I'm just not attached to specific ones.

[@1faithchick7]

I wish you could choose your age in pokemon. It isn't a huge deal, but it get a little strange as a 32 year old playing using a 10 year old avatar. I wish the games had a diffent story mode for kids or adults. Especially since even in SV, the school aspect had basically nothing to do with the story and could have been left out completely. And most of the games do.

[@Derpinator01]

The big mistake in my opinion is trying to use realism to replace style instead of using style to complement realism. Games like Half Life 2 or the Metal Gear series are able to age gracefully because they were able to turn outdated technology (and occasional glitches or goofs) into part of their established style, while games like 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand or Medal of Honor Warfighter didn't have any style to fall back on when the realism failed.

[@ovensmuggler5207]

5:48 I mean actually that sounds dope as hell

[@FF-tp7qs]

Yakuza has to be one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. And to think we almost missed out on getting more games released in the west because Yakuza of the End didn't so well so they weren't going to release Yakuza 5 in the west until people petitioned for it

[@n0etic_f0x]

I play a lot of TTRPGS and the world is often just obscenely colorful, one of the most vibrant districts is in a city that has been blocked out from the sun. It is now so brite they have what they call grave dens that are light and soundproof so people not from there can sleep. I recorded myself and in 90 seconds say the names of colors 11 times because that is just how the place is. People from here will go out into a beautiful day and it will often make them sad or angry that to little is going on with some only going out in thunderstorms because how boring they find the real world. To them even cities are like small towns as they live in what is basically ultra Vegas.

[@Capsuleer7]

I think a small contributing factor to the ever brown, grey, dull worlds we see in games is that most of these developers never leave the city. They only see one thing and it become commonplace, monotonous, and dull. If all you see is concrete, even a city filled with bright lights will eventually fade out of your mind. It becomes background noise, static. These game devs need to literally go outside and touch grass. Go camping alone and get lost in nature. Even the most bleak parts of the world have beauty and vibrancy to them. Or just sit and take things in as the city changes throughout the day. I remember one time a good friend of mine was having trouble with her photography class. So one day, I take her along with a few friends to a spot I know downtown. The route was a bit roundabout since that's how I stumbled on it a couple of years prior. It was the only way I knew how to get there. All throughout this journey we've been passing by cement, concrete, bricks, and asphalt. My friend only stopping once in a while to snap a photo, never really invested in it. Once we got to the spot, my friends didn't know what to make of it. It's a tiny nook/courtyard nestled between several buildings and olny accessible via some long allyways. Thie magic kicks in as the sunsets and the locals start pour in, not many, but enough to add some hustle and bustle. Lights flick on, stalls open, and the smell of food wafts through the air accompanied by the faint sound of music from somewhere. Color from our of that grey and brown brought out by the dying of the light, vibrancy from cold concrete. My friend spent a couple of hours taking photos and talking with people, most of whom work in the buildings surrounding us and relax after hours before going home. She had an absolute blast and got out of her funk. After that she didn't have problems with photography much. Every time she hit a roadblock, she'd go out somewhere and just take in the surroundings. Our other friends that joined do the same, albeit one who still struggles with motivation and doesn't lack inspiration. I'm trying to help him out, but it's slow going.

[@ZetaEntity101]

You make some really good points on his video good job it's always fun see a new video from this channel

[@briangoubeaux5360]

I haven't played it yet but I have seen a short clip playthrough of it from JFJ and one thing that he noticed (and hated) was that Peppermint had the same voice actress as Clementine.

[@TheRestlessView]

For me, style is almost the representation of individuality which is what speaks to us the most. I think thats why scarlet and violet kinda fall short is that you as a player are like the rest of a lot of other npcs in the world with the only thing being that you have a specific legendary motorbike pokemon. As far as Hi-fi rush goes, style is not just relegated to just looks of a game but things like sound also play a lot as with Hi-Fi theres a big emphasis on the Alt rock and grunge which is pretty sweet with the whole resistance type of storyline. Because I will be honest, the main character of HiFi, Chai, i feel like is a pretty bland design overall maybe in part to his primary color scheme but with the rest of the cast having way better and memorable designs. Even thinking about realistic brown and greys we can look at the GOAT Fallout New Vegas where you are in a desert but somehow with landmarks, places stand out like Novacs dinosaur, the Hoover Dam, the NCR and Ranger outpost, Jacobstown and even New Vegas always being able to be spotted and lights up the night sky pretty much no matter where you are is also stellar to see and explore or is big enough to catch your attention and draw you in.

[@MooseChicken]

Something that I’ve kinda noticed with not only video games but consoles nowadays is that they lack a sort of soul to them. Compare the PS5 to…I dunno, the Xbox 360 (I know I should probably compare to another PlayStation console but all the user interfaces are fairly similar). The Xbox 360 had unique colors that fit the aesthetic of the console itself, where as with the PS5 everything is just white boxes and text. Take the GameCube, the Dreamcast, and the Wii as some more examples. The GameCube’s home menu was a literal cube…a freaking SHAPE. The Wii’s menu had TV screens for it’s UI since you were using the controller like a TV remote. The Dreamcast…well, it was the Dreamcast. Overall, I guess I just feel like older consoles had something modern consoles lack.

[@indumatipngtuber2790]

My favorite pokemon scarlet/violet NPC is the weird guy with the Hypno who's hiding in a cave.

[@gantz22ify]

You literally missed the point of Clive and Clavell: that a paper thin disguise was a core part of Clavell’s character, as he wanted badly to help Team Star but had no idea how to do so, and his disguise as Clive is a reflection of that.

[@Mangakamen]

And you missed the point of it being a joke that was immediately pointed out. "Is he serious or is he joking? The world will never know" Did you stop just before then?

[@laszloneumann500]

I thank you, someone had to make this video

[@cappedminer369]

My feelings are the robots that reference Sebastian from the evil within

[@nicknamenao7905]

Its not because you dont like something its necessarily that it was done wrong or that there is even a right way to do it

[@nergalrior7841]

Oh, I was so caught in the zone, I caught her first try. Absolutely, queens deserve the best.

[@Lonewolf360gaming]

While too much of anything rather if that be cartoonish games or hyperrealism can be bad at the same time a solid art style that has variety in its direction can leave a good lasting impact for years to come, for example dead space still holds up years later because of it's art direction being this grimy industrial location and for a more cartoonish game look at ratchet and clank the characters feel like they belong in the world that they live in with them all having visually distinct looks to them all

[@besttank4274]

my favorite hi fi rush is the driller,beholden to none,free to shape the world around him as he please

[@xxdoommagexx]

Hello Mr. Kamen. I like your work, and appreciate your content Have a nice day, and good luck with whatever troubles you. XxDoomMagexX

[@chris-tianmothman]

Games can be graphically impressive, though they will end up outdated or even bad looking in less than 5 years time. Meanwhile, games with actual style or personality become timeless in their appearance, making them look good even 30 years later, even if they lack the amount of renderable polygons and pores most games strive for now.

[@CWorthStudios]

I am a man who enjoys me some childrens cartoons. There is so much color and flavor that your older brother's m rated xbox games will never have. I wish I could be a game dev and hope to make a few someday, but for now I only dream and learn. I have learned that for a game to be timeless, it has to have quirk. Think of the modern indie games that people can't seem to forget: minecraft and undertale. No one looks at them and are like "mm, nice 4k graphics." the most realistic graphics of today will be the ridicule of tomorrow. It's cool that you can simulate reality, but is that what one wants in games? Another thing I realized is that the places on earth people want to go are not gray. Not the gritty "realism" that seems to mark games going for "good graphics." People want color. Style. Flavor. Quirk.

[@gabagandalfoftheweed]

As far as character customization in Pokemon goes, I preferred Gen4's approach where you could pick an avatar from among NPC models for how other players see you.

[@ondururagittandeska2004]

I have just defeated Madarame and I really love the style of Persona 5 Royal and how it makes each location unique from the more quieter Yongen-Jaya and the more busier Shibuya central street. So many interesting locations and none of them felt boring. Cafe Le Blanc feels like a warm and cosy environment and of course The Palaces. All are unique from each other. Madarame's Museum of vanity a stark contrast to Kamoshida's castle of Lust. It also does the School Uniform thing well mostly by having barely any character just have the Uniform that makes Makoto and the protagonist really stand out when following the Dress Code. Edit: This is not even taking in account their Phantom Thief outfits and the Grotesque Bosses.

[@devinsauls9137]

MoistCr1tikal is in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet?! 😱

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

Funnily enough, i right now enjoy a game, that is almost entirely in gray and darker colors. And that is Have a Nice Death. Basically you are the Grim reaper, CEO of Death Inc. and have to beat up your subordinates, cause they are not doing their job right and cause you overtime and burnout. The gray, dark brown and sickly green colors perfectly fit both the grim nature of death and corporations and are a sight to behold.

[@SirSqueakStir]

I remember all the old Pokemon designs for the MPCs and a lot of them yeah had a lot of charm and it seems like sword and shield try to keep a little bit of it and seeing how the newest games have very little to none is kind of disheartening. I always wanted to catch Pokemon in 3D ever since I was a little kid and now seeing how we finally got it and it doesn't feel the same as we used to I feel it has to do with a lot more than just being lazy. I feel that a lot of the stuff like the old Pokemon designs some of them were censored when they brought over to the United States so I think they're also trying to skirt the lines on that stuff as well, but also I think thanks to social medias toxicity of the getting offended over smallest of details or even things are not even offensive I think they might have been crying to tone down a lot of the character designs to appease a small minority that don't even play video games. I hope I'm wrong on the last one but with things going on nowadays it's hard to tell. I do agree that game companies are focusing on more on graphics rather than actual art design of their games and a lot of games like cultural lamb deep Rock galactic Hades and many others have such a beautiful art style to them that make you fall for these games a lot more and it's kind of sad that everyone is focusing on more realistic looks rather than just creating more art styles or trying to reuse some of the ones that have been around for years. One of my favorite art styles is claymation like in the Old Clay fighters and many other indie games have nowadays they were really funny silly and a kind of reminded me of watching the old Wallace and gromit movies.

[@dokvald]

Agree 100%, the focus on realism has been a huge detriment to games.

[@lordbiscuitthetossable5352]

GTA 5 is another example of a largely realistic, but vibrant world. Sure, you wouldn't want to walk around all of it as it's a location designed to be massive and driven around in from the ground up, but it also has a diverse range of biomes, from dense cities, harbours, dense hills, deserts, winding coastal roads and Cayons that are a pleasure to navigate. Even Mount Chilli, which we don't spend a great deal of time on, has a perfectly nice and dynamic trail that on at least one of it's slopes is a great location to race along, with more then a few areas off the beaten track for the curious to stumble upon. GTA 5, while one could say it was stretched across several consoles, was designed incredibly well to enable robust, local diversity that allowed it to be a location many games spent up to 10 years in. Now, most games probably won't design their locations with literally *years* of time in mind, but I feel it's a fantastic statement for what someone could do with a realistic pallet, yet maintain the interest. The issue with a lot of "poorly" designed worlds is that they just aren't well lived in. Though then again, GTA 5's world would likely be too much for a footslogging game like pokemon, unless forms of transport was required.

[@TuShan18]

Callisto protocol is a case where realism didn’t do much for the game. The graphics, facial animations, and world sound design are incredible, but there are parts of the game that doesn’t look like a prison. The parts that do look like a prison stand out, but the rest are just pipe rooms. Heck, the devs even admitted that there are so many shimmying quick time events to string levels together. There isn’t even much environmental storytelling in these rooms, which is weird since the original dead space was masterful at it. They have amazing graphics, but they don’t use it to help sell the world. Combine all this with the technical issues, the ultra realism can start hurting the game more than assisting it.

[@JamboJay77]

I wish instead of a uniform tab it was 3 tabs for tops, bottoms, and jackets.

[@supercyc10]

You being up a good point, Hex maniac was a great example. There’s a reason there’s soooo much hentai and cosplay of her…you can’t really say that for any of the non-main trainers in scarlet/violet. That’s my measure for success with character design. If it doesn’t spark joy in cosplayers and fanartists- why bother?

[@SuperGoker64]

Might as well add my two cents to this discussion. While everything you covered in this video makes sense, there's one aspect of design- particularly for characters- that I feel needs to be said. A design for a character alone does not a character make. While a character's design should ideally reflect their personality and life choices, that does not necessarily mean that the design of a character is the be-all, end-all of that character, nor does that mean having a design that doesn't make the character visually stand out means that said character is bad. If there's a series that I think is synonymous with people not understanding this idea, it would be the Paper Mario series. (Spoiler warnings from here on out.) Take, for instance, Bobby from Origami King. Before the release of the game, people meme'd on the fact that he is visually a normal Bob-omb with only one difference- the fact that he's missing his fuse. Despite this, he managed to become a fan-favorite among those that like TOK mainly due to having a fun, if slightly annoying, personality, for having the first permanent death for one of Mario's allies in the Paper Mario series, if not the entire Mario franchise, and the struggle he's gone through between losing his fuse, the reason why he has a spare fuse, and developing amnesia. Two games earlier, we have Wiggler/Flutter, who is notably the only one of his kind to be encountered in a Paper Mario game to date (and imo, the most underrated Mario character). In Chapter 3 of Sticker Star, we find out that this adorable goofball has his segments spirited away from him by Kamek, and yet he still has a generally upbeat personality in spite of that. We even get to read pages of his journal, showing how he gets pleasure from the simple things in life. Once he gets his segments back, he's absolutely grateful to Mario and Kersti for getting his body back together by helping them get to Gooper Blooper's hideaway, and again later to get them up to Bowser's newest castle once he's become a Flutter. And yet, those that hate the newer Paper Mario games still cite the reused designs of Toads (and other species, but mostly Toads) as a sign that every game after Super Paper Mario is inherently bad, going so far as to push the "literally all Toads" strawman for over ten freaking years, and thus ignoring Wiggler/Flutter's very existence despite him being plot relevant twice over. Because sure, let's just pretend that there haven't been reused designs in Mario games before and since. Now, I'm not gonna pretend I don't miss the more detailed designs and more varied NPC races myself, but to say that older games are completely guilt-free in all of this is ludicrous and hypocritical. If there was any character that truly showcases this hypocrisy, it's Twink from Paper Mario 64. Visually, he is completely identical to all of the other Star Kids in the game- a star with a face. Based on the philosophy of "reused design equals bad character", that would mean that Twink would be a bad character, but... no. He starts out the game very unsure of himself, but as the game progresses, he helps out both Peach and Mario, eventually gaining the confidence to stand up to Kammy Koopa in the final battle and allow Mario to use Peach Beam to finally take down Bowser. This shows that even the smallest among us can have a meaningful impact. And yet, despite what they say about the designs of characters from the newer games, I have not heard a single person complain about Twink's design.

[@skyrimlover777]

I think there should be something said about the old student trainers in pokemon and the stigma about getting an education when you're older. That's messed up, people should be allowed to get an education if they haven't before.