Anyone hates the cheerful overpolished artstyle of modern games?

[ProSaibot]

SRS even that old Sonic game from 1991 had this isolated depressing vibe to it

Now every single game feels like they threw babyoil over the world

Just look at this



Melancholic OST, surrealistic world and bizzare sound effects - overall having this doomer feel to it. And again it is a Sonic game, not even asking to have that vibe for a platformer as such.


I get that the 90s were influenced by the doomer vibe of Grunge culture but even the more serious modern AAA games feel like some ghey fantasy with their artstyle.


It is phucked up if even Dr.Eggman and the ''Sonic world'' feel less friendly than GoW's Thor and Helheim infested with weird mythogical fiends.

[bongowongo]

In b4 the usual edgy depressed crew.


Retro games are the best man.

[Fang2]

[Muzzlrpress]

No.

[Paul Kreul]

By "cheerful and over polished" do you mean... better graphics..?

[JayJ350]

I sorta know what you mean, a lot of new games seem to go for an overly vibrant look. It's made even worse when they have a heavy use of overly bright colors like neon and pastels. Makes a lot of stuff look cartoonish as a result.

I think that's one reason why a lot of 360 gen games have aged so well, they were often going for far more natural tones and colors back then. Like people used to complain about games having too much brown and gray.

[Voidgaze]

Your point might come across more clearly with some examples.

[Coal Man]

No idea what OP is talking about but I definitely noticed a shift towards the overly cartoony/comic look. Basically the fortnite sorta look. The latest street fighter game totally encapsulates it:

[ProSaibot]

By "cheerful and over polished" do you mean... better graphics..?

No, overly vibrant colours making the style of the game look kid and ghey friendly.
FromSoftware games are a good example of having a good gritty style. It is also one of the driving points why they are popular

I sorta know what you mean, a lot of new games seem to go for an overly vibrant look. It's made even worse when they have a heavy use of overly bright colors like neon and pastels. Makes a lot of stuff look cartoonish as a result.

I think that's one reason why a lot of 360 gen games have aged so well, they were often going for far more natural tones and colors back then. Like people used to complain about games having too much brown and gray.

This, way too much saturation and vibrance. Most games feel like some black swagger teens fantasy.

Your point might come across more clearly with some examples.

GTA5, GoW:Ragarok, every Ubisoft game, Mortal Kombat 1, Spider-Ghey, Every FPS etc.

All games share something similar, as JayJ350 said - way too vibrant colours making the world cartoonish.

Also the added layer of goofy friendship relationships in the story further ruin the vibe.
The 90's even managed to make Spider-man feel like a violent comic with it's athmosphere. Now Spiderman is ghey as phuck.


Check CS:GO, with the new CS2 even they jumped into the ''Vibrant'' look to appeal to kiddies even more. And it was one of the few FPS left that didn't fully look like ghey like Valorant, COD, Battlefield.


MK1? Literally the gheyest Mortal Kombat I have seen. They focused so much on the gaming looking ghey that they forgot they were making a nextgen game. Ending up looking way worse (graphically) than MK11 that was released 5 years before that

[ProSaibot]

No idea what OP is talking about but I definitely noticed a shift towards the overly cartoony/comic look. Basically the fortnite sorta look. The latest street fighter game totally encapsulates it:

Yeah, you got me.

Fortnite is a good example (and likely the main contributor) of what every AAA game is trying to somewhat achieve as style or at least colour-pallete.


I remember that 90's edgy SF anime - it was gritty and violent as phuck. SF6 is a good game but it looks like it's artstyle was designed to appeal towards people who love listening to Jaden Smith while sleeping under SuperMario blankets

[DASBUNKER]

Look at Doom '16 vs Eternal for an example

From a more gritty fitting areas, to the purple/pink zoomer theme

Times change and as they try to appeal to the younger demo. and emulate whats popular we start to see more of the same across all games and genres

[BearyManilowe]

Yeah when I think Lies of P I think cheerful overpolish.

[DASBUNKER]

Yeah when I think Lies of P I think cheerful overpolish.

that's a niche game at this point, can't really compare to the most popular/bigger games that attract the most crowd.

[BearyManilowe]

that's a niche game at this point, can't really compare to the most popular/bigger games that attract the most crowd.

Elden Ring
Star Wars Jedi series
Helldivers
TLoU2
Deaths Door
Etc
Etc

There are plenty of games thay are still not cheerful.

[JayJ350]

Yeah, you got me.

Fortnite is a good example (and likely the main contributor) of what every AAA game is trying to somewhat achieve as style or at least colour-pallete.


I remember that 90's edgy SF anime - it was gritty and violent as phuck. SF6 is a good game but it looks like it's artstyle was designed to appeal towards people who love listening to Jaden Smith while sleeping under SuperMario blankets

Bruh I've been into SF since the days of playing it on my Genesis, and I remember SF3 and Alpha games being new and popular, which are still among my favorite fighting games. I was hugely disappointed in SFV, and spending any money on it before they released the "everything included" edition felt like a total waste. SF6 simply looks like they took the bad direction the games have headed in since SF4 and only made everything worse. Can't even get into the characters and theme anymore, it's like I just stopped caring.

Similar deal with Mortal Kombat, I think that peaked with MKX, MK11 already felt like they went in far more of a cartoonish direction, and the new MK only made that worse.

[eod8989]

Even the new Tekken 8 looks beta compared to the alpha Tekken's on Ps1. Everything is just more cartoonish and vibrant looking in games now.

Twisted Metal was another series that was dark and grimy and cool as hell but they probably canceled the latest one because it was too beta.

Just look at how alpha the first Twisted Metal looked. Similar to the Sonic video you posted

[JayJ350]

Even the new Tekken 8 looks beta compared to the alpha Tekken's on Ps1. Everything is just more cartoonish and vibrant looking in games now.

Twisted Metal was another series that was dark and grimy and cool as hell but they probably canceled the latest one because it was too beta.

Just look at how alpha the first Twisted Metal looked. Similar to the Sonic video you posted

[youtube]FXEn-K4s1js[youtube]

Shows how it feels like gaming really got feminized. Stuff went from feeling dark, gritty, and grounded to everything being fluffed up with bright colors and glittery effects.

[Paul Kreul]

Mario was pretty colorful and cartoonish and that is the most popular game of old.
Think we have just come a long way with graphics and televisions/monitors that make it seem too vibrant. All those things can be adjusted though.

[SirFapsAIot]

Yeah that fortnite looking garbage needs to go and never come back, it's a spawn of the 'quirky' left wing kunts making games now and they're lazy as sh!t too, that's why you get garbage with that type of art style and direction - even halo games look like that now, halo 6 looks like it's made out of plastic.

We need some real grit back in video games.

Any one who disagrees is a fgt and u can suk my long, thick, girthy floppy cock until it goes erect then you can suk my lead pipe cock until it BOOSHes jizz right on your face

Every one except mgfgt, because I'm speaking figuratively, I need to make this distinction, every one else understands that I'm speaking figuratively, but mgfgt gets overly excited at any opportunity to suck major cock and would not let that diseased lil bish suck my weiner, srs.

Look at Gears of War now, sh!t looks like it was made for toddlers and the armor is super clean, look at Mortal Kombat, holy sh!t what a joke.

[Muzzlrpress]

Just turn down the color setting on your TV

[SirFapsAIot]

Just turn down the color setting on your TV

if only mgfgt could turn down his abominable thirst for cummy cocks he would be able to live a normal life and keep a normal job

[CrimsonSteel]

I think the writing in games is what has gotten way lamer and more cartoony. Graphics is more a mixed bag, but the writing has really suffered across the entire industry.

I think cartoony stuff looks better pixelated. 2D and even 3D platformers just look better in the Genesis, SNES, and N64 and PS1 eras. It was the "video game aesthetic." When things get overly polished it just looks like Pixar or Dreamworks or something. Super Mario All-Stars and World were the peak for 2D Mario graphics. The first two Donkey Kong Country games look way better than Returns or Tropical Freeze. Donkey Kong Country 3 is actually a pretty good encapsulation of what you're talking about in the OP, it looked way cartoonier than 1 and 2, and it ruined the aesthetic.

[freeburn]

The trend you'll notice is most of these colorful cartoon zoomer games are the free to play games designed to basically just suck kids in and milk them (or their parents) dry. Fortnite is just basically all cameo characters now so there's not much art in just making fortnite versions of celebrities and other games characters lawl

Most games still generally have good artwork. I'm not even going to list games because there's no where to start or end. Just kidding I will. Look at things like cup head, absolutely amazing artwork and effort went into that game. Hellblade, insane atmosphere. So many games out there with intricate, unique monsters or whatever type of characters.

Scorn was basically a love letter to hr Geiger

Sooooo many incredible indie games with awesome 2d and pixel are and stuff


Open your motha fuggin eyes my boy

[eod8989]

Shows how it feels like gaming really got feminized. Stuff went from feeling dark, gritty, and grounded to everything being fluffed up with bright colors and glittery effects.

This

Just another reason I prefer to retro game. So many alpha games from back then. Duke nukem was another. Man im gonna have to get some old consoles and play these games. They don't make em like that anymore.

[BearyManilowe]

The trend you'll notice is most of these colorful cartoon zoomer games are the free to play games designed to basically just suck kids in and milk them (or their parents) dry. Fortnite is just basically all cameo characters now so there's not much art in just making fortnite versions of celebrities and other games characters lawl

Most games still generally have good artwork. I'm not even going to list games because there's no where to start or end. Just kidding I will. Look at things like cup head, absolutely amazing artwork and effort went into that game. Hellblade, insane atmosphere. So many games out there with intricate, unique monsters or whatever type of characters.

Scorn was basically a love letter to hr Geiger

Sooooo many incredible indie games with awesome 2d and pixel are and stuff


Open your motha fuggin eyes my boy

Freeburner speaking the truth in here.

[JayJ350]

This

Just another reason I prefer to retro game. So many alpha games from back then. Duke nukem was another. Man im gonna have to get some old consoles and play these games. They don't make em like that anymore.

I have really been getting back into what is now PC retro gaming, like playing a lot of games from the Windows 95 - XP eras. So much great stuff, gaming had a completely different feel back then, so much more creativity and genuine passion.

[Voidgaze]

No, overly vibrant colours making the style of the game look kid and ghey friendly.
FromSoftware games are a good example of having a good gritty style. It is also one of the driving points why they are popular




This, way too much saturation and vibrance. Most games feel like some black swagger teens fantasy.




GTA5, GoW:Ragarok, every Ubisoft game, Mortal Kombat 1, Spider-Ghey, Every FPS etc.

All games share something similar, as JayJ350 said - way too vibrant colours making the world cartoonish.

Also the added layer of goofy friendship relationships in the story further ruin the vibe.
The 90's even managed to make Spider-man feel like a violent comic with it's athmosphere. Now Spiderman is ghey as phuck.


Check CS:GO, with the new CS2 even they jumped into the ''Vibrant'' look to appeal to kiddies even more. And it was one of the few FPS left that didn't fully look like ghey like Valorant, COD, Battlefield.


MK1? Literally the gheyest Mortal Kombat I have seen. They focused so much on the gaming looking ghey that they forgot they were making a nextgen game. Ending up looking way worse (graphically) than MK11 that was released 5 years before that

I appreciate the examples, srs.

I think Freeburn nailed it with his take. Those games are definitely meant to cater to zoomers, even Apex does a little bit of the vibrant colorful stuff.

[LogicalLifts]

I don't play games with that style. I guess in the arpg space that would be Lost Ark, right? Because PoE and Diablo 4 certainly don't have it.

[eod8989]

Another good example is the old Tony Hawk Pro Skater games. They were so much more alpha. The new one's graphics and presentation is way too polished compared to

[eod8989]

I have really been getting back into what is now PC retro gaming, like playing a lot of games from the Windows 95 - XP eras. So much great stuff, gaming had a completely different feel back then, so much more creativity and genuine passion.

I honestly didn't play much PC stuff from that era except Rainbow Six and Mechwarrior. I actually hated PC gaming back then especially since you couldn't use a controller.