How important is graphical fidelity?

[Guest]

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How important do you feel graphic style is in pokemon fan games?

I might make a topic on this but I'm really interested in everyone's answers. I suppose its hard since there isn't much graphical variety between most fan games, and therefore the official games probably provide the starkest comparison, but yeah, I'm curious as to how valued art style is in these kinds of RPGs

 

I'll paste @Monochrome_Complex's reply to my status here as well for convenience

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Art style plays an important part  I feel. Generally if sprites look super amateurish  or the game's color use is poor, it's going to make the game a bit harder to become immersed in. It's funny because playing Rejuv I remember detesting Nim's old sprite(granted Rejuv itself was never that bad looking overall  save for a few sprites) and I'm so glad she has a much better one now, as well as a better design in general. Really just playing Rejuv feels a lot nicer now because of the improvements to the graphical presentation.

 

Reborn while laggy in gameplay originally(and still is to some degree) actually caught my eye with its dystopian aesthetic and detailed maps. While it's not a graphical powerhouse or say as pretty as Phoenix rising it conveys its atmosphere very well and has a lot of character which is one of its biggest draws. The darker and  muted colors work to its advantage I feel which makes it stand out from other fangames. 

 

I feel proper care needs to be taken into character design too.  I know a lot of fangames use sprite edits but again I once have to turn to Nim(sorry Jan!), in how a simple change of clothes can vastly improve a design, or at least how its presented to the player. Nim's old big old white tee and pants were well honestly bad but her newer look definitely gives off the impression of whimsical esper better.

 

Graphics aren't everything but they do play an important role.

 

 

Contrasting all existing pokemon games. Official (and their graphical development over the years), fan made. Reborn, Rejuv, Uranium, Full Moon, Prism, Phoenix Rising, Insurgence etc

This includes overworld aesthetics, UI, character art and animations, all artistic aspects. Its a big but important area of discussion in the fan-game community

Edited June 3, 2018 by Guest
for clarity

[Starry Knight]

Graphics generally paint the atmosphere for you, extremely poor graphics can end the game before it even starts, poor graphics can leave a bad impression on the game itself. Having amazing graphics is nice and all but if it doesn't match the tone of the story it can be very off putting, however if you have decent graphics that match the tone of the story it can enchant you even further into the game. While graphic generally aren't make or break they defiantly play a major role

[Candy]

Beautiful graphics hype me for any game~ because I like pretty stuff

[GenEric]

As long as they dont suck im cool with it

But if they do I'll send a hate letter to the devs  just delet it

[Autumn Rain]

The way game devs use graphics are one of the important elements in game development, especially for the main character. If someone used a 4th gen MC sprite (the one where the MC sticks his/her arms out) and that person used 3rd gen tilesets with 3rd gen NPCs, it's already out of place. If someone used the default Essentials sprites without getting custom sprites from DeviantART or from fan games, it bores the players because of how overused it is and it's less original to create attention. If someone used very detailed graphics with animations but the performance of the game lags like hell, that would drive the players crazy.

 

I highly recommend using customized graphics but also consider how it affects the players and their gameplay experience.

[Commander]

Hello? Is this the news media? I'd like to report a theft of my time. Thank you and good day, sir!

 

First, I have no idea who the heck this mono person is. Are they a well known Youtuber or Fan-game Dev or even an actual game dev maker? I also assume that's short for something. That's sometimes far more significant than what is actually said. Secondly, what the heck is he contradicting? I'm like not comprehending what you're saying as he's saying just mere facts that have been around for years. And anyone who has seen like a few of my posts knows I talk about art style...a lot. I guess I'll explain it one more time.

 

If you are more into profits over experience, graphics should be more important. A casual gamer will often buy a game with better graphics over one with a better art style purely because it looks better. It gives off a better first impression which sometimes games and companies need to do just to even get by. These fan-game and hack communities aren't exactly helping them with their profits either, but it's a minor problem compared to the flood of shoveware rising more and more. If the graphics weren't as good as they are, Phoenix Rising would have been completely forgotten instead of the talk of the week. It has a terrible lasting appeal as what looks good at that time can completely look awful in modern time such as FFVI and Legend of Dragoon. Heck even FFX definitely has shown its age and that game was one of the best looking at the time. I could go deeper, but that's the big gist and importance of graphics.

 

Now art style is very different as it focuses more on the artistic aspect of the graphics. I think the best way to understand it is to compare Legend of Zelda Wind Waker to Twilight Princess as the two used very different art styles. Twilight Princess was revered as the better looking game at the time. Now with time Wind Waker pretty much took the spot as the cartoon design had a longer lasting appeal. It's a completely different style of graphics and it worked in the long run. When someone uses a unique art style, it means that it's a graphical presentation different from the norm. Reborn's Reborn City gives off a dark dystopia type city that's falling to pieces and invests you on a terrible type place to live. It uses its own unique spin on the RSE Pokemon graphics which gives a familiar but different visual experience at the same time.

 

So a good art style gives better immersion, right? If that's true then Phoenix Rising is more immersive than Reborn. Stop trying to answer a complicated question with a simple solution. Immersion is based on three factors: engagement, involvement, and thoughts. Engagement is things you see in a game that make you want to play it or continue which can be both visual and auditory. Involvement is when a player is playing the game or interacting through it in the means the designer wishes or wants. The most important is the last one. Thoughts are what you take from the game. So you have this game with amazing graphics, a solid gameplay which heavily involves the players thinking through their actions, but let's say the story is very predictable and generic. Now why would a player not feel very immersed?

 

(In a tiny squeaky voice pretending to be a nonexistant fan) "But Commander, you've said story is the least important aspect of a game?" I have indeed, intelligent little child. I have indeed. You don't need a good story to make an enjoyable game, but we are talking about immersion. A game with a good story makes you think about it more and wonder about things. But can you make an immersive game without story? Yes you can. Take Xenoblade X. The games exploration aspect makes you feel like you're in this amazing new world which you want to explore...and cry tears of joy when you get your giant robot. Don't you think this could also be applied to graphics/art style. Yes it can. Don't you guys love it when there's no simple answer.

 

And so you don't think I wasted all your time, go play Sunset Over Imdahl. It's a free and beautiful looking RPGmaker game with hand drawn maps. Commander out yo!

[Monochrome_Complex]

 I'm mono, I just replied to his status update since that's where the original question  was asked and he considered making it into a thread anyway.  My reply was what he posted, just think of it as a first reply to a thread.  I don't believe he said I was contradicting anything. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShadeStrider]

To be fair, for me, Twilight Princess still looks better than Wind Waker. I really don't mind PS2 graphics, and, while I still love Wind Waker, the cartoony Art Style really took me out of it. And it still does, to this day.

 

 

But, yeah, Lazy Graphics can take me out of a game. The Sprites have to be expertly designed as well. Graphical Quality isn't the most important thing in the game, however. Gameplay is. It's why there are Playstation 2 Games that are better than Playstation 4 games. It's why Super Smash Bros Melee is better than Super Smash Bros 4 Wii U (Controversial example, I know, but still).

[Anoua]

For me graphics need to be decent I think, though they don't need to be perfect.

 

But they definitely have an affect on how things feel and whether I feel immersed in the world and story or not and so my overall opinion of a game. But I can still play PS2 and GameCube era games without any issues. Even N64 Zeldas are fine with me too. Though there are definitely some older games that I did not play, that I just can't get into now. But either way it doesn't really need to be latest gen or anything, but just to make sense with the world overall for sure.

 

Game play is definitely the most important element for me as well though.