Does the art look soulless to anyone else?

[piecewise66]

I'm just curious if anyone else feels the same way I do about the art. I mean its fine and all but its just...it does absolutely nothing for me. Its like...what an AI would make if you fed it tumblr OCs and fan sprites. Its the indie game version of corporate memphis: a completely uninspired and inoffensive artistic white noise. Just about on par with RPG maker default sprites.

[wurmtoken]

Can't disagree more.

[fireheart126]

hard disagree friend. If this is what you're taking away from the artstyle, it sounds like either this game is just not for you, or that you have bad taste in general.

[piecewise66]

Originally posted by fireheart126:

hard disagree friend. If this is what you're taking away from the artstyle, it sounds like either this game is just not for you, or that you have bad taste in general.

The designs and the actual sprites are fine. It's something about how the human characters are designed and rendered in the larger illustrations. I can't even put my finger on it but it feels like I've seen that exact style hundreds of times across hundreds of projects. Its like that "Calarts" style: There are just aspects of the design that feel generic. "Anime drawn by westerners" style.

[Pook and Pie]

Originally posted by piecewise66:

I'm just curious if anyone else feels the same way I do about the art. I mean its fine and all but its just...it does absolutely nothing for me. Its like...what an AI would make if you fed it tumblr OCs and fan sprites. Its the indie game version of corporate memphis: a completely uninspired and inoffensive artistic white noise. Just about on par with RPG maker default sprites.

Wow, I can't think of anything more insulting to say to an artist than, "Your art looks like the [blank] version of Corporate Memphis"

And no, the artwork in Cassette Beasts looks nothing like Calarts style, either, and neither Corporate Memphis or Calarts has anything to do with "anime drawn by westerners", which isn't a unifying style concept at all (unless you want to make the argument that Avatar: The Last Airbender, Boondocks, and Netflix's Castlevania all share the same art style... which would be an insane take to have).

I can understand that there are elements of the art that you don't like, but it seems to me, from the outside perspective of an illustrator, that you're starting from a premise and then working backwards to justify why you don't like it. You can just say you don't like Sami Briggs' art, and you don't need to find a greater justification for doing so.

[foamcup]

If you want soulless (or hilarious) just fuse weevilite with anything.

[child of glue]

Originally posted by piecewise66:

Originally posted by fireheart126:

hard disagree friend. If this is what you're taking away from the artstyle, it sounds like either this game is just not for you, or that you have bad taste in general.

The designs and the actual sprites are fine. It's something about how the human characters are designed and rendered in the larger illustrations. I can't even put my finger on it but it feels like I've seen that exact style hundreds of times across hundreds of projects. Its like that "Calarts" style: There are just aspects of the design that feel generic. "Anime drawn by westerners" style.

The reason we are here is for the monsters, not for the characters. Also the Archangels have no one defined art-style so calling the whole game "Calarts" is a load of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

[fireheart126]

Now, now... the monsters are a very important part of the game and world, but the characters have their own draw to them too. I really do like these characters, and for me, they enhanced the fun I had with this game.

[kadsoukui]

Surprised you described it as soulless while personally I think they are bursting with personality. I guess different strokes for different folks.

[Averam]

Posts like this are the reason Steam needs a downvote button.

[piecewise66]

Originally posted by Pook and Pie:

Originally posted by piecewise66:

I'm just curious if anyone else feels the same way I do about the art. I mean its fine and all but its just...it does absolutely nothing for me. Its like...what an AI would make if you fed it tumblr OCs and fan sprites. Its the indie game version of corporate memphis: a completely uninspired and inoffensive artistic white noise. Just about on par with RPG maker default sprites.

Wow, I can't think of anything more insulting to say to an artist than, "Your art looks like the [blank] version of Corporate Memphis"

And no, the artwork in Cassette Beasts looks nothing like Calarts style, either, and neither Corporate Memphis or Calarts has anything to do with "anime drawn by westerners", which isn't a unifying style concept at all (unless you want to make the argument that Avatar: The Last Airbender, Boondocks, and Netflix's Castlevania all share the same art style... which would be an insane take to have).

I can understand that there are elements of the art that you don't like, but it seems to me, from the outside perspective of an illustrator, that you're starting from a premise and then working backwards to justify why you don't like it. You can just say you don't like Sami Briggs' art, and you don't need to find a greater justification for doing so.

I didn't say it looked like calarts. I said something about the style was reminiscent of other things. Much like how people have noticed the "calarts" style between different works, I think this style looks like a lot of other things I've seen and seems generic as a result.

Also your right. Anime drawn by deviant art is closer. Or tumblr.

Originally posted by child of glue:

Originally posted by piecewise66:

The designs and the actual sprites are fine. It's something about how the human characters are designed and rendered in the larger illustrations. I can't even put my finger on it but it feels like I've seen that exact style hundreds of times across hundreds of projects. Its like that "Calarts" style: There are just aspects of the design that feel generic. "Anime drawn by westerners" style.

The reason we are here is for the monsters, not for the characters. Also the Archangels have no one defined art-style so calling the whole game "Calarts" is a load of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Again, I didn't say it was in the calarts style. I said it seemed to carry design inspirations from other things I'd seen in the same way calarts artists often have similar styles.

Also yeah, they do have a similar art style. Not similar design, but they are all drawn in the same art style.

[piecewise66]

Originally posted by Averam:

Posts like this are the reason Steam needs a downvote button.

Lol did my opinion make you angry and now you wanna hit a button to make the bad thoughts go away?

[child of glue]

"Again, I didn't say it was in the calarts style. I said it seemed to carry design inspirations from other things I'd seen in the same way calarts artists often have similar styles.

Also yeah, they do have a similar art style. Not similar design, but they are all drawn in the same art style."

Do you just not like fakemons? These monsters carry direct inspiration from things like gens 3-5 Pokemon, as well as the player portraits seemingly being based on X/Y's diverse cast. Except in X/Y the rivals were almost useless in gameplay or the plot and only served to hinder you, whereas in this game they mostly help you. The chibis are to go back to the overworld sprites we saw in gens 1-5. The endgame of this game isn't anything new for a monster collecting game, collect mcguffins to power up your monsters and ability to catch them. The same thing can be seen in the battle tower, battle maison, battle frontier, white forest, black city, etc...

[piecewise66]

Originally posted by child of glue:

"Again, I didn't say it was in the calarts style. I said it seemed to carry design inspirations from other things I'd seen in the same way calarts artists often have similar styles.

Also yeah, they do have a similar art style. Not similar design, but they are all drawn in the same art style."

Do you just not like fakemons? These monsters carry direct inspiration from things like gens 3-5 Pokemon, as well as the player portraits seemingly being based on X/Y's diverse cast. Except in X/Y the rivals were almost useless in gameplay or the plot and only served to hinder you, whereas in this game they mostly help you. The chibis are to go back to the overworld sprites we saw in gens 1-5. The endgame of this game isn't anything new for a monster collecting game, collect mcguffins to power up your monsters and ability to catch them. The same thing can be seen in the battle tower, battle maison, battle frontier, white forest, black city, etc...

As I specified in a later post, I was talking about the human characters, specifically the more detailed drawings in the "Visual Novel" style sections. The monsters and such are fine for the most part.