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Discussions Rules and Guidelines
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It is all in the budget and time. Art direction helps a lot too.
Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment was an amazing looking PSP game.
Sadly, Namco Bandai opted for releasing Hollow Fragment instead and the art direction took a serious hit, as it was only developed within a year. So AQUIRIA went for the easiest approach to make Hollow Fragment's content HD, when they included the story of Infinity Moment in Hollow Fragment:
- Instead of hand drawn textures, they went with photo textures which aren't as great to use as surfaces. As a result, the textures look muddy and do not mesh well at all.
- instead of beautiful 2D sprites which were better illustrated, they opted to go for vector recreations and it resulted in loss of detail. This was done for better scalability, at the cost of quality
- They also did a new art for Asuna (Asuna even got a new 3D model while everyone else had the same, resulting in a bit of a mismatch) and Leafa, which did not mesh at all with the preexisting cutscenes (which both used the previous design) and it looks very off
- Some of the floor locations (namely floor 100) look way worse, same with character expressions
These all contribute to the overall look and feel of the game itself and are purely a result of Namco Bandai's demands, as they are the IP holder.
I remember what 2002 games look like, I have a few still sitting in my Steam Library (2003 technically) and these games all look better than them.
Please, do not slander Infinity Moment. It looks miles better than Hollow Fragment, because it has a strong art direction. You also have to keep in mind IM was for the PSP, and for a PSP game, the game looks great. Granted, it is a late PSP title, but still.
Zum einen ist das die Geschichte. Egal wie sehr man den Spielstil mag oder eben auch nicht, eine gute Geschichte hält einen bei der Stange weil man einfach wissen möchte wie es weiter geht. Als Beispiel nehme ich einfach einmal Mass Effect 1 und Mass Effect Andromeda. Das Erkunden mit dem Mako in Teil 1 war ein Graus. Die Erkundung mit dem Mako war ein Graus und mühsam. Bis auf sehr sehr wenige Orte waren die Planeten einfach nur eine leere Einöde. Ebenso in Mass Effect Andromeda. Dort wurde die Open World einfach nur mit den allseits gehassten Sammel Aufgaben gefüllt. Es gab nur wenige Orte welche von Belang waren. Gemocht haben diese Mechanik die wenigsten, doch die Geschichte war interessant und spannend, so das man dies in Kauf genommen hat.
Zum anderen ist das die Art des Spiels. Je nach persönlichen Vorlieben mag man ein Genre oder eine Art wie ein Genre adaptiert wurde, und das Spiel einem so Spaß macht. Hierbei nehme ich nun einmal Factorio und das Original Z als Beispiel. Factorio lebt nicht von seiner Grafik, sondern von dem Reiz möglichst effektiv oder schön zu bauen. Der Reiz der Spieler die Factorio spielen liegt nicht in hübscher Grafik, sondern am Spaß an ihrer Fabrik zu tüfteln. Das erste Z, welches man auch heute noch bei Steam findet, ist für die Generationen nach mir wohl kaum zu ertragen. Alles unter 4k Auflösung wird ja von der heutigen Generation behandelt als würde es die Augen verbrennen. Dennoch hat es das RTS Genre auf eine Art umgesetzt, welche ich bisher nie wieder in der Form gesehen habe. Und es macht auch heute noch Spaß.
Zum Dritten ist es die Fan Basis. Wer ein Fan eines Universums ( stellvertretend für Geschichte, Filme, Serien und alles andere ) ist, den interessiert die Grafik meist wenig. Man freut sich schlicht etwas in diesem Universum spielen zu können. Als Beispiel nehme ich da einmal Star Trek Bridge Commander. Das Spiel erschien 2002, hat also schon über 20 Jahre auf dem Buckel. Und auch wenn die Grafik für einige heutzutage ein Graus sein mag, erzählt es doch eine gute Geschichte. 2021 bekam es sogar einen remaster Mod, womit man dies auch auf heutigen Systemen zum laufen bringt. Die Fanbase ist da durchaus noch gegeben. Ebenso verhält es sich mit anderen Universen. C&C bekam bei Steam vor kurzem eine Remaster Collection. Point and Click Adventures wie die Larry Laffer oder Monkey Island Reihe haben bis heute viele Fans. Denen ist die Optik relativ egal. Es geht ihnen um den Knobelspaß.
Mag man die Geschichte welches im Spiel erzählt wird, dann kauf man es um sie zu erleben. Mag man allgemein die Art und Weise des Spielstils, kann man einen genaueren Blick darauf werfen und dann entscheiden. Und als Fan von SAO bist hat man ebenso die Wahl es zu kaufen und Spaß daran zu haben, oder es auszulassen weil einem etwas anderes daran missfällt. Wenn es nur die Grafik ist, sollte man vielleicht besser einen Film aus Hoolywood anschauen. Die haben ( zumeist ) realistische Grafik, einfach weil es echte Schauspieler sind. Wenn man aber auch nur in einem der oben genannten Punkte zustimmen kann, kann einem die Grafik relativ egal sein.
Man sollte nur wissen worauf man sich einlässt. Und das wird wie bei den vorherigen SAO Titeln eine Menge Gespräche beinhalten. Man kann wunderbar bei den vorherigen SAO Spielen lesen, wie sich Leute darüber beklagen das sie gerade zum Anfang sehr viele Gespräche haben. Was soll man dazu sagen. Das gehört bei SAO einfach dazu. Ebenso das es keine 8k Auflösung mit Raytracing und realisticher Grafik hat. Das macht das Spiel für diejengen die Spaß damit haben aber nicht schlecht. Im Gegenteil, e gehört irgendwie dazu. SAO basiert auf einem Anime, welcher auf einem Manga basiert, welcher wiederum auf einer Kurzgeschichte basiert. Die optischen Referenzen sind also entweder der Manga oder der Anime. SAO basiert nicht auf einer Real Verfilmung. Warum also soll das Spiel also nicht den Stil des Manga / Anime bei behalten?
Grafik, egal ob Auflösung, Licht und Schatten, Nebeleffekte und was es sonst noch alles gibt machen kein gutes Spiel aus. Siehe zum Beispiel Anthem. Der Spaß am Spiel, den ein jeder nach seinen eigenen Kriterien hat, ist das was einem Freude am Spiel bereitet.
For one thing, that's the story. No matter how much you like the game style or not, a good story keeps you interested because you just want to know what happens next. I'll just take Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect Andromeda as an example. Exploring with the Mako in Part 1 was horrible. Exploring with the Mako was horrible and tedious. Except for very, very few places, the planets were simply empty wastelands. Likewise in Mass Effect Andromeda. There the open world was simply filled with the universally hated collecting tasks. There were only a few places that were important. Very few people liked this mechanic, but the story was interesting and exciting, so they accepted it.
Secondly, that's the nature of the game. Depending on your personal preferences, you like a genre or a way in which a genre has been adapted and the game is so fun for you. I'll take Factorio and the original Z as an example. Factorio does not live from its graphics, but from the appeal of building as effectively or beautifully as possible. The appeal of players who play Factorio lies not in pretty graphics, but in the fun of tinkering with their factory. The first Z, which can still be found on Steam today, will probably be almost unbearable for the generations after me. Everything below 4k resolution is treated by today's generation as if it would burn their eyes. Nevertheless, it implemented the RTS genre in a way that I have never seen before. And it's still fun today.
Thirdly, there is the fan base. Anyone who is a fan of a universe (representative of history, films, series and everything else) is usually of little interest in the graphics. You're just happy to be able to play something in this universe. I'll take Star Trek Bridge Commander as an example. The game was released in 2002, so it's been around for over 20 years. And while the graphics may be cringeworthy to some today, it still tells a good story. In 2021 it even got a remaster mod, which allows it to work on today's systems. The fan base is definitely still there. The same is true with other universes. C&C recently got a remaster collection on Steam. Point and click adventures like the Larry Laffer or Monkey Island series still have many fans today. They don't really care about the optics. They're all about having fun with puzzles.
If you like the story told in the game, then buy it to experience it. If you generally like the style of play, you can take a closer look and then decide. And if you're a fan of SAO, you also have the choice to buy it and enjoy it, or skip it because you don't like something else about it. If it's just the graphics, maybe you're better off watching a Hoolywood movie. They (mostly) have realistic graphics, simply because they are real actors. But if you can only agree with one of the points mentioned above, the graphics can be relatively irrelevant.
You just have to know what you're getting into. And like the previous SAO titles, this will include a lot of conversations. It's wonderful to read in the previous SAO games how people complain about having a lot of conversations, especially at the beginning. What can I say. That's just part of SAO. Likewise, it doesn't have 8k resolution with ray tracing and realistic graphics. That makes the game not bad for those who enjoy it. On the contrary, it is somehow part of it. SAO is based on an anime, which is based on a manga, which in turn is based on a short story. So the visual references are either the manga or the anime. SAO is not based on a live-action film. So why shouldn't the game keep the style of the manga/anime?
Graphics, regardless of resolution, light and shadow, fog effects and whatever else there is, do not make a good game. See for example Anthem. The fun of the game, which everyone has according to their own criteria, is what gives you joy in the game.
I honestly think, that based on the trailer, the graphics do look fine as they are.
As I said in the example above, Hollow Fragment is technically "enhanced" but the graphics do not really blend all that well, as much as they did in Infinity Moment, which was on PSP and looks far better, as a result of a better art direction. Everything is much more colorful, bright and contrasting well, since the textures were done by hand, instead of photo textures of HF, which make for a dull and muddy feel.
I completely agree with what you said. Graphic fidelity should not be the only factor. How you blend everything together is the most important factor. Indie games proved this fact, time and time again.
Fatal Bullet was developed by DIMPS
Yeah and they did a great job with the presentation. Still don't understand why Aquria couldn't at least try. For lycoris I could undertand because the pyre engine was old and probably didn't support better graphics but UE4 has produced games like guilty gear strive, code vein and the aforementioned fatal bullet, all of which are some prime examples of anime games with fantastic cel shading and two of them came from Bamco too.
I also agree that graphics aren't everything but for anime games they are certainly one of the most appealing aspects and if we're honest, the gameplay here isn't great either, so far it feels like a downgrade from lycoris with all the automatic stuff and is it just me or did they remove aerial combat?
They removed it
Aerial/button to stugger now imbued into the attack button too
Alongside with finished art button
So yeah...
All automatic now 😢