Is it just me or is "Pixel Art" starting to become stale and cliche?

[Rpground]

It's not just me is it? It's just starting to bug me that nearly every 5th game now released on steam is like this? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy me pixel graphics, I grew up on this sort of stuff during the 8bit era and the game itself is actually pretty good looking for it being pixel art...but it's just becoming so overused now. It's like a meme, yeah it's funny for the first while...but it starts to get old after a while. It almost feels like an escape goat for not doing any custom graphics or even adopting your own art style anymore. Just seems lazy to me now.

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not talking about this game itself. I'm talking about the use of pixel art in general.

[Dicey]

Been saying the same thing for a year now.

The thing you need to understand, though, is that in the case of some small indie studios that have 2-man development teams, as an example, they might not have the time nor the budget to do anything better. In the case of Hammerwatch, the pixel art is well done and I would consider it a well performed tribute to the good old days, so to speak.

You shouldn't hate on a dev just because their game doesn't have fancy 3D graphics, there can be, and often are, legitimate, real world concerns and limitations as to how much time they can spend on their games.
I would imagine there are those who create games with pixel graphics because pixel graphics is in or hip right now, using that as an excuse to be lazy. Those people I hate on.
Those who do all they can for their creation, even when they struggle with the hindrances mentioned, those I admire.

[hipshot]

It's actually much much cheaper to create pixel art than good 3d. That's one answer.

[Chief]

Początkowo opublikowane przez hipshot:

It's actually much much cheaper to create pixel art than good 3d. That's one answer.

Well you guys did a GREAT job, and you saved money doing it? Give yourselves a pat on the back, you guys deserve it!

[Vatticwave]

Hey, i've never thinked of that.

Take a look at Gods Will Be Watching or Sword and Sorcery for example. They are like "pixely", but they don't look like anything old school!!

Hammerwatch does, but whatever? i'm seriously having tons of fun with it (haha! serious fun ò_ó... Ok i'll stop :_D).

[Loki Shade]

Im really glad Steam have those indie games for release ...i spit on those new generation games =p too easy ...like they only worry about graphics and blowing things up . Ofc thats what kids like nowday .

[Net Sphere Engineer]

Well I really love this kind of graphics but not all games makes me stop all the games I'm playing to play like Hammerwatch did! It's really fun to play online cause you really feel the satisfaction when you accomplish something with your team mates :) I often search for a MMO that is just skill and companionship but I never found one :( Hammerwatch should be a MMO and without that pay to win garbage!

[Rpground]

Początkowo opublikowane przez VGN Dicey:

Been saying the same thing for a year now.

The thing you need to understand, though, is that in the case of some small indie studios that have 2-man development teams, as an example, they might not have the time nor the budget to do anything better. In the case of Hammerwatch, the pixel art is well done and I would consider it a well performed tribute to the good old days, so to speak.

You shouldn't hate on a dev just because their game doesn't have fancy 3D graphics, there can be, and often are, legitimate, real world concerns and limitations as to how much time they can spend on their games.
I would imagine there are those who create games with pixel graphics because pixel graphics is in or hip right now, using that as an excuse to be lazy. Those people I hate on.
Those who do all they can for their creation, even when they struggle with the hindrances mentioned, those I admire.

I'm not hating on hammerwatch or the devs themselves. I'm just getting tired of the pixel art style and how EVERYONE is jumping onto this bandwagon...I admit that they're good looking in this game and well done. But it did make me sigh and say "Again with the pixels?". It's fine if they're done well, but alot of games I've noticed are actually just really pixels for the sake of pixels. Some games are almost just stick figures given a bit more girth to their character sprites...

I guess I'm just getting to that point where it's getting old for me. I understand if you don't have time to make your own custom graphics...but still you should at least try and if you can't fine. But there should be more games with their own graphics instead of just cashing in on the pixel game market...

Not asking for anything complex like full 3d models, just something else OTHER then pixels.

[Sved]

When shiny 3D models look all the same, you turn back to pixelated love stacks.

[NOBLE SIX]

Pixel art aint stale, there's just a lot of bad pixel art and wannabe game devs.

However, the pixel art for this game is totally charming.

[thuovinen1]

I don't think so. Many kind of games do not need 3D graphics at all.

[LVL99ShinyMagikarp]

Opposite point: basically every game uses 3D graphics, so are those overused too? There are far more of those, and more of them come out that pixel art games, so is it that pixel art is overused, or that it's just another form of art that is, by comparison, generally ignored. Plus, it gives it an indie vibe which I'm pretty sure is good for buisness. Like, when was the last time you saw an AAA title come out that was all pixelated?

[Darxio]

The one really good redeeming factor of this game's pixel art is the fantastic CRT effects.

[Jedo]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Rpground:

Początkowo opublikowane przez VGN Dicey:

Been saying the same thing for a year now.

The thing you need to understand, though, is that in the case of some small indie studios that have 2-man development teams, as an example, they might not have the time nor the budget to do anything better. In the case of Hammerwatch, the pixel art is well done and I would consider it a well performed tribute to the good old days, so to speak.

You shouldn't hate on a dev just because their game doesn't have fancy 3D graphics, there can be, and often are, legitimate, real world concerns and limitations as to how much time they can spend on their games.
I would imagine there are those who create games with pixel graphics because pixel graphics is in or hip right now, using that as an excuse to be lazy. Those people I hate on.
Those who do all they can for their creation, even when they struggle with the hindrances mentioned, those I admire.

I'm not hating on hammerwatch or the devs themselves. I'm just getting tired of the pixel art style and how EVERYONE is jumping onto this bandwagon...I admit that they're good looking in this game and well done. But it did make me sigh and say "Again with the pixels?". It's fine if they're done well, but alot of games I've noticed are actually just really pixels for the sake of pixels. Some games are almost just stick figures given a bit more girth to their character sprites...

I guess I'm just getting to that point where it's getting old for me. I understand if you don't have time to make your own custom graphics...but still you should at least try and if you can't fine. But there should be more games with their own graphics instead of just cashing in on the pixel game market...

Not asking for anything complex like full 3d models, just something else OTHER then pixels.

No offense but you can say the same thing about 3d games. There are a lot of 3d games that make me sigh because of how bad they turn out despite having what you call 'custom graphics'.

You treat pixel art like it's some sort of inferior art form or something and honestly you are mistaken. Also, you are wrong when you say 'everyone' is jumping onto the bandwagon because if that were the case then we'd see double or even triple the amount of pixel art games dominating the top seller list on Steam or other distribution platforms.

[Vatticwave]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Darxio:

The one really good redeeming factor of this game's pixel art is the fantastic CRT effects.

+1, it´s strange to have an CRT effect on a 16:9 monitor, but really awesome :D

[Jonas]

Początkowo opublikowane przez VGN Dicey:

Been saying the same thing for a year now.

The thing you need to understand, though, is that in the case of some small indie studios that have 2-man development teams, as an example, they might not have the time nor the budget to do anything better. In the case of Hammerwatch, the pixel art is well done and I would consider it a well performed tribute to the good old days, so to speak.

You shouldn't hate on a dev just because their game doesn't have fancy 3D graphics, there can be, and often are, legitimate, real world concerns and limitations as to how much time they can spend on their games.
I would imagine there are those who create games with pixel graphics because pixel graphics is in or hip right now, using that as an excuse to be lazy. Those people I hate on.
Those who do all they can for their creation, even when they struggle with the hindrances mentioned, those I admire.

Very well said.
I think the good thing about pixel graphics these days is that they allow the devs to focus more on the gameplay.