Favorite art style in games?

[danzibr]

I was perusing the cel-shading thread and there was talk about taste in art being subjective. I was going to make a comment saying pixel art is my favorite type of art, and then I thought: why not make a new thread?

Me, my favorite is pixel art. In particular, I like pixel art with colors which are high in saturation and value. So bright, rich, pixel art.

[Togath]

Probably celshading for me, especially more...
How to describe... Sort of, thicker outlines? Like the Sly Cooper or Borderlands series, though Dragon Quest 8 might fit too.

[Domino Quartz]

2D art with detailed and well executed lighting and shading (like the Spelunky art style). I also like 3D games if the lighting and shading are used properly and the textures are high-resolution. I don't mind pixel art, but I don't prefer it.

[factotum]

I actually like 3D artwork, myself. The game wasn't much cop, but the 3D environments in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West were absolutely jaw-droppingly beautiful to look at, for example.

[Comet]

A bit broad, but I really like pixelated visuals of the 90s or the early 00s. This ranges from the great close-ups of detailed faces in LucasArts adventures to the amazing use of light and shadow in Vagrant Story.

Basically, doing a whole lot with relatively little. Not the minimalism of modern indie pixel aesthetics, but a genuine effort to do as much as possible with what was at the time very limited technology.

[Yora]

I like "normal".

[Razade]

I like "normal".

Very descriptive. We know exactly what you mean by normal.

[BeerMug Paladin]

Very descriptive. We know exactly what you mean by normal.

Skies of rust and tepid meadows of lifeless sod.

Real is brown is normal, isn't it?

[Fri]

I like any kind of artstyle that I can consider "stylish" and any kind of artstyle can be stylish for me. It's... I don't know how to explain myself, but blocky 3d can be stylish or not, cell shaded can be stylish or not, and retro 8bit pixel also can be stylish or not.

So it's pretty subjective to me honestly :smallbiggrin:

[Knaight]

I'm good with just about any art style (though I want to be able to distinguish what's going on well enough to be able to play the game), but think that the choice of art style should be a deliberate one that fits with the game. To use an example of two games, Mount and Blade goes for realism. Spelunky is a stylized work with very cartoonish figures. I like both, and I think both work very well in the context of their games. Had Mount and Blade been made with a Spelunky style cartoonish aesthetic, I would have disliked the art; it would just be way out of place with the game play, the dialog, the themes of the setting, and generally everything else that defines the game's milieu. It would create a thoroughly incoherent aesthetic. Similarly, going for realism with Spelunky, a fundamentally light hearted game that doesn't address anything of substance would just feel off.

Basically, if the art style is clean enough that it doesn't get in the way of being able to play the game, it can work for me. If it's a good implementation of said style, I can really enjoy it, provided that it fits the game it's in. If it doesn't, then it will seem subjectively off regardless of how good it is in isolation.

[Razade]

Skies of rust and tepid meadows of lifeless sod.

Everyone knows Protus is "Normal".