Topic: Is a game’s art style very important when you play?

@Yousef- I really wish I could just add a heart to a post sometimes so I could react/acknowledge without having to interrupt the thread more. But anyways, thank you for the response 😀

@FishyS I extend the sentiments. XD

Not particularly, unless a game is egregiously ugly (typically if it deviates too far from an established art style).

The only example that comes to me at the moment is the handheld (GBA/DS) editions of The Urbz: Sims In The City, which took on a more street/graffiti-inspired look for all of the characters when compared to its predecessor, The Sims: Bustin' Out on GBA (and Nokia N-Gage). It didn't necessarily diminish my enjoyment of the game by any means, which otherwise improved upon the previous game by most metrics, but I found it a lot less memorable, and the characters left less of an impression due to their more grotesque forms (which was especially jarring among the returning characters).

Three sequels followed in late 2005 with The Sims 2 on GBA, DS, and PSP, each their own completely unique game/experience with their own art styles. The GBA game looked very much like Bustin' Out and The Urbz before it, with an art style more consistent with the former than the latter (where character portraits are concerned); the DS game was a completely unique game this time around, boasting a (then) new 3D engine that was very appealing, and felt like a good step forward for the series; and finally, the PSP game was also something else entirely, adopting a look that very closely mimics the PC game that inspired it (and borrows a lot of its animations too). Sadly, the golden age of The Sims on handheld pretty much died with these games, only to be followed by some very underwhelming to outright bad instalments (though Pets and Castaway on PSP were solid ports of the console games, rather than being its own thing).

I hated Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl's art style from the get-go as I couldn't believe what the remake ended up being as it was so unsightly (based on the reveal trailer), and even embarrassingly ugly in parts (especially the occasional close-ups of chibi models in the overworld). In fact, given the DS's capability for 3D graphics, it ironically resembled what I anticipated that a main series Pokémon game would have looked like on the hardware (and I was quite disappointed back in the day that the Gen IV games weren't a more significant leap ahead of the GBA games). While I still sort of enjoyed my time with the Gen IV remakes, I was expecting something more in the spirit of Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire or even the Let's Go games than a remake that otherwise replicated the original games to a fault (so much so that many of Platinum's improvements weren't reflected in the remake either).

I have my preferences in terms of art styles, but for me, it's always been more important that a game looks visually cohesive and intentional. If it's not, it can make the game as a whole feel more unpolished to me. Pokemon's a good example, actually. BDSP isn't the most polished game out there visually but I like that it committed to that specific chibi style, while something like SwSh can deviate so wildly in terms of visual quality that it feels almost worse (the Wild Area looking noticeably worse than the towns, for example).

To put it simply, I'd rather a game go all into an artstyle I don't personally find appealing over a game that ends up just feeling like a haphazard asset flip.

@SillyG I haven’t really seen any games that do deviate from previously established art styles, but one that does come to my mind is the Banjo-Kazooie games, but it’s more in a kind of negative way. Those games had such a cute and colorful cartoony art style that brought a ton of charm, and then Nuts and Bolts came around and had a REALLY different art style that completely did away with the OG art style and used a newer cuboid and stitched together style.

It isn’t the ugliest art style I’ve seen, far from the worst and I wouldn’t say I hate it, but I am not a fan of some aspects of the style, especially the character designs…I think it has to be the eyes that make some of the characters look a bit ugly. There’s at least only one character in there that I’d say still looks close to his original design and retains the same cute look he had in the original art style. I still prefer the original look the previous entries had, however, I think the reason why there was an art style shift was because the developers thought the original art style looked less charming with the newer graphics and technology at the time.

And about the Pokémon thing, when I did hear the Diamond and Pearl remake rumors at first, I was also imagining the look and art style being that of the ones seen in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (but a bit more higher quality) so I was not expecting them to go with a chibi art style when they revealed it. It also isn’t the greatest art style I have seen, but I would not say super ugly, however, I think it could have looked better with the art style of the Ruby and Sapphire remakes instead of them going for a newer look. I don’t remember if it was this site, another site or some random internet user online, but I believe there was a poll regarding the art style and graphics of the game, and if I remember, the question was “what look were you expecting for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl?” and I believe one of the most voted options was either it having the same appearance as Sword and Shield or the previous 3DS remakes, so it wasn’t just me who expected an art style resembling the modern remakes and games.

@StarryCiel That is a really good insight. SwSh graphics have always bugged me and I've never really managed to articulate why, but I think part of it is definitely the inconsistency you are mentioning. tbh even though it is a flawed game, the S/V graphics didn't bother me much after the first few minutes because it was pretty consistent and just sort of easy to ignore the flaws (except for some of the school parts which were atrocious).

@Pastellioli : I'm sure there are plenty of other examples, but I just can't think of very many that were problematic enough to warrant a mention. For the most part, art styles tend to improve with time rather than the reverse, but I do have a soft spot for GB/GBC games and their simplistic art styles, and I miss the days of multiplatform releases where there would be a console/PC and often numerous small-scale handheld adaptations.

And going back to The Sims, I strongly disliked the new art style of The Sims 3, and even more so as most of the animations were recycled from the previous game, and as die-hard a Sims fan as I was at the time, my love of The Sims died with The Sims 2.

@SillyG it is pretty rare for a game series to not improve on its art style years later, which is maybe why I could only think of one right now. Not saying the art style for Nuts and Bolts is lazy and I believe that there was effort and creativity put into redesigning the characters with the newer style, but the new designs look downgraded and worse than the original designs, especially with the two main characters, but Banjo’s new design is worser than Kazooie’s new design. I also wouldn’t call the shift in art style problematic, but a lot of people who have played the game seem to agree that the art style is one of its worst aspects, especially if you look at the original style.