Topic: Best Looking Wii Game

[Kytim89]

Since the Wii dynasty is almost over, I thoutght it might be a good idea to look over the plethora of good first and third party games for the Wii and figure which of them looks the best graphically and crown that game as thebest looking Wii game of all time. However, I was debating for a while on whether or not to include Skyward Sword due to it having the best chance of winning, which is good, but I want to see a fierce battle for the title and see Skyward Sword as having an unfair advantage.
 
If I over looked any quality titles then please notify me and I will change them accordingly.

[broodwars]

No love for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption?  And there are some games on this list that the general public just hasn't played yet, like Zelda and The Last Story.  Well, for me it would probably be between Xenoblade and Donkey Kong Country Returns, both of which are very stylistically strong at what they do.  I think I'll go with Xenoblade just because it's trying to push so much on Wii with its wide-open and detailed areas/enemies, despite the slowdown I've observed with larger groups of enemies.  But Donkey Kong Country Returns is a very strong runner-up.

[ejamer]

Not really sure if I should be voting when there are a couple of games yet to play, but the artwork from Muramasa is so beautiful that I couldn't resist giving it my nod.  (Monster Hunter Tri was the other game that really tempted me.)

[Dasmos]

Some of those options are totes lolz. Also as broodwars said it's pretty ridiculous to put games up there without having been released.

However right now I would say the Super Mario Galaxy games are top dog, those games look magical. DKCR is also a strong contender because the art style is great. Wario Land and Kriby's Epic Yarn should be on your list as well as those games both have a very strong and beautiful style.

[Mop it up]

It's a tough call, there are a lot of good choices up there. I'm tempted to go with Kirby's Epic Yarn, as it seemed to work its art into the gameplay... hmm...

[Retro Deckades]

I'd just like to add that I enjoy how every response elicited so far has been in favour of a different game. It's heartening to see.

[ejamer]

Oooh! Epic Yarn!  Forgot about how beautiful that game is. My wife prefers the look of Kirby's Return to Dreamland... but I think there is something magical about the art style of Epic Yarn.

[Ceric]

Wind Waker

[Ian Sane]

DKC Returns has a style that is so nice that you kind of forget that you're playing a glorified last gen console.  I don't have an HDTV but PS3 games still look better than Wii games using it.  DKC Returns looked good enough that if they had released that on the PS3, I don't think anyone would say it looked last gen.  It's just a gorgeous game.  Metroid Prime 3 looks great as well and it just shows how talented Retro is.

Warioland and Epic Yarn were both made by Good Feel and also both look great.  Some devs just know how to deliver the goods and they put these great visuals in a great game as well!

Aside from those only the Super Mario Galaxy games and the upcoming Skyward Sword impressed me in terms of graphics.  The rest of Nintendo's output wouldn't even stand out on the Gamecube (except Twilight Princess which literally IS a Gamecube game).  I would describe Nintendo's typical attitude towards graphics as "good enough" and I mean that as a serious insult.  The Miis come across less as an intentional simplistic style and more as an excuse to release games with subpar graphics.

[broodwars]

Sheesh, Ian...you couldn't even let a topic about the best-looking Wii games go without a dig at the system and your overall impression of Nintendo's graphical effort?      I'm not Nintendo's biggest fan, either, but this isn't the topic for that.

And seriously, you should import Xenoblade, Ian, if you want to see what the Wii can really do.  The things that game does with sheer scope and detail of the landscapes and size of the enemies while maintaining a fairly consistent framerate is outstanding.

EDIT: For instance, I just passed through this kind of typical swamp area last night.  It's your typical white foggy area with marshes during the day.  But at night...Wow.

[Ian Sane]

Sure it is.  "Best looking Wii game" is going to naturally bring up examples of games wowing us with their visuals.  On a typical console there are usually tons of memories of this as there's a bit of a graphics arms race with companies constantly topping themselves with each release.  I've realized on the Wii, this was never really the case and the feeling of "wow, look at that" was a rare feeling for me to have.

[Kytim89]

Here is why I think Monster Hunter Tri is the best looking Wii game:
 

[Ceric]

Tri does have those times when its like Wow.

[Ian Sane]

Looking at that Xenoblade shot all I can think of is "**** YOU REGGIE!!"

[Kytim89]

Can everyone bring a picture of each game so that we may compare them?

[NWR_insanolord]

Comparing something like Galaxy with something like Epic Yarn is a bit apples and oranges.

[Chozo Ghost]

The Wii may have inferior hardware to the competition, but it is capable of much more than most people give it credit for. The Wii sports game it launched with look like an N64 game at best, and since its the game everyone associates with the Wii that's how people think of the Wii and its graphical abilities.

The casual focus of the system has pemanently tarnished its image in the eyes of gamers. Both 1st and 3rd parties don't put much effort into the graphical quality of casual games, so if that's all you played you would never realize the Wii is capable of much more.

[NWR_insanolord]

Wii Sports certainly doesn't look like an N64 game. It uses a simplified style, but what it does do is done well.

[nickmitch]

Yeah, I think we're confusing art style and graphics again.

In any event, I voted for Kirby's Epic Yarn as best looking because of the art style. The graphics quality is basically unnoticeable next to it. Every level had a way of impressing me with how they conveyed something with yarn and fabric and buttons. Even if it didn't look "realistic" in the traditional sense, you got just as many "wow" moments but delivered in an original way.

[Chozo Ghost]

Okay, the "simplified style" of Wii Sports makes it look like an N64 game. Is that better?

[Kytim89]

Ten or twenty years from the Wii will be looked upon as a great console that feel victim to its own casualization. The Wii did suffer s deficit of third party titles, but what titles that it did get from both first and third party developers helped give the console a sense of style and identity all to its own. The Wii is no PS3 or 360, but it certainly is no slouch and there are tons of games for it that no real gamer should be ashamed to play or keep in their collection.

[NWR_insanolord]

Okay, the "simplified style" of Wii Sports makes it look like an N64 game. Is that better?

You need to go look at N64 games if you think Wii Sports looks like one. I understand that you've switched from complete fanboyism to whining about every little thing Nintendo does, but this is ridiculous.

If you're going to blame Nintendo for the subpar graphics on the Wii it's because they didn't put good enough hardware in there, or because they made it unnecessarily hard to program for what was there by requiring proprietary bullshit instead of established standards. The style of Wii Sports is irrelevant.

[Stogi]

I'm going to reserve judgment until SS comes out.

[Chozo Ghost]

whining about every little thing Nintendo does,

Everything? How can you say that when I was just defending the Wii for being graphically capable of more than most people give it credit for? Look, no matter how you slice it the fact is the Wii series and most if not all of the casual games have piss poor graphics and this gives people a bad impression of the Wii's graphical capabilities. Casual games are not a labor of love for the developers who make them. They just make them because the casual crowd will buy them up. The selling point of these games is not nor has it ever been or ever will be the graphics. What sells these games is wiggle control and tilting and twisting a control around, and that's what the devs focus on when making these games. They are made simply with simple graphics, because they are targeted towards the simple minded demographic.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

They are made simply with simple graphics, because they are targeted towards the simple minded demographic.

Stop there. I don't know if you meant it this way, but that's incredibly offensive and unjustified. People who don't play video games much and find them often difficult to play when they do are not simple minded. My cousin earned his master's degree in aeronautical engineering a couple of years ago and works in the air force now, but he's not really good at games and prefers the simpler titles. The insinuation that he is simple-minded because of this is not only obviously false, it's also completely unfair. Think carefully about what you're saying.