Those faces might look bad, but the overall art design is to die for.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/30064
I've heard arguments on both sides over the matter of Xenoblade Chronicles' graphics. "Man, this looks like a Nintendo 64 game!" "What? This is the best-looking game on the Wii! No contest!" The stark contrast of opinions makes my head spin a bit.
My personal reaction to the graphics? Well, I think a lot of the textures and models are kind of crappy, but the game runs smooth as butter and the art design is gorgeous. Simply put, the graphics technically aren't spectacular, but it doesn't matter because the game is awesome, bolstered by some of the best art direction and world design I have ever seen.
The world created by Monolith Soft is one of the most interesting I've seen in a game in years. It reminds me of the worlds I thought up in my mind when I played classics such as Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. It truly is those types of quintessential worlds fully realized with a modern graphical sheen. Is it HD sharp? No. Are the character's faces weird? Very much so. But the game is incredible. The world is filled with personality, and there are secrets strewn throughout the landscape.
The one thing I haven't heard discussed enough is the game's infrequent load times. Outside of initially starting the game, the load times are almost nonexistent. It makes the scale of the world even bigger in scope, and makes exploration even more enjoyable. I'd much rather play a game like this, where I can throw around a "this looks like a really good PS2 game" insult while it runs smoothly and without delay, as opposed to a graphically intensive game on another system that is bogged down by load times and bugs. Xenoblade Chronicles doesn't need HD to be a great game; it already is one.
If everything about Xenoblade remained the same, except it rendered natively in 720p, would the game be better? Of course.
Since Wii U is capable of running HD graphics, is there a chance these games, if they’re released, will be rendered in their native HD resolutions?
Monolith Soft also wouldn't have had to resort to cheap tricks to hide the platform's graphical limitations, such as the cute illusion with the grass (the grass being collections of 2D images that rotate to always face the camera).
Isn't 720p HD?
I've seen Skyrim played in HD and at 720p and it doesn't look all that different to me.
Now, take some of this generation's Nintendo games (like Other M, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Mario Galaxy games, and Skyward Sword) and pump them onto their native HD resolution, and I think they'd all look absolutely incredible.
Oh boy! Now this didn't happen when we all were in the 16-bit era. Actually it did, and 10 years from now it will seem just as absurd. The truth is that art and creativity will always win over "modern graphics".
Oh boy! Now this didn't happen when we all were in the 16-bit era. Actually it did, and 10 years from now it will seem just as absurd. The truth is that art and creativity will always win over "modern graphics".
It has to be said, though, that as important as art design is in a game, once you as a gamer go HD on an HD TV there's really no going back to seeing games the way you used to. You can't "un-see" the radical visual difference between SD and HD, especially in gaming. I think that may be what the author of the article in question ran into: after years of playing HD games, suddenly they're playing the SD Xenoblade and all the graphical flaws just leaped out at them. It's jarring, and at least in my case it takes a long time to get used to playing SD games again.
It has to be said, though, that as important as art design is in a game, once you as a gamer go HD on an HD TV there's really no going back to seeing games the way you used to. You can't "un-see" the radical visual difference between SD and HD, especially in gaming. I think that may be what the author of the article in question ran into: after years of playing HD games, suddenly they're playing the SD Xenoblade and all the graphical flaws just leaped out at them. It's jarring, and at least in my case it takes a long time to get used to playing SD games again.
Wind Waker is still the best-looking Zelda game in my opinion. There is no contest.
Do you mean remade from scratch or Luke remastered like Sony did with the God of War collections?Hmmm...
There are not many games that I will devote hours in the triple digits to any longer; I will gladly play Xenoblade to completion.
Do you mean remade from scratch or Luke remastered like Sony did with the God of War collections?Hmmm...
You know, I think the visuals redone. I haven't seen the God of War collections but I heard Shadow of the Colossus and Ico really had a good job done with them. So something more like that. Where the original vision is brought out of an already visually impressive game at the time.
Oh boy! Now this didn't happen when we all were in the 16-bit era. Actually it did, and 10 years from now it will seem just as absurd. The truth is that art and creativity will always win over "modern graphics".
Oh boy! Now this didn't happen when we all were in the 16-bit era. Actually it did, and 10 years from now it will seem just as absurd. The truth is that art and creativity will always win over "modern graphics".
His approach to graphics is pretty much:
NES - 2D that looks like crap
SNES - 2D that looks great and therefore is all you need for 2D graphics
N64 - 3D that looks like crap
Gamecube/Wii - 3D that looks great and therefore is all you need PERIOD
The game would not be any better or worse at 720p. Do you say a movie is better in HD? No, you might say it looks a little nicer but the actual movie is the same. Same with a game, the actual game would not be any different in HD.