favorite art style

[BobTheMob]

What was done for Dead But Alive looked pretty cool; very gritty, raw kinda feel to it.
His thing for Rize: Zombies also wasn't bad. (Though I dig what he did w/ the Game of Life games it doesn't seem like it'd suit WW games. Though I'm always willing to try something new in terms of art. )


All of that said, my all-time favorite artwork in terms of your games, Jack: easily Loren's artist. And so while I'm aware he's probably gone for good ( ) any time you're able to get someone like him such is a win to me (as long as it ain't yuri/yaoi exclusive [have nothing...well ya know the rest by now, lol.])

[Jaeger]

That's true but I think if I used anything non-manga, I would automatically get a negative XX% bonus on sales just because of that (see the stats about the terrible banner clickthrough rates of PSCD I posted in forums). And it's not a good thing

I dunno, there are plenty of high profile games that do not have manga art. I'll admit manga is prevalent in visual novels though. I think it's more important you that art has something that makes it stand out, manga or otherwise.

[jack1974]

Yes I meant for my kind of games
If was a roguelike could be different (see Darkest Dungeon for example).

[DarkWolf]

Nearly all VN fans are also fans of Anime/Manga and therefore making a VN that isn't manga style is like making a game of cetern genre but tarting audience strictly outside of fan-base of that genre. Now if that was something smaller witch fan-base of that genre could overlook that wouldn't be such a bad move as it could be said you are trying to increase audience of people that could enjoy in your game, but when it comes to something important and basic as art-style in this case most people that belong in VN fan-base won't even boder to check out your game the moment they see art-style (Unless they ware already your fans and give it a chance simply because it is one of your games, like I did for PSCD, I mean if it wasn't one of your games and GxG I probably wouldn't give it a second glance after seeing an art-style). I mean sure, there will always be some exceptions, but..... in the end if you step away too much from manga style it will just be a repeat of PSCD. Unless you ware to make a game that has noting to do with games and audience you have now and try something completely different.

[Franka]

I always find it strange when people are so closed minded that games must adhere to a certain formula, or they won't even give them a chance.

True story, my first WW game was Planet Stronghold, and I didn't think the art was particularly appealing, I was just in the mood for a light RPG, and it looked like it would deliver.

I suppose though, it's a consequence of the market having become so flooded that you can pick and choose games that cater specifically to your preferences. Not like the "old" days where we saw "RPG" and had to own it, because who knew when there'd be another?

[jack1974]

I suppose though, it's a consequence of the market having become so flooded that you can pick and choose games that cater specifically to your preferences. Not like the "old" days where we saw "RPG" and had to own it, because who knew when there'd be another?

Yes that's true, I remember when I bought Arcanum even if I really didn't like the art style, but at those times, every RPG was precious!

[Troyen]

It's still like that in some ways. Sci-fi rpgs are pretty scarce.

[DarkWolf]

I always find it strange when people are so closed minded that games must adhere to a certain formula, or they won't even give them a chance.

True story, my first WW game was Planet Stronghold, and I didn't think the art was particularly appealing, I was just in the mood for a light RPG, and it looked like it would deliver.

I suppose though, it's a consequence of the market having become so flooded that you can pick and choose games that cater specifically to your preferences. Not like the "old" days where we saw "RPG" and had to own it, because who knew when there'd be another?

Well in the old days it might had been possible to check out or even give a try to every game but noways that is simply impossible to do as there is simply too many of them to do so. so it is only natural that people will look out only for games that seem to be their thing, even more so for people who played a lot of games and know exactly what it is that they are looking for in games. Additionally so many games noways are nearly the same that a lot of times you can tell exactly what a game is from a single glance. This leads to a habit of only checking out games that at first glance seem like it is something you might like, and if you know what you are looking for this might not even be a bad thing.

Like in my case I am only interested in story rich games, from time to time I might feel like going for something for a gameplay but generally it is stories what I am looking for in games, and when it comes to stories it is Anime style ones that I like, (There are extremely few stories that have noting to do with Anime that I liked), so when I see VN that uses art-style that is very different from manga I assume that story too is very different from Anime/Manga ones and if it is, then chances of me likening it are around 1:1000 and not many people are willing to waste their time checking out tons of games that they most likely aren't interested in just to (maybe) find that 1 in 1000 that they will like (I mean chances are higher you will miss it anyway and just waste your time on games you don't like even if you did try).

[Franka]

Well in the old days it might had been possible to check out or even give a try to every game but noways that is simply impossible to do as there is simply too many of them to do so.

A consequence of that, though, is that someone like myself has a much more open mind when it comes to trying new games. Which is probably why it confuses me that some people are so adamant that a game must be crafted specifically to their precise interests. That in turn touches on the whole shift there's been in the perception of gaming: Where we (with a few exceptions obviously, there's always been whiners) used to be happy to get something new, now people are endlessly complaining that the new game they tried wasn't precisely and perfectly the 100% right game for them.

Sure, I occasionally get a game that turns out wasn't for me, but unless it was a direct sequel, and I therefore expected more of the same thing but got something disappointing instead, I'm not likely to complain much.

Like in my case I am only interested in story rich games, from time to time I might feel like going for something for a gameplay but generally it is stories what I am looking for in games, and when it comes to stories it is Anime style ones that I like, (There are extremely few stories that have noting to do with Anime that I liked)

I'm not knocking you for liking something specific, that's totally up to you, it's just hard for me to understand how gaming preferences can be attributed to an aesthetic. Which is why I sometimes express bafflement when people go, "Didn't like the art. Downvoted."

[jack1974]

now people are endlessly complaining that the new game they tried wasn't precisely and perfectly the 100% right game for them.

Yes I know perfectly this, and don't worry, I base my own choices on pure facts like statistics (the PSCD banner stats don't lie) and not people's reaction because I know well that some people always complain no matter what (honestly not the case with my forum users but on Steam I see much of this attitude).

That said, I probably won't do anything but manga art for my games, unless I tried something new, not focused much on story but on gameplay (in that case the art style doesn't matter as much as long it's not ugly).
Though to be honest I think I would be more inclined to use pixel art than other form of art style (for example if I was to make a roguelike) because it reminds me of the good old times (I grew up in the C64 era).