Art Direction Post BOTW-Era

[Hawk of Light]

I'm sure you're all familiar with the initial criticism of The Wind Waker and it's cel-shaded art style, with it being such a departure from the previous two games. Twilight Princess, evidently looks more "mature" and grim in response to this. Skyward Sword looks like somewhat of a combination with a water painting aesthetic for backgrounds. Breath of The Wild is more reminiscent of The Wind Waker to a degree with cel-shading. We already know the sequel to BOTW (and the Hyrule Warriors game) share the same style. It makes me wonder how Zelda will look in the future?

The Legend of Zelda - Wii U Demo E3

TechHelpCentral brings you...The Legend of Zelda - Wii U Well about a year ago now with the announcement of the Wii U, this game-play was released, no one kn...

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I think a lot of people would agree that a game that looks like this would be nice. Something more in line with TP but updated and with better reflections.

 

[CreeperMaster343]

I personally suspect from here on out, we probably won't see as many varied art styles, BOTW does an excellent blend, and i could easily see it becoming the base that any other art style builds off of with minor variations.

 

[DJ Twitch]

Give us that Wii U tech demo style and make it permanent. Slight variations are welcome, depending on the general mood of the game, but this one should be the standard and should have already been.

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

Now that Nintendo has moved out of the DS era, it's unlikely that they will go back to the WW watermelon head art style. I also don't see them trying the LA chibi Link approach again, even though not many people had a problem with that one. My assumption would be something closer to SS or BotW with the more colorful, cel shaded designs and airy feel. I do hope we get another game like TP though, the atmosphere was interesting.

 

[twilitfalchion]

I'm in the camp that, while I adore WW's art style, thinks the Wii U tech demo should be the standard. It's reminiscent of TP while looking like a proper evolution of the darker art direction that game featured. I don't want to go heavy on a dark aesthetic for the sake of it (which is what TP was through and through), but that more "realistic" approach would be very welcome, if you ask me.

 

[Gorozoron]

So.. Yeah this art style is pretty good but I also enjoy the art styles varying from game to game because I don't know it's just fun to see how the specific people making the games wanted the game to look like, variety is nice
I wouldn't really like a permanent standard art style with zelda
but the wii u tech demo style is a good base for marketing and such etc

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

at first glance botw's art style is really pretty but to be honest I'm gonna be tired of it after botw2. I'd love to see something different and furthermore don't want every zelda game to start looking the same artistically

 

[Chevywolf30]

at first glance botw's art style is really pretty but to be honest I'm gonna be tired of it after botw2. I'd love to see something different and furthermore don't want every zelda game to start looking the same artistically

I'm somewhat nervous it's the gateway to Zelda having an anime artstyle.

 

[twilitfalchion]

I'm somewhat nervous it's the gateway to Zelda having an anime artstyle.

I mean, Zelda's always had an anime influence in its art style.
Look at the NES artwork. Very much influenced by the common anime art style of the time.

Spoiler

Ocarina's character designs are like that, and WW is also a very unique anime-influenced art style as well. It's been part of the series to some extent for quite some time now.

 

[Chevywolf30]

I mean, Zelda's always had an anime influence in its art style.
Look at the NES artwork. Very much influenced by the common anime art style of the time.

Spoiler

Ocarina's character designs are like that, and WW is also a very unique anime-influenced art style as well. It's been part of the series to some extent for quite some time now.

Yeah, but how about Zelda with 4 eyebrows. The series wouldn't feel as unique if it went full on anime for the artstyle imo.

 

[twilitfalchion]

Yeah, but how about Zelda with 4 eyebrows

Well, I'd agree, although that's not a problem of art style. It's an issue with character design, style aside.

The series wouldn't feel as unique if it went full on anime for the artstyle imo.

Fair enough, although Nintendo is a Japanese company after all. I would be surprised if that didn't influence the way the art direction in their games.

 

[thePlinko]

Something I love about the Zelda series is the fact that we get ton of different art styles throughout the games, so I don’t think it should ever be “standardized.” That would just make it boring.

I’d like to return to certain styles every once in a while, but overall I’d much rather we got a new art direction every game.

As long as we stay away from returning to the headache-inducing muddy garbage in TP, im fine.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Aonuma be like: due to fan feedback we have implemented twilight particles into every new release

No chevy you arent supposed to like this bad chevy

 

[Chevywolf30]

No chevy you arent supposed to like this bad chevy

I considered doing love but thought the irony would be more obvious with a like. Obviously not.

 

[Fraxinus]

I kind of separate shading from general artstyle, since that includes like use of shapes and color and general detail as well, and BotW in that way was probably closer to that Wii U tech demo than it gets credit for. I honestly like the look of cel shading in 3d games, it makes spinning the camera all the more satisfying, but I would be open for more shading values to allow for more detail. It's a bit humorous to consider that Phantom Hourgless had a more complex cel shading style than Breath of the Wild. BotW had this issue where the light textures actually softened the finer details on the model textures--especially characters, which should probably be fixed in future games if they wish to combine a detailed style with cel shading again/

As far as general style goes, I would like more normal looking npcs. The closer to realistic proportions you get, the creepier the abnormal cartoon stuff looks, and they need to commit to one or the other. I think BotW nailed the scenery, though, in both the natural terrain and foliage as well as structures and ruins.