Enough with Cel-Shading?

[Spirit]

My friends mean well, really they do. They like to post things to me that they think i may not have seen.

Naturally, most of my friends have been linking the new Terrible Fate short film found on the very talented Theophany's website of the same name.

The short film is beautiful. It has 'realistic' graphics as opposed to cel shading while not trying to be as hyper detailed as the likes of The Witcher 3.

Most of my friends (who dont play/like Zelda) linked me to this and added 'I'd play Zelda if it looked like this'...

I've thought for a while now that most gamers dont play Zelda because of what it looks like...

The short film is beautiful. I love the Cel Shading Nintendo do but i would enjoy playing a game that looked like Terrible Fate...


So my question is to you... Will we ever see a Zelda release in the same graphical style as this short film?

 

[Adventurer of Hyrule]

I hope so, i like the new direction they have but I'm all in for new vibes.

 

[DeactivatedUser2]

The style used in the short film felt even more childish and whimsical then the cel shading in the series. If they wanted to go mature themes, they could do MUCH better.

 

[Castle]

I actually couldn't watch more than a few seconds of that video because stuff like that just reminds me of how awesome this series could be if ninty weren't bloody incompetent.

But yes, a lot more people would be playing Zelda - or even paying attention to it for that matter - if the graphics looked like that. Nintendo just can't do it. simple as that. They don't know how and they're too stupid and lazy to figure it out.

Look, whether you like or prefer the toon style or not, the thing is nintendo is okay with mediocrity. They insist upon it. Nintendo could excel but they insist on doing the absolute bare minimum it takes to turn a buck and get some enjoyment out of their customers. Cell shading is an inexpensive technique that doesn't take much effort or understanding to make a game's visuals turn a few heads. Most people are rather turned off by it. Ninty would be turning a lot more heads if they weren't using it. BotW employs cell shading because Nintendo is simply incapable of developing a game on that scale with more detailed graphics.

So would I like to see a style other than toon shading? Yes. I've made my stance on this subject very clear. heck this post is just another in a long line of posts saying pretty much the same thing. But will we ever see a zelda that isn't toon shaded? Doubtful. I'd even hazard a "no." I think it would take a serious overhaul of Nintendo senior management before that company gets its s*** together.

 

[Dio]

Yes Enough with cell shading!

If they made OOT HD or MMHD I would HOPE for it to use a similar style. And as a fan of the more realistic look I would be up for it in a new game and would also wish that they continued to utilise it into the future to give mass appeal to all the entries in the series.

As for whether they will actually do that with either HD remakes or a brand new game I can't possibly say. They more often than not seem to do the wrong thing in terms of making their games have mainstream and mass appeal. Even with BoTW, which I know many like the look of, I think had they used a more realistic style it would appeal to an even greater number of people and have garnered a greater level of interest.

I also think that those who like the toon styles best would still buy the realistic Zelda along with the mass market yet those who like the realistic styles will still be less willing to buy the game.

We have seen how Successful TP was and I know a large part of why that success came is the graphical style. Its look harkened back to the days of OOT and just appealed on a greater level than WW's and SS's off putting styles (I acknowledge some like the look but most people who aren't long term bitc..I mean fans of the Zelda series are less willing to give the games a go because of it)

 

[fermian]

Personally, I never could understand how one's decision to purchase and play a game could revolve entirely around realistic graphics, especially given the sheer number of games that were sold over the years on that characteristic alone that ended up being utter crap. Zelda is about puzzles and exploration and whilst I would welcome a more realistic style it should not be their primary focus.

 

[WinterWolf]

I'm okay with cell shading but I never found super realistic graphics appealing. In fact, I've found that ultra realistic graphics kind of take away from the game, since all the work goes into the graphics and not much else. Until Dawn was an okay horror game with amazing graphics, but it could have been a lot better if it had more depth to the gameplay and not just moving and choosing things.

My love for Zelda comes from its story, gameplay, and music. Graphics should look good, but not hinder the rest of the game.

 

[CrimsonCavalier]

I really can't grasp the concept of people buying or not buying a game because of the graphics style. I can think of nothing that makes less sense. You're basing your purchase—how you spend your money, real life money—on whether something uses cel-shading or not? Not story. Not gameplay. Not amount of enemies on screen. Not dynamic NPC interaction. Not advanced physics. But whether the game is cel-shaded or not. Out of all the features of a game.

And let's also mention how the style of cel-shading differs. Take a look at games that have used cel-shading in the past. Just take a look at the difference between Wind Waker and BOTW. They're not the same art style. WW Link is "Toon Link". BOTW Link is not. It's not the same art style because they use the same rendering technique.

That aside, I think people are putting too much negative emphasis on cel-shading in general. There are plenty of games that appealed to a lot of people that used cel-shading. Allow me to share some of the more popular/well-known:

• Dragon Ball Z Budokai/Tenkaichi series
• Dragon Quest
• No More Heroes
• Killer 7
• Mad World
• Okami
• Viewtiful Joe
• Valkyria Chronicles
• Fire Emblem
• Tales of ... series
• Shin Megami Tensei (some)
• Eternal Sonata
• Red Steel 2

No one said "Ewww... if Okami were more photorealistic I'd buy it, but since it's cel-shaded I'll pass." It didn't become one of the highest rated games in PlayStation 2 history despite it's art style. In fact, most reviewers lauded the art style.

 

[fermian]

It should also be mentioned that cel-shading generally ages much better that super realism.

oot mm tp really benefited from the rereleases
ww on the gamecube, on the other hand, still looks as good as it ever has

 

[Steve The Pirate]

Personally, I be findin the Effects to be rather Pleasin' to the Aye. Yarr

 

[Salem]

I say not enough cell shading.

 

[the8thark]

Zelda will be at least lartially cartoony. TP was the last non cartoony Zelda game. THis disapponits me but that's just how things are. We just have to accept it.

 

[Pen]

Graphics are honestly almost at the botom of my "importance list" when it comes to the different aspects of video games. That being said, of course I still think it's important. Well made graphics can surely lift up a game quite a lot.

I feel like the graphics in Zelda have never really tried to be realistic. They've always been more or less cel-shaded in their art style. Just take a look at the official artwork from any of the Zelda games. It's never tried to be realistic. It's always been a cartoony or manga-like style. Games such as OoT, MM and TP might have looked pretty realistic at the time they came out (and compared to other Zelda titles), but even those games ultimately stick to the general cel-shaded Zelda art style both with the in-game graphics and (especially) with the official artwork.

In my opinion, saying we've had enough of the cel-shaded art style of Zelda is like wanting realistic designs for Mickey Mouse, Super Mario or The Simpson's. They've never been realistic in the first place, and in my opinion they're not supposed to be. I think that dropping the cel-shaded style from Zelda would make it lose a lot of its charm.

 

[Fraxinus]

"Realistic" textures and shading doesn't necessarily mean the art style itself is realistic. People always use Twilight Princess as the series' most realistic title, but I assure you, no one in the real world has proportions like Fyer and Falbi. While on the topic of Twilight Princess, I would say that its graphical style aged the worst of all the Zelda titles. And, generally, games with some aspect of realism age very quickly. All those PS3 games that everyone thought looked phenomenal are already aging, lol.

Inversely, toon-shading is not responsible for The Wind Waker's art style. That's such a common misconception. Toon-shading is exclusively referring to the shading--the way the light textures are handled across the board. It has nothing to do with the models at all. So, like, Breath of the Wild is toon-shaded, but the models sport more detail and somewhat realistic proportions. Still kind of "anime" but that's not new for the Zelda series at all.

Generally speaking, I like games that aren't just that boring full-fledged realistic straight out of life artstyle. They all blend in with one another. Distinct art styles are appealing to me. They are the color amidst a sea of boring grey. I think toon-shading has a lot of character, if executed correctly. It can be handled differently, too; it's like posterized shadows. They usually only sport two or three distinct values, but I've seen it with five to six as well. I actually love seeing it on more realistic models. I think it looks really cool.

I like that each installment in the Zelda series gets a different art style. It keeps things fresh. Like, I mean some of them I don't care for as much as others, but I think all of them are strategically designed--it helps you immerse yourself into the atmosphere of that specific title. Will we ever get an art style akin to all of those boring PC RPGs that everyone worships? I doubt it. Not for Zelda, at least. Hybrid realism is probably the most it will do.