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Should Zelda Get a New Art Style

T

triple split

Guest
what would you all think about a zelda game with a comic book style to it or any other art style
 
Zelda gets a new artstyle with nearly every installment. Zelda II had a drastically different style than the original, A Link to the Past was the second major transition, then the 8 bit handheld style, which was repeated thrice, the first 3D polygonal one repeated twice, cell-shaded look repeated twice, as well as unique styles recently in Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword.

As for a comic book style, I don't see that working with the franchise as those strange color choices could never possibly be a natural style for the franchise.
 

Djinn

and Tonic
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
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Honestly I do not think the Zelda series should focus too heavily on attempting to have a specific art style just for itself like that. It was this thought process that led to the creation of Wind Waker and then later on all the sequels it spawned through Four Swords and the handheld series. I honestly believe that before the Wind Waker design was implemented there was not much of a care in the world to have a style at all. At least nothing that was "meant" to be unique at the expense of and previous look just to have something that is a unique experience.
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During the NES and Super Nintendo era there was not much emphasis on any special style whatsoever since the art was secondary to the gameplay and all the fans needed was a simple image showing us what the little pixelated character really looked like. Nintendo did not place much effort here at all in most of the games. Mario was just a little guy in overalls, Samus was very simple little strange looking orange and red robot looking thing with few details, and Pitt was overly simple. Very little care was placed into the art and it showed.
Pit1980s.png

Obviously by the N64 era the art direction became a little more sophisticated since graphics were now a very important aspect and fans were paying much more attention to the look of the characters beyond just a few random pics in the instruction manual. However for OoT and MM Nintendo just chose to use the standard anime design for the look of all the characters in the series and there were no complaints. It was an art style that many fans were used to even if it was not unique to the series at all. For TP I believe Nintendo was just imitating the grittier look of other more well known fantasy genre games and made things much more realistic. Possibly in an attempt to satisfy all the people who were turned off to the strange and unusual looks of the characters found in Wind Waker. Now in SS it seems that some kind of compromise was made. Link and Zelda would have a very realistic look to themselves but all the other people you encounter in Skyloft will have a much more cartoon style to them with wildly over exaggerated features like extra long arms, long noses or oversized heads reminiscent of Wind Waker. It actually seems to me that they are attempting to recreate the specialized design invented for Wind Waker but still keeping the main characters in the old fashioned iconic look to keep other fans that were not too crazy about the WW style happy as well. Ironically I believe if they continue attemting to inject a little bit more of the strange and unique style of WW into more games with this compromise then they might just again turn more people off that wish to have a more realistic game with slightly higher graphics.

However if the rumors of the HD Zelda are to be believed then I would doubt that they are moving in this direction. It would be incredibly hard to simultaneously have a HD experience with bright colorful cartoonish looking characters at the same time. Either one or the other is possible but not quite both. I would much rather Nintendo try to keep things looking good rather that stylized.
 
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Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
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I think they should pick a style and stick to it. There is so much fighting amongst Zelda fans because of art style and each time a new style is released it creates yet another division in the fan base. I personally would want them to stick to the WiiU tech demo style, it would attract more fans to the series than if they consistently used the SS style. The reason for this is that the tech demo style is based on Twilight princess's art style, it was more detailed and although it was stylised it had a more realistic look, this look is much more popular and sells games. TP did better than the wind waker and will still probably have sold more that skyward sword even in a few years. Art style was a big selling factor for it, it also allowed Nintendo to create a game with a more mature feel, which is something the general population prefer.
 

guapo2003

The incomparable legend
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Well, there's no particular style. It changes with every game. To me, that's something I look forward to, but as to have and keep the same style, I'm not for it.
 

ZeldaOcarina

Princess of Hyrule
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Sep 9, 2011
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Hyrule
I think the Zelda art style changes a lot, and I personally enjoy it. It's nice to see different styles of the same characters, especially as they usually have very similar if not exactly the same outfit and hair. Plus it adds a unique feel to each game, which means you can play a different style of game based on the art. If you want a more romantic game, Skyward Sword would be perfect with the impressionist art style. The art of Majora's Mask or Twilight Princess gives those games a darker feel. The cartoonish style allows for a lighthearted, casual feel.

I would like to see a (small) Zelda game in some odd style of art... Cubism Link anyone?
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Of course it should "get a new art style". It does that with pretty much every single installment, as has already been said.


I think they should pick a style and stick to it. There is so much fighting amongst Zelda fans because of art style and each time a new style is released it creates yet another division in the fan base. I personally would want them to stick to the WiiU tech demo style, it would attract more fans to the series than if they consistently used the SS style. The reason for this is that the tech demo style is based on Twilight princess's art style, it was more detailed and although it was stylised it had a more realistic look, this look is much more popular and sells games. TP did better than the wind waker and will still probably have sold more that skyward sword even in a few years. Art style was a big selling factor for it, it also allowed Nintendo to create a game with a more mature feel, which is something the general population prefer.
Settling on a single style would do absolutely nothing to settle the argument. All that would do is satisfy one group of the arguers and piss off the others, without the reassurance that they'd still get their style of game sometimes. Zelda is a series that is constantly going for a new style, and changing that in itself will piss tons of people off.

I also have to point out... you're saying that Nintendo should pick a style to end the fighting and disagreements, but the style you suggest they go with is your own selection based on (at least I gather) your personal preference. That's misguided to me.

It's also false that "this look is more popular", in my eyes. Many highly selling games do not have realistic styles, both on and off Nintendo consoles. It's also more alien to styles the series started with. Furthermore, your statement about Twilight Princess outselling Skyward Sword, while not disproven entirely yet, is currently looking to be false. Skyward Sword has sold more rapidly than any Zelda game, including Twilight Princess, and while it has yet to surpass TP's numbers, I don't see any reason why it won't.

There's also a fact that Mature rated games actually sell less than games of lower ratings. The reason for that is simple; more people can play lower rated games. This notion that mature styles and games are superior and just sell better isn't exactly true, or at least not in the way it's being presented here.
 

TheRationalDove

Red Hair Wonder
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Feb 27, 2012
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New Jersey, USA
I think that Zelda having a new art style with every ( or most) games is essential. I think it really compliments the Zelda feel as well, I mean most of the games have very long spans of time in between them- centuries I'd gather- and this difference in setting, I think, is reflected in the vast art styles of Zelda. I mean, art doesn't stay exactly the same for a couple hundred years. Plus, each game is supposed to be a different experience. I fthe series had athe same graphic for every game, then the games would be more of a linear tale than a grand legend. At least, in my eyes.
 
Joined
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The art styles are very diverse throughout the games, and I think with the new powerhouse wii u thy will do much much more realistic designed games, like twilight princess, only full hd and spectacular. I don't think a comic book style would work at all quite frankly, maybe for a handheld game.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
The art styles are very diverse throughout the games, and I think with the new powerhouse wii u thy will do much much more realistic designed games, like twilight princess, only full hd and spectacular. I don't think a comic book style would work at all quite frankly, maybe for a handheld game.
Why wouldn't a "comic book style" fit on the Wii U? It doesn't sound like you have a lot of reasoning other than that it's an HD console, but the fact is that HD is just a resolution; literally any style can be equally well-represented within the high resolution of HD.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
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t's also false that "this look is more popular", in my eyes. Many highly selling games do not have realistic styles, both on and off Nintendo consoles.It's also more alien to styles the series started with.

But the best selling games do tend to have more realistic art styles. And I'm not suggesting they go for total realism, just for something like the tech demo, detailed but still pretty. OOT had a kind of realistic look whilst still being heavily stylised and so did TP, this would mean that it is not more alien to the styles the series started with like you said, since OOT was what really started the big sales and popularity of the seires.

There's also a fact that Mature rated games actually sell less than games of lower ratings. The reason for that is simple; more people can play lower rated games. This notion that mature styles and games are superior and just sell better isn't exactly true, or at least not in the way it's being presented here.
You misunderstand what I mean by mature. I do not mean mature rated, with blood and guts and swearing, just more complex storylines that appeal to adults more. In Zelda the stories are often simple and this creates the problem of people saying the storyline is basically the same each time. If the plots were more complex this problem would never arise. An example is that nobody ever betrays anyone or switches sides, it is always clear cut good vs evil. Having a character you think was on your side that you liked change over to Ganon's side for instance could be one of the ways a story could go. I was just saying a bit more depth in the plots would be more appealing.
 

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