Do you ever get tired of visual style in retro indie games?

[Rosenkrantz]

In my experience indie games are among the only ones delivering on retro-styled goods in genres I enjoy (New Blood and their FPS, PnC adventure games etc.). Oftentimes their output is among the best releases of the entire year.

However, if there's one small gripe I have with these games it's gotta be presentation. Don't get me wrong, a lot of them have very unique, interesting art direction (Blasphemous, Axiom Verge etc.), but I really don't get why a lot of the devs are so insistent on replicating the visual style of NES/SNES games (or Lucasarts adventures, Build engine shooters and so on). Is that an economic thing (modern engines probably aren't that cheap), nostalgia, or they simply want to follow the formula? To me, being a retro game is less about how it looks and more about how it feels to play, you can have an absolutely old-school game with a modern presentation, just look at something like Etrian Odyssey.

I think the situation is a bit better now compared to a couple years ago when every third game on Steam tried to be that next big indie with the sprites straight from the SNES, but still.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Because people love pixel art and they're not getting it from AAA games. Nostalgia is also obviously a factor, as is cost (not that pixel art can't also be very expensive if it's higher res or lots of frames of animation). I'm not sure about build engine as I was never massively into that, so I don't know if there's a lot of nostalgia for that era's art, but I suspect it probably enables the games to throw a ton of assets on screen at lightning speeds compared to if it was a 3D game, which is great for an fps.

I'll never get tired of pixel art games personally. Prefer it to 3D.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Most of these games are made by one person or a small team. They already take years to make as is and the more complex, the longer dev time

Etrian odyssey had a full team getting paid a salary. Indie devs are either living at their parents, blowing through saving , or working on games part time while while supporting families with a job.

Also many devs just like the retro look and want to make games in that style.

 

[bell_hooks]

The only thing that irks me is that some indie games advertise themselves as 8-bit style but they have sprites that resemble older Atari systems with background that is way more detailed than even SNES era games

 

[skeezx]

it can go both ways but some 'old school' games with "modern" gfx just feel ... off

 

[janusff]

No

 

[sredgrin]

I don't think you're looking very far, in a week where something like Dyson Sphere Program is the top seller on steam.

Like, there's so many indie games of varied visual styles these days, it just seems like a weird hangup at this point.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

The only thing that irks me is that some indie games advertise themselves as 8-bit style but they have sprites that resemble older Atari systems with background that is way more detailed than even SNES era games

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What irks me is when the sprites, backgrounds, UI, fonts, and particle effects mix different pixel resolutions instead of sticking to a consistent scaling factor

 

[MarcelRguez]

Not really, imo the space is much more diverse in artstyle than the AAA space. "Pixel art" doesn't really tell you much about how a game actually looks: Kingdom, Scott Pilgrim and Castle in the Darkness 2 all have very little in common.

 

[cowbanana]

I love pixel art, but honestly I feel that many indies could step up their game a bit. Few of these games actually match the best stuff from the Amiga/SNES etc. back in the day. Too many pixel art games are a bit too samey and bland.

 

[bell_hooks]

What irks me is when the sprites, backgrounds, UI, fonts, and particle effects mix different pixel resolutions instead of sticking to a consistent scaling factor

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Yeah that's an actual issue. Maybe it works as sort of "lol so random" art style in some games (like Undertale) but generaly it sucks

 

[Rosenkrantz]

I don't think you're looking very far, in a week where something like Dyson Sphere Program is the top seller on steam.

Like, there's so many indie games of varied visual styles these days, it just seems like a weird hangup at this point.

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I'm not saying they're all the same, as I mentioned in the OP a lot of them do have very unique art direction, however, I remember like 5-6 years ago Steam had very same looking releases almost on a daily basis.

 

[Shiz Padoo]

I'm done with the silouhette look.

 

[Rosebud]

I feel like most indie games have very distinctive art styles, and are almost never pixelart these days.

I'm more tired of some genres like rogue-likes and metroidvanias.

 

[ghostcrew]

I wouldn't say I'm tired of it, no. Not at all.

But I would say that when a 'retro' style indie game comes along that truly brings it in a modern visual style (like Monster Boy or Ori or Cuphead) it's a breath of fresh air and they super stand out.

 

[TheMoon]

It's called art style. Pixel art in its various sub-categories is just one possible art style. So is low-poly art. It's a visual choice. Less can be more. "uglier" can be better. Making good pixel art is a shit ton of work and much harder than making the exact same thing with 3D models which is why a lot of the cheap looking games you see are made this way. Drawing each animation frame by hand (be it pixel art or non-pixel artwork) will always be more involved than just using a similar looking polygonal model which you can animate by moving limbs around like an action figure (simplifying things a bit here of course).

Also, pixel art is gorgeous. Give me more of it.

I love pixel art, but honestly I feel that many indies could step up their game a bit. Few of these games actually match the best stuff from the Amiga/SNES etc. back in the day. Too many pixel art games are a bit too samey and bland.

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This is also true. But I do feel we've gotten out of that era when everyone was in the "my first game" mode during the big indie surge. There are tons of games with absolutely incredible pixel art these days.

 

[Chief Malik]

No because it's a budget thing

 

[lazygecko]

It is not an economic thing. Modern engines are cheap, and most retro style indie games are in fact made in UE4 or Unity. And making visuals that accurately capture the style of nes/snes pixelart or Build engine actually takes a lot of work and highly specialized skillsets that are now incredibly rare in the industry.

 

[Chief Malik]

It is not an economic thing. Modern engines are cheap, and most retro style indie games are in fact made in UE4 or Unity. And making visuals that accurately capture the style of nes/snes pixelart or Build engine actually takes a lot of work and highly specialized skillsets that are now incredibly rare in the industry.

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It's not the engines it's the assets and the games are simply more complex. You have another axis too.

 

[Musubi]

Theres a lot of pixel art but I'd rather take good pixel art over trying to do a 2D game with HD assets that just make it look like a cheap flash game. If there is one visual I cant stand it's that.

 

[Acidote]

I'm certainly done with 8bit+ style games. Give me stuff with a retro look that does things way beyond what a PSX or Saturn could do.

Like Sea of Stars.

 

[Sander VF]

I wouldn't say I'm tired of it, no. Not at all.

But I would say that when a 'retro' style indie game comes along that truly brings it in a modern visual style (like Monster Boy or Ori or Cuphead) it's a breath of fresh air and they super stand out.

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And then some people say it looks like flash.

Not that anyone has said it about Cuphead, but I see people dunk on non-pixelart 2D all the time lol

 

[ghostcrew]

And then some people say it looks like flash.

Not that anyone has said it about Cuphead, but I see people dunk on non-pixelart 2D all the time lol

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I think it's often a fair criticism when a game doesn't get it right.

I wouldn't say that about Ori, Monster Boy or Cuphead (to pick three wild examples)

 

[sir_crocodile]

And then some people say it looks like flash.

Not that anyone has said it about Cuphead, but I see people dunk on non-pixelart 2D all the time lol

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Cuphead evokes Fleischer studios animation which remains among the best ever, and does it really really well. Would be absurd to dunk on that.

 

[Rosebud]

I think it's often a fair criticism when a game doesn't get it right.

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[Redcrayon]

I don't think I'll ever get tired of pixel art, when done well it has timeless appeal compared to a lot of even modern 3D stuff.

 

[oni-link]

I love it, but at the same time, variety is the spice of life, so it's cool when devs try new stuff too

 

[saturnineCarrier]

I'm kinda done with the faux 8 bit aesthetic. What annoys me is the way so many games pull back the point of view really far to let you see more of the environment. Always leaves you with really small 1-pixel-wide-legs unemotive characters. It makes me feel disconnected from the world.

I know it's not fair criticism, big detailed sprite work is hard and consuming work.

 

[OrangeNova]

The fake nes style / low effort pixel art always rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Deleted member 86105]

Simple pixel art? Sure. But pixel art is incredibly variable. The more simplistic, the easier it is to implement by order of magnitude.

Typically you'll see a lot of static pixel characters with text boxes, or ultra-lo-fi NES-esque pixel styles because they're cheap and easy, and can be developed quickly with small teams.

Richly-detailed 32-bit style pixel art with unique and variable animations ala. Suikoden 2 is still hard to come by.

Suikoden 2 (PS1) example:

See how the artists don't just use the pixel art as a cheap prop but actually make the characters feel real (just pixelated)? This shit takes a ton of work.

And when you see it today, it looks absolutely fantastic and stands out from the crowd. Sea of Stars for a modern example:

I will never get tired of quality pixel art like this in games. Pixel art is so whimsical and charming. It's the perfect art form for games IMO, but unfortunately it's rarely utilized to its fullest potential.

I grew up as a kid with the SNES, PS1, and Game Boy Color / Game Boy Advance so I have a soft spot for detailed pixel art. It'll always hold a special place in my heart.

 

[Rodelero]

I don't care for it at all. I'm too young to have nostalgia for it, so while there are quite a number of pixel art games that I think are visually great, the ones that replicate the style the most precisely tend to be off putting.

Indie games benefit from unique visual flair - so many of them all looking very similar is not a positive.

 

[Valkerion]

I got sick of it quickly, it actively pushed me away from looking into indie titles honestly. So many going for the same "style" of retro but higher fidelity than the era they are referencing just wore on me and I tuned them out for years. I'm trying to get into them these days but they all kinda blended together in my brain.

Occasionally some do interesting things with it and I wish more would try to expand on it to "ps1/2" era retro stuff and I know some do, but I can only take so many NES/SNES style visuals with quicky chip tune OSTs.

 

[Linus815]

Yes.

 

[retroman]

NO. PIXEL ART RULES.

I do think there's an overabundance of NES-style art, though, and I wish the graphical style of other systems would be implemented more often.

 

[Sander VF]

I absolutely love what has been described as "hi-bit" pixel art.

Games like Owlboy, Iconoclasts and Sonic Mania have absolutely gorgeous pixel art that 16-bit consoles would explode trying to run. They're closer to 32-bit era pixel art.

 

[Orioto]

There are really a ton of indie games now with crazy pixel art. The bar has been raised by a lot i think.

 

[Alex840]

Yes, mostly because a lot of indie games use pixel art, but it doesn't look good. Great pixel art is extremely skilful talent and incredibly time-intensive.

Owlboy, Celeste, Hyperlight Drifter, Sonic Mania, Blasphemous, Eastward, etc. all look incredible, but there is so much crap on the eShop and Steam that look awful and cheap.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

This is what an indie game looks like with "modern" graphics

 

[Grug]

Not as much as I tire of bald, muscular, AAA space marines.

 

[Musubi]

Not as much as I tire of bald, muscular, AAA space marines.

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Eh? I feel like that aesthetic has been dead for years now. Like seriously what recent games have had anything like that?

 

[Rosenkrantz]

Not as much as I tire of bald, muscular, AAA space marines.

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That hasn't been a thing since the last years of PS360 era...

 

[Deleted member 51789]

Like any art style (even the realistic looking ones) some will like it and some won't, and some developers will make the most of it while others won't

 

[Jimnymebob]

I like it if it's done well, but a lot of times I hate how it looks.
I prefer chunky sprites with lots of character, but a lot of indie games seem to go for smaller sprites with more limited movement and expression, for obvious reasons.

 

[BadWolf]

Long since tired, I usually don't bother with the games anymore.

It would be one thing if it was done here and there but when it's being used all the time it's just yeah, whatever.

 

[bixente]

Loved the pixel art in Olija.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Pixel art is gorgeous.

But even if you don't like it for some reason, there is so much variety in indie art styles. From Inside to Cuphead, The Witness to Outer Wilds, Celeste to Obra Dinn, Ori to Exo One, Mark of the Ninja to Jett: The Final Shore, Hades to The Pedestrian, Everspace 2 to Hollow Knight.

It's dazzling.

 

[DNAbro]

No not really. Pixel art isn't even a full nostalgia thing at this point, I think plenty of games just look good like that. Like comparing the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons remakes to Stardew Valley, I'd rather just play Stardew cause it looks better.

 

[LazyLain]

Never get tired of good pixel art, but not all pixel art is equal... it can be done poorly, just like any other art style. I'm not guaranteed to like a game's art just because it's pixel art.

 

[FallenGrace]

I'm finding it hard to take this thread seriously when an indie game mentioned for interesting art direction was Axiom Verge which makes me think the op hasen't actually played that many XD.

To answer? God no. Games like Shovel Knight, Owlboy, Timespinner, Crosscode etc are all gorgeous. Pixel art is just an aesthetic style, it's what the dev does with it that matters.

 

[Dr. Mario]

Yeah, especially if it's zoomed out 2D/isometric view. I like pixel art like the next guy, but you can hardly call it art anymore if it all blends together in roughly the same aesthetic.