The art style of the original Prime games look just fine in 2018 (as evidenced by the Dolphin emulator shots). It's not going to magically look uglier if they adopt that art style again.
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Metroid Prime 4's art direction: Where should it go?
- Thread starter Acido
- Start date
The art style of the original Prime games look just fine in 2018 (as evidenced by the Dolphin emulator shots). It's not going to magically look uglier if they adopt that art style again.
I don't see Nintendo doing that. Didn't they make it sound like it's going to be like the original Metroid Prime? It should go back to its roots just like 3D Mario and Botw did. I don't know why you wouldn't give them the benefit of the doubt now.
That would be a dream come true. But I've been going through over a decade of a sacred series being spat upon, so I'm not believing it til I see it.
Performance over visuals I say. If that means a game that looks slightly dated, so be it. I want this game running silky smooth at 60 FPS.
Prime 2 and 3 were stylized. Prime 1 definitely was not.
Remember this?
Id rather return Nintendo returns to the realistic looking Samus instead of the anime Samus.
They really knocked it out of the park with Samus's old look in Prime 1. Yeah, it looked kind of wonky and a little uncanny valley-y, particularly in motion, but that's to be expected of a game that was released 15 years ago. Better than what came after.
Three Nintendo consoles have been released since, so they should seriously consider going for a more realistic look for Samus once more.
Metroid games are about adventure, puzzles and discovery. The game is not focused on combat like most fps.
Like Zelda BOT, graphics doesn't need to be very realistic to get a very enjoyable game.
I would like the game to use Joycons like WII did, quickly move them to throw a punch, rotating them when using environment devices.
Like Zelda BOT, graphics doesn't need to be very realistic to get a very enjoyable game.
I would like the game to use Joycons like WII did, quickly move them to throw a punch, rotating them when using environment devices.
I would love this. They can give us some optional joy con motion stuff like Metroid Prime 3. Also gyro? Motion controls? To point where to shoot.
Point where to shoot would loose precision, Joycons are approximate sensors unlike HTC Vive spatial tracking.
Giro and acceleration detection would do good i think, they are already used in Skyrim.
Unless From Software is making the game, I just don't see any way whoever is developing it can live up to Retro's incredible standard for art direction. What's with some people saying the Prime games look realistic? They're some of the most stylized games out there.
OP
OP
Reading this thread is convincing me of this. Actually looking at the screenshots of the trilogy made me realize it still looks really good. I made the thread because I wasn't sure if it was going to be enough to get people hyped about the game, and so they would want to try other art styles. But now I think that they could very well pull off a visually striking game with the same look as the previous.
I disagree. Though their writing wasn't good, I enjoyed some of the characters in Other M. I thought MB was a cool idea for a villain and Madeline was good side-character that made a tragic fuck-up. I enjoyed the story overall in Other M, really, and I just wish that the writing could have gone through an editor or been done with someone with more experience in writing a proper script. Likewise, the secondary characters in Prime 3 were good, but like we talked about, Prime 3's story was ham-fisted in its own way.
I also disagree here. Nintendo absolutely did not play it safe with Breath of the Wild, which, while not cutscene heavy, had voiced dialogue. It's hard to believe that a year ago, people were freaking out, and not in a good way, that the game would have voice acting.
Halo 4 totally reminded me of Prime I'm certain ways- I would be okay with thisHalo 4 looks good for a 360 game but it's very out of date by now. There's no way Switch couldn't handle this:
343 actually has a few artists and level designers who worked on the Prime series, as many others noted the resemblance back when the game was being marketed. It even has some Prime-esque tunes!
All of you arguing that Prime 4 should have the graphic style of Halo 4/Doom/Prey are giving me flashbacks to everyone that insisted From Software should make a Zelda Soulsbor--
The game certainly can't be one of most stylized out there where there are entire genres where your character is more or less a geometric shape with eyes that jumps. Just because the environments are very alien, and nothing in real life looks like that doesn't mean that it is devoid of realism. Just like Bloodborne is realistic looking when compared to Symphony of the Night, even if both contain impossible monsters and architecture. In Bloodborne you can tell that things are made of leather, or of wood, of metal ,or of stone because the shaders look like so; and you can tell rock, metal, water and foliage textures in Prime games as well by their look because they evoke something that exist in nature. On top of that details like the drops of rain falling on your visor also evoke realism. One only has to take a look at the concept art full of realistic anatomy sketches of Samus muscles and bones to know they did not aim for the games to be devoid of true to life aspects.
They definitely are
but
I kind of feel like the clunkier controls of MP1&2 kinda fits the style of the game more?
They really knocked it out of the park with Samus's old look in Prime 1. Yeah, it looked kind of wonky and a little uncanny valley-y, particularly in motion, but that's to be expected of a game that was released 15 years ago. Better than what came after.
Three Nintendo consoles have been released since, so they should seriously consider going for a more realistic look for Samus once more.
Smash 4 Samus has the best face though.
You'd think people would do more to judge Samus's appearance as a 3D model than base it on the quality of a model in a game that's over a decade old and has since been improved on multiple times.
Both the Prometheans as well as the environments in Halo 4 were obviously inspired by Prime in the first place.
i hope we get something similar to glory kills or the counter from samus returns.
Prime 2 and 3 were stylized. Prime 1 definitely was not.
Remember this?
Id rather return Nintendo returns to the realistic looking Samus instead of the anime Samus.
Best Samus they made. I'd love for them to return to a more realistic look rather than a cartoony one we got immediately after and generally continued with afterwards. Her newest face is much much better than what we got immediately after Prime 1, but I will always prefer this one.
They really knocked it out of the park with Samus's old look in Prime 1. Yeah, it looked kind of wonky and a little uncanny valley-y, particularly in motion, but that's to be expected of a game that was released 15 years ago. Better than what came after.
Three Nintendo consoles have been released since, so they should seriously consider going for a more realistic look for Samus once more.
Comparing Prime 1 to 2/3 was embarrassing, It was a terrible change and she just looks awful. Zero Suit Samus looks much better now compared to then though, thankfully, but damn was that an awful change they made in that short time span.
People are comparing what we got in Prime 1 with what we got immediately afterwards, so yes, they would use the poor 3D model we got back then because that's the dramatic change they are comparing against each other. It was also the first proper 3D Samus we got to see and she looked like a real person, then they decided that they wanted her to look more cartoony and we got whatever Samus was supposed to be in Prime 2/3.
Zero Suit Samus looks fine in Smash 4 comparatively, but I'd choose an updated Prime 1 Samus over the rest any day of the week.
They should build upon Federation Force. Not because it would be a good idea but the meltdowns would be glorious.
It would actually be cool to have that as an additional co-op mode in addition to the main campaign. Maybe make it a parallel story where the Feds arrive before, after, or even during events of the main campaign.
I'm praying for no Lego block space marines.
Omg sooooo baaaaaad
I'd say it's still better than the Power Rangers esque designs from Other M, lol.
The Feds should show up and say "You're under arrest, Samus Aran! You've violated the Galactic Code of Conduct!" Samus would turn to them, smirk, and say "Not today, boys!" Then she would do a backflip of their Super Galaxy Freighter 5000 in a giant explosion and Sylux would say "NOOOOOO I'll get you for this Samus!"
Then the Feds would say "We must convene with the Grand Universe Counsel". The scene cuts to the Federal Transmo-Bobble Chambers, with the Galactic Pope Grand Throne swiveled away from the camera. It would slowly turn around to reveal... Grand Chancellor Ridley. Grand Chancellor Ridley would say "I hereby issue Galactic Ordinance 72B-5A in which Marine Brad Johnson and Colonel David Dude shall issue a warrant for Samus Aran whereby the Galactic Federation shall hold her responsible for gross misconduct"
Then the Feds would say "We must convene with the Grand Universe Counsel". The scene cuts to the Federal Transmo-Bobble Chambers, with the Galactic Pope Grand Throne swiveled away from the camera. It would slowly turn around to reveal... Grand Chancellor Ridley. Grand Chancellor Ridley would say "I hereby issue Galactic Ordinance 72B-5A in which Marine Brad Johnson and Colonel David Dude shall issue a warrant for Samus Aran whereby the Galactic Federation shall hold her responsible for gross misconduct"
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We're talking about art direction. I don't want a Soulsborne Metroid game, but From have some of, if not the, best artists in the industry.
When I think of realistic looking games, I think of series like Uncharted, GTA, Assassin's Creed, etc. Metroid Prime games, in a broad sense, are far more stylized than they are realistic. Of course they can have realistic elements, and they do. I wasn't trying to deny that.
Not a Soulslike but they should be tasked with a remake of Link's Awakening based on the concept art for that game. They clearly have the acumen to do it, would probably need Nintendo to collaborate to help on giving a lighter tone for the overworld elements though.
I'm not really a fan of the Halo/Doom/Prey direction for Metroid either. I want to see something more alien and organic. I always thought the Giger's Lord of the Rings paintings would have been a good basis to develop something from:
Prime's art direction is a curious blend of 80's industrial sci-fi and whimsical 70's sci-fi.
From the former it takes worn, ruined, rusted, hard angled, industrial approach to buildings. Stretches of steel, worn stone, hard angled edges to structures and their architecture (likely specifically to reduce poly count and maintain performance). Slabs of stone and steel. There's a dash of brutalism mixed in for good measure. Ruins and structures, ships and military bases, labs and whatnot; they're dark, moody, and seemingly built mostly devoid of romanticism and instead largely for function. Their form looks hardy and stable, justifying the use of abandoned technological wonders and stone ruins that could be aeons old. They look like they would survive the elements, and the large, imposing statues and monoliths of its original inhabitants; once mighty, now fallen.
From the latter the trilogy takes the outlandish, logic defying conventions of celestial and natural wonders to craft truly alien worlds. Luminescent foliage, strange overgrown moss, unusual topography of scattered stones and landmasses warped by a missmatch of interwoven tectonic plates. The natural world is bathed in colours and tones, sometimes dreary but often bright and patterned. Gravity is defied, reasonable physics ignored to established thought provoking vistas painted with patterns and colours and tones that make awe inspiring backdrops. The land is either rich and fertile, scattered with thorny, scaly, strange moving creatures of all shapes and sizes. Or barren and vast, with scattered visual cues of physical oddities that glow and blip and seem out of place but not. There's a sheen to certain surfaces. Neon glows. A dreamlike illumination.
The two combined evoke a wholly unique artistic direction, one where the whimsical, logic defying wonder of the cosmos almost seems shackled or anchored by the industrial, brutalist sensibilities of the species who live on these worlds. Worlds of natural alien wonder pierced by the rawness of developed species. It's like exploring these gorgeous worlds that seem out of time and space and sometimes impossible, and then digging through scars left by the those who called them home.
It's what gets you stuff like the follow, and also why I adore the series art direction. It's so unique and distinct, focused and grounded where it needs to be but given full creative expression elsewhere.
From the former it takes worn, ruined, rusted, hard angled, industrial approach to buildings. Stretches of steel, worn stone, hard angled edges to structures and their architecture (likely specifically to reduce poly count and maintain performance). Slabs of stone and steel. There's a dash of brutalism mixed in for good measure. Ruins and structures, ships and military bases, labs and whatnot; they're dark, moody, and seemingly built mostly devoid of romanticism and instead largely for function. Their form looks hardy and stable, justifying the use of abandoned technological wonders and stone ruins that could be aeons old. They look like they would survive the elements, and the large, imposing statues and monoliths of its original inhabitants; once mighty, now fallen.
From the latter the trilogy takes the outlandish, logic defying conventions of celestial and natural wonders to craft truly alien worlds. Luminescent foliage, strange overgrown moss, unusual topography of scattered stones and landmasses warped by a missmatch of interwoven tectonic plates. The natural world is bathed in colours and tones, sometimes dreary but often bright and patterned. Gravity is defied, reasonable physics ignored to established thought provoking vistas painted with patterns and colours and tones that make awe inspiring backdrops. The land is either rich and fertile, scattered with thorny, scaly, strange moving creatures of all shapes and sizes. Or barren and vast, with scattered visual cues of physical oddities that glow and blip and seem out of place but not. There's a sheen to certain surfaces. Neon glows. A dreamlike illumination.
The two combined evoke a wholly unique artistic direction, one where the whimsical, logic defying wonder of the cosmos almost seems shackled or anchored by the industrial, brutalist sensibilities of the species who live on these worlds. Worlds of natural alien wonder pierced by the rawness of developed species. It's like exploring these gorgeous worlds that seem out of time and space and sometimes impossible, and then digging through scars left by the those who called them home.
It's what gets you stuff like the follow, and also why I adore the series art direction. It's so unique and distinct, focused and grounded where it needs to be but given full creative expression elsewhere.
They are some of the most aesthetically engaging games I have played, yes.Prime's art direction is a curious blend of 80's industrial sci-fi and whimsical 70's sci-fi.
From the former it takes worn, ruined, rusted, hard angled, industrial approach to buildings. Stretches of steel, worn stone, hard angled edges to structures and their architecture (likely specifically to reduce poly count and maintain performance). Slabs of stone and steel. There's a dash of brutalism mixed in for good measure. Ruins and structures, ships and military bases, labs and whatnot; they're dark, moody, and seemingly built mostly devoid of romanticism and instead largely for function. Their form looks hardy and stable, justifying the use of abandoned technological wonders and stone ruins that could be aeons old. They look like they would survive the elements, and the large, imposing statues and monoliths of its original inhabitants; once mighty, now fallen.
From the latter the trilogy takes the outlandish, logic defying conventions of celestial and natural wonders to craft truly alien worlds. Luminescent foliage, strange overgrown moss, unusual topography of scattered stones and landmasses warped by a missmatch of interwoven tectonic plates. The natural world is bathed in colours and tones, sometimes dreary but often bright and patterned. Gravity is defied, reasonable physics ignored to established thought provoking vistas painted with patterns and colours and tones that make awe inspiring backdrops. The land is either rich and fertile, scattered with thorny, scaly, strange moving creatures of all shapes and sizes. Or barren and vast, with scattered visual cues of physical oddities that glow and blip and seem out of place but not. There's a sheen to certain surfaces. Neon glows. A dreamlike illumination.
The two combined evoke a wholly unique artistic direction, one where the whimsical, logic defying wonder of the cosmos almost seems shackled or anchored by the industrial, brutalist sensibilities of the species who live on these worlds. Worlds of natural alien wonder pierced by the rawness of developed species. It's like exploring these gorgeous worlds that seem out of time and space and sometimes impossible, and then digging through scars left by the those who called them home.
It's what gets you stuff like the follow, and also why I adore the series art direction. It's so unique and distinct, focused and grounded where it needs to be but given full creative expression elsewhere.
...
We'll see what we get.
Prime's art direction is a curious blend of 80's industrial sci-fi and whimsical 70's sci-fi.
From the former it takes worn, ruined, rusted, hard angled, industrial approach to buildings. Stretches of steel, worn stone, hard angled edges to structures and their architecture (likely specifically to reduce poly count and maintain performance). Slabs of stone and steel. There's a dash of brutalism mixed in for good measure. Ruins and structures, ships and military bases, labs and whatnot; they're dark, moody, and seemingly built mostly devoid of romanticism and instead largely for function. Their form looks hardy and stable, justifying the use of abandoned technological wonders and stone ruins that could be aeons old. They look like they would survive the elements, and the large, imposing statues and monoliths of its original inhabitants; once mighty, now fallen.
From the latter the trilogy takes the outlandish, logic defying conventions of celestial and natural wonders to craft truly alien worlds. Luminescent foliage, strange overgrown moss, unusual topography of scattered stones and landmasses warped by a missmatch of interwoven tectonic plates. The natural world is bathed in colours and tones, sometimes dreary but often bright and patterned. Gravity is defied, reasonable physics ignored to established thought provoking vistas painted with patterns and colours and tones that make awe inspiring backdrops. The land is either rich and fertile, scattered with thorny, scaly, strange moving creatures of all shapes and sizes. Or barren and vast, with scattered visual cues of physical oddities that glow and blip and seem out of place but not. There's a sheen to certain surfaces. Neon glows. A dreamlike illumination.
The two combined evoke a wholly unique artistic direction, one where the whimsical, logic defying wonder of the cosmos almost seems shackled or anchored by the industrial, brutalist sensibilities of the species who live on these worlds. Worlds of natural alien wonder pierced by the rawness of developed species. It's like exploring these gorgeous worlds that seem out of time and space and sometimes impossible, and then digging through scars left by the those who called them home.
It's what gets you stuff like the follow, and also why I adore the series art direction. It's so unique and distinct, focused and grounded where it needs to be but given full creative expression elsewhere.
Beautifully said, makes me even more nervous about Prime 4
Well said.Prime's art direction is a curious blend of 80's industrial sci-fi and whimsical 70's sci-fi.
From the former it takes worn, ruined, rusted, hard angled, industrial approach to buildings. Stretches of steel, worn stone, hard angled edges to structures and their architecture (likely specifically to reduce poly count and maintain performance). Slabs of stone and steel. There's a dash of brutalism mixed in for good measure. Ruins and structures, ships and military bases, labs and whatnot; they're dark, moody, and seemingly built mostly devoid of romanticism and instead largely for function. Their form looks hardy and stable, justifying the use of abandoned technological wonders and stone ruins that could be aeons old. They look like they would survive the elements, and the large, imposing statues and monoliths of its original inhabitants; once mighty, now fallen.
From the latter the trilogy takes the outlandish, logic defying conventions of celestial and natural wonders to craft truly alien worlds. Luminescent foliage, strange overgrown moss, unusual topography of scattered stones and landmasses warped by a missmatch of interwoven tectonic plates. The natural world is bathed in colours and tones, sometimes dreary but often bright and patterned. Gravity is defied, reasonable physics ignored to established thought provoking vistas painted with patterns and colours and tones that make awe inspiring backdrops. The land is either rich and fertile, scattered with thorny, scaly, strange moving creatures of all shapes and sizes. Or barren and vast, with scattered visual cues of physical oddities that glow and blip and seem out of place but not. There's a sheen to certain surfaces. Neon glows. A dreamlike illumination.
The two combined evoke a wholly unique artistic direction, one where the whimsical, logic defying wonder of the cosmos almost seems shackled or anchored by the industrial, brutalist sensibilities of the species who live on these worlds. Worlds of natural alien wonder pierced by the rawness of developed species. It's like exploring these gorgeous worlds that seem out of time and space and sometimes impossible, and then digging through scars left by the those who called them home.
It's what gets you stuff like the follow, and also why I adore the series art direction. It's so unique and distinct, focused and grounded where it needs to be but given full creative expression elsewhere.
I think even within the individual elements of technology or nature, there is still that juxtaposition of ethereal beauty and industrial efficiency. If you look at Skytown, it screams artistic splendor with its floating buildings, ornate architecture, and stained glass windows. At the same time, much of the city is made up of the same mass-produced building design, only differentiated by varying levels of damage. Add the various monitors reminding you of the omniscient Ghor/Aurora Unit, and there's an uncomfortable feeling of deception to Elysia's beauty.
YESI always thought the Giger's Lord of the Rings paintings would have been a good basis to develop something from:
I'll take the Samus Returns Zero Suit look please.
Always hated the realistic Samus from Prime 1.
Always hated the realistic Samus from Prime 1.
They missed a spot with the body paint.I'll take the Samus Returns Zero Suit look please.
Always hated the realistic Samus from Prime 1.
A planet of Metroid should look like an alien world after the after the end
It should invoke the sense that there once was, but there now isn't and hasn't been for a long time.
The foreign structures withered by decay and time have long stopped crumbling. Any intelligent life no longer resides where it is now and there's no way to decypher what that civilization was.
A metroid world should be a scifi visual equivolent of this.
It should invoke the sense that there once was, but there now isn't and hasn't been for a long time.
The foreign structures withered by decay and time have long stopped crumbling. Any intelligent life no longer resides where it is now and there's no way to decypher what that civilization was.
A metroid world should be a scifi visual equivolent of this.
Absolutely. The pendulum swinging between these two juxtapositions is paramount throughout every facet of the series' art direction. It's a series that is emotionally evocative of celestial wonder and artistic splendour whether it be natural or artificial, with an rich, unsettling underscore of something not being quite right.
Of course not completely in the end of the spectrum, I would say along the same ballpark of Bioshock and Metal Gear Solid.
Reality sims (Gran Turismo, Arma, Flight Simulator)
-> Stylized reality (Crysis, Uncharted 4, Battlefield 4)
-> Otherworldly but recognizable (Mass Effect, Portal, Horizon)
-> Stylized (Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid 3, Metroid Prime)
-> Cartoony (X-Com 2, Street fighter, Final Fantasy)
-> Very stylized or minimalists (Limbo, The End Is Nigh )
-> Abstract (Pong, Geometry Wars)
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