I did a quick search on the forum before making this thread, and the paltry number of results pertaining to the works of Team Ladybug convinced me that they need more exposure.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with them, they are an indie Japanese developer that carved a niche for themselves making compact Metroidvania games based on existing IP's such as Shin Megami Tensei, Touhou, and Record of Lodoss War before recently branching out with DRAINUS in 2022, an original shmup creation of their own. Whether you've heard of them before or not, I think that a thread is in order to commend them for their accomplishments in "pixel art" over these last few years.
I say "pixel art" in quotes because in their most recent game, DRAINUS, they are actually using a visual filter over polygonal models to create a very convincing illusion of smoothly animated pixel art. Their older games, on the other hand, all use mostly traditional 2D, keyframed pixel art with low-res 3D blended in nicely for effects work. No matter which of their games you're looking at, you're gonna come away impressed.
View: https://twitter.com/ladybug_happy6/status/1528615404503179265?s=20
We've seen plenty of good-looking pixel art in indie games over the years, but I feel that Team Ladybug's smooth, high frame-count animations and mastery of the basics of gaming visual feedback (e.g. hitstop, impact sparks, explosive death animations, etc.) really puts them in the upper echelon when it comes to this stuff. So without further ado, I'll conclude this OP with some GIFs to give people a taste of Team Ladybug's sumptuous 2D art and animation and hopefully convince some to try out one or more of their games.
Touhou Luna Nights (2018)
Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (2020)
DRAINUS (2022)
For those of you who are unfamiliar with them, they are an indie Japanese developer that carved a niche for themselves making compact Metroidvania games based on existing IP's such as Shin Megami Tensei, Touhou, and Record of Lodoss War before recently branching out with DRAINUS in 2022, an original shmup creation of their own. Whether you've heard of them before or not, I think that a thread is in order to commend them for their accomplishments in "pixel art" over these last few years.
I say "pixel art" in quotes because in their most recent game, DRAINUS, they are actually using a visual filter over polygonal models to create a very convincing illusion of smoothly animated pixel art. Their older games, on the other hand, all use mostly traditional 2D, keyframed pixel art with low-res 3D blended in nicely for effects work. No matter which of their games you're looking at, you're gonna come away impressed.
View: https://twitter.com/ladybug_happy6/status/1528615404503179265?s=20
We've seen plenty of good-looking pixel art in indie games over the years, but I feel that Team Ladybug's smooth, high frame-count animations and mastery of the basics of gaming visual feedback (e.g. hitstop, impact sparks, explosive death animations, etc.) really puts them in the upper echelon when it comes to this stuff. So without further ado, I'll conclude this OP with some GIFs to give people a taste of Team Ladybug's sumptuous 2D art and animation and hopefully convince some to try out one or more of their games.
Touhou Luna Nights (2018)
Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (2020)
DRAINUS (2022)
