Board 8 > I rank series by their visual design [ranking]

(+) Yeah! (+)

One more, with apologies to the nominator. If it's any consolation, I enjoyed all of your noms a lot! They all just...happened to drop one right after the other.

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32. Chaotic (TCG)
@DragonGargoyle
https://imgur.com/a/chZpGx7

Ooh, I like this! These images have two things I really gravitate toward in visual design: strong character designs and strong feelings of movement. I love the little dude with the big floppy ears (if its name is HEarring thats pretty groanworthy), with excellent colors and a big, expressive face. I also love Ettala(?), the giant ogre with a club. The design is pretty basic, but its smirk as it corners in on its prey is really special (although I cant tell if Ettala is winding up or has already struck?). I also like the two scenery shots, especially the one with all the cages, which paints a great picture of a big, sprawling prison inside some sort of rock formation.

I enjoy the fun spin on fantasy tropes. Theres lots of personality here. Good stuff!

rwlh posted...

Unlike <others>, I feel like Im unable to appreciate the full power of It Takes Twos visual design unless I play the game. Looking from the outside in, it seems lively and strong and vibrant, a world worth diving into. I especially appreciated the sense of play the aesthetic exudes at basically all times....Above all else, it seems like fun.

It is. It's great, and I'm kinda sad that I didn't get the chance to finish it.

31. Legends of Runeterra
@changmas
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FbbJsXAWAAAAa6s?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/0/06/05DE009-full.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1200?cb=20220212064541
https://preview.redd.it/ibaaros-ibaaros-the-champion-of-the-dunes-lifted-himself-v0-xq7gemt4o7s91.jpg?auto=webp&s=0ca8ece7ac8077fc115213b4864f49ae6da63a9d
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/4/4f/04SH073-full.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20210416064133
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/f/f4/05IO004-full.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20211208030716

There are some really neat designs and backgrounds here. Nice and colorful. I especially like the big dude in image 3, muscular and purple and foul-looking. I also get a strong sense of the personality of the characters in image 4, who are flying alongside rocks; one looks determined but satisfied, the other looks happier, more enthusiastic. I also really like the gigantic creature in image 2, who looks sort of like an organic Transformer, with massive wing-like protrusions coming off its back. Very fun, vibrant design, lots of colors, lots of life.

Just two today.

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30. Outlast
@Snake5555555555
https://imgur.com/gallery/hAwbERt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKA-IA4locM

Outlast really leans heavily into the aesthetic of dilapidated, run-down, gross-looking environment. When you arrive at this facility in the trailer, the paint is chipped on doors, the lights are dim, the floor is grungy, shit is knocked all over the place. Oh and theres a million bloodstains and corpses strewn about. Small detail. Before you even see an enemy, that sets the tone very clearly for what youre about to encounter.

The images you provided also play with this idea of shadows and run-down areas. It might interest you to know that image 5, the facility in silhouette from a sunset, is one of my absolute favorites from this topic; I gasped audibly when I saw it. Its just a perfect picture that perfectly encapsulates the desperate terror and claustrophobia you get from this game. Although apparently the trailer doesnt accurately reflect gameplay? That doesnt really concern me though.

29. Hulaing Babies
@UF8
https://www.sakugabooru.com/post?tags=hulaing_babies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U-Dj-4mDP4

Goodness, the sheer amount of energy that goes into every shot of this anime is very impressive. Hulaing Babies doesnt seem to abide by things like realistic physics or consistent character designs. We have a girl whose twintails afford her the ability to stick to walls and burst through ceilings. We have a ukelele-playing teacher who spins over and over in circles in the air. Theres a tiny body of water the girls hang out in that boils and bursts. The animation does a great job of conveying that sense of surrealism through frantic, rapid movements and bursts of color.

I had absolutely no idea what was going on at any point during this, but the animation carried me all throughout, to the point where I almost found myself wanting to look up what the show is actually about. Thats a very high compliment.

28. Root the Boardgame
@Simoun
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fb/6a/50/fb6a50b2e7b4bfeaf5dd245996fe4236.jpg
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0921/7330/products/1_860179d7-56cd-42ce-ab81-dff64a9f2ecb.jpg
https://cf.geekdo-images.com/Na9zpg26EgqFggB9VokUPQ__original/img/64vXR6GgstelXPwx3zyBYiWAS3M=/0x0/filters:format(jpeg)/pic5502087.jpg
https://cf.geekdo-images.com/X9jYJP-6Md7mpwoDyDILHA__imagepage/img/4NJ0Mk_RE7M5oe17ITJSaTSwbK4=/fit-in/900x600/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/pic6802828.jpg
https://m20336.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/img_4443.jpg

Omg this is adorable. This aesthetic of medieval low fantasy with cute woodland critters reminds me of a little kids version of the book series Redwall. (Though I get the sense that, despite its cutesy art, Root is probably too complex for young kids.)

But this art is just so charming! I love how expressive the mice are in that picture of eight different extreme emotions. I love how suspicious the cats are of the silly-looking bird in the Corvid Planners card. The birds overall dont strike me as expressive as the other animals, though maybe thats due to birds not having comparable mouths like the others? I feel like they still could have given the birds expressive eyes, which they sort of do, but the birds feel lacking compared to the other animals. Though thats because the other animals look so cool. I do really like the bird on the Eyrie Emigre card, whos super expressive, and Id love to see more of that; I also love the birds on the top of the expansion cover...so maybe Im wrong, okay. Birds are great. Caw.

Overall this is a very charming game. An art style can make or break a game like this, and they really captured a fun, serious but goofy aesthetic.

Root is great. Everyone I know is instantly charmed by the visual design. I like all the different design that goes into each faction and how the mice/fox/bunny cards all have their unique specialties (technology, weapons, and trade respectively).

The cute design definitely draws people to play the game, which usually is not what people want their cute animals to do. Its also rough to learn for beginners, since you basically need to be aware of at least 4 different rule sets. I got burnt on this at least twice before finally getting the hang of it.

I had the video game adaptation of Root, and I had no idea what the hell was going on. There was a tutorial that walked me through it, but by the time I'd gotten to the fourth faction, I'd forgotten how the first one worked, and I just didn't have any sense for win cons or what I wanted to be doing/preventing.

27. Bloodborne
@tazzyboyishere
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/9/5/AAPyH_AADyKX.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/9/6/AAPyH_AADyKY.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/9/7/AAPyH_AADyKZ.jpg
https://youtu.be/cF3LooXSxaI

For a game as Gothic as Bloodborne, it makes sense that its art would utilize shadows and darkness. The first image is very strong in that sense, using tall foreboding buildings, curvy perspective, and a deep, ominous, and cloudy sky, with the faint trace of the moon. We see the player character about to embark on his journey, and we know it will not be an easy one. The second image uses an interesting color palette: a garden gloomy and dark, but a huge fucking red moon. Shadows and darkness are a huge part of these images.

The video is a prime example of how pictures and videos can convey different things. With the boss fight against Ludwig, we see the dark shading in full display, but the boss design tells a horrible story difficult to capture on still images. This creature is foul, a perfect crystallization of the underlying terror the images promise. Dripping with hideous eldritch energy, Ludwig fulfills the promise of the first picture, a descent into hell.

This art style isnt generally my thing. The shadowy textures make things feel somewhat samey a lot of the time. But Bloodborne takes it a step further by not just making a dark aesthetic. The game takes the feel and embodies it, turns it into something powerful. I have a lot of respect for that.

Meant to comment on Outlast yesterday I forgot. I'm glad you loved that fifth pic so much. It's quite captivating. And I dunno, the trailer seems to capture the gameplay fine at least to me, if a little scripted but what trailer isn't?

I'm just going off the comments on the video. There were a number of them that intimated the trailer was very different from the finished product. Again, I don't care about this for the purposes of this topic; I just thought it was interesting.

And yeah, that fifth image is breathtaking.

Oh yeah I think there are a couple of things from the trailer that didn't make it into the game I think. I don't tend to get hung up on stuff like that too much!

Here, have another writeup.

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26. Code Monkeys
@Johnbobb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8GadTlsXp4
https://imgur.com/a/ytGmyYN

Im really glad you posted a video for this nomination, because the still images dont do it justice. At the same time, Im less glad you posted a video, because the humor is...lets just say its definitely not to my taste. Fortunately, Im just going off the visual stuff, and Code Monkeys has a lot to offer in that regard. Ive mentioned in a few writeups [edit: or at least I will be mentioning that] that I love good spritework. What this show does is take something that isnt normally as fluid and turn it into a fully-fledged, immersive environment. The characters move fluidly and expressively, despite their spritey limitations. I appreciated (on a design level) Jerrys pelvic thrusting, for example, and all the spit takes and vomit takes were nicely animated.

The clip and images are also very colorful, with character designs that pop out. Theres also a nice touch with the HUD at the top and bottom of the screen, with things like health and location, as well as little text that pops up during battles. Code Monkeys very clearly touts its gaming influences proudly.

Like I said, I would never willingly watch this, but I was very impressed by the animation and attention to detail. Its fascinating to appreciate something I wouldnt normally like for very specific reasons. This was a very nice find.

I never imagined Code Monkeys would place above Bloodborne but hell yeah

I love Code Monkeys as a teen and yeah I highly doubt most of it aged well but the style is still unlike any other animated show

A lot of that is personal preference. I'm less into Gothic fantasy as an aesthetic, but I love well-executed spritework. I really appreciated what Code Monkeys was going for. Bloodborne too! Not knocking it or anything - it's a very impressive beast all its own.

Top 25 let's go!

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25. Katanagatari
@pyresword
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2dm5SsHGrU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wNuMDvD6h0

This is really beautiful animation, particularly the backdrops of a lush island with rich colors. I really enjoyed the composition of the action in these videos too, particularly the energy of a swordfight (without a sword!) and the nice shot of the girl falling in the water and the boy grabbing her hand and helping her out. This feels like a show that doesnt skimp on set pieces and action shots, particularly important for something that involves fighting so much.

This isnt any higher because, um...what is the guy wearing? Sleeves without a shirt? What a bizarre choice of costume. It looks too goofy for me to take him seriously, which is a problem given that hes the protagonist and hes supposed to be badass. I see him cycle through a few costume changes, but his first outfit is also silly. I dont know! I get weird about outfits (and hairstyles) sometimes. Beyond that, I really appreciate Katanagataris great sense of visual flair.

24. A Pup Named Scooby Doo!
@changmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiosN4fkcwo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjX200Au7A

Ive never been big into Scooby Doo, in part because the classic Hanna-Barbera animation style never really appealed to me. Everyone looks so stiff and, well, realistic. A Pup Named Scooby Doo!, however, has a lot more fun with the animated medium. In the first clip we have tons of kinetic energy, bright colors, and some toonforce stuff with Shaggy and Scooby getting flattened by the opening doors. The second clip gives us Scoobys face contortions when describing the rhost and Shaggy and Scooby disconnecting parts of their body in fright. Also of note is that Weirdo Woods, where Red Herring apparently skulks around, is a total departure from the colorful suburbs and is instead full of dark purply jagged edges and swirling clouds out of a Dali painting.

Its so much fun to see a different interpretation of the Scooby franchise. The animators clearly had a lot of fun going for a younger, Saturday morning cartoon crowd.

rwlh posted...

29. Hulaing Babies
@UF8
https://www.sakugabooru.com/post?tags=hulaing_babies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U-Dj-4mDP4

Goodness, the sheer amount of energy that goes into every shot of this anime is very impressive. Hulaing Babies doesnt seem to abide by things like realistic physics or consistent character designs. We have a girl whose twintails afford her the ability to stick to walls and burst through ceilings. We have a ukelele-playing teacher who spins over and over in circles in the air. Theres a tiny body of water the girls hang out in that boils and bursts. The animation does a great job of conveying that sense of surrealism through frantic, rapid movements and bursts of color.

I had absolutely no idea what was going on at any point during this, but the animation carried me all throughout, to the point where I almost found myself wanting to look up what the show is actually about. Thats a very high compliment.

it's a super underrated show i do recommend, and as you might've gathered it's also pretty short. also somehow has multiple sequel series that are unique in their own ways. also since it ended up surprisingly high i'll also add that gainax fukushima had another series with this general style called tabechattatte ii no ni na or You Can Enjoy which managed to fly even further below the radar. it gets new episodes every few years or so on the official fukushima pr youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKMrAE0RW9lFTGWgB4EcIF8r237FyoCsB

Katanagatari some of my favorite anime visuals. Probably not quite at the top, but I thought this would be one of the easier ones to convey with a limited amount of content. It gives the show this really cool storybook quality to it. The whole show is exploding with color as well, and I like all of the flair on the character designs. Really cool show and it's shame that it's fallen a bit off the face of the Earth due to not being available for streaming anywhere.

UF8 posted...

it's a super underrated show i do recommend, and as you might've gathered it's also pretty short. also somehow has multiple sequel series that are unique in their own ways. also since it ended up surprisingly high i'll also add that gainax fukushima had another series with this general style called tabechattatte ii no ni na or You Can Enjoy which managed to fly even further below the radar. it gets new episodes every few years or so on the official fukushima pr youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKMrAE0RW9lFTGWgB4EcIF8r237FyoCsB

I watched the first two videos in the playlist out of curiosity. It feels very similar to Hulaing Babies, but less all over the place, though there are some nicely animated bits like the peach girl ascending into outer space. I also like the character designs. I think if you nominated this it would have placed lower than Hulaing Babies, but I still enjoyed it.

pyresword posted...

Katanagatari some of my favorite anime visuals. Probably not quite at the top, but I thought this would be one of the easier ones to convey with a limited amount of content. It gives the show this really cool storybook quality to it. The whole show is exploding with color as well, and I like all of the flair on the character designs. Really cool show and it's shame that it's fallen a bit off the face of the Earth due to not being available for streaming anywhere.

I really appreciated all the "setpieces" (for lack of a better term) and the composition of the shots. Really nice find.

23. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
@azuarc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Otx7h4IqsY

Skipping around the video as per instructions, I find a game that seems to rely more heavily on its aesthetic than other nominations. I dont mean this as a bad thing at all; I mean that Ender Lilies works in close tandem with its dark, creepy design to create an atmosphere inseparable from the game experience.

The story of Ender Lilies concerns a kingdom thats fallen under the thrall of a plague. This is represented by background images of decay, enemies in various states of disrepair, and a prevalent red mist. The effect is powerful, particularly as your main character is surrounded by an almost heavenly white aura, contrasting with the plagues toll behind her.

Colors are a huge part of the design. In addition to the aforementioned white aura, other game elements come in a variety of browns and reds and blues; there seems to be plenty of variety in presentation, which isnt always a given with a game like this. The video featured scenes of what appear to be a save point, with your character sitting on a bench in a peaceful-looking white field. That stuck out to me due to its contrast with everything else.

Overall Ender Lilies was a nice surprise. Its neat to compare it to something like Bloodborne, which also does the whole world fallen into darkness thing, but the games execute this aesthetic very differently. It makes me wonder what Ender Lilies would look like in 3D. I suspect it wouldnt look much similar at all, as its a game designed for the 2D space much as Bloodborne is designed for 3D. Its cool to see such divergent takes on a similar (at least on the surface) theme.

22. Virtual Cat's Neko Katsudou (Cat Activity) series
@UF8
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKMrAE0RW9lEcB8UQrJg4kiroyjKTh163

What do you mean Place didnt nominate this???

This is a series of videos about cats and virtual cats which I guess are computers and also an alien cat (you can tell its an alien because it has antennae). They get up to all sorts of surreal non-adventures, most of which are shorter than 15 seconds and include fidget spinners, baseball games, food that endlessly generates, and butterflies. The artstyle is super basic and utilizes the same template for each cat. Occasionally the cats will have angry eyebrows. Occasionally their eyes will be closed. Many of the backgrounds appear to be stock images. Sometimes there are humans, sometimes there are crowds of people. The series seemingly ends with the virtual cat making a heroic sacrifice to bring joy to people.

I think this series was written by an AI.

All that said, I really enjoyed it! I think the low-effort, minimalist artstyle works really well at establishing a mood early on. Its fascinating because the art is so static, but the story is so dynamic basically anything can happen, and theres a neat interplay between the art and the content as a result. It reminds me a bit of Dinosaur Comics in that sense, this static and unchanging art that can lead to basically anything in the world.

Utterly fascinating stuff.

And one more, why not.

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21. Hitman
@Raka_Putra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ADh-QR5Tg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU-i-ATBsN8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb8q7azp7qk

I was a little skeptical of this nomination after the first video, which looks like your average AAA blockbuster game with shiny hi-def graphics. But you were wise to post the other videos, which give the game (series?) a very compelling aesthetic. The second and third videos are mission briefings, full of visual eye candy youd expect a futuristic secret agency to have. Lots of arresting pop-ups with big, bright graphics. There are effects when the briefing describes the mission targets, showing them in their natural element (like posing by a race car). The targets, all elite, powerful, and unscrupulous, are portrayed essentially as marble statues...all the better to crumble.

I really like this aesthetic. Even the the first video, revisiting after the second two, seems to serve the general purpose of super cool secret stealth mission, but with an edge. Youre not James Bond, youre a hired killer, and the Cool Narrator Lady implies youre treating it all like a game, saying you like a challenge. Its very meta, like the game is aware of the layer between you and 47, and its encouraging you to play as if you really are a hitman. Very cool stuff.

I want to live in a Hitman level, they are so damn beautiful.

rwlh posted...

22. Virtual Cat's Neko Katsudou (Cat Activity) series
@UF8
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKMrAE0RW9lEcB8UQrJg4kiroyjKTh163

This is wonderful

rwlh posted...

This is a series of videos about cats and virtual cats which I guess are computers and also an alien cat (you can tell its an alien because it has antennae)

actually the plain white cat is the virtual cat (or virtual neko, the virtual part is largely just because the cat is his virtual persona), the robot is virtual neko machine (it's written on it). there are really a lot of different recurring characters though with their own dedicated skits, the leading theme of the series is not only how anything could happen in it, but how virtually any concept could be a cat. for instance the owl that shows up once or twice is merely a cat with an owl's body, and there is also a cat themed around an scp entry. most of the main characters are also aliases he uses for his music, incidentally

Yeah I love how slick and stylish they are. And the mission control lady really adds to the atmosphere. Excellent voice acting.

From here on out, it's safe to say I adore everything. Any criticisms I have will likely be nitpicks.

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20. Astalon: Tears of the Earth
@azuarc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWQzvSKSctA

Im a sucker for beautiful spritework. For instance, one of the first things I noticed about this review of Astalon: Tears of the Earth is the idle animation for Arias, the blue knight character. He shifts his hips back and forth like hes sizing up potential threats, like hes ready to spring into action at a moments notice. Thats a ton of personality brimming off of a one-second animation cycle. On the same note, Kyulis walk animation feels very expressive, like shes on the prowl but also being sneaky. Another highlight is the shadows and lighting when the three playable characters sit around a campfire, as well as Alguss pained facial expression, which indicates that hes reliving bad memories. So from this seemingly simple spritework, Ive already gleaned info about the personalities of the playable cast.

One thing I personally didnt care for was the color palette: mostly monochromatic with a few different shades. While I do think this accurately conveys the feel of exploring a deep dungeon or castle or tower or what have you, I know I would find it difficult to remember my place if I were playing. Ill concede though that aesthetically the colors work at worldbuilding, even if I dont personally find them appealing.

I literally said whoa aloud at the spiky boss creature at 2:48. I also like some of the enemy designs, like the rubber-mouthed ones at 3:20. I also appreciate the skeleton party at 4:00.

Overall Astalon: Tears of the Earth has tight aesthetic design where everything seems to work together in harmony something I very much look for in visual media.

19. Vampire Hunter D
@MargaretAnnMid
https://youtu.be/44xT9LSrgJ4

Now this is cool! A very stylized depiction of a battle between the living and the undead. This clip has a few flashy moments, like those branch-like blades that pop up from the ground, or Ds fight that destroys solid concrete. But its more atmospheric than flashy. It tells the story of a woman whos been taken by a vampire some say she went willingly, but Vampire Hunter D believes shes been kidnapped. From the look on her face when her window opens at night (and we get this incredible shot of her roses withering), hes probably right. Along the way we get glimpses into the different players of the tale: other hunters, vampires, unsavory characters, and the woman herself. The shots of these characters are often drawn in silhouette, or halfway out of frame, suggesting a strong sense of mystery. This is a trailer that doesnt tip its hand. It doesnt need to show off. Its confident. It knows youll be hooked. It knows youll keep watching.

This is a classic anime, so it has classic anime sensibilities: how the characters look, the way they move, even the voice acting and score. I have a fondness for classic anime, so Vampire Hunter D gets bumped up a few places because of that. I just love how, for lack of a better term, classy it is. It uses animation to convey a sense of foreboding and danger, and it does so super effectively, uniquely at that. Vampires are cool. This anime reminds us why.

18. Okami
@tazzyboyishere
https://youtu.be/RhnhRfTzRnw

Okami is a visual masterpiece. Every second of this video oozes with life. From the flowers that blossom where Amaterasu walks to the terror and darkness of Yami to the popping designs of the NPCs. Everything is great. The design serves the purpose of showing how wherever Ammy goes, life is restored, with shadow giving way to light. The setpieces in this trailer all serve to illuminate how immersive the world is.

I dont have a lot to say about Okami. Like, we all know Okami, we all know its great, right? Its a great example of what Im looking for when personality shines through visual design. Its terrific. Good nomination!

And one more.

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17. Voltron
@redrocket
https://youtu.be/f9C2YLVaSBw
https://youtu.be/18i_qfNjeM0
https://youtu.be/2M3cyCFWChg

OMG wow. This...this is a lot.

There is something almost painfully earnest about Voltron. Its a Saturday morning cartoon, from back when that label carried a certain connotation. The animation is super rough I might even say primitive but it doesnt matter. What matters is that earnestness. Voltron is selling you on the serious importance of there being an intergalactic space war and only a bunch of kids can bring back Voltron (are they going to get him? Are they turning into him? The translation is unclear). There were presumably lots of action figures that combined into Voltron that kids simply had to have. That musical score is triumphant and makes you feel like theres nothing you too couldnt be capable of if you had a lion mech.

I say painfully earnest, but you might interpret it as deeply cynical, marketing to the youngest consumers. That doesnt bother me here. Voltron really sells it. Part of it is honestly the rough animation. So much dead air, so many repeated frames. I dont care though. To me, Voltron is a perfect exemplar of its time period. I never watched it, but within literally five seconds Im immediately transported back in time. That means something.

Few media, visual or otherwise, are able to evoke such a strong sense of place and time so quickly and so effectively. I enjoyed this nomination a lot, goofy earnestness and all.

Still 3 left!

rwlh posted...

20. Astalon: Tears of the Earth

One thing I personally didnt care for was the color palette: mostly monochromatic with a few different shades. While I do think this accurately conveys the feel of exploring a deep dungeon or castle or tower or what have you, I know I would find it difficult to remember my place if I were playing.

Each area has a different tileset and you get a map. However, with every screen being the same rectangle and only connections between them shown on the map, navigating within a given area can be tricky occasionally if you don't already know the lay of the land.

And out of four games, I'm now down to the one I haven't even played outside of a Next Fest demo.

Speaking of...!

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16. Potionomics
@azuarc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYReGjZwnvc

This review lauds the animation in Potionomics, a potion shop/business simulator, as rivaling the best of Disney and Pixar. Thats high praise, yet I can see where the reviewer is coming from. The characters in Potionomics, both your controllable shopkeep and your prospective customers, move so fluidly and gracefully that its hard to not believe theyre real people. Little details like flapping wings or body language like hand waving or sighing...those go a long way toward building characters.

And thats not even getting into the amazing designs. Weve got a huge man who looks like a walrus, a lady with an arm that seems to be made of straw, and a Gothic-looking witch who keeps sighing at the world. Plus there are a bunch of more normal-looking peeps like someone who looks like a Disney Prince. The designs are so engaging, including the protagonists, who looks like she just stepped out of Total Drama and found herself surrounded by weirdos. Also theres an owl. Owls are cool.

Also the UI seems cool. Fairly basic, but cool.

While a lot of games like this use still images and generic backgrounds, Potionomics goes the extra mile and adds lovingly well-animated characters to set it apart.

Johnbobb posted...

Still 3 left!

Speaking of...!

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15. Kirby's Epic Yarn
@Johnbobb
https://imgur.com/a/JR0xHJ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw2JTmXQ9mk

I was bummed that nobody nominated Yoshis Island, one of my all-time favorite visual aesthetics. I will have to settle for Kirbys Epic Yarn, which is no slouch either! Kirbys Epic Yarn has an interactive aesthetic, that of being made of yarn in a yarn-filled world. Kirby can manipulate yarn in the environment and in combat in clever ways, including a variety of transformations. Because this is a Kirby game its cute by default, but Epic Yarn takes it to a new level by giving everything this cutesy homespun quality. Like look at the teddy bear in the video that you stitch up. Look at it! And then theres also the stage layouts from the still images, so colorful and vivid.

I will say that Kirby unfortunately has awful taste in interior decorating. Look at that wallpaper at 1:18 in the video! Hideous. Fortunately for him, the game stands just fine even with it.

14. Mind Game
@Place
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps6WeMQ98S8

So I watched this video twice. I had thought watching it a second time would help me process it more. This theory did not hold water. But thats okay! I like weird.

Im ignoring what Mind Game may or may not be about (language barrier + lack of subtitles makes guessing this a challenge). What were really here for is the animation. This trailer has a ton of kinetic energy. Lots of jagged lines, frenzied movement, awkward facial expressions, vivid colors. It screams exuberant, even in the parts where there isnt as much color; the trailers ending, with a character (who is now a ghost?) looking at an empty space is haunting in its own right, an absence made more profound by all the previous filled space.

There are these weird, like...live-action faces that get animated into the actual animation? The trailer opens with someone on his knees, but his head is like a digitized version of a real life head. Its disorienting in the best possible way. The trailer throws these big ideas at you so fast. Characters dance to music and paddle boats. A train careens off its track. Before that, a girl gets her leg stuck in the door of a train (the same train maybe?). Someone gets shot with a gun in the butt. Keeping a core visual identity in the midst of all these sharp images is tricky, and Mind Game seems to maintain a visual footprint by adhering to its own set of rules. Physics gets bent, space and color get distorted. Its a real trip! I only wish there was a larger resolution version of the trailer.

As an aside, participants of VGMC may be interested to know Ed Harrison commented on this video. Yes, that Ed Harrison.

rwlh posted...

I will say that Kirby unfortunately has awful taste in interior decorating. Look at that wallpaper at 1:18 in the video! Hideous. Fortunately for him, the game stands just fine even with it.

https://wikirby.com/wiki/Fabric

Oh, so you can customize that space? That makes more sense then.

Mind Game is definitely one I would've nominated if it hadn't already been nominated

Epic Yarn would probably be my choice for the happiest game ever made. It's overwhelmingly pleasant

Kirby's Yarn is so adorable.

DragonGargoyle posted...

Potionomics, visually, looks so incredible to me. It's half the reason why I've been tempted to get it lately, which is saying a lot, because my queue is kinda overwhelming rn lol

Muktuk, the walrus man, is peak design

I LOVE the walrus man. A real highlight from an already solid design.

Let's head up to the top ten, shall we?

-

13. Mystery Skulls Animated
@Simoun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlEb3L1PIco

Okay so Ill preface this by saying that I am absolute sucker for animation synced to music. Especially catchy music! So in a subjective sense, this was always going to be near the top of the list. Ghost, by the band Mystery Skulls, is animated music video that tells the story of three Scooby-Doo inspired paranormal investigators whose mystery van breaks down outside a haunted mansion. They have an adventure with an undead skeleton who seems to have strange ties to the group.

The big thing I noticed right away is everything in the video is synced to the beat of the song. Characters heads bob, candles light, Lewis the skeletons big yellow heart beats. Its a very effective way of maintaining my interest. The actual animation is crisp and cartoony. The mystery gang all have incredibly expressive faces, ranging from happy to determined to outright panicked. The video is also full of little homages, like everyone exiting and entering an endless hall of doors. Its also jam packed with story and lore, and fun details like Lewiss eyes full of sausages after he runs into the massive sandwiches.

Is Ghost objectively better than some of the other series at the top of the list? Because it does very specific things that I love, its hard for me to be objective. So I wont bother. Ill say that I enjoyed it more than most of the nominations. I rewatched the video multiple times! The visual design clearly resonated with me. For that reason alone, it deserves a place near the top.

Its not at the absolute top, however, for two reasons. One is that the actual design design, aka what Im supposed to be ranking, isnt as sharp and distinctive as the other series near the top. The other is its storytelling isnt always super clear. Things happen so fast in Ghost that its tough what actually is happening at all. I needed to browse the TVTropes page to find the map. But I still really, really liked it.

12. God of War
@Johnbobb
https://imgur.com/a/n3kfE4y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwnRYjLhIc4

Goodness this is violent. What did these poor wittle gods do to you anyway, Kratos?

The video has really terrific color composition. The white of the mountains and the sea contrasts brightly with colorful Poseidon, less so with Kratos, whos mostly ashen like the rest of the world. Theres also a strong sense of size, of grandeur, evident not just with the massive stone figure that shows up at the end but also with how Kratos and Poseidon are framed in relation to the mountainside and the sea. They are insignificant in size, but theyre the most important things in the world. The pictures also convey that strong scale, with massive beings towering over Kratos and the rest of the world. This presumably serves to enhance the feeling of taking down something so big from a gameplay perspective, but it also enhances Kratoss story, of a mortal man who grew so large, metaphorically and physically, that he could take on the gods.

I really like the dude in the second picture. He looks friendly.

Some of this stuff feels inherently metal. Like I could see the big centurion holding a leaking hourglass on the cover of a metal album. God of War is a very metal series in general, so that tracks.

All in all, very bold visual design that blends together gameplay and story with sheer size and scope. Im very impressed!

11. Silent Hill
@Snake5555555555
https://imgur.com/a/UoUajJV
https://youtu.be/xXZjx3Qc5o0?t=165

Watched 2:45-7:45 of the video, as instructed.

Not going to lie, this really pushed my limit of spooky. I jumped out of my chair when youre in the bathroom and a horrible noise comes out of the stall you knocked on several times. But its okay, because this design is awesome, so Im glad you gave it to me.

Silent Hill is a series that really thrives on the psychological aspect of horror. You can see it in the pictures: foggy hills; grungy, claustrophobic floors; mundane objects made unnerving by proximity, like the empty wheelchair around the corner from the lit hallway, or the door covered in padlocks with a frantic note that says DONT GO OUT!!

The video of James wandering the prison takes that to a whole other level. Its got all the aesthetic of the pictures, but with added effects of dim lighting, very samey looking rooms (presumably done on purpose to increase anxiety), and these awful, disgusting enemies that look like stitched-together corpses. (Also, um, the sound design is amazing, but thats a separate thing.)

Would I ever play one of these games? Certainly not, if a jumpscare is enough to skyrocket my heart rate...and there are apparently even worse scares later in the video. No thanks. But I can certainly appreciate it, in this safe isolation, so thanks for giving me a window to observe Silent Hill...from a distance lol

Top 10 WOW

This is what's left:

Berserk
Cuphead
Hollow Knight
Journey
Paprika
Punisher Max
Return of the Obra Dinn
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse
The Dark Crystal (1982/Age of Resistance)
World of Tomorrow

Any predictions? Anything particularly surprising? I'm out of the loop with most of these so I don't have a good basis for what's popular.

So close with God of War. I still say that no series handles the sense of scale in its framing the way God of War does. The games just throw bigger and bigger bosses at you, from the Hydra, to the Colossus of Rhodes, to eventually you're fighting Cronos (the friendly guy in that 2nd picture) who holds you like you're a mere ant

https://i.imgur.com/6H8YClw.png

God of War III still stands as one of the most visually impressive games I'd ever played by the time it came out, and now I'd argue Ragnarok is the same. Slightly smaller scale in most instances (with some exceptions) but startling in its color composition

Damn I thought I was gonna have two in the top ten for sure! Thanks for giving Silent Hill an honest chance - Silent Hill's aesthetic even scares the shit out of me so for you to fight through it and still see the beautiful horror in it is great. Toluca Prison is still the scariest and most creative and psychologically intense location in any game to this day, in my opinion.

Johnbobb posted...

God of War III still stands as one of the most visually impressive games I'd ever played by the time it came out, and now I'd argue Ragnarok is the same. Slightly smaller scale in most instances (with some exceptions) but startling in its color composition

I was expecting the massive scale, but not the color scheme - that was a very welcome surprise.

Snake5555555555 posted...

Damn I thought I was gonna have two in the top ten for sure! Thanks for giving Silent Hill an honest chance - Silent Hill's aesthetic even scares the shit out of me so for you to fight through it and still see the beautiful horror in it is great. Toluca Prison is still the scariest and most creative and psychologically intense location in any game to this day, in my opinion.

I genuinely tried to give every nomination a fair chance. Some of it wasn't stuff I would normally have looked at but still tried to appreciate (like Monster Hunter), some of it pushed me out of my comfort zone in other ways (like Silent Hill), some of it was even from media I disliked apart from the design (hi Code Monkeys). That was part of why this ranking has been so much fun: seeing stuff I wouldn't have normally found, and talking about why I think it's cool.