Does art style reflect the immersion of a game?

[Sinc3riT]

I was looking at the new Borderlands 2 screens, and got to thinking about the original Borderlands. Borderlands has a very unique art style, which as I'm sure you know forgoes the "realistic" look to have a much more stylized cartoon-ish look. That by no means makes it look simply like a comic, but I can imagine that some people would be put off a bit by such an interface look.

What about you guys? Can you all still feel connected to the game with such an art style, and not always sense that it's a game that you're on the outside of? I personally think that even though it doesn't look "real" per se, it's still a game that I can feel a part of.

 

[Vault101]

imersion I feel has nothing to do with artstyle (same people who have a prblem with bordlerands are likley the same dumbasses cant stand animated movies or anything a little to "fantasy" like)

imersion is when you dont notice your playing a game and it breaks when

-glitches
-reapating phreases over and over
-walking funny/into walls
-invisible walls
-Oblivion the main example of how NOT to do imersion

imersion is where the world your in feels belivable and alive, regardless fo artstyle

 

[Farther than stars]

Of course it has something to do with immersion. The art is part of the asthetics and asthetics are all about how we connect to a game on the most basic level. And of course we all have different tastes, so different asthetics will appeal differently to everyone.
And being a visual medium, the art is of course going to play a major role in your involvement in the game, but I wouldn't say it necessarily "reflects" the immersion, rather than is a part of it. After all, every detail in your game is what buils the asthetics.

 

[NickCaligo42]

Immersion is a hoax created by developers to justify points of laziness or personal preference. What matters is that a game knows what it's trying to do, does it well, and can be enjoyed the way it was intended to be enjoyed. An art style that properly reflects that intention or tone is a good thing.

Ask yourself: You still enjoy animated films, right? Disney and Pixar's classics are still classics, with some of the best characters, stories, and visuals cinema has seen. Why should a crazy, cartoonish art style in a GAME put you off any more than it does in a film?

I feel the stubborn attachment some people have to "realism" is childish. Don't get me wrong, I greatly respect people who can pull off realistic visuals in a game, but remarkable visuals are remarkable whether they're realistic or not, and developing a consistent, intentionally stylized art style is no small feat, and I respect that too and, in a lot of cases, enjoy that more.

Except Borderlands. But you know why I don't like borderlands? Because I think it's ugly and don't LIKE the art style, or the gameplay, or the writing. That's all there is to it. I just don't like the game. I'm not going to pretend it's "immersion-breaking" and hide behind that as an excuse to somehow make my preference seem objective. I know a lot of people who love it, and with just as many good reasons for loving it as I have reasons for not liking it. And I accept that, just as much as I accept that others like Call of Duty while it just isn't my thing.

I really wish the gaming world were able to take that attitude more easily. It seems like we're always wound up in some struggle for objective legitimacy in everything we do now adays. We can never just play, we have to somehow justify it. We can never enjoy the games that we enjoy and just call it at that, we have to argue why our games are better and why other peoples' games are worse. We gotta cut this crap out and just relax and enjoy ourselves.

 

[Archangel768]

I've found that the games that I've found the most immersive have usually been ones that are more stylised. I don't the art style is 'key' to immersion but also requires other aspects. For me though, anime style games are much more appealing because I like the look more than other art styles, this probably makes them more immersive but, I think there is a little more to it than just the art style that solely creates immersion but it certainly make a difference depending on the person.

 

[aba1]

imersion I feel has nothing to do with artstyle (same people who have a prblem with bordlerands are likley the same dumbasses cant stand animated movies or anything a little to "fantasy" like)

imersion is when you dont notice your playing a game and it breaks when

-glitches
-reapating phreases over and over
-walking funny/into walls
-invisible walls
-Oblivion the main example of how NOT to do imersion

imersion is where the world your in feels belivable and alive, regardless fo artstyle

As a professional designer I can tell you it has EVERYTHING to do with immersion there are entire books written on the subject hell the entire advertising, film, etc industries are built around that concept.

 

[Sixcess]

imersion is where the world your in feels belivable and alive, regardless fo artstyle

I'm in total agreement.

The most immersive game I've ever played, by far, is Minecraft. Now noone's ever going to mistake the blocky art of that game for reality but regardless... no other game has ever given me more of a sense of being in an entirely other world, a real place.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Well, with Borderlands I never really felt that immersion, but that wasn't because of the art style, it was because the game's story was utter rubbish and because I only played the game with friends, and everyone knows that when coop is involved immersion goes straight out the window. Art style doesn't really have much to do with immersion for me. I mean, Okami is one of the most immersive games I've ever played.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Sure, things like color scheme, level of detail and environment are things that SHOULD enhance the player's immersion, when supported by gameplay and story.

 

[Daftie]

Depends on your definition of "Art style"

 

[skywolfblue]

Art is subjective. One style will completely immerse someone while another person finds it completely ugly, and vice versa.

When the art style and the person coincide, yes the game will be extremely immersive for that person.

For example, I find WoW, Enslaved, Bayonetta etc more immersive then Call of Duty etc. The cartoony art style of the former appeals to me and draws me in much more successfully then the realism of the latter.

 

[StorytellingIsAMust]

I found Wind Waker extremely immerssive, as I sailed for the cel-shaded horizons with seagulls flying alongside my ship and islands slowly coming into view. Let's not forget, that this cel-shaded cartoony graphics, yet I felt more immersed than when I was playing any Crysis or Uncharted game.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Would Okami be Okami if your playing the game with a 3d esc realistic wolf instead of the beautiful painted one we've come to know and love?

 

[Cridhe]

Absolutely. I also believe music feeds more into the immersive quality of a game more than people give credit to it. Dragon Ages both are perfect examples of this. A lot of the scenes and action sequences in the game felt a great deal more intense with some of the in game tracks playing.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

imersion I feel has nothing to do with artstyle (same people who have a prblem with bordlerands are likley the same dumbasses cant stand animated movies or anything a little to "fantasy" like)

imersion is when you dont notice your playing a game and it breaks when

-glitches
-reapating phreases over and over
-walking funny/into walls
-invisible walls
-Oblivion the main example of how NOT to do imersion

imersion is where the world your in feels belivable and alive, regardless fo artstyle

oh come on, oblivion has an amazing immersive feel once you get away from the npcs and wander around the world. I dont know how many times i would stop to look at the stars or just watch the rain fall on the water.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

I think different art styles cause different levels of immersion. Minecraft, for example, is all blocks, so I personally dont feel like I'm there. Madworld, on the other hand, has a cel shaded, black-white-and-red artstyle that really gets you into the game despite(or perhaps because of) evrything being either monochrome or covered in gore.

 

[legendp]

It depends on how far they take the art, I like the art in halo, Mirrors edge (gameplay only) and Portal 2 but I did not like it in borderlands (although that might have been partly to do with me not liking anything in borderlands). there is a balance that developers need to find between art and Graphics, amazing graphics with no art can look boring and too much art can detract from the experience if it does not have a certain realism to it that can ground the idea as possible (in my opinion at least)

 

[Robert Ewing]

I don't think it has anything to do with it. But it seems logical that it would at least help.

It would be difficult to get immersed into Mario for example. And I think that the art style... Or art capabilities are the reason why.

Lets just say, there are millions of art styles that can immerse you. And a few art styles that can't.

Yet a large majority of games today have the power to do it.

 

[Vault101]

imersion I feel has nothing to do with artstyle (same people who have a prblem with bordlerands are likley the same dumbasses cant stand animated movies or anything a little to "fantasy" like)

imersion is when you dont notice your playing a game and it breaks when

-glitches
-reapating phreases over and over
-walking funny/into walls
-invisible walls
-Oblivion the main example of how NOT to do imersion

imersion is where the world your in feels belivable and alive, regardless fo artstyle

As a professional designer I can tell you it has EVERYTHING to do with immersion there are entire books written on the subject hell the entire advertising, film, etc industries are built around that concept.

I guess your right

what i ment was, I found Borderlands lacked imersion in some ways, NOT because it had a cel shaded artstyle and wasnt realistic

but because NPC's didnt talk to you, a big menu would just pop up in your face, you killed an NPC or somthing thy would jsut come back later...anyway that was obviously because I play a co-op game on my own