Is there anything wrong with Nintendo using mostly a cartoony style?

[Casual Shinji]

I'm totally fine with cartoony visuals. I think the industry could actually use some more.

But Nintendo seems to have been homogenizing its cartoony style ever since the Wii. All their games have this samey look to them now. The Mario games especially.

This is exactly what I thought. I get that they're probably aiming to obtain a recognizable "Nintendo look" for all their core franchises, and that would be kind of a cute if completely unnecessary idea, considering most of their flagship series already feature some of the most iconic characters in video game history, but the art style is just not appealing to me at all. It's too bright and...sterile for my tastes, if that makes any sense. I mean, it kinda suits Mario and Donkey Kong, but definitely not Zelda.

Yeah, I know what you mean. There's this "toy" like aesthetic to most of their games now. Maybe that was always there, but with the advancement in graphics it makes everything look quite plastic.

I liked that games like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess had their own unique style. And I think Mario could benefit from this as well. I'll wait and see what the next Zelda is going to look like, but something tells me it won't look too different stylishly to what's on the Wii-U currently.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Nope. Cartoony is good. I wouldn't want every game ever to go for that style, but it does tend to lend a timeless appearance to a game. For example, Morrowind and Windwaker came out in the same year. Which one(unmodded) holds up better from a graphical standpoint today?

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

nope, i like it, kind of charming

plus in work on their favor, considering how inferior the wiiu is, techwise, a good looking artstyle can make their games look better

 

[SilverBullets000]

Well, everyone has already taken my answer: No, there's not anything wrong with it. It gives their games a distinct aesthetic that really shows in this day and age where most games usually go for realism...usually...[sub][sub]I mean, if you don't count Dragon's Crown, Borderlands, that new South Park game, the Genesis collections, some of the stuff I haven't seen on XBLA/PSN/Steam and so forth. Actually, this argument is a little more flawed than I thought it was.[/sub][/sub]

To be honest, when people bring up things against Nintendo, it's usually to do with the fact that they rely too heavily on their core franchises, making them feel repetitive to those that want more than just minor tweaks to gameplay. It's an argument that I understand to a degree...but seeing something like Nosgoth makes me appreciate that they aren't willing to change their core franchises too much.

 

[The Lunatic]

Nintendo is designed for kids. Nothing wrong with it, but, if you're looking for "Gritty Adult entertainment" it's just not the company for you.

 

[themistermanguy]

Nintendo is designed for kids. Nothing wrong with it, but, if you're looking for "Gritty Adult entertainment" it's just not the company for you.

You do realize cartoons aren't just for kids. Hell, we have an entire television network dedicated to mature animation these days. And Nintendo isn't just for kids either, they position themselves as a company for everyone.

 

[themistermanguy]

I'm totally fine with cartoony visuals. I think the industry could actually use some more.

But Nintendo seems to have been homogenizing its cartoony style ever since the Wii. All their games have this samey look to them now. The Mario games especially.

And I'm ninja'd. My problem with Nintendo's artstyle isn't that it's stylized, it's that it lacks style. It all looks so sterile and feels like it was taken from a checklist rather than to add what I would call "soul" (a combination of various little factors, including how the artstyle adds to the "feel" of the game).

How does Nintendo's style feel sterile and "souless". The New Super Mario Bros. series and "Wii" games I can understand, but Zelda?, Metroid?, Pikmin?, WarioWare? those games ooze style.

 

[McMarbles]

I'm totally fine with cartoony visuals. I think the industry could actually use some more.

But Nintendo seems to have been homogenizing its cartoony style ever since the Wii. All their games have this samey look to them now. The Mario games especially.

And I'm ninja'd. My problem with Nintendo's artstyle isn't that it's stylized, it's that it lacks style. It all looks so sterile and feels like it was taken from a checklist rather than to add what I would call "soul" (a combination of various little factors, including how the artstyle adds to the "feel" of the game).

How does Nintendo's style feel sterile and "souless". The New Super Mario Bros. series and "Wii" games I can understand, but Zelda?, Metroid?, Pikmin?, WarioWare? those games ooze style.

"Soulless" is a meaningless buzzword people use when they can't actually articulate their greivance with the art style.

See also "plastic" and "doesn't look lived-in".

 

[Racecarlock]

The funny thing is, yes, nintendo does overuse the cartoony style. But I don't blame them. I look at the alternative. At games like Mafia II and GTA IV and I don't like the grey and gritty look. I just don't. It's like if power rangers was set in the vietnam war, you know? It really clashes with my kind of thing.

Mafia II, for example, not only is grey and gritty, but the game randomly forces chores on you. For no reason. They don't even benefit the awesome story that they ripped from every GTA game. You just carry a crate for no reason. You just clean toilets for no reason. You just color match cigarettes for no reason. It's like if GTA IV had even more chores.

GTA IV. Well, it's not so bad as a game, the problem is the friends calling you to hang out constantly. There is a sleep mode on the phone, but it disables itself every time you load your game again. Bowling, darts, and pool are all fine. But they've been done better in other games dedicated to simulating them and frankly I'm trying to rampage here and I don't need someone calling me to go bowling.

There's a pattern I notice with stuff like this. First the art style goes all grey and gritty and brown, then next thing you know there's more tedious chores where fun used to be. And call me crazy, but I don't want the next mario game to have a level where he actually cleans a toilet. Just saying.

 

[KazeAizen]

Nintendos cartoony style does not look like shit 5 years after release. And I find it easier to revisit games if they are easier to the eye.

Amen to that. Cartoony or more stylized aesthetics age spectacularly well. I mean for a non Nintendo example look at Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. One and early PS2 title and one a mid PS2 title yet both have ages incredibly well. Sure when Kingdom Hearts 3 finally hits it will put them to shame but the fact that both of those games are close to 10 years old now and don't look like eye poison is something.

 

[KazeAizen]

The funny thing is, yes, nintendo does overuse the cartoony style. But I don't blame them. I look at the alternative. At games like Mafia II and GTA IV and I don't like the grey and gritty look. I just don't. It's like if power rangers was set in the vietnam war, you know? It really clashes with my kind of thing.

Mafia II, for example, not only is grey and gritty, but the game randomly forces chores on you. For no reason. They don't even benefit the awesome story that they ripped from every GTA game. You just carry a crate for no reason. You just clean toilets for no reason. You just color match cigarettes for no reason. It's like if GTA IV had even more chores.

GTA IV. Well, it's not so bad as a game, the problem is the friends calling you to hang out constantly. There is a sleep mode on the phone, but it disables itself every time you load your game again. Bowling, darts, and pool are all fine. But they've been done better in other games dedicated to simulating them and frankly I'm trying to rampage here and I don't need someone calling me to go bowling.

There's a pattern I notice with stuff like this. First the art style goes all grey and gritty and brown, then next thing you know there's more tedious chores where fun used to be. And call me crazy, but I don't want the next mario game to have a level where he actually cleans a toilet. Just saying.

Me either. I want the next Mario game to have him cleaning a toilet and then get sucked into it via a magic vortex and he's forced to go through all of the most difficult water levels from his past. That way he remembers why he never actually does his job and chooses instead to save princesses with fireballs he obtained from radioactive plants and leaves.

 

[Worgen]

Nothing inherently wrong in style, but it probably limits their target demographic considerably.

It does seem to weed out the children. Seems like the only games where you're gonna be called a '******' by a twelve year old have a realistic graphical style. I guess only adults play cartoony looking games.