Poll: Did The Art Style of a Game Ever Stop You From Playing/Buying?

[Reven]

I think the title is pretty self explanatory, did the art style or design of a game prevent you from playing or buying it? And why? Personally i never let the art design of a game stop me from enjoying most games, but i have seen some games with certain style/graphics that just sort of blur together and strain my eyes. When that happens I find it extremely difficult to continue just because it's such a constant distraction, and takes me out of the experience.

So what about you? Did you ever have something like that happen to you? Or is there some design style that you really just can't stand?

 

[ChupathingyX]

Nope, I've never let something like that sway my opinion negatively when purchasing a game. Neither has it made me stop playing a game.

I did think the armour in Gears of War looked really stupid, but I still ended up playing (and not liking) it.

 

[The Madman]

Sure, why would I play a game I disliked looking at?

I mean I can get past some pretty shoddy visuals, I play Dwarf Fortress for goodness sake. But if its an art style I actively dislike I'm likely not even going to try the game unless I'm given no real choice. Why bother? Games are entertainment after all, I'm playing them to have fun.

 

[Vault101]

*flamesheild*

I really don't like the "look" of psychonaughts....THERE I SAID IT *runs away*

 

[Rawne1980]

Yep.

I can't play a lot of indie games due to them looking exactly like games I used to play in the 80's.

 

[distortedreality]

I don't think so, but i've definitely bought games because of their art style, i.e Borderlands, Mirrors' Edge, etc. Obviously the gameplay had me intrigued with both games (especially ME), but the visuals tipped me over the edge.

 

[Grygor]

My personal pet peeve is when developers use "retro" as a justification for looking like shit. Old school developers did not use the hardware limitations as an excuse to make ugly games - they went to great lengths to make their games as beautiful as possible within those limits.

By all means, feel free to self-impose similar restrictions if you're aiming at that kind of aesthetic, but do the best you can within those constraints - don't use it as an excuse to not put forth your best work.

 

[LilithSlave]

I did originally.

Then people called me shallow, bigoted, retarded, and autistic.

So I tried to change and make myself care about gameplay more. And told other people the same sorts of things they told me if they refused to play a game because of how it looked.

Then people told me I was retarded for being so hardcore about gameplay and realizing not everyone likes the same aesthetic. And to realize that not wanting to play something because of how it looks is okay.

So I went back to that, and using that defense against people who thought I should play a game I don't want to. And they started calling me shallow and bigoted and other things again.

Rinse and repeat. Worst thing about it, is that most people seem like hypocrites about the subject of aesthetics. Someone who says something is shallow one day will say that not liking something else is not shallow the other day. As if it is okay to be shallow about some games but not others, depending on what aesthetic they personally like. Game looks good to them, you're shallow if you don't like it. Game doesn't look good to them, don't act like people need to look past it. Hypocrisy.

And I'm not what to think or claim about video games anymore.

I really don't like the "look" of psychonaughts....THERE I SAID IT *runs away*

I like a lot of the aesthetics in Psychonauts.

But I think that Raz looks really creepy and it put me off from the game a little bit. It personally delves too far into the "Ren and Stimpy" cartoon style for my tastes, personally. People have compared it to Invader Zim, but it doesn't look like Jhonen art at all. Jhonen art looks much better than the characters designs of that game.

 

[Scrustle]

snip

I see what you're saying there. What people told you looks to me like another example of people being unable to separate objectivity from subjectivity. Although I admit that I'm not blameless in that regard. Can't think of an example right now but I'm sure I've made that mistake too.

OT: Not that I can think of. I don't think I've ever been put off by a game that I was otherwise interested in purely on aesthetic.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Nope. The art style, while I really appreciate a good one, does not determine whether or not I try a game.

 

[hazabaza1]

It can put me off a game, maybe make me wait a bit before getting/playing it, but it's rarely a deciding factor.

 

[Sack of Cheese]

No not really. But then again, I don't hate any kind of video games art style.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Nope. In fact I've recently bought some PSX and N64 games recently and some of those look like a kindergartener's first attempts at paper-craft. Although looking back on those games, how the Hell did we get through the PSX/N64 era...? Castlevania 64 looks like shit but to be fair, it also played that way...Twisted Metal 1 (a game I loved) also looked like shit.

 

[SamuelT]

Yeah. Pretty much everything from more than two decades ago.

Technologically, they could've been the best of their time, but I still can't play it 'cause of the art. :\

 

[Starik20X6]

I can't remember any particular instance of an art style ever stopping me buying or playing a game, but there are plenty of games that have caught my eye via their aesthetic that I might otherwise have avoided. I picked up a little game called Blastworks based entirely on its rather awesome cover:

Turned out to be not that bad, but I'm glad I only paid $20AU for it.