Poll: *Sigh* Zelda Skyward Sword isn't exactly Cel-Shaded, and I don't think it should be realistic

[ChromeAlchemist]

I see a lot of people saying things like "oh god, Zelda is cel-shaded again, I hate it! It looks like N64 graphics, everything is flat! Same old Zelda guys! They should have made it realistic!" and, well to be honest it annoys me. Here's why...

Firstly, there has only been one console Zelda game that is Cel-shaded, and that is The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. This is what cel-shading looks like...

It looks vibrant and cartoon-like, which really worked for the game at the time, and still holds up today. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword however, looks like this:

Which looks more like a piece of art, and this is for good reason. If I remember correctly, Miyamoto-san said at a Zelda Round-table that Zelda's art style was inspired by impressionist and post-impressionist pieces of art from the 1800s.

Pieces like Claude Monet (the majority of his art I don't actually like all that much, but he did start it all) Paul Ceyzanne, and so on all spearheaded the impressionist and post-impressionist movement as a whole, which was considered radical for their time, as their art was less about realism, detail and perfection, and more about colours and vibrancy, broken brush strokes instead of perfectly formed lines.

Miyamoto-san also said that he was looking to change up the overall structure of Zelda. So think about this: Zelda has adopted a radical for it's time art style which broke through the widely accepted visual norm, along with claims of radical changes to their flagship franchise. After thinking about that, it should be no surprise that this style was adopted, and while you may not like it (it took me a while to warm up to it), the flat looking surfaces and textures aren't the Nintendo team being lazy, but them creating an art style that breaks the norm (being realism) you are used to, and in ten plus years time will still look beautiful, much like Wind Waker. The surfaces lack detail, in contrast to realistic games that are all about realistic precision. And to further prove them right, look at their concept art:

I have also heard the wishes for Nintendo to adopt a realistic art style, a la Twilight Princess, yet there are also cries for Nintendo to do something new with the franchise. Firstly, Ocarina of Time, hailed as one of the best games of all time, was labelled as such not just for the gameplay and atmosphere, but the dark and realistic art style that came with it. Same goes for Majora's Mask. Observe:

However, while this is all well and good, it has been done not once, but three times already. It is widely known that Zelda fans are impossible to please, with Twilight Princess being too similar to Ocarina of Time, and Wind Waker being too distant, but they all seem to be judged on how far away from that game they are, and I think we need to let OOT rest as a classic.

In fifteen years time, people will be talking about Ocarina Of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and possibly Skyward Sword, but Twilight Princess? Nah. Taking the realistic route would be pushing it once again towards the N64 era games' style, darkness and realism. They did that already.

This Zelda title's art style is neither realistic nor cartoon-like, it's somewhere in-between. I think my heart sank a little also when I saw the art style for the first time, but I respect Nintendo for trying something like this out, it shows what kind of direction they're willing to take.
And...that's it I guess, for those of you who read this far? I'm impressed you sat through that, and I hope it made sense. So I guess...

/rant

EDIT Take a look at the trailer, and then take a look at the art above.

 

[Worgen]

Ill still be talking about twilight princess, it was awesome

 

[zehydra]

My problem with Skyward sword, is, the graphics are way too similar to Windwaker. I had somewhat hoped for at least twilight princess graphics. Every Zelda console game EXCEPT for Windwaker and Majora's Mask had improved upon the graphics of the game before it, and seeing this as a step backwards in terms of graphics is a little frustrating. What's interesting is that every game since majora's mask, has unfortunately imitated Majora's Mask art style. What would be nice to see is a game that reflects the old style of Link to the Past/Ocarina of Time.

Old style Zelda: The Legend of Zelda (NES), Link to the Past(SNES), Ocarina of Time(N64)
New style Zelda: Majora's Mask, Windwaker, Twilight Princess

 

[Irridium]

I like it.
It looks nice, colorful, and fun.

I guess when people see the "colorful" style they associate it with "kiddie" and "casual".
And as we all know anything that resembles those things sucks. Gameplay be damned!

 

[gigastrike]

Just because the characters aren't chibi doesn't mean that it isn't cell-shaded.

 

[Milo Windby]

*Snip*

I feel your pain, I made a post in one of these treads with the same idea.
I posted a screen shot of windwaker and then the new game.
The two don't have the same style at all.
They are just not similar at all.

On a side not, I said yes to the poll, I like the art style it has.

 

[soulasylum85]

ok as a fan of zelda games since the nes. i have to say (shame on me appearantly) that i couldnt get into Oot or majoras mask because the graphics and camera angles on the n64 were horrible. Also i thought windwaker was childish and very boring. My favorite titles in the series have been the original legend of zelda, a link to the past, links awakining, and twilight princess. ( i also like the oracles of seasons/ages games as well as the adventures or link but not my favorites) i personally cant stand the windwaker or the ds games, i hate the ds games because the touch controls just make it annoying and also not "zelda" for me.

as for the new game, the art style is not a turnoff, however the fact that you have to buy a motion plus is. the reason is because i havent turned my wii on in months since there hasnt been a single game that came out since the original mario galaxy that even remotely caught my interest. now the new zelda game, not being a "windwakeresque" game, has caught my interest, but i dont think i want to spend money on not just a new game but also a new attachment that i will most likely only use for that one game.

i just want to sit in a chair and play a fun zelda game with a god damn controller!!! now is that really so bad???

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

My problem with Skyward sword, is, the graphics are way too similar to Windwaker. I had somewhat hoped for at least twilight princess graphics. Every Zelda console game EXCEPT for Windwaker and Majora's Mask had improved upon the graphics of the game before it, and seeing this as a step backwards in terms of graphics is a little frustrating. What's interesting is that every game since majora's mask, has unfortunately imitated Majora's Mask art style. What would be nice to see is a game that reflects the old style of Link to the Past/Ocarina of Time.

Old style Zelda: The Legend of Zelda (NES), Link to the Past(SNES), Ocarina of Time(N64)
New style Zelda: Majora's Mask, Windwaker, Twilight Princess

But that's just it; this does just that. It's the bastard child of both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. It sits between realism and cartoon-ish vibrancy. The textures look flat because that's the art style they went with, so it looks like it was painted. They can bring back some of the more beautiful looking locales and quirky looking enemies from the old Zelda games, while adopting the more realistic look of the new ones.

Why is this a step back in terms of graphics? Because there is less detail? Good graphics don't always have to be detailed and sharp, that's not what this art style or post impressionism was about.

 

[fletch_talon]

GOOD LORD PEOPLE!

The man posted pictures from each game and you're still claiming it looks like Windwaker. It looks nothing like Windwaker. The design of Link for starters is closest to Twilight Princess, it just has vibrant colour. Colour =/= Windwaker, Colour =/= Cell Shading.

 

[Mr. Fister]

Ill still be talking about twilight princess, it was awesome

This.

And although impressionist art is not about detail, I'd still like for them to touch up the environments before releasing the game. While Link and the enemy models looked good, I thought the level that the demo showed was aesthetically boring. That level may not fully represent the entire game, but if it's any indication, it won't take my award for best Zelda art style.

Zelda is my favorite franchise in video gaming, btw.

 

[KSarty]

The game is using cel-shading, but it is not exclusively cel-shaded and I think the mixture gives an appealing aesthetic. It certainly looks very pretty, but overall I think I preferred Twilight Princess' visuals.

 

[Thaius]

Well in the first place, I think that anyone who hated Wind Waker just because it was cel-shaded is a shallow moron.

But moving on, I really like the art style of Skyward Sword (which, by the way, looks no more like Wind Waker than Craskdown or Borderlands... so not at all). If the style reminds me of anything, it's Okami; it's not the same style, obviously, but it's different and artistic enough to be reminiscent of it. So what, a new game comes out with a special art style and it gets praise and undying adoration, but Zelda does it and the fans cry foul? Grow up.

 

[StriderShinryu]

As far as the visual aspect of the game, it definitely is more "cartoony" than some games in the series but it's no where near WW. Even if you want to say that Skyward Sword is cel shaded you have to admit it's a completely different artistic style than WW (Borderlands was basically celshaded too but I don't recall anyone saying Borderlands was the same as WW).

 

[ultrachicken]

I'm not shelling out any money for another zelda anyways.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

The game is using cel-shading, but it is not exclusively cel-shaded and I think the mixture gives an appealing aesthetic. It certainly looks very pretty, but overall I think I preferred Twilight Princess' visuals.

That's kind of what I was getting at near the end of the OP, but I guess saying cartoon-ish is fairly broad. I think I'll change that, because I do understand the game is using cel-shading, but as you said, it mixes it with realism, which is why I said it's the bastard child of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker in terms of style.

I should say now though, I loved Twilight Princess' style, and the game in general.

 

[DustyDrB]

Spoiler: quoting ChromeAlchemist

My problem with Skyward sword, is, the graphics are way too similar to Windwaker. I had somewhat hoped for at least twilight princess graphics. Every Zelda console game EXCEPT for Windwaker and Majora's Mask had improved upon the graphics of the game before it, and seeing this as a step backwards in terms of graphics is a little frustrating. What's interesting is that every game since majora's mask, has unfortunately imitated Majora's Mask art style. What would be nice to see is a game that reflects the old style of Link to the Past/Ocarina of Time.

Old style Zelda: The Legend of Zelda (NES), Link to the Past(SNES), Ocarina of Time(N64)
New style Zelda: Majora's Mask, Windwaker, Twilight Princess

But that's just it; this does just that. It's the bastard child of both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. It sits between realism and cartoon-ish vibrancy. The textures look flat because that's the art style they went with, so it looks like it was painted. They can bring back some of the more beautiful looking locales and quirky looking enemies from the old Zelda games, while adopting the more realistic look of the new ones.

Why is this a step back in terms of graphics? Because there is less detail? Good graphics don't always have to be detailed and sharp, that's not what this art style or post impressionism was about.

The enemies and the scenery are what I most disliked about the demo.

I mean seriously? Link looks fine, but those baddies (especially the keese and what I guess are moblin) look retarded.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

I liked both Wind Waker and Twlight Princess equally. I've never played a majority of the Zelda games (Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask included), but I still find them enjoyable. I'll be happy with whatever route they take for it.

 

[Vern]

I think I ended up enjoying Wind Waker more than Ocarina of Time, even though I got Ocarina of Time about two weeks after it came out. And I still think Link to the Past and Link's Awakening are the two best games of the series. As a child I liked the first Legend of Zelda, but the crap memory in it meant I constantly had to restart the game due to any save being erased. So yes, someone who has been playing the Zelda games since the first one liked Wind Waker more than Ocarina of Time, mainly because it was a huge letdown from what was originally promised, it felt completely closed in and repetitive, even for a Zelda game. I thought the art style in Wind Waker was charming, and I actually enjoyed the sailing and discovering new islands and controlling the wind.

 

[zehydra]

My problem with Skyward sword, is, the graphics are way too similar to Windwaker. I had somewhat hoped for at least twilight princess graphics. Every Zelda console game EXCEPT for Windwaker and Majora's Mask had improved upon the graphics of the game before it, and seeing this as a step backwards in terms of graphics is a little frustrating. What's interesting is that every game since majora's mask, has unfortunately imitated Majora's Mask art style. What would be nice to see is a game that reflects the old style of Link to the Past/Ocarina of Time.

Old style Zelda: The Legend of Zelda (NES), Link to the Past(SNES), Ocarina of Time(N64)
New style Zelda: Majora's Mask, Windwaker, Twilight Princess

But that's just it; this does just that. It's the bastard child of both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. It sits between realism and cartoon-ish vibrancy. The textures look flat because that's the art style they went with, so it looks like it was painted. They can bring back some of the more beautiful looking locales and quirky looking enemies from the old Zelda games, while adopting the more realistic look of the new ones.

Why is this a step back in terms of graphics? Because there is less detail? Good graphics don't always have to be detailed and sharp, that's not what this art style or post impressionism was about.

Cell shading isn't very impressionistic. Impressionism is all about taking a step back away from the image to enjoy the picture. Cell-shading is the elimination of texture in order to arrive at a cartoony look. Which worked fantastic for Windwaker, because Nintendo was trying to make a cartoony game with Wind waker. But if they're trying to make an impressionist game, then eliminating textures isn't going to help any.