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[John Rabbit]

babysitter bloodbath apes this style and i love it.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I'd like to see more developers try very high-quality 2D visuals before moving on to low-end 3D work. Something like Guacamelee or Muramasa; gorgeous and highly detailed sprites, rather than the pixel art trend that's very popular right now.

 

[family_guy]

That 2D 8/16-bit indie retro-style needs to go, though. It was a nostalgic fun to see this kind of games being made nowadays, but I'm seriously tired of it.

But low-poly PS1 graphics? Nah.

I'm fine with having 2D games but please make them look like there was effort put into the graphics. No reason we can't have more games that look like Little Big Planet, Child of Light, Valiant Hearts, etc. There's no reason to see jaggies anymore.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

I've actually thought about this myself many times and had various discussions with friends about it. The conclusion is usually that it's tricky because retro-ism isn't necessarily just about something old or nostalgic. It can be just about that, but those are usually the more superficial stuff which ape an old art style, often not very accurately, just to get retro cred. The games which really feel retro in the right way are games which are going after the soul of a bygone era, not just the aesthetics. It has to feel authentically part of that era in scope, design, visuals, and sound.

When we consider that, this creates a problem when we're looking at stuff PS1 onwards. The expansion into disc format and 3D was very much characterized by FMV, voices, and more elaborate and complex art assets. The games which largely defined that era were no longer made by 5-10 people, but rather teams of dozens or even a hundred. Furthermore the type of games made in this era are still very much made today, just in an even larger scale. They're not exactly lost from the commercial field like 2D platformers or top down shooters are. For these reasons, I think it would be very unlikely that we would really see smaller independent developers looking to make retro stuff to explore the PS1 era. It really never went away.

The N64 is a more interesting choice though. It's actually a very nice sort of in-between era where a lot of the type of games which defined the system would not be extremely difficult to make with a small team today, and there's definitely a distinctive feel (read: ugly!) for the 3D which is very different from what we've seen since. So I could actually see more people attempt that sort of thing.

Thanks for this perspective, hadn't considered that the type of game introduced by that era has not really gone away. Which perhaps postpones any real longing or demand for it in the market.

I still crave the *look* of these games specifically however. Perhaps I should have emphasized the art style more clearly when it comes to my question, because at the moment there is no grey area. Retro/indie = sprite work.

 

[JordanN]

As a 3D modeler, I really dislike the low poly style. Maybe because it would open the gates to developers making very slopped together textures and models and passing off the excuse "well the PS1 did it!".

If games had to go backwards, I would rather it be PS2/GC/Xbox era stuff. Effort is still minimal and it doesn't look like the game is trying to cripple itself.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Working in small texture sizes is kind of the key to getting the chunky pixel look that I feel like most people pursuing this style would want to emulate.

Sure, as long as it makes sense. Look at the screenshot of Vagrant Story, though, with those huge pixels on the arm that stick out like a sore thumb. That's what I don't want.

 

[Shadoken]

The same reason 2D indie games dont look like pong or space invaders. 8 bit/16 bit games look good aesthetically even now.

PS1 games just look plain bad . Cel shaded games can be the exception though. A JSR looking indie game would be acceptable even now.

 

[radios shipping overview]

Mint disapproves of ye of little faith in low-poly graphics.

Like any technology - be it the Genesis's sound chip or the Vectrex's display - low-poly graphics can be used wonderfully within certain limitations. I'd love to see new games that take advantage of the look as well as late PS1 games did. It'd have the dual effect of calling back to a time that many of us actually are nostalgic for and being less resource-intensive.

 

[Riposte]

There's no other that looks quite like Vagrant Story is there (especially in animation)? I was going to make a thread about this, but got too bothered by the idea of people replying Dark Souls and The Last of Us or w/e.

 

[cacildo]

babysitter bloodbath apes this style and i love it.

I think we need more of this

 

[Protagonist Jake]

do you really think Shovel Knight looks exactly like an 8-bit game? no, they used things like actual artistry and modern technique to make it look good, not aged. just like -- gasp -- the low-poly examples in the OP!

Are you serious?
Of course I realize Shovel Knight has aspects in it an 8 bit game couldnt do, that wasnt me nor anyones point. Its trying to replicate it cause pixel art has a charm to it that still looks good today, limitations or not.

There is no artistic advantage to using old polys with the textures we have today, because it'll look stupid and plain bad no matter what.

If you think that looks good, then whatever, but dont be a patronizing asshatt when many others and I disagree.

 

[CambriaRising]

With the rise and ease of development with unity, probably not.

 

[radios shipping overview]

There's no other that looks quite like Vagrant Story is there (especially in animation)? I was going to make a thread about this, but got too bothered by the idea of people replying Dark Souls and The Last of Us or w/e.

I still think it looks better than a good number of PS2 games.

 

[Octavia]

As someone who loves this aesthetic, it will probably be a niche thing at best. Low poly games using the standard look anyone who makes stuff in Cinema4D uses will probably be more common:

Keep the aesthetics but add more objects into the scene (especially the far background), give it realtime lighting/shadows, and I'd be for it.

 

[ElTopo]

XBLA Indie games are already there.

 

[metalslimer]

There are very few games from that era that hold up, so I hope not.

 

[Vlade]

at the very moment when people who played them when they were 10 turn 26 through 34.

 

[DMiz]

I actually would like to see a return to that genre of graphics!

Though, I think, more than anything, I'd like to see JRPGs return from the indie scene that used pre-rendered backgrounds with fully modeled player characters (a la Final Fantasy VII-IX).

I feel with mobile becoming a more and more prevalent platform, it's a style of game that would perfectly match the environment there and be able to thrive and survive. I was hoping that Chaos Rings would be a growing trend of Japanese developers pushing games in that aspect, but so far, it hasn't come to pass.

 

[Tiktaalik]

I think it would be a really cool art direction. The two examples of in development games posted by the OP look really good.

A direct copy of 32 bit tech is undesirable, because most of the time the games of that era did look terrible. However, simplistic, clean, low poly models, combined with modern shading techniques and crisp textures can look really awesome.

 

[duckroll]

As a 3D modeler, I really dislike the low poly style. Maybe because it would open the gates to developers making very slopped together textures and models and passing off the excuse "well the PS1 did it!".

If games had to go backwards, I would rather it be PS2/GC/Xbox era stuff. Effort is still minimal and it doesn't look like the game is trying to cripple itself.

I think this is sort of illogical though. On the same token, we can say that going for a NES sprite style could let lazy artists make shitty sprites with low colors and pass it off with an excuse. Can some people do it? Sure. Would it be obvious that there's a lack of effort? Absolutely. Good artists work around the NES limitations to create nice stuff which fits into that limitation range. It results in a different feel than going after SNES limitations for example.

You can take the limitations of the N64 and PS1 and totally own it. The sign of a truly good artist is the ability to create appealing and attractive things within constrains. There were good looking PS1 games, there were bad looking PS1 games. Same with N64. There's no reason why it can't be done well, but I highlighted earlier why it is less likely for there to be a wave of PS1 style "retro" type games. If we're talking entirely about the technical limitations creating a specific feel to the 3D, saying something like "but it might allow SOME people to be lazy!" is nonsensical. So what? Who cares? People can tell the difference between good art and bad art.

 

[radios shipping overview]

That reminds me: I'll always love Virtua Racing's clean, fast, smooth flat-shading.

And very little beats nice gouraud shading.

 

[……forgetit]

Never.

 

[radios shipping overview]

Internal Section yasssssss.

 

[Platy]

Still need the middle ground .... low poly bakcgrounds with sprites

 

[Anth0ny]

Minecraft.

Also, it'll happen when the audience that grew up with those games are old enough to be nostalgic for them and make games with similar art styles. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened this gen.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

You can't really compare the nascent 3D visuals of that gen with the well-honed and understood 2D visuals of the 16-bit era. It's like comparing Yoshi's Island to the original Pitfall. You don't see a whole lot of retro inspired indies today trying to look like Commodore64 or Colecovision games.

 

[Disgraced]

This is what I've been wondering.

Minecraft.

I guess you could say that's what Minecraft is.

And there's also Bubsy 3D 2.

 

[SeventhSon]

How about some Out of this World style games?

 

[duckroll]

Hey guys have some Soul Reaver:

And a nice side dish of Silent Bomber:

 

[ghibli99]

Thinking about this a little more, I think it could work. There's a place for it, and if it has the right style and art to back up the technology, you could end up with something very cool. Thomas Was Alone, N+, Super Hexagon, etc. are all minimalist games that use polygons, and IMO look terrific because they stick to a consistent, clean style. I think a lot of people's minds jump to something like FF7's gouraud-shaded Popeye arms and crossed eyes or all the bad pop-in of the original Wipeout. But done in that era's style with modern refinements could be awesome, just like Shovel Knight, Volgarr, ESJ, and others.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Low poly art perfected will be rare sadly. If done right, its gorgeous and charming IMO. Naturally that means everything is substantially cleaned up from the PSX or N64 style graphics. In my thread you linked someone then linked to a low poly art forum and man, some of that art is fantastic. The textures have an unfiltered look, but in reality are just very clean mosaic, pixel art style textures applied to the polys, and they look superb in their cleaness and design dammit.

 

[JordanN]

I think this is sort of illogical though. On the same token, we can say that going for a NES sprite style could let lazy artists make shitty sprites with low colors and pass it off with an excuse. Can some people do it? Sure. Would it be obvious that there's a lack of effort? Absolutely. Good artists work around the NES limitations to create nice stuff which fits into that limitation range. It results in a different feel than going after SNES limitations for example.

You can take the limitations of the N64 and PS1 and totally own it. The sign of a truly good artist is the ability to create appealing and attractive things within constrains. There were good looking PS1 games, there were bad looking PS1 games. Same with N64. There's no reason why it can't be done well, but I highlighted earlier why it is less likely for there to be a wave of PS1 style "retro" type games. If we're talking entirely about the technical limitations creating a specific feel to the 3D, saying something like "but it might allow SOME people to be lazy!" is nonsensical. So what? Who cares? People can tell the difference between good art and bad art.

The NES was very distinct. Even some games that try to look like it still cheat in some ways or straight up go past it.

Complaints about PS1 limitations still show up to this day when modern games have really bad use of texturing or if something looks really low poly when it shouldn't.

But this is my opinion. I'm also not fond of retro 8-bit games flooding the indie scene so you can already see what my position is. Though I'm more welcoming of 8-bit when it's used for truly nostalgic purposes (i.e the NES Mario sprite Nintendo still puts out in their marketing).

 

[Truant]

I'd like to see a mix between low poly characters and ridiculously high-res textures. Granted, anyone could probably just slap on a 4k texture to a Quake 1 model, but I want to see something designed with this combination in mind specifically.

 

[Lijik]

I think it would be a really cool art direction. The two examples of in development games posted by the OP look really good.

A direct copy of 32 bit tech is undesirable, because most of the time the games of that era did look terrible. However, simplistic, clean, low poly models, combined with modern shading techniques and crisp textures can look really awesome.

I dont really think that would be the case, I mean how many of the current faux-retro platformers force you to deal with sprite flickering and slowdown?

I'd like to see a mix between low poly characters and ridiculously high-res textures. Granted, anyone could probably just slap on a 4k texture to a Quake 1 model, but I want to see something designed with this combination in mind specifically.

Polycount would probably peg it as something in the ps2 era instead of ps1 but:

 

[Rolodzeo]

Still need the middle ground .... low poly bakcgrounds with sprites

Hnnnnnngg...

 

[Captain Europe]

Hopefully never, N64/PS1 era aged the worst.

 

[The Flash]

I think the guys making Guncraft are going for the N64 look

 

[CrunchyFrog]

Oh my good gracious how did I forget to post my most favorite recent memory example, Boson X.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

An idealized version of that gen's visuals? sure. I've seen screens of Shovel Knight that look a great deal better than games from the era it emulates solely for the art style and lack of limitations said era had.

Oh my good gracious how did I forget to post my most favorite recent memory example, Boson X.

That's just low-poly though. It doesn't really evoke N64/PS1. Even something like that Shenmue HD fan project still captures a similar art style to the original Shenmue despite being really clean.

 

[RiZ III]

Hopefully never, N64/PS1 era aged the worst.

N64 didn't age that bad. The Nintendo games like Mario64 and Zelda still hold up imo.

 

[Shion]

If indie developers ever decide to move onto retro-style 3D graphics, they should aim for the "Dreamcast-look".

Games with somewhat simple geometry and a very clean, colorful look.

 

[BreakinBad]

Pixel art is a design choice. Low-polygon 3D games are simply the result of graphical limitations.

 

[Mman235]

As various people who haven't gone for a knee-jerk reaction against it have said low-poly 3D now would completely sidestep most of the issues that has made 32-bit gen 3D visuals age badly (bad framerate, horrible image quality, texture warping/blurring etc), if you go low-poly without those issues you basically inherently end up with something more akin to the PS2 gen, as a lot of the improvement in that generation was getting around the massive limitations of the original 3D hardware that made even the most basic 3D flawed.

Plus mods have been refining the early 3D style for years, and, with the limitations of that time gone/dramatically reduced have done things far beyond what the original games could do. I actually think they've had some influence on why this isn't a thing, as many people who want to do this just go make a mod for an older game.

 

[TheWorthyEdge]

Counterspy kinda looks like that, no?

 

[radios shipping overview]

Pixel art is a design choice. Low-polygon 3D games are simply the result of graphical limitations.

Are you saying pixel art wasn't the result of graphical limitations in many types of hardware, and that the fondness and nostalgia for it hasn't helped turn it into a respected design choice?

 

[Hyperactivity]

Thing is, most of these indie games have great sprite work. None of them are going for Atari 2600 2d sprites. The two games you posted in the OP are the right way to do that gen 3d, but too many developers would end up with the crappy looks of that gen instead of that imo

 

[Graphics Horse]

Mint disapproves of ye of little faith in low-poly graphics.

Like any technology - be it the Genesis's sound chip or the Vectrex's display - low-poly graphics can be used wonderfully within certain limitations. I'd love to see new games that take advantage of the look as well as late PS1 games did. It'd have the dual effect of calling back to a time that many of us actually are nostalgic for and being less resource-intensive.

I agree but I don't think anyone wants to see PS1's texture warping again though.

 

[Chill Penguin]

Personally I'm pretty tired of 2d platformers. I can't wait until we start getting some 3d platformers from indies, but I understand that 3d games are exponentially more work than 2d.

 

[Sentenza]

Enemy Starfighter is a thing of beauty.

 

[radios shipping overview]

I agree but I don't think anyone wants to see PS1's texture warping again though.

I don't either, and I don't think anybody would bring it back intentionally, just like Shovel Knight's devs didn't recreate slowdown or horizontal sprite limitations/flicker.

Personally, I feel like a lot of attempts by fans to spruce up old 3D games haven't turned out too well and are painful artifacts of their time, much more so than the original games. Just look at any number of attempted Doom upgrades over the years.