How important is art style to you?

[Segatarious1]

I was just thinking, I click on a random game that is getting 'approved' on Kickstarter (no thanks to me) and click on it for Wii U or 3DS to see what it is about, and if it has a dog crap art style, I may not even read up on it! Now that is pretty extreme, but it is true, I am afraid. If a game gives me a generic or 'ipad' look to it, I prejudge and dismiss it quite fast, which is a little nuts. On the other hand, my gut is nearly always right on target.

Now take a game like Luigi U - great on every level except for music and art style. Both are maybe a touch superficial, but music is very important, and New Luigi has some very good tracks, but the sound track is not uniformly great. I hate the look of the over world, and the games overall art style is usually half good and the other half of it turns me off. It is not a bad art style, it just feels pale. And it hurts the game on some level, even though the level design, physics and control are A+.

And then you have a game like Ikachan fro 3DS. Great art style, really makes that little light in your brain glow, except the game is  really short, and even though it controls well, it feels like an incomplete effort. I bought it due to Cave Story and the Cave Story art style, which is an A game all the way.

What say you?  Art style plays a pretty big role in what I buy, because more often then not, you can judge a game by its look, can you not?

[Verm1]

Visuals (or perhaps atmosphere) are the first things one sees of a game.

Even in today’s world of videos versus screenshots, one sees the visuals and atmosphere before they see the game play.

Trailer videos also tend to make the gameplay look more 'dramatic' (probably not the best word, but I can't think of a better one) than it actually is, but they can't usually do that with the visuals (I suppose using cut scenes, but here they have to add text saying it's 'not gameplay footage' when they do such).

[Vexer1]

I don't really care too much about the art style as long as it's well executed, for me gameplay is the most important thing, if a game looks exciting and entertaining enough, that's what i'll base my decision on regardless of art-style.

[ptdebate1]

This became an issue for me during my recent experience with Final Fantasy X and X-2.

By and large, the art style of both games turns me off. Specifically I mean the costumes, but other aspects of the architecture and world are ugly or uninteresting as well. It's probably the main reason why it took me 13 years to get into FFX! A dress made out of belts? Physics-defying blue hair? Garish (and totally inconsistent blitzball "uniforms"? Backless spaghetti-strap outfits? Eesh...

Eventually, I was able to ignore these things and simply enjoy the game. But visual perception is, for better or worse, a huge factor to me when choosing a game to play.

[Sut1]

I thought it would, I used to love the Bitmap Brothers metallic graphic style (ST/Amiga). To say I didn't like the art style initially on Street Fighter IV was an understatement but I still purchased the game following strong reviews and an indication that it was a return to the classic SF 2 style.
The art style still isn't my cup of tea but I do appreciate it's individuality.

[Tron1]

I hate anime!

[Vexer1]

Tron-What exactly does that have to do with video games?

[Oltobaz1]

He means he doesn't like games exhibiting anime art style/graphics...

[Tron1]

[QUOTE=Oltobaz]He means he doesn't like games exhibiting anime art style/graphics...[/QUOTE]

I've also had similar issues with games that ptdebate has had. I feel art should add to the game, not distract or become the central focus. I don't like overly goofy or cute characters unless they meet a grizzly death; which rarely happens. Know what the difference of liking or disliking Jar Jar Binks is? If he had died I would have liked the inclusion of his character.

Like Rev I love (Tactics games). Unfortunately many of them have cute or goofy anime characters that essentially ruin the experience for me. For example Disgea on the PS2. It had such a ridiculous storyline and awful looking art design that I didn't play for more than an hour or two before I exchanged it.

[ptdebate1]

[QUOTE=Tron][QUOTE=Oltobaz]He means he doesn't like games exhibiting anime art style/graphics...[/QUOTE] I've also had similar issues with games that ptdebate has had. I feel art should add to the game, not distract or become the central focus. I don't like overly goofy or cute characters unless they meet a grizzly death; which rarely happens. Know what the difference of liking or disliking Jar Jar Binks is? If he had died I would have liked the inclusion of his character. Like Rev I love (Tactics games). Unfortunately many of them have cute or goofy anime characters that essentially ruin the experience for me. For example Disgea on the PS2. It had such a ridiculous storyline and awful looking art design that I didn't play for more than an hour or two before I exchanged it.[/QUOTE]

There are some developers that are consistently great at nailing aesthetics. Team Ico is one that comes to mind, as well as the developers of the Ivalice games (Yasumi Matsuno et. al.). It would be easy to say that Western games by and large excel in the realm of visual aesthetics, but that sounds a little too much like a culturally-conditioned bias. I prefer the overall appearance of a Diablo or an Elder Scrolls game to a Disgaea or Ys, but for every Skyrim there's a Dragon Age (am I the only one who thinks this game is really ugly, especially on consoles)? Anyway, my point is that there's only so much you can do with grimdark fantasy. I happen to think that Demon's Souls (a Japanese game, by the by) nails this better than any other game (like ever). In some franchises, though, that focus on a "dark" aesthetics becomes more of a crutch than a deliberate artifice.