Man, if I knew just gameplay affected a game, I'd still be playing text-based MUDs!
Can't some people grasp the fact that graphics AFFECT gameplay, and vice versa?! Graphics create IMMERSION, which determines the kind of actions you are performing as a character. For example, in Starcraft, lots of bloom and explosions negatively affects the gameplay, because it is much more important to know where your units than to see fancy effects!
But Diablo is an RPG, with basically one set perspective, a linear plot, and one character. Therefore the graphics are MUCH more important, ESPECIALLY with a loot system. From time to time, you want to zoom in on your character fighting demons and stuff. And because RPGs are often about immersion, the gameplay should INCLUDE alot of graphical effects to hammer the point that you are in epic battle fighting monstes and such.
Graphics and gameplay aren't these separable things. They are very much connected.
The only reason we usually talk about "gameplay" first is that it is much harder challenge to get good gameplay and than it is good graphics. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY AREN'T EQUALLY IMPORTANT.
Look at the gnarled tree on the far right. It's pure watercolor. The zombies aren't left white and red like say Doom, they had to add that blue-green sheen made popular in WC3. The trees remind me of Bill Waterson's (amazing) Calvin and Hobbes. The dungeon outlines are bold and blocky like the Warcraft universe.
Here's a close up so you can see it's not just a texture resolution issue. The dungeon blocks may be full of dents, but the surface is clean, smooth, shiny. Blue and green dominates and earthier reds are absent. You can see a characteristically oversized and blocky fire pot on the bottom left. The two small pyrmaid-like points have their edges smoothed over with light shading.
The lion statues....nuff said. But check out the oversized shoulder pads and bold armor outlines while we're here.
It is all very beautiful, but like or not it's a significant departure from Diablo. They call it a "hand-painted, epic" look instead of cartoon, but whatever it is, it doesn't communicate terror to me.
When I first bought Diablo and Diablo II I had hide the game from my parents (who are pretty religious) because they thought it was the route to be a Satanist when they saw the screens and box cover, literally thought it was an evil game. How awesome is that? Could this game draw the same reaction?
I really fear that Blizzard is going to inject what they learned from WoW into all their new franchises completely distorting them. I can understand it, for almost 4 years, from 2003-2007, that's all they've really been working on and focused on.
BUT ARE WE EVER GOING TO HAVE A UNIQUE ART STYLE FOR THE FRANCHISES AGAIN?
IS EVERY GAME GOING TO BE MADE WITH THE SAME ARTISTS?
By the golden year of 2003, Starcraft/Warcraft III/Diablo II looked very stylistically different, but it all worked and gave those franchises they're unique identity.
But they brightened up and blockified SC II. That's alright, because the core gameplay of Starcraft matters much more than the "mood" and Blizzard is always ton top of gameplay. But then they grittified it a bit and so the community took it smiling.
But this? Diablo? Almost the complete opposite of Warcraft? We aren't going to take it smiling and we aren't going to shut up about it.
You know the interior dungeon color doesn't bother me that much. I presume there was so much ambient green around because of the lighting's reflection off the water around the area. The game does seem to be a bit saturated, but I like the color palette just fine. It's the stylized portion IMO.
Blizzard has always done this. That's one of the reasons their games are so succesful:
- Blizzard games are stable, and rarely crash. I've rarely seen someone say "OMG!!!! I CANT PLAY!!! IT KEEPS CRASHING!!!!". You can rely on it, because it always work.
- Blizzard games are low on requirements, and can therefore run on ANY computer that is two years older than the release date. That isn't the case of games like Crysis, and that's why this game failed.
- Blizzard games don't require you to have a degree in computer science to play it. Easy to install and uninstall, updates download automatically when you connect to Bnet...
- Blizzard games are translated in many languages.
Now you know Blizzard's secret recipe for making games that everyone play: ensure that anyone, whatever his native language, his computer skills, and his PC specs are, can play this game.
So yes, graphics are not that great, but at least, it will run on your computer.
YEAH OK, BUT THE RELEVANT QUESTION IS: ARE THEY SACRIFICING TOO MUCH OF THE MOOD FOR ACCESSIBILITY?
THIS IS A PERFECTLY VALID QUESTION.
I always afraid that Blizzard would fall into this trap because of WoW, seeking to corner the "everyone" market because WoW did very successfully. Diablo is a GOTHIC, DARK, REALISTIC, M-rated franchise. IMO, period.
All the idiot flamers out there who don't know the difference between a straw-man argument and a real impassioned plea to return the spirit of the Diablo franchise back to Diablo III can suck it.
That completely HORRIBLE image of the gryphon is the perfect example of the point and pisses me off every time I see it. So do the ramparts on the bridge and that pillar that is destroyed by the Thousand Pounder.
The thing is, I am frankly tired of the WoW-esque blocky graphics. Even though I understand perfectly the reason they tried to go that path - that is, to sell to the largest gaming population possible by lowering system requirements - it CLEARLY takes away from the mood of the game. Diablo and Diablo II were moody gothic fantasy titles, and to properly evoke that mood, you need intricate masonry (bricks, blocks), detailed (not overly so) character models, and great textures.
I know alot of pussy men out there will be afraid to admit their emotions when they first played the game, but I won't shy away from it - I was scared as **** when I reached Catacombs Level 4 and had to clear out that first room, in anticipation of Andariel, during my first single-player playthrough. No other game has brought me the relative "horrors" DII has. Even when I was boss-running and farming and overcame my noobishness, there were STILL certain areas I didn't really like soloing by myself - lonely Durance runs, the Prince's Palace, much of Kurast.
I could never be legitimately frightened playing this game. Many of the elements present look like a cheap pantimome of a setting, and don't fully capture the mood of the area. Diablo is not just a fantasy game, which can support many different art styles. It is a horror fantasy game. One aspect of being horrified or scared or terrified is the danger has to feel acute and psychologically, has to be really be able to happen to "you". The style is just too far removed from reality to allow that to happen.
Obviously the Diablo III team has come up with a great deal of fantastic ideas. I'm really excited about their ideas for faster, more immersive combat and the "encounter" system they alluded to. I am not too sure about item drops or their plan for inventory, but I could be perusaded. But the stylistic choice STRIKES ME HORRIBLY and I just can't get it out of my mind. This game will at the very least be good because Blizzard is a company takes alot of time to polish off gameplay. But it can hardly be great when it obviously has alienated a great deal of old-time, established fans.
Let me fear wandering the world again.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Can't some people grasp the fact that graphics AFFECT gameplay, and vice versa?! Graphics create IMMERSION, which determines the kind of actions you are performing as a character. For example, in Starcraft, lots of bloom and explosions negatively affects the gameplay, because it is much more important to know where your units than to see fancy effects!
But Diablo is an RPG, with basically one set perspective, a linear plot, and one character. Therefore the graphics are MUCH more important, ESPECIALLY with a loot system. From time to time, you want to zoom in on your character fighting demons and stuff. And because RPGs are often about immersion, the gameplay should INCLUDE alot of graphical effects to hammer the point that you are in epic battle fighting monstes and such.
Graphics and gameplay aren't these separable things. They are very much connected.
The only reason we usually talk about "gameplay" first is that it is much harder challenge to get good gameplay and than it is good graphics. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY AREN'T EQUALLY IMPORTANT.
Because Blizzard wasn't as famous and didn't have such a great reputation, people correctly laughed at it as "Warcraft in Space".
Now it's happening again, and new heroes have to step up and stop them.
QUOTED FOR ALOT OF TRUTH
I think not.
BUT ARE WE EVER GOING TO HAVE A UNIQUE ART STYLE FOR THE FRANCHISES AGAIN?
IS EVERY GAME GOING TO BE MADE WITH THE SAME ARTISTS?
By the golden year of 2003, Starcraft/Warcraft III/Diablo II looked very stylistically different, but it all worked and gave those franchises they're unique identity.
But they brightened up and blockified SC II. That's alright, because the core gameplay of Starcraft matters much more than the "mood" and Blizzard is always ton top of gameplay. But then they grittified it a bit and so the community took it smiling.
But this? Diablo? Almost the complete opposite of Warcraft? We aren't going to take it smiling and we aren't going to shut up about it.
YEAH OK, BUT THE RELEVANT QUESTION IS: ARE THEY SACRIFICING TOO MUCH OF THE MOOD FOR ACCESSIBILITY?
THIS IS A PERFECTLY VALID QUESTION.
I always afraid that Blizzard would fall into this trap because of WoW, seeking to corner the "everyone" market because WoW did very successfully. Diablo is a GOTHIC, DARK, REALISTIC, M-rated franchise. IMO, period.
That completely HORRIBLE image of the gryphon is the perfect example of the point and pisses me off every time I see it. So do the ramparts on the bridge and that pillar that is destroyed by the Thousand Pounder.
The thing is, I am frankly tired of the WoW-esque blocky graphics. Even though I understand perfectly the reason they tried to go that path - that is, to sell to the largest gaming population possible by lowering system requirements - it CLEARLY takes away from the mood of the game. Diablo and Diablo II were moody gothic fantasy titles, and to properly evoke that mood, you need intricate masonry (bricks, blocks), detailed (not overly so) character models, and great textures.
I know alot of pussy men out there will be afraid to admit their emotions when they first played the game, but I won't shy away from it - I was scared as **** when I reached Catacombs Level 4 and had to clear out that first room, in anticipation of Andariel, during my first single-player playthrough. No other game has brought me the relative "horrors" DII has. Even when I was boss-running and farming and overcame my noobishness, there were STILL certain areas I didn't really like soloing by myself - lonely Durance runs, the Prince's Palace, much of Kurast.
I could never be legitimately frightened playing this game. Many of the elements present look like a cheap pantimome of a setting, and don't fully capture the mood of the area. Diablo is not just a fantasy game, which can support many different art styles. It is a horror fantasy game. One aspect of being horrified or scared or terrified is the danger has to feel acute and psychologically, has to be really be able to happen to "you". The style is just too far removed from reality to allow that to happen.
Obviously the Diablo III team has come up with a great deal of fantastic ideas. I'm really excited about their ideas for faster, more immersive combat and the "encounter" system they alluded to. I am not too sure about item drops or their plan for inventory, but I could be perusaded. But the stylistic choice STRIKES ME HORRIBLY and I just can't get it out of my mind. This game will at the very least be good because Blizzard is a company takes alot of time to polish off gameplay. But it can hardly be great when it obviously has alienated a great deal of old-time, established fans.
Let me fear wandering the world again.