Has Blizzard ever done something visually unique?
- Thread starter Brotherofwill
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I didn't say that.Erana said:
Completely agree with you here. If they want to suceed their best bet is to tie the game into WoW somehow and have a gradual transfer from players over to the next game, which would work with a joined subscription.Erana said:
This has nothing to do with my topic however. I was just asking if they can for once create something totally new and visually(I'm beginning to hate saying that word) fresh and what their best visual/design related achievements were in their past games. That's it.
I'm not asking how or if they can suceed. It's really a design discussion.
Yep, thats pretty much what I'm trying to say.Ironic Pirate said:
You have to modify the term "unique" in order for it to actually be possible. Otherwise, you're saying, "i don't know what this is derived from." Which can be a fair desire. I'm kinda tired of automatically going "ah, john woo homage" every time someone slides around, shooting guns. But in terms of art styles, "unique" simply can't exist, as everything is derived from something.
As far as how similar they look... I'd say the only difference between the three are the graphical capabilities of the various times they were made.
Visually WoW looks like nothing else.
Most screenshots, especially where characters or monsters are present are instantly recognisable as being from WoW and nothing else.
Warcraft III, and Starcraft II also have a look of their own. Really the only thing that looks like Starcraft II is Starcraft, and even then, not exactly.
Original, maybe not, realistic, not so much, but they are definitely visually unique.
Most screenshots, especially where characters or monsters are present are instantly recognisable as being from WoW and nothing else.
Warcraft III, and Starcraft II also have a look of their own. Really the only thing that looks like Starcraft II is Starcraft, and even then, not exactly.
Original, maybe not, realistic, not so much, but they are definitely visually unique.
Okay, I see what you're saying now. I thought you were trying to say something else...Cynical skeptic said:
And yeah, I guess Rez is a bad example, but thirty seconds on Wikipedia didn't turn up the other two games, so I felt safe in posting it.
Visually unique - Well thats an odd one and something that made me think quite a bit more than the snap reaction of 'yes, duh'. Depends what we're talking about here, does composition count for instance?
I can see where you're coming from for the majority of the time, but as a player it sure as hell doesnt all feel like rehashed versions of old archetypes.
I cant think of anything in the feel of Silithus and Ahn'Qiraj (maybe a tad half life 2, but that was likely developed alongside), A fair chunk of outland, quite a bit of ulduar and its norse feel i've never really seen around. Vash'jr and especially its big lurkey mollousky thing i've forgotten the name of. Call me out if i'm wrong but when i think WoW etc plenty comes to mind, but not 'non visually distinct'.
(I'll leave out commenting on diablo and i've never really entered the series, and SC2 is all i've got of starcraft so far.)
I can see where you're coming from for the majority of the time, but as a player it sure as hell doesnt all feel like rehashed versions of old archetypes.
I cant think of anything in the feel of Silithus and Ahn'Qiraj (maybe a tad half life 2, but that was likely developed alongside), A fair chunk of outland, quite a bit of ulduar and its norse feel i've never really seen around. Vash'jr and especially its big lurkey mollousky thing i've forgotten the name of. Call me out if i'm wrong but when i think WoW etc plenty comes to mind, but not 'non visually distinct'.
(I'll leave out commenting on diablo and i've never really entered the series, and SC2 is all i've got of starcraft so far.)
Maybe they should just get incredibly high to make something that makes absolutely no sense and has no basis in anything already in existence. Maybe then you'd stop complaining.
And they all have different art styles so I think your looking for something more along the lines of story and canon, not visuals.
And they all have different art styles so I think your looking for something more along the lines of story and canon, not visuals.
A lot of people seem to be really critical of the word unique. Maybe I should have used other wording. Then again you almost say it yourself:Cheveyo said:
Sounds pretty unique to me.
By that logic, if another game used the color "red" I guess it's automatically disqualified from being original. Unless you mean to redefine the phrase "any way, shape, or form".Cynical skeptic said:
Though there sure are a lot of topics ragging on Blizzard lately.
Let's analyze their most famous series, shall we?
Starcraft - 3 different space faring races, the typical expansionist humans, the hivemind zerg, and the Protoss. While the human vs zerg aspect isn't really unique, the Protoss make up for it. Mostly because of their religious aspect. You have to understand that human qualities weren't really given to aliens in video gaming before this game. It's also a very loose base format. There is one series that is actually based off this 3-way format, down to the very core, that isn't an RTS and has a lot of fans saying that it has a good story. Ever hear of Halo?
Diablo - Standard demon-invades-world scenario that is excuse for hero to slay said demon, except for your failure to save the world or in the first game, to banish the demon. This is more unique in that it's honestly a true dark fantasy setting, something the games industry has tried for a long time and mostly failed at. And Tyrael is a very unique character.
Warcraft - Standard orcs vs humans scenario (see where I'm going with this?), until the 3rd game. The 3rd game is pretty much the reason WoW existed, because the backstory got so much added to it. You got Prince Arthas and his journey to corruption and becoming the Lich King. You got Jaina Proudmoore, who commits treason to save the world. You have Medivh, the Prophet who has to go around and tell everyone the world has to be saved. And even these are generic until TFT came out, which added real uniqueness: I haven't seen many characters like Illidan in gaming. The naga are also a fairly unique group of people.
There is creativity and there is a lot of backstory if you take the time to go into it all. There's a fair bit that has to be inferred. You have to know who to trust and who not to trust. You have to get past a character's perception of the situation. And damn it all to hell if we think that a backstory sucks because it needs a person to do that.
Starcraft - 3 different space faring races, the typical expansionist humans, the hivemind zerg, and the Protoss. While the human vs zerg aspect isn't really unique, the Protoss make up for it. Mostly because of their religious aspect. You have to understand that human qualities weren't really given to aliens in video gaming before this game. It's also a very loose base format. There is one series that is actually based off this 3-way format, down to the very core, that isn't an RTS and has a lot of fans saying that it has a good story. Ever hear of Halo?
Diablo - Standard demon-invades-world scenario that is excuse for hero to slay said demon, except for your failure to save the world or in the first game, to banish the demon. This is more unique in that it's honestly a true dark fantasy setting, something the games industry has tried for a long time and mostly failed at. And Tyrael is a very unique character.
Warcraft - Standard orcs vs humans scenario (see where I'm going with this?), until the 3rd game. The 3rd game is pretty much the reason WoW existed, because the backstory got so much added to it. You got Prince Arthas and his journey to corruption and becoming the Lich King. You got Jaina Proudmoore, who commits treason to save the world. You have Medivh, the Prophet who has to go around and tell everyone the world has to be saved. And even these are generic until TFT came out, which added real uniqueness: I haven't seen many characters like Illidan in gaming. The naga are also a fairly unique group of people.
There is creativity and there is a lot of backstory if you take the time to go into it all. There's a fair bit that has to be inferred. You have to know who to trust and who not to trust. You have to get past a character's perception of the situation. And damn it all to hell if we think that a backstory sucks because it needs a person to do that.
Like I said to ironic pirate, that is what I'm saying.Atmos Duality said:
A unique aesthetic is impossible, since even completely random colors and shapes has a name, psychedelic.
Here is someone whose sense of observation is keen and quite enviable. Profuse felicitations to you, good sir.strum4h said:
Also, I don't suppose any of you have played Diablo by any chance.