Poll: Cel-Shading is ugly

[MetalMagpie]

Spoiler

I like cel-shading in the case of Borderlands, TF2, Wind waker and Pokemon X and Y, but to me, Okami looks hideous. In that image, especially. Just ew. And also...probably just me.

Yeah, I've never really understood the love for Okami either. It just looks really cluttered to me, with no helpful way for your eye to pick out the foreground from the background.

But - as I think this entire thread highlights - different people like different visual styles.

 

[Ashadowpie]

i love cel shading in games, it makes it so much more colourful, more alive and brighter.
realistic graphics are always grey, more dull organically and doesnt really captivate the imagination. a realistic graphic'd cheerry tree is almost as beautiful as a real cherry tree, but a cel shaded cherry tree is more magical and brighter.

Sly Cooper 2 for the Ps2 vs Sky Cooper 3 for the PS3 they look the same! its amazing how cel shading ages so well!

also that picture of Okami in HD holy shit it looks beautiful! if only i could play it like that * dreamy sigh *

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Also, due to the lighting techniques employed, Team Fortress 2 is technically cel-shaded:

If we're going to start using technicalities, we can just stop right here. If someone says cel-shading, you know what they mean. TF2 is not what they mean.

Well TF2 is one of the more explicit uses of cel-shading techniques without being directly outlined. Observe! (The bit about rim terms - the idea that the characters are always highlighted whether near a light source or not - specifically serves a cel-shaded style.)

 

[RandV80]

People who don't like cell shading have no soul.

 

[happyninja42]

I think it can be an awesome art style for a game or story. My personal favorite being The Mark of Kri. One of the most unsung games on the PS 2, had a Disney-esque look with cell shading, and it was awesome.

 

[The Lugz]

i've always seen cell shading as an attempt to make a more artsy game, it looks to me like a heavily pastel colored image so personally i consider it the artist's rendition of the game there's nothing wrong with that it's just it will never win any awards for having the best graphics, which is fair as it's a simple process.

 

[Roxas1359]

Cel-shading not only looks nice, but it still looks nice ten years after each use.
"Realistic" graphics age terribly, and often don't look good in the first place.

Couldn't have said it any better myself.
I love cel-shaded games like Wind Waker, Okami, and Sly Cooper as it really still manages to look good even after the game has been out for years. Realistic graphics age very poorly when compared to cel-shaded games.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I really don't mind cel-shading when it's stylistically appropriate. It works for the Borderlands series because, honestly, any pretense of realism in that universe would be utterly preposterous. It's kind of hard to imagine the game having a gritty and realistic edge to it when you consider that one of its joke weapons does this:

<youtube=Vvuq9kmre8Q>

So, yeah. Realism? Non, merci.

 

[Mikejames]

I think that stylization can be great when properly used, so no.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I, uh - what? UGLY?

Don't tell me that doesn't look freaking gorgeous. I can practically smell that cherry blossom.

 

[purplecactus]

I quite like it, it's different to what I usually see, and I have to say I do think it's a pretty awesome way of going about the whole graphical element.

 

[babinro]

I consider cel-shading to be the best type of graphical artstyle used in the gaming industry.
By its very nature the look remains timeless and beautiful while easily portraying character emotion.

I certainly wouldn't want all games to be cel-shaded but I do feel that the style is underutilized.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Nope I don't think so.

The main game that comes to mind when I think cel shaded is LoZ: Wind Waker.

It is my favorite Zelda game by far and I highly doubt it would have been as good or memorable if they had gone with a standard Zelda graphical representation.

Edit: The one sided outcome of the poll, has made me laugh and made my day.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Zone of the Enders 2
Valkyria Chronicles
Bastion
Catherine
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Okami
Dragon Quest 8
Eternal Sonata
Gravity Rush
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
SMT: Digital Devil Saga 1&2

All dem games beg to differ... just because you don't like the look of Borderlands doesn't mean the graphical technique has no value...

 

[loc978]

Well, there's no accounting for taste, OP... it's apparent that you're in a very, very small minority in this one. Most people see cel-shaded games and think they look like a beautiful painting that's been animated.

 

[thefascistpig]

personally i prefer it to realistic graphics becuase it
A: allows the game to have a distinct look
B: Doesn't make hurl when i go back to play it years later
that's the reason i love ultimate spiderman and mad world alot

 

[Radoh]

At the time of this post 95% of people disagree with you.
I'm going to agree with them as there has been MANY games that are cel-shaded and suit me just fine, several of which have already been posted, like Tales of Symphonia and The Walking Dead.
Also Wind Waker.

 

[Altorin]

cel-shading is an aesthetic thing so it's going to be different for each person.

Making a statement like "cel-shading is ugly" holds no sway over your audience then saying "I'm hungry"

The answer is simple - if you don't like cel-shading, don't play cel-shaded games.

 

[CrystalShadow]

I guess it's a matter of opinion, but no. It doesn't look ugly.

Most attempts at 'realistic' graphics look much, much worse to me.

Especially when the novelty wears off and you start to see the truth of what it looks like. (Eg, when the games are no longer new and the graphics start to look dated.)

Cell shading doesn't always look great, but in many cases it still looks good a decade later, something which really can't be said of graphics designed to look 'realistic'.

But as with anything, some are better at it than others.
It can go badly, but on average I find the results more consistently appealing than the alternatives.

 

[Velociferocks]

Mirror's edge looks really good normally, but the cutscenes were even more amazing

Mark of the Ninja was all cel-shaded and it was awesome

Those are not cel-shaded, they're just regular 2d animations.