Do you want Zelda Switch to be cel-shaded?

[Spirit]

We havent had a thread like this in a while and we have a few new members who can weigh in so im bringing it back up.

Cel-shading in Zelda is pretty much the norm now. Some look great and some not so much (i aint bringing that argument back up).

The Switch is more powerful than the WiiU but not as powerful as an Xbone or PS4, it could no doubt showcase some nice photo-real graphics for the next Zelda (Tomb Raider 2013 quality in my head) but is photo-real what Zelda Switch should attempt?

Most of the fanbase have moved on since the Wind Waker and can appreciate cel-shading now, so the WW disconnect is no longer there, which means if Zelda Switch goes the BotW route of cel-shading i dont think people will mind like they did back in the days of WW.

But what do you want for Zelda Switch? A Tomb Raider/Witcher 3 style photo real attempt or stick with cel-shading?

 

[Dio]

HAHAHELL NO!

I like the look of the Wii U tech demo for Zelda. Stylised but still with that realism there.

Cell shading and the toon look was what first divided the Zelda fanbase and we have had problems ever since. There is a reason WW sold poorly compared to OOT, and its not the quality of the game. It was the look.

Not only is a more realistic style what I personally want but it is what the masses want too. See the reaction to TP's 2004 reveal trailer for proof. Most people like more realistic and better graphics and I am sure Zelda would have even greater appeal with a more realistic look.

 

[funnier6]

I don’t care as long as it’s not ugly.

A compromise would be best, like botw imo.

 

[Azure Sage]

Photo-real is a MASSIVE NO. The wii u tech demo is also a MASSIVE NO. I want them to keep up with BotW's type of aesthetics. It's the best looking Zelda game and quite possibly one of the best looking video games I've ever laid eyes on. It suits the spirit of the Zelda series and quite frankly it's far more pleasing to the eye than any edgy ps4 game will ever be.

 

[YIGAhim]

Not Toon style cel shading, but realistic cel shading like botw

 

[Kylo Ken]

We've had so many cel shaded Zeldas, let's get another TP.

 

[Draymorath]

I'm definitely up for something like the Wii U tech demo. Zelda's great because every game is different. The cell shaded look, while good, has been going for awhile now and I think it's time to change it up.

 

[PalaeoJoe]

I don't care much what art style any Zelda game uses as long as it works with the game and I think they have always found a fitting style for each game.

That said, I want them to use BotW's art style/assets for the next game for the following reasons. Although I don't think BotW has the perfect style for the series over all, it has come the closest to ideal. Also more importantly, I don't want the Game Dev's wasting time building brand new assets for the next game. This includes a graphics engine and art assets. They should make some adjustments to the visual models that were used in BotW (where appropriate) like what they did when developing MM, create the models for new characters and other elements of the world, and optometrist the graphics engine to run best on the switch.
If the next game is a direct sequel to BotW then we should be able to count on this happening. But if the next game is separate from BotW then I am more likely to be disappointed on this front.

 

[Pinkarray]

I think that both cel-shading and realistic animation like on TP looks good on Zelda. SS graphics are also great, blending in the realistic style of TP and the cartoony Wind Waker. I think as long as its balanced, it might be okay. I do think BOTW looks excellent anyway because its cel-shading and realism is balanced. So, I'm not for sure about having the cel-shading make the characters' features exaggerated like Toon Link, with the big eyes and the big head, if I had to choose between exaggerated design and realistic design, I would chose the realistic design, where the characters don't have big eyes and a big head, looking really short and skinny.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

all i can say is i want a realized version of that wii u tech demo using that artstyle, i'm actually a bit sick of the cel shading

 

[Ninja]

All great points in this thread, so I'll keep it short and sweet.

If I was forced to choose, I would rather have a more realistic art style. However, as long as the game is good, has a great story and the gameplay is intuitive, I will enjoy it either way.

 

[Djinn]

I could not possibly care how it was colored so long as the art direction maintains a more realistic style. I was not a fan of WW's huge head, dot eyes, and total lack of feet. I always thought it was too lazy.

 

[Castle]

No. Cel-shading doesn't work for Zelda. It alone makes me lose interest - for specific reasons. The parts of the world that fascinate me like nobody's business simply cannot convey that sense of atmosphere when they look like a Warner Bros cartoon. Infamous locals such as the Sacred Forest Meadow, the Kingdom of Ikana, Snowpeak Ruins, or the Shadow Temple lose all of their agency when they're not portrayed with any semblance of realism to ground the audience in the world. Take the difference between The Shadow Temple and The Ancient Cistern. If you think the shadow temple is freaky, by any and all rights the Cistern should be a hammer house horror picture. But as I played through it I felt nothing. No horror, no sense of wonder, nothing. A game where the central focus should be player driven exploration and discovery must have tantalizing and enigmatic places to explore. Dangers must feel like legitimate threats instead of loony toons. And audiences must be able to take the world they're saving seriously or the adventure feels like it has no merit.

The reason ninty employs cel-shading isn't because they're making some artistic statement. It's because ninty is lazy and they don't know how to construct sophisticated cgi environments that appear remotely on par with today's standards, and cel-shading is a cheap way for incompetent lazy artists to gloss over simple muddy textures and low polygon counts. Done right, cel-shading can look marvelous, but that takes technique and effort that nintendo clearly lack.

Take for instance the glitch in botw that makes Link look like a plastic doll. Okay? That is what the graphics look like without the shader effect. Looks like crap, right?

 

[DarkestLink]

No. I'm getting really tired of it tbh.

 

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

Just give me some detail, please. I'm tired of 3D Zelda having this washed-over look that vastly emphasizes cramming as many colors on the screen as possible as opposed to actually paying attention to world-enhancing detail. It was cute and novel once, but by the 3rd time, it just doesn't look good. You can fool some people who like looking at bright things and like it automatically because of that, sure, but I feel like a majority of video game players definitely want some more grounded visuals.

I am so sick of Zelda characters looking awkward as hell. Literally every 3D game has awkward looking characters. I want to look at Link for once and not think to myself "I wonder what he'd look like if he wasn't overly-stylized like this."

Cel-shading is fine, just not the way Nintendo has been doing it since WW. I'd rather they just ditch it altogether to be honest.