Support NeoGAF

[kremiso]

do you like when in a game the two worlds try to live togheter?
back then i liked a lot the PS1 era with all those experiments, 2D characters in a 3D world or viceversa, or even something different

recently i liked a lot the Star Ocean second story R approach, and i was wondering which titles (new or old) do you consider reached to best combine the two in past enemies ?

 

[Artistic]

Does Superstar Saga count?

 

[GigaBowser]

mode 7

 

[Mister Wolf]

 

[Plies]

Breath of Fire IV.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Doom + derivatives

 

[TintoConCasera]

Dunno about favorites, but the most recent I've played like that is Shining The Holy Ark. Imo specially cool since the sprites are 3D renders.

There's also the classic FPS games like DOOM, Duke Nukem 3D, Blood, etc. When it comes to visual presentation, my favorite of those would be Hexen.

Most detailed levels of any idtech game and the sprites all look cool as fuck, from the weapons to the enemy designs.

 

[GymWolf]

Always liked klonoa but not the best, i just have shit memory

Also tombi, of course

 

[Robb]

Super Mario Odyssey is absolutely fantastic in how it just seamlessly combines the classic 2D gameplay into its levels.

 

[Codes 208]

Mario kart 64 is up there for me. Pokemon Black and White were also pretty damn good (3d worlds, animated 2d battles)

 

[killatopak]

Cel shaded anything.

Viewtiful Joe
Muramasa Samurai Legend
Megaman Legends
Dark Cloud

There's more but those are the ones at the top of my head.

 

[Rush2112]

Nier automata? but i never played it.

 

[Avid Reading Horse]

Memba Shadow Complex? I memba. Though I suppose that's all 3D as far as graphics go. But it had a fun 2.5D vibe where everyone once in a while you got to shoot at stuff in the background.

My boy Edward Carnby had the whole 3D characters/objects and 2D backgrounds mastered back in 1992. Eat shit Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII, fucking LTTP losers:

 

[Liopleurodon]

Digimon World 3.

 

[Holammer]

Paper Mario games, at least the two first games are excellent examples.
Victory Heat Rally uses 3d backgrounds and 2d sprites. Early versions used sprite scaling for everything, but they chickened out and went with more 3d.

 

[Alan Silvestro]

Strider 2. And I need a remastered.

 

[Boralf]

FEZ

 

[R6Rider]

Most recently Tinykin did this well.

 

[JohnSpartanLee]

A Link Between Worlds

 

[diffusionx]

Radiant Silvergun
Grandia
Paper Mario

Doom + derivatives

To be pedantic as hell, these are all fully 2D games. Daggerfall had 3D environments with 2D characters though.

 

[GymWolf]

Of course the mario rpg, i only played the one on gamecube

 

[Guilty_AI]

To be pedantic as hell, these are all fully 2D games. Daggerfall had 3D environments with 2D characters though.

They're very much 3D, they just make some compromises on their 3D-ness for the sake of performance

 

[tr1p1ex]

Yeah sprites in a ~3d world were good enough for me. That's how fps games started. Duke or Doom. And a game like Paper Mario. Lot of advantages to going that route today but ...few explore those routes in the major releases at least. Indie scene might be full of those.

Also enjoyed the 2d games with 3d characters/environments from NIntendo. Super Mario World or ...maybe Link's Awakening remake if that counts.

 

[RaZoR No1]

Nier Automata

Does Sonic Generations count?

 

[Oberstein]

Integrating 3D characters into a 2D environment is particularly difficult, because if it's done poorly, it becomes very noticeable. And once you notice it, you can't unsee it.

Baten Kaitos does this quite well, as the overall color tone is very vibrant and matches nicely with the brightly colored outfits of the 2D characters. So it blends in much better. Everything is very lively. In the first village, there are geese or ducks, and they fit in visually really well.

The same goes for the animations of the plants and flowers. Even today, it still manages to surprise me with its level of polish.

 

[MrRibeye]

The 2D character on the wall of this 3D world was stunning and brave.

 

[nkarafo]

Isn't that technically 3D characters on a 2D isometric background?

If it counts than that's my pick.

That and the original DOOM.

 

[Schnauzer]

For me it was either Shining Force 3 or Rayman Legends.

 

[rabbity-thing]

Such a top notch marriage of graphical technologies. Played this beauty pretty close to release and I remember initially thinking the graphics were kind of jank because the characters weren't fully 3D like FFVII, but the battle animations won me over. Squaresoft was the bomb.

 

[Shakka43]

Crash Bandicoot trilogy. God of War 3 had some nice 2d sections too.

 

[Parazels]

Crash Bandicoot trilogy. God of War 3 had some nice 2d sections too.

Author asked about graphics, not gameplay.

 

[Closer]

Here for Paper Mario.

 

[Trilobit]

Does Superstar Saga count?

I don't know what I like the most. The game itself or how cool 'Superstar Saga' sounds.

 

[OverHeat]

Ori!

 

[Walter Matthau]

 

[Plies]

Is this Dolphin Blue?

 

[RoadHazard]

Isn't that technically 3D characters on a 2D isometric background?

If it counts than that's my pick.

That and the original DOOM.

That's not what isometric means (that's a 45 degree view with parallel projection), but yes.

 

[Walter Matthau]

Is this Dolphin Blue?

You guessed it. Needs a port for modern consoles.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Yep. First thing that I thought of. What a fantastic melee of sprites and polygons. It made perfect sense in the age of analog video.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Yep. First thing that I thought of. What a fantastic melee of sprites and polygons. It made perfect sense in the age of analog video.

We are overdue for a remaster from Square. Having Monolith Soft oversee it's production would be all the sweeter.

 

[IAmRei]

recently playing DQ3HD2D, and blasting with it. i think this style is good trend for thos who loves 2D in 3D.

 

[nkarafo]

That's not what isometric means (that's a 45 degree view with parallel projection), but yes.

Is isometric always the same 45 degree angle? Or is it 30? Because i don't think all 2D "isometric games" have the same, some maybe a bit more overhead than others.

I thought isometric is just 3D projection in 2D.

 

[Black_Stride]

The Plucky Squire.

 

[Cakeboxer]

Probably not what you mean, but i say Hand of Fate.

 

[Kumomeme]

Ragnarok Online still timeless today

 

[Redneckerz]

Doom is 2.5D.

 

[RPS37]

FEZ

I was looking for Plucky Squire but this also

 

[RoadHazard]

Is isometric always the same 45 degree angle? Or is it 30? Because i don't think all 2D "isometric games" have the same, some maybe a bit more overhead than others.

I thought isometric is just 3D projection in 2D.

What I meant by 45 degrees was that the rotation is 45 degrees, which is pretty much always the case. But you're right, the top-down angle varies. The main point is that it's a parallel projection so there's no perspective, all lines are parallel into infinity.

(In strict mathematical terms isometric means that the angles between the X, Y and Z axes are all exactly 120 degrees, but in games it's used a bit more loosely.)

 

[kremiso]

amazing entries thanks++
oh yeah Xenogears, my god lovely extra smooth 2D movement animations during combat, really your hero seemed alive

about FEZ, really a shame the author didn't reach to complete the sequel, that original mechanic really deserve to be explored and maybe improved again

 

[Connificent]