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[BossLackey]

Technique, tools, and hardware seem to have finally matched the ambition of many Japanese (and Korean and Chinese) dev art teams working on JRPGs over the last ten years.

Game after game, they just look gorgeous.

The bright colors, next-level hair, improved shaders, the awesome “layered” anime eye aesthetic, devs have REALLY got it locked in.

Persona, SMT, Mana, Granblue, even the new Trails. Pure eye candy. And there are a ton of lower budget projects that still yield very attractive games.

It’s now to a point that even while
most of these games don’t reach the fidelity of some AAA Western titles, I simply don’t care (and that’s clearly not the point anyway). They’re leveraging art style and clever techniques to deliver visuals greater than the sum of their parts.

What I think is especially interesting is the way developers prioritize things visually. They’re being smart with their budgets. Both monetary and performance. With things like barely modeled filler crowds with no faces in Persona. They’re there to be a mass of bodies and they aren’t hiding that and instead leaning into it. It feels like an artistic choice even if it was to save performance or time.

In short, they sure know what they’re doing, huh?

Thanks, Asia.

 

[RoboFu]

Ehh nah I wouldn't say that. It's not that it's not possible it's just time and budgets. Most jpgs still have barren empty blocky environments.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

This is what peak animation looks like

 

[lughnasadh123]

The environments are definitely almost always lacking sadly. Wouldn't mind the characters overall being less overdesigned but I guess that's what many love about them.

 

[Gaiff]

Persona 6 should be a looker. It’ll be a proper AAA game with a huge budget. I’m expecting 10M+ units from it if it releases on the next Switch, the current Switch, PS5, PS4, and PC.

 

[Exentryk]

> Thread about game visuals
> OP posts no images

 

[Bloobs]

I havent seen many 4K towns as of yet

 

[NanaMiku]

Yes

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

They're technically impressive, but generic in design.

I blame modern animes and weaboos

Well you're new PFP is as generic looking as any other western looking female character

 

[Magic Carpet]

JRPG's are good for making Avatar thumbnails. Look at em, Just smell that Anime convention funk.

 

[nial]

This is what peak animation looks like

Do people play with the English dub?

 

[jonnyXx]

Yes

Can't wait to see what Monolith does on Switch 2.

 

[lh032]

they all look the same, seriously.

 

[digital_ghost]

They're technically impressive, but generic in design.

I blame modern animes and weaboos

I blame slimes.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I think JRPG devs have finally gotten good at translating anime style characters + animations into 3D. For a long while, most attempts looked so horrendous.

 

[sigmaZ]

Technique, tools, and hardware seem to have finally matched the ambition of many Japanese (and Korean and Chinese) dev art teams working on JRPGs over the last ten years.

Game after game, they just look gorgeous.

The bright colors, next-level hair, improved shaders, the awesome “layered” anime eye aesthetic, devs have REALLY got it locked in.

Persona, SMT, Mana, Granblue, even the new Trails. Pure eye candy. And there are a ton of lower budget projects that still yield very attractive games.

It’s now to a point that even while
most of these games don’t reach the fidelity of some AAA Western titles, I simply don’t care (and that’s clearly not the point anyway). They’re leveraging art style and clever techniques to deliver visuals greater than the sum of their parts.

What I think is especially interesting is the way developers prioritize things visually. They’re being smart with their budgets. Both monetary and performance. With things like barely modeled filler crowds with no faces in Persona. They’re there to be a mass of bodies and they aren’t hiding that and instead leaning into it. It feels like an artistic choice even if it was to save performance or time.

In short, they sure know what they’re doing, huh?

Thanks, Asia.

A lot of JRPG's are still lacking sadly in framing and scene direction. Sure the animation is nice if you're easily amused by posing and explosions and such, but close ups, draw-aways, etc. still leave a lot of room to be desired. I think Infinite Wealth in it's prerendered cutscenes did a fantastic job in these areas and made me want to see more of that in RPGs rather than the in-game engine pseudo cutscenes with locked angles all the time. BG3's framing of dialogue was also fantastic and every other game I play feels lame in comparison in that aspect.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I blame slimes.

Especially S SlimeGooGoo

 

[R6Rider]

 

[adamsapple]

FRPG's are the new hotness

 

[Rran]

Why is it so hard to find Dragon Quest XI gifs? That game has a great look to it and there's barely anything out there. Each monster has its own dancing animation for crying out loud.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

FRPG's are the new hotness

I admit that looks good but I still prefer the celshaded anime look

 

[poodaddy]

Can't say I agree. I really don't care for the look of the vast majority of them.

 

[BossLackey]

> Thread about game visuals
> OP posts no images

I know I'm sorry. I was on a roadtrip.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

My only complaint is that no JRPGs seem to use HDR. I am fine with the art style, but HDR should just be standard for any modern game engine.

 

[KXVXII9X]

A lot of JRPG's are still lacking sadly in framing and scene direction. Sure the animation is nice if you're easily amused by posing and explosions and such, but close ups, draw-aways, etc. still leave a lot of room to be desired. I think Infinite Wealth in it's prerendered cutscenes did a fantastic job in these areas and made me want to see more of that in RPGs rather than the in-game engine pseudo cutscenes with locked angles all the time. BG3's framing of dialogue was also fantastic and every other game I play feels lame in comparison in that aspect.

This is something I have noticed for a while, but the way you described it was reassuring I wasn't just overanalyzing it. It seems like JRPGs are still stuck in the visual novel presentation style. Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth prerendered scenes are a real treat. I was also amazed how high quality BG3 were. It made it feel like a real step above their last game Divinity Original Sin 2.

 

[BossLackey]

> Thread about game visuals
> OP posts no images

OP updated.

 

[BossLackey]

They're technically impressive, but generic in design.

I blame modern animes and weaboos

For a long time, I would have agreed with you. But I've been paying a lot of attention to these art styles and while on the surface there are obvious parallels, each game has quite a unique take on the "anime" aesthetic.

Take these two screenshots, for instance, of Persona 5 and Dragon Quest XI.

I really don't see many similarities between the art styles.

 

[Vyse]

JRPGs will always have a special place in my heart. Been playing them for decades. I am so happy that they are still relevant and continuing to evolve. Love that you guys always call out such amazing games that I might have missed. Thank you my friends!

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

For a long time, I would have agreed with you. But I've been paying a lot of attention to these art styles and while on the surface there are obvious parallels, each game has quite a unique take on the "anime" aesthetic.

Take these two screenshots, for instance, of Persona 5 and Dragon Quest XI.

I really don't see many similarities between the art styles.

And that's the thing I can't tell most western games apart

They all look the same to me

JRPGs will always have a special place in my heart. Been playing them for decades. I am so happy that they are still relevant and continuing to evolve. Love that you guys always call out such amazing games that I might have missed. Thank you my friends!

Same here. I'm happy that there's a resurgence of popularity for JRPGs. Hopefully the west doesn't try to infest them and try to force them to censor stuff at the source

 

[Danjin44]

I personally loving visual style JRPG have recently especially from Atlus.

Metaphor might not be “high tech” but god damn their aesthetics is…..

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I personally loving visual style JRPG have recently especially from Atlus.

Metaphor might not be “high tech” but god damn their aesthetics is…..

So much better too

I remember every cast from a Japanese game compared the cast of recent western games

 

[Danjin44]

So much better too

I remember every cast from a Japanese game compared the cast of recent western games

I personally find visuals for WRPGs very boring, it’s mostly why I never got in to them.

 

[NanaMiku]

I think JRPG devs have finally gotten good at translating anime style characters + animations into 3D. For a long while, most attempts looked so horrendous.

Ah yes

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I personally find visuals for WRPGs very boring, it’s mostly why I never got in to them.

That's the thing I used love playing western games too. Mass Effect, The Witcher, Beyond Good And Evil etc but I find that most of western games have became most of the same nowadays plus DEI shit. And this has been happening for ten years now. No thanks

Ah yes

Yeah whenever I replay Star Ocean 4, I immediately skip the cutscenes due to the cringe lol

 

[Danjin44]

Ah yes

This is mostly Tri-Ace still can’t decide wants to go with anime style or semi-realistic like FF, so they stuck awkward in between.

SO4 has 2D anime artstyle portrait for character status but the actual 3D model is realistic doll face which feels like from different game.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

This is mostly Tri-Ace still can decide wants to go anime style or semi-realistic like FF, so they stuck awkward in between.

SO4 has 2D anime artstyle portrait for character status but the actual 3D model is realistic doll face which feels like from different game.

I think that SO4 - 6 should have used Celshading personally

 

[Kumomeme]

meanwhile Gamefreak :

 

[Fbh]

The anime aesthetic has really improved over the last decade. The characters in particular are a lot more expressive than they used to be.
That said the words and environments aren't always as memorable (except for a few standouts like Xenoblade).
I do miss the overall look of the pre rendered era:

 

[BossLackey]

I personally loving visual style JRPG have recently especially from Atlus.

Metaphor might not be “high tech” but god damn their aesthetics is…..

Absolutely hyped.

 

[Doczu]

Jprgs and DBZ games finally have the fidelity they deserve.
Loved DQ 11, it looked like a Toryiama anime.

On that note. Is there a japanese game with an art style of 80s-early 90s sharp shading?
You know the type, think Redline.

 

[IAmRei]

Especially granblue relink, tales of arise, and xenoblades. For me these three are the best examples for beautiful artstyle in anime rpg. Inspiring so much for me who is working in art.

 

[Cao Cao]

Boring. All the same kinda Anime style. Only Unicorn Overlord stands out from these cause of perspektive.
I rather have FF12 style graphics or random stuff like Legaia 2, SaGa etc

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

This is what peak animation looks like

That fight scene was great!

I also loved these 2 scenes where they introduced Miyabi. The direction and choreography for them was really good imo, but that's the quality you get when you have some of the best devs working for your studio.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

They're technically impressive, but generic in design.

I blame modern animes and weaboos

 

[cireza]

Guilty Gear and Arc System Works deserve a mention. Not JRPG, but still anime games with awesome visuals.

Code Vein (character I created) :

 

[Black_Stride]

Meanwhile the Lost Odyssey CGI to Gameplay transtion hasnt been beaten to date.

P.S Eh hit their stride.....I think theyve always had really good standout titles that look good.
But im gald you are liking them more now.

P.P.S

Damn im so glad we learnt how to do depth of field properly.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Falcom also improved their in-house engine quite a bit with the release of Trails through Daybreak and now YS X Nordics, and it shows.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

Loved DQ 11, it looked like a Toryiama anime

So, you’ve played Sand Land?

This game is the closest I’ve ever seen to playing a manga/anime. Everyone here should play it, actually.

 

[existensmaximum]

Meh. I think the animation, the environments and pretty much everything except for some characters still look very bland, amateurish, empty, dated or just mediocre. I don't know, low-budget maybe?