   Whats wrong with Wind Waker?
  Specifically, what didn't people like about the art style?? Personally I loved it but so many people I talk to seem to hate it. Are they faulting it more for diverging from Zelda's previous art styles or because people just generally seem to not like cel-shading in games (or perhaps this implementation was faulty)?And while I'm asking, how many people were actually turned off by Psychonauts art style? I thought it's absurd scale and exotic color combinations was fantastic! Tim Schafer has a theory that one of the reasons the game did so poorly was because the main character was a child and the world was too bright and colorful, leading people to believe it was just a game for kids. Agree or Disagree? Do you think the same impression was left by Wind Waker (although that kind of was a kids game, imo). Would they have benefited from a darker cartoon style (similar to Invader Zim perhaps)?Discuss!   
  Psychonauts did poorly because it was released at the same time as a number of heavy hitter titles and got very little advertising, it had little to nothing to do with style.   ;  I prefer smooth shaded stuff instead of the flat shading style of cel-shaded games. A few games like that were litterally an eye sore (like the old green ATI ad!), because the contrast in them tends to be way too much, It's all bright colors flashing around too fast non stop. There is no reason to to take it to the extreme, be more passive about it. Dragon Quest 8 handles cell shading very well.I'm not anti-cell-shading. I enjoyed Jet Set Radio Future before my xbox died. But I sometimes they are a turn off to me.   ;  I've not played Wind Waker, but I've seen screenshots and I didn't like them. Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask(which I've both played) had a very good style balancing a little of "dark" touches with the optimistic feel of Nintendo. I don't understand why they had to change that other than some heads in the company thought it would be marketed as "extreme" and "hip". To me, cel-shading seems a little too childish for an RPG and I generally don't get it. Plus, I think it looks weird when applied to 3D space. Is Link and his world supposed to be a cartoon? Why try to render them as such then?   ;  Personally, the wind waker is my favorite Zelda game. It's also one of my favorite games graphically. However, there were many who just wanted to see the game take a more realistic graphic approach. Although I liked the look of the game, I can understand their disapointment at the developers using a new graphics style.However, as I understand it, the graphics weren't the only factor. Some reviewers didn't like the constant sailing, or actually using the wind waker instrument. Their was also the lack of voice acting.   ;  I liked the style in Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mask... it wasn't just a kids game... like it had a dark, menacing side to it and they truly were beautiful games. I haven't played Wind Waker but it just makes me think it is designed specifically for kids and therefore they won't be as complex with as much to do. Although the other two were never had any terribly complex puzzles, you still got stuck!   ;  I loved Wind Waker -- everything about it. The cell-shaded graphics didn't turn me off at all. I think it's one of extremely few cell-shaded games that I can say that about, though. I was skeptical at first, but once I played the game myself, it all just seemed to "click".   ;Quote:Although the other two were never had any terribly complex puzzles, you still got stuck!Man, don't even remind me of that goddamn Water Temple. [smile]   ;  <wind-waker-fanboyism>Still shots of Wind Waker do it no justice, neither do low res in-game videos. You have to play the game to really see how much a work of art it is. The gameplay is spot-on (as always with Zelda games), the graphics are lush and the sound is incredible. Wind Waker is effectively perfect in my eyes and just thinking about the game reminds me of how, when I played it, I would lose all track of real-world time and become completely engulfed [inlove]I can maybe understand people not liking the sailing thing as you can spend a lot of time sailing around. I personally loved the sailing, the feeling of going so far out to sea that you were miles from everything and then coming across a tiny island with a little dungeon to explore or side quest to do ...good memories [smile]Comparing it to OOT or Majora's Mask? You can't in my opinion ...they may all be Zelda games but Wind Waker is sooo very different. If I hadn't played OOT first and become so in-love with it ...i'd easily say Wind Waker was the best game ever made (Windfall Island is level design perfection)</wind-waker-fanboyism>...think I'll start a new game on Wind Waker tomorrow   ;Quote:Original post by DirgeSpecifically, what didn't people like about the art style?? Personally I loved it but so many people I talk to seem to hate it. Are they faulting it more for diverging from Zelda's previous art styles or because people just generally seem to not like cel-shading in games (or perhaps this implementation was faulty)?Personally I thought the cartoonish art style really worked well in Wind Waker as it suited the cartoonish Zelda world. There were also a lot of little animation touches - such as Link's eyes looking at items of interest - that would not have worked as well in a realistic style. I was disappointed that they're going with a realistic look for Twilight Princess, although I'm sure it will still be impressive (for the record, I also liked the N64 graphic style too). Admittedly though I am a huge fan of cartoonish styled games when they are done well.That isn't to say there were some problems with Wind Waker, but they were gameplay related rather than graphical. Most prominent was the goddamned "collect the shards of the triforce" crap at about the 2/3 point in the game. The sailing too was annoying at the end, and is doubly so on a replay. I'm also a bit peeved they didn't randomise all those map squares for each game as it wouldn't have been that hard to pull off and would make re-exploring the game world a second time much more interesting.I haven't played Psychonauts so I can't commend on that one, sorry.   