Comment by Noos
6 years ago
I'm not sure. Look at the Hyperdimension Neptunia games, for example. Reuses a lot of assets, not really known for any graphical prowess, pretty much functional at best graphics. They sell a ton of them. Same with the Atelier games, they are pretty much decent PS3-level graphics but nothing fancy.
Or the Earth Defense Force games. I think once you get loyalty to a series, if anything change is a net negative. There's a lot more to go wrong than go right. Gamers are conservative by nature; if it works, keep playing it
Neptunia, Atelier, and EDF all have much better graphics than Jeff's games. The first 2 have a lot of well-drawn scantily clad girls, and all the graphics are nice. They're old-school, but very well done.
Jeff's games do not have that same air of quality. It's not just about techniques or style, it's about artistry.
Personally, that's fine. I value a game much, much more for its gameplay than its graphics. But that is certainly not true for the market at large.
And even for myself, if a game doesn't put in the effort to have good art, I assume they didn't put in the effort for the gameplay easier, as its a lot easier to buy good art than good gameplay design.
People do judge books by their covers, and Jeff isn't acknowledging that.
Having said all that, if I ever played any of his games, it was forever ago. I've looked at them and haven't seen or read anything that makes them stand out. People sometimes say they're great, but they never say anything that makes them sound special.
exactly, The game i spent most time playing this week is entirely text based, there is only a background image, which i turned off as it was a little annoying.
im talking white text on a black background.
the gameplay was and always will be much more important than the graphics.
care to share what game it is?
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Your comparisons are actually proving the opposite of your point. There's no way you can even approach the graphical fidelity in Hyperdimension Neptunia on Jeff's budget.
A fun way to visualize this comparison... this is the ending credits for Hyperdimension Neptunia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQXspiEngM8 (NSFW for scantily clad women)
There's 13 people listed as working on graphics. That's legitimately pretty small for professional games... but it's still huge compared to what Spiderweb can afford.
Without context you don't know what that means. That could be outsourced art from a cheaper country totaling less than 100k.