Any example(s) of good looking 2.5 D platformers?

fdfxd2

After seeing Mighty No 9 I kinda gave up finding one.
Of course I'm talking about good looking ones, doesn't have to be one that plays good.

Fuiosg

I'm quite fond of Strider (double helix/capcom). Some might dismiss its more simplistic look but I find it effective, it's very cohesive and captures the kinetic energy of the game.

Lt_Commander

I think the Trine series has always done great with 2.5D.

Stinger88

You might need to check what is sprites and what was 3d but these spring to mind. I believe they were partly 3d, so 2.5?...

Ori and the blind forest
Rayman Legends

Also, just to be retro. I recall seeing R-Type Final (Ps2) when it was released. Blew my mind back then.

Tekoppar

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Feeze

Fuiosg

Hopefully they port that game to the Switch,  never played it. Lovely art style, though why would they put that tree with the UV seam facing the camera? (things only game artists notice)

Tekoppar

Probably a mistake since that wasn't easy to see since DKCTF isn't exactly a slow game, you would only notice it if you play awful or slow.

fdfxd2

Strider and trine look awesome,
found the inspiration I need,
thanks guys

Shrike

Ori and the Blind forest, Rayman Legends = the crysis of 2D platformers 

PyrZern

Valkyrie Profile 2.

Stinger88

Thought of somemore

Never alone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exls0Y8FSI8

Season after fall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lug0c82Vwm8

Unravel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6XbrI9jVtQ

Little big planet

The Neverhood ;D

ZacD

INSIDE



You don't really get the full effect in static screen shots, but the graphics, art design, and camera really work to serve the gameplay. 

RN

Child of Light (Ubisoft, 2014)



(Same game engine as Rayman Legends, it's called UbiArt.)

MissMaddyTaylor

I'm working on a 2.5d platformer and we have a thread with some progress (not sure what you're looking to ref, but I hope it might help!)

http://polycount.com/discussion/127439/blubber-busters-game-dev-blog/p8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOF0c69oxoU

Neox

Stinger88 said:

You might need to check what is sprites and what was 3d but these spring to mind. I believe they were partly 3d, so 2.5?...

Ori and the blind forest
Rayman Legends

Also, just to be retro. I recall seeing R-Type Final (Ps2) when it was released. Blew my mind back then.

while we used 3d for the character, insgame everything but the waterplanr was 2d in Ori and the blind forest.
Yes even the gigantic fucking owl that took the majority of the screen was just as spritsheet in the end

Anchang-Style

Rad Rodgers looks really good, same with The Deer God which got a really cool art style. 

Steve Schulze

Shantae: Half Genie Hero uses a 3d world and a combination of 2d and 3d sprites. It's also a damn nice looking game.

Tekoppar

@Neox out of curiosity what was the reason to go with 3D for Ori and having the rest be sprites?

slipsius

ori!!! 

UltraLrod

Shadow Complex. my favorite reference when i can't remember of any other 2.5d platformers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmpNtDfdlwE

Neox

Tekoppar said:

@Neox out of curiosity what was the reason to go with 3D for Ori and having the rest be sprites?

every character (besides the slugs) is 3d and then rendered to sprites. Ori is no exception to this. Ori just has more fps than most of the other characters.
The decision was simply based on Ressources, when you have no 2d animator but a few kickass 3d animators the decision to do stuff in 3d is pretty straight forward. that said, using 3d for the characters had a few big advantages. Once you have a 3d model, you can show it from any angle, while in 2d you would have to recreate things over and over again. I'd say, 3d has a bigger up front investment, but once it is done you can havea way bigger output.

Anchang-Style

Neox said:

Tekoppar said:

@Neox out of curiosity what was the reason to go with 3D for Ori and having the rest be sprites?

every character (besides the slugs) is 3d and then rendered to sprites. Ori is no exception to this. Ori just has more fps than most of the other characters.
The decision was simply based on Ressources, when you have no 2d animator but a few kickass 3d animators the decision to do stuff in 3d is pretty straight forward. that said, using 3d for the characters had a few big advantages. Once you have a 3d model, you can show it from any angle, while in 2d you would have to recreate things over and over again. I'd say, 3d has a bigger up front investment, but once it is done you can havea way bigger output.

Why didn't you go with higher framerate for all characters, since i guess you would have animated all of them at the same FPS anyway? Ressource reasons?

Neox

Anchang-Style said:

Neox said:

Tekoppar said:

@Neox out of curiosity what was the reason to go with 3D for Ori and having the rest be sprites?

every character (besides the slugs) is 3d and then rendered to sprites. Ori is no exception to this. Ori just has more fps than most of the other characters.
The decision was simply based on Ressources, when you have no 2d animator but a few kickass 3d animators the decision to do stuff in 3d is pretty straight forward. that said, using 3d for the characters had a few big advantages. Once you have a 3d model, you can show it from any angle, while in 2d you would have to recreate things over and over again. I'd say, 3d has a bigger up front investment, but once it is done you can havea way bigger output.

Why didn't you go with higher framerate for all characters, since i guess you would have animated all of them at the same FPS anyway? Ressource reasons?

well first of all, we just did the art, moon studios did the game and techside therefor. But simple and short, memory footprint. screensized spritesheets are damn huge and demanding. heck for the most part of the project i thought the moon studios coders are insane doing it all in sprites. it's just massive amounts of data that has to be stored and loaded and they pulled it off, still crazy to think about that kuro was all sprites

and as dustin said, ori is on screen all the time, even with no enemies around, he out of all assets needs to be buttery smooth and flowy