Best looking uber-low-poly games
polycounter lvl 20
There're some beautiful games out there that use very limited technology efficiently to create relatively stunning visuals. There was a thread where warby dissected a Zelda game recently.
What other games do u know that stand-out in this department?
What other games do u know that stand-out in this department?
Replies
[ame="
Another good ultra-low poly game:
Front Mission 3.
There r all those asian RPGs that look all cutesy and clean... anyone familiar with those?
[ame="
Hard to get real good video of it, being a DS game, but seeing Vagrant Story made me think of it because of the Akihiko Yoshida stuff.
The visuals of these games were excellent in my opinion. Both built their visual style around the fact that they didn't have many polygons to work with, and made it a stylistic element.
I just loved the game and its style
@two listen - I picked up that game recently, gonna get my fill on my upcoming cross country flight
Bravely Deftault: Flying Fairy has some sweet texture work, and hand painted backrounds. I hope it gets a US release soon...
Viewtiful Joe
also the new paper mario sticker star
I sometimes despise the mass pixelation but you'll forget about it playing through
Only uber low-poly I could think of.
Quake 3
[ame="
[ame="
[ame="
[ame="
[ame="
Will try and add more later.
and
Monster Hunter Portable 2G on PSP
Also has anyone ever noticed how hard it is to light really low poly things?
PS: I reinstalled UT2k4 last week and I'm playing with your Taliah skin. :poly137:
Hellz yeah QIII still looks great!!
Agreed with Skanker, a lot of these examples are actually quite high-poly, like FFXII and Shadow of Collosus.
I think the DS has some of the best examples of super-low tri counts; the FF games and Zelda games stand out there.
Isn't Outcast a voxel based game?
I still find the PS1 FFs impressive (well 8 and 9 at least), especially the summons:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOA_IqBA8Ls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zczrQis5QCU
Bravely Default is one of the very few jRPG's I'm actually looking forward to. The game looks beautiful and has the charm of SNES and PS1 Final Fantasy games, that SquareEnix had been failing to replicate.
I really hope that we'll get US and EU releases.
Dewprism/Threads of Fate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moA-NRMXDR4
I wanna toss another vote in for Vagrant Story and Shadow of Colossus.
Ni No Kuni is awesome along with the animations. Soratorobo got too much playtime here. I also like Monster Hunter for 3DS. The 3DS has tons of awesome looking low poly games.
PSP had God of War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIuFXV9V4Nc
FF for PS1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjKvLt5gjNE
Daaaamn I remember being quite impressed by them back when I was a teenager but now I'm even more, knowing how hard it is to pull that. The characters are great and all, but the FX are simply awesome!
And that's a very early screenshot too! (roughly January 99) Back when they had a particle system and the plasma was purple, sounded like a hyperblaster and exploded.
For the world? Yes. That means there's not much to do for polygons hence being an uber low poly game. With normal maps. It's entirely software rendered too
and this gets a mention for scaring me as a kid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcxOZEffPek
[ame="
The flashlight effect on the environment is really nicely done. I imagine it's some sort of texture masking on a simple 3D geo - like how we currently project decals.
Or were you asking about more unique stylized stuff?
In retrospect, it could've worked better. Quake2's MD2 external texture paths could've lead to atlasing, and the UVmaps could've been more tidy and power-of-2 to maintain visual consistency without rounding down to blurriness.
Same goes for Q3, some atlas opportunities were missed. At least the UVs were right this time
EDIT: uber-low-poly = ~DS res. WoW / Q3 / Q2 / etc. r way high-res in comparison
The style I was personally looking for wasn't anything in particular, just any one that efficiently uses minimal technology to produces a rich & immersive effect. I defined that as 'best looking' but I guess that's a subjective view
When I read your post I thought "The best looking game for the lowest polygon/texture size budget" and D3 IS really lowpoly and uses ridiculously low-res textures. The lighting and effects are probably what makes it look a bit more "next-gen" than it actually is.
(And since I didn't work on D3, I don't see this as being a shameless plug
But if you are looking for DS game : Ni no Kuni on DS (Ghibli - Level 5) is a masterpiece, IMO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR6xfLXMJWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD7OQRg9xW8
Skies of Arcadia
Q1 then.
I think your OP was confusing since you mentioned that Zelda Wind-waker thread. That game most likely has higher polys than something like Q3 does.
If you're looking for stuff more similar to the FF DS style, Megaman Legends on the PS1 is like that. Chunky low poly with chunky low res textures, but good animation and art.
http://www.simonoc.com/pages/design/sp/its.htm