It’s no secret that I am all about quality and consistency in all facets of a video game (gameplay, graphics, sound, etc).
When it comes to fighting games, a lot of people on these forums seem to downplay the importance of graphics, especially (strangely enough) when it pertains to something that might be wrong with Killer Instinct. Well, I have said it many times and will say it again: In this day and age, graphics and gameplay are inseparable in the quest to achieve total immersion…
The biggest problem with KI is not that it has bad graphics but rather that it’s so inconsistent in its presentation, detracting from the overall gameplay experience.
I’m not going to lie, seeing Omen on the screen always upsets me because there should be no reason why a character looking and moving like that should be in a game of this quality. It’s as if the developers gave up on life, and that’s something you definitely don’t want to be thinking about any video game.
Interesting video, I do think graphics are super important, animations even more so. I’d say that right now the best games in terms of graphics/animations are SFV and GGXrd with KI coming in 3rd place. Although USFIV animation are still fantastic, in most cases better than KI’s. Still KI is my favorite for many other reasons: Gameplay, music, atmosphere, the experimental nature of it and all the fantasy behind character design (both visual and gamplay wise).
I find SFV to be a little too simple, and Xrd to be overcomplicated. KI it’s just the perfect balance, the right recipe for fun.
If KI had Unreal 4 and capcome animations it would have been the undisputed king of fighting games… who knows, maybe KI2?
Good, consistent graphics is part of a game’s overall quality. In the attempt to deliver the total package, graphics must work with every other facet of a game.
Thing is, there are plenty of games with not-so-good-graphics which are having extremely fun and tight gameplay, but because the graphics aren’t up-to-par, they become overlooked and *underrated. Which is such a shame, imo.
And likewise, there’s alot of games that are super beautiful, but are boring and really not worth playing.
I do get the points of the video shown. I do agree with what he says. But graphics should ALWAYS be second-priority where gameplay should ALWAYS be first.
Graphics are important, but it shouldn’t be the most important. It’s like judging a person from his/her looks and not considering his/her person. Incredibly shallow, and I’m not going to give my respect to someone like that.
I honestly don’t think the game looks bad. I will admit that graphics are somewhat important, but nothing is really that ugly. Also, I think that people are giving Omen a hard time, he looks cool to me.
I find the visuals of KI to be ok. They’re not blowing anyone away but they’re not so terrible that it would put someone off from playing. Graphics should always come after gameplay. I have played many games that had sub par graphics but amazing gameplay so I didn’t care. You stare at the screen long enough and you get used to the graphics anyway.
Only issue with graphics I have is that the Season 1 characters don’t look as “pretty” as the Season 2 characters. I would like the older characters to get touched up with each season that comes so that the older characters don’t look out of place.
Graphics are important, but it shouldn’t be the most important. It’s like judging a person from his/her looks and not considering his/her person.
I don’t think this is a fair comparison. A game’s looks is designed by people, my face isn’t. Game design has to be judged as a whole, every piece should come into place to make the experience enjoyable. I’m sure KoF14 gameplay will be as tight and good as ever, but seriously, I can’t enjoy the game if it looks like crap. No ugly game with perfect gameplay has ever been remembered as a masterpiece.
I don’t think you could enjoy a movie that has super perfect writing but blurry camera, crappy lighting and actors that move like puppets.
The visuals are the way the game communicates with the player, if they aren’t on point you’re missing part of the message.
I’m not talking about technical aspect of graphics, they just have to feel right, to be tastefull and convey the necessary information for the player.
Only issue with graphics I have is that the Season 1 characters don’t look as “pretty” as the Season 2 characters.
Really? I find S1 has a more consistent quality. Animation in S1 are also overall better. The only 2 characters I find on par with S1 animation quality are Riptor and Hisako. Graphics wise I think they are all more or less at the same level.
Are we talking “good for its time” or “has become dated”? I’d argue that Orcarina of Time/Majora’s Mask has terrible graphics compared to the games of now and even in the previous generation, but it’s still widely beloved by everyone.
I just wanted to touch on the topic of consistency. I think KI Season 1 and 2 had a decent transition when moving from Double Helix to Iron Galaxy. Honestly I have never seen a game go through what Killer Instinct 2013 has. But anyway, it’s important to remember that Double Helix had a different methodology with Season 1. The characters were animated by hand and they were all done with the same artistic vision of Double Helix. Iron Galaxy has done well to blend their characters in with Season 1 but you can tell the differences when you analyze it. Again, I am just touching on consistency. Both developers have strengths and weaknesses. I think Iron Galaxy has an upper hand in texture quality but lags just a little in animation (getting better of course). Iron Galaxy uses MoCap to speed up their process. It’s all in the artistry and personal opinion/taste. This is just me criticizing, I find all the work done by Double Helix and Iron Galaxy to be awesome. I am not a professional and I could be wrong about some of this stuff.
Once Season 3 launches we will see how Iron Galaxy has evolved their talents in making this game. I think they will surpass our expectations in a lot of ways.
of course graphics are to be judged by their time standars. When I say bad I mean they don’t fulfill their purpose. They could be sprites, or pixel art, if they feel right and express what they need to make the game an enjoyable experience, they’re not bad.
I agree with KOEmawk, KI presentation has been a little bit hit and miss since the beginning of S2, which has to be expected with the dev switch. I hope S3 will be more consistent.
In street fighter 3.3, the gameplay and the precision are bound with the graphic of game!!
(and the beautiful hitbox!)
the game is a every! gameplay + graphic.
I love Thunder because he’s a grand indien badass, and his graphic say me its real! If Thunder looked like at Kage of virtua fighter 2 and what the other caracters of casting is beautiful, i don’t take him!! because I want to become identified has him.
I had no idea the animations were done by hand. It certainly shows in the smooth game play all the while capturing each specific character different styles of play.
The thing is that most of the inconsistency is in Season 2. Some of the characters (Riptor, Hisako, Aria and possibly Aganos) all seem to be on par with the Season 1 characters in terms of modeling, animation quality and overall design direction, while something seems off with the remaining characters.
I think the transition from DH to IG has less to do with the inconsistency than people think. Something else is amiss.
It certainly shows in the smooth game play all the while capturing each specific character different styles of play.