David Gaider wrote...
Read any interview with Matt Goldman, our Art Director. The point was not to look different than Origins, but to establish a visual identity that Dragon Age lacked in Origins. Origins looked great-- it did not look distinct.
No, I get it. Obviously I won't have a full picture until I can play the whole game and take in everything, but I have read a whole bunch of the interviews with Goldman (including
the one where he coined the phrase "Hot Rod Samurai"
). My take on what I've seen thus far is just that in some areas it looks quite different than what was established in Origins and not in ways that gives it any kind of distinct look compared to other games.
I can see how DA2 seems to be drawing from different inspirations than Origins art wise and seems to have a more unified look what with the spikes and jaggy edges and brutalist architecture and all that. I guess what I've seen of DA2's visual identity isn't that terribly unique, compared to other games, and yet it seems too different from what was established in DAO. But its hard to say for sure until we can see the whole game and see everything in context and I'm willing to see how it all looks taken as a whole.
David Gaider wrote...
It was also inconsistent from one are of the game to the next.
Well, this is true, but I'm a bit worried about DA2 over doing it in this regard, with everything looking the same stylistically to the detriment of having Thedas seem unique. In Origins you had the different areas and cultures look different, which was a good thing- blocky dwarven architecture versus Ferelden's more rustic look and so on.
Whereas it would seem you're seeing the same motifs over and over again in DA2, even if its supposed to be different races or cultures and what not- like with everyone wearing spikey, blocky armor with horns whether they're Templar, darkspawn or Hawke or Flemeth. Or how most of the architecture seems overly blocky now as opposed to that simply being the Dwarven style. Again, maybe the whole game isn't like that or it makes sense in game, but from what I've seen thus far, it just seems that maybe DA2 has its own style, but that within the game world there doesn't seem to be much differentiation in the style between groups/areas.
David Gaider wrote...
... and it has nothing to do with phrases like "Hot Rod Samurai" -- which, frankly, says more about how you identify with being uncool than it does about our need to gain 'cool points' by changing the look of our own vision.
Hey, you want a unique "ownable" art style, I'll just call it Hot Rod Samurai as you guys have already done numerous times in interviews. Its just a goofy marketing phrase by Goldman's own admission in
this interview:A new setting yields new scope: as art director on the series, Matt Goldman makes regular reference to a new, ‘hotrodded’ art style. “Marketing told me to say that,” he sighs.
Modifié par Brockololly, 28 janvier 2011 - 10:02 .
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