it was jarring at first but i quickly got used to it, then i started progressing further and it became extremely charming >the depths >the fire area >the submerged segment >the hidden places with the keys and pillars >the lategame hunt for the big secret across the whole map >the diskettes, their clues too
kino
Looks like dogshit. Literally "what modern game devs think retro games look like meme" tier.
Looks okay, not beautiful, but not ugly either. There are many games much uglier, even something like Bloodstained has many ugly rooms due to fricked up lighting and other issues.
it was jarring at first but i quickly got used to it, then i started progressing further and it became extremely charming >the depths >the fire area >the submerged segment >the hidden places with the keys and pillars >the lategame hunt for the big secret across the whole map >the diskettes, their clues too
kino
Axiom Verge was shilled excessively hard by every outlet possible and constantly compared to Metroid despite barely having anything in common with it. ESA has far more in common with NES Metroid and then goes on to have a whole La-Mulana puzzle postgame.
There's gotta be only 2 anons that like afterimage because there's no threads and it only gets mentioned on metroidvania threads. It was boring chink shit
why must indie metroidvanias be either proposterously low resolution or have backgrounds / tilesets that are flood fills of a single color
whatever happened to detailing
Large resolution + detailing turns a single-artist project doable in three to four years into a multi-artist project spanning nearly a decade.
On some level, yeah, I want every game to "do better", but for frick's sake, if you make the "standard" for solo development that intensive, you're only going to scare off good gameplay ideas.
Every time I've heard of it until now I've been told Tunic was a Zelda-like, not a Metroidvania. I know Zelda is just Metroidvania minus the platformer if you're not one of those deranged BotW shills, but it's an important distinction.
Also, that's 3D, and doesn't look nearly as good as the 2D image you posted.
>Large resolution + detailing turns a single-artist project doable in three to four years into a multi-artist project spanning nearly a decade. >Here's a screenshot from a metroidvania made by 1 man that doesn't look like gutter trash
Anon, I...
how intensive should the standard be, because 320x256 with looped tiles and low detailing is ridiculous and 1920x1080 i can understand is where spritework starts getting prohibitive and 4k can be off limits for non-rendered/upscaled with AI
Oh believe me I think ESA is overkill too, I understand it from a dev with zero traditional art skill but it doesn't look very good.
Really the ultimate redpill is whatever gets the fricking game out the door, jesus christ. A slightly worse looking game that makes it to release is worth more than the same game that looks better but is cut off.
i got it over christmas sale, only played like 20 minutes. it hurts me eyes to look at. it's not 'ugly' but it's so low res, idk why they chose to make it SO blocky and shitty looking.
if you think there is no artistic value in esa then it must be you who is artistically moronic
the atmosphere in so many places hard mogs anything you will ever do in your life if you continue at this rate
no, its pretty reasonable. theres only part that is fricked up but its not too hard to find, its a mixture between "there wasnt anything here before but theres something crucial here now!" and "this spot is way too suspicious to be empty forever", combined with nearby signposting. If you can get that part which most people do, then you can pretty easily beat the whole game to the true ending with no guide
the one hard part is maximum completion to 203%, because going beyond 100% is basically getting every single % point in ng+, but unless youre super in love with ESA theres no reason to care about it
for me it was water is sink
and then i got the true ending of the game and decided to watch the credits (i had skipped it in the fake one), the credits music instantly became tied for my favorite, specially given it gave a shoutout to my other favorite track
>enjoy it for awhile >get to the boss where you have to use the grapple proficiently >quit because i was shit with it and thought id pick it up later >never picked it up again
i HATE that grapple shit. i could never time it right.
I had friends rip on me for playing this because its looks shit. Too bad it's one of the best metroidvania games. The final boss is mega spooky and i spent ages looking for the next riddle because of the 1 shot gimmick. Saying that the pivot to basically an object find game is alienating and i was brickwalled for ages because i missed a single tile i didn't think i could reach. Also the ghost maze feels half finished, even if its meant to be that way.
The gameplay is good and i'm fine with the art. It's a decent compromise for actually completing the game. People here acting like they'd rather owlboy which looked good but was shit. The guy(s) who made ESA can actually draw because the final boss looks good; it has real horror vibes. Spoilers if anyone cares i suppose
What is ugly about it?
visuals
I disagree.
Looks like dogshit. Literally "what modern game devs think retro games look like meme" tier.
>can only see sheer graphic fidelity and no atmosphere
filtered soulless homosexual
Looks okay, not beautiful, but not ugly either. There are many games much uglier, even something like Bloodstained has many ugly rooms due to fricked up lighting and other issues.
Holy fricking visual noise.
It's extremely stuffy visually
It's like having a stuffed nose for your eyes
it was jarring at first but i quickly got used to it, then i started progressing further and it became extremely charming
>the depths
>the fire area
>the submerged segment
>the hidden places with the keys and pillars
>the lategame hunt for the big secret across the whole map
>the diskettes, their clues too
kino
still the best metroidvania on steam, hollowchuds simply can't compete
i liked axiom verge better
Axiom Verge was shilled excessively hard by every outlet possible and constantly compared to Metroid despite barely having anything in common with it. ESA has far more in common with NES Metroid and then goes on to have a whole La-Mulana puzzle postgame.
Does ESA have a justin bailey easter egg?
Yeah, I didn't think so.
Checkmate, athiests.
Who asked
Post more screenshots
Doesn't stop it being one of the best metroidvania games.
ESA runs at 320x256
This screenshot is from a game running at 320x232
Some people just can't draw
>Some people just can't draw
How many people made this? For how long? How many rooms like this are there in this game?
What a dumb conclusion.
>This screenshot is from a game running at 320x232
>2.02 MB, 2560x1440
every game in this thread is upscaled
well other than the 60x48 webm
its great
you need to be a really boring person not to enjoy ESA's atmosphere
Kino
It's just generic 8bit garbage.
>Kino buzzword
Please have a nice day zoomerhomosexual.
>esa ost
>8 bit
youre so dumb its unreal
>Zoomer homosexual listen to cheap tunes
>Kino Kono Kino
You don't even know how to appreciate actual music, just shut up and kys.
post some real music
It's honestly saddening that extremely mediocre games receive much more attention and approval solely because of graphics.
Metroidvanias have fallen.
i thought it was because afterimage got shilled extremely hard
It looks dogshit though?
There's gotta be only 2 anons that like afterimage because there's no threads and it only gets mentioned on metroidvania threads. It was boring chink shit
A challenger appears.
Pirating it right now, it better be good
It's trash
artsy-farsty zero gameplay substance slop, typical nordcuck game
R8 my list of metroidvanias pls
https://treusk.github.io/metroidvanias/
Currently playing Transiruby, pretty cool and the music is great
why must indie metroidvanias be either proposterously low resolution or have backgrounds / tilesets that are flood fills of a single color
whatever happened to detailing
Large resolution + detailing turns a single-artist project doable in three to four years into a multi-artist project spanning nearly a decade.
On some level, yeah, I want every game to "do better", but for frick's sake, if you make the "standard" for solo development that intensive, you're only going to scare off good gameplay ideas.
Here's a screenshot from a metroidvania made by 1 man that doesn't look like gutter trash
No excuses
That looks terrible.
Every time I've heard of it until now I've been told Tunic was a Zelda-like, not a Metroidvania. I know Zelda is just Metroidvania minus the platformer if you're not one of those deranged BotW shills, but it's an important distinction.
Also, that's 3D, and doesn't look nearly as good as the 2D image you posted.
No man don't you get it, its an aesthetic choice
>Large resolution + detailing turns a single-artist project doable in three to four years into a multi-artist project spanning nearly a decade.
>Here's a screenshot from a metroidvania made by 1 man that doesn't look like gutter trash
Anon, I...
For the sake of comparison
>low poly shit
Lmao
how intensive should the standard be, because 320x256 with looped tiles and low detailing is ridiculous and 1920x1080 i can understand is where spritework starts getting prohibitive and 4k can be off limits for non-rendered/upscaled with AI
Oh believe me I think ESA is overkill too, I understand it from a dev with zero traditional art skill but it doesn't look very good.
Really the ultimate redpill is whatever gets the fricking game out the door, jesus christ. A slightly worse looking game that makes it to release is worth more than the same game that looks better but is cut off.
>Trans sir buy
>ori : ugly
stopped reading there
Is Batbarian really that good?
Peggle + Metroidvania when?
Yoko's Island Express is a pinball metroidvania (its pretty good)
i got it over christmas sale, only played like 20 minutes. it hurts me eyes to look at. it's not 'ugly' but it's so low res, idk why they chose to make it SO blocky and shitty looking.
Resolution is fine, it's just the dev is artistically moronic
Sotn runs at 256x226
if you think there is no artistic value in esa then it must be you who is artistically moronic
the atmosphere in so many places hard mogs anything you will ever do in your life if you continue at this rate
It was made by the Baba is You dev (before Baba).
Baba at least has an appealing visual style so he learned that lesson.
>so he learned that lesson
He's working on ESA2 right now
>zoomers filtered by graphics
Is it true that 100%ing the map and finding all the secrets is nearly impossible without some kind of guide?
no, its pretty reasonable. theres only part that is fricked up but its not too hard to find, its a mixture between "there wasnt anything here before but theres something crucial here now!" and "this spot is way too suspicious to be empty forever", combined with nearby signposting. If you can get that part which most people do, then you can pretty easily beat the whole game to the true ending with no guide
the one hard part is maximum completion to 203%, because going beyond 100% is basically getting every single % point in ng+, but unless youre super in love with ESA theres no reason to care about it
Damn, what happened?
the game gets almost no reviews, so naturally the recent reviews varies wildly. Ive seen it 30~% and 100% several times
people realized it's shit
any game from 7 years ago is going to have very few recent reviews and therefore a big mix of reviews
dropped Mac support because that shit is unmaintainable
i.e. mad iToddlers
Ari Gibson was responsible for all art in Hollow Knight
Who's only credited as the artist and designer. He didn't also code and compose music for the game.
ESA music wasnt entirely made by hempuli
but its clear it basically created his style, and hempuli's music in baba is top tier
>hempuli's music in baba is top tier
Cog is Push is my favorite track.
for me it was water is sink
and then i got the true ending of the game and decided to watch the credits (i had skipped it in the fake one), the credits music instantly became tied for my favorite, specially given it gave a shoutout to my other favorite track
He should go frick himself then since that game is not a good looking one
I think you should have a nice day dude
You dont have to tell me that, googling screen caps of that game made me suicidal enough
none of the games in this thread are good looking
they all look like someone got lost in the 1980s and thought bad graphics were a good thing
> SIR PLEASE YOU HAVE TO SPEND 14 YEARS TO MAKE GOOD GRAPHICS YOUR GAME WILL BENEFIT FROM IT SIR LISTEN TO ME
It's funny that this and ESA are both made by Finns
>enjoy it for awhile
>get to the boss where you have to use the grapple proficiently
>quit because i was shit with it and thought id pick it up later
>never picked it up again
i HATE that grapple shit. i could never time it right.
git gud
the grapple is literally the best part of the game
Not as ugly as super castlevania iv
>scene lightning direction: aimed directly at the face
I had friends rip on me for playing this because its looks shit. Too bad it's one of the best metroidvania games. The final boss is mega spooky and i spent ages looking for the next riddle because of the 1 shot gimmick. Saying that the pivot to basically an object find game is alienating and i was brickwalled for ages because i missed a single tile i didn't think i could reach. Also the ghost maze feels half finished, even if its meant to be that way.
literally 9/10 if you like objectfind autism
You don't have the defend the ugly graphics even if you liked the game itself.
The gameplay is good and i'm fine with the art. It's a decent compromise for actually completing the game. People here acting like they'd rather owlboy which looked good but was shit. The guy(s) who made ESA can actually draw because the final boss looks good; it has real horror vibes. Spoilers if anyone cares i suppose
all this should demonstrate to you is barring extreme eye rape cases (ie poorly composed ASCII) graphics cannot really keep a games quality down.
the art style is a filter for people who would not have finished it anyway
it's not an art style
Ah Environmental Station Alpha the best Atari Lynx game
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This game was so good, still glad I have it on my hard drive.