parallel thought i revisited pajama sam and broken age at the same time and was struck by how expressive and fun the animation was in pajama sam (all 2D in SCUMM, 1996) vs broken age (digital paintings on 3d rigs, 2015)
pajama sam pops off the screen like a cartoon just limited by the technology in framerate, resolution, space, etc. broken age’s characters look like hinged paper doll marionettes on gorgeous paintings and the animation really sucks the life out of it
i know the same talented animators worked on it as psychonauts and so on but the format is straining to use the paintings like everyone else (thinking of eg artful escape — double fine are definitely capable of better!)
i am 100% fine with minimally animated VNs but the in-between zone of an art-forward project that doesn’t cohere is unfortunate
It’s what gives all these projects the distinct stench of art students slumming in the videogame space. They don’t really seem to care about games or what makes them interesting and have no capacity to detect quality in vidcon-facing elements (movement, controlled animation systems), it’s just an excuse to make what probably ought to be a graphic novel or something but nobody buys those.
Static drawings would have been more emotive than the modern indie paper string puppet aesthetic. You could put them on popsicle sticks and bounce them around and they’d still be more lifelike.
the wild thing is broken age’s lead artist is really really good and has been around that team since twilight lucasarts, and double fine’s 3d games around then translated their art really well (costume quest, stacking) it’s just broken age failing to make a 2D game with a team that hadn’t worked in 2D
i’ve hated broken age for ten years now but thimbleweed park was a triumph in all but sales lol
i see little glimpses of humongous entertainment in the mix with e.g. ENA
I remember playing the early sherlock holmes games that had a 3rd person fixed camera angle option and thinking watching king graham move across screen with his handful of animation frames was somehow way more satisfying than seeing a fully animated 3d guy moving across, I guess that’s why most 3d adventure games let you just hit a key to skip to the destination
damn look at all this fresh innovation AI is bringing to gaming. never would’ve had a team based multiplayer shooter where cool teens in streetwear spray liquids to control space without midjourney
they were firing on all cylinders back in 2016… final fantasy xv and nier automata were both objectively good, DQ11 was spectacular, everyone loved heavensward, they owned and published hitman 2016 and just cause 3… they felt like they’d diversified totally successfully into a big publisher with their own teams
i was kind of excited for Forespoken before the trailers with dialogue dropped
i’m willing to bet they have some good things in the future (like i’m sure Yoko Taro has some stuff cooking atm), but i half wonder if they will survive long enough to get there
