[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

I do a good bit of painting as a hobby, so maybe it’s just, literally, having a ‘different set of eyes’, but the second image makes me tune out, as though having to listen to a particular boring person. It blandly leaves nothing to the imagination, and looks fake and comical, as though the two characters aren’t even standing on the ground – they look photoshopped in, almost like 2D sprites.

The first photo is loaded with atmosphere – the characters have depth, thanks to the shading of their adornments. The tentacles look brilliantly sinister and realistic, and the flames have a grim, hellish menace to them. Even the comparatively low-effort flesh-asset looks more 3D with the darker shading.

And yeah, I absolutely 100% agree about the clouds. Why would you remove them?

Can’t be the same art director. The dude/dudette who ‘envisioned’ the first version couldn’t possibly ‘okay’ the second version – number 2 is like something a disinterested secondary school intern would come up with during their transition year. And after the internship finished, they’d politely be told they have no talent and should consider a career in accounting instead. Because let’s be honest, there are ten year olds who could do better than photo 2.

I still can’t get my head around what has happened. Remember The Witcher 3 VGX trailer versus the final product?

Here's a comparison video.

It’s the exact same disaster… The VGX trailer had shadow and atmosphere and grit – then the ‘real thing’ is the new BG3: flat, insipid lighting.

Shouldn’t go off topic, but about the BG1/BG3 humour similarity – I don’t agree, honestly. BG2 was obviously the ‘masterpiece’, or as much as it could be in the gaming world, but the big difference is BG1/BG2 humour was more ‘off-the-cuff’ – you could really tell it was just the writers randomly taking the piss. Whereas BG3 writers probably take a whole 2 weeks off just to painstakingly manufacture the ‘jokes’ in their workmanlike, ‘let’s-justify-our-easy-jobs’ way. Kind of like the massive list of lacklustre bard insults they came up with – lots of lines, little wit.

‘More and more again’ is Larian’s new motto – pile on the plot, pile on the jokes, cut back the smoke and the black and pile on the visual detail.

Unfortunately, less is always more – in all aspects of life.

Last edited by konmehn; 15/07/22 08:45 PM. Reason: typo