Sunday, May 30, 2010

Anime MMORPG Graphics

Is it just me or do anime MMORPGs just look nicer than realistic 3D MMORPGs. I’ve never been a fan of anime, but I find MMORPGs that have sleek anime graphics to be visually satisfying. Games like Cloud Nine (Netgame) and S4 League (Alaplaya) for example look really awesome. The graphics aren’t at all realistic, but the art style is gorgeous. Not all anime MMORPGs look nice though. MMOs like Grand Chase from Ntreev and Fly For Fun from gPotato don’t look nearly as awesome. I guess its because the graphics in these games are a bit more jagged and low quality. No fault of the publishers of course, as both of these games are quite old now. I can safely say though I prefer Cloud Nine style anime graphics over Runes of Magic style Western cartoony graphics. I don’t think Cloud Nine is a better game than Runes of Magic, but I like the art style much better.

One interesting thing about this issue is that realistic 3D MMORPGs like Karos Online from NHN and Last Chaos from Aeria Games will age much faster. In 5 years these games will look terrible in comparison to the new 3D games, while anime inspired MMORPGs like S4 League will still look good. Obviously newer games will always look better, but my argument is that anime inspired games age better as its much harder to improve anime style graphics than realistic 3D graphics. Here’s some interesting proof. MapleStory which is a 7 year old game now still looks good visually while an older 3D game like Rappelz is beginning to show its age.

Anyone else with me on this? I find it weird that I think this way because I don’t really like anime, but I love anime graphics and characters. Unfortunately there aren’t enough good anime inspired MMORPGs out there. All the best MMORPGs are 3D and more realistic. Think Dungeons and Dragons Online and Allods Online.

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