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Graphics are the first thing we see when it comes to our first impressions of a new game. When we see a franchise that we know and love change its graphics, usually the next question that comes to mind is why?
I love charming and cartoonish graphics. I can't help it. I look at games with colourful graphics, and I get a sense of how I think the game is going to feel. Graphics have the ability to enhance feeling in a game, allowing the player to get a sense of what the world and its characters are going to be like. However, sometimes even the cutest graphics can be deceiving to the type of game you are playing.
The Star Ocean series and the Tales series this year both revealed a change in their graphics. The changes that have been made are pleasing to the eye, yet I find myself wondering if we as fans of these series are going to be deceived. What do I mean by this? We as fans already have an expectation of how we see these particular franchises. New graphics can completely change the tone and feeling that we get in a game. For those of us who enjoyed the fact that Tales series is so light-hearted as compared to other RPG franchises on the market, there is the potential possibility that the new CG look will have both a positive and negative affect on how it will change the series on a whole. While I understand that there are going to be two versions of the game, one with anime cut scenes, the other with cg, I cannot help but ponder why there needs to be two versions in the first place. I look at the CG graphics for Tales of Hearts and continuously ask myself why there needs to be a CG version, especially when the Tales series has always had anime cut scenes. While fans of the Tales series are already use to the familiar, why does there need to be two versions other than to draw in new fans and appeal to the graphically inclined? Why do I feel that the CG version of Tales of Hearts looks awfully familiar to that of more recent Final Fantasies?
I know I'm not the first to admit that I dislike the new graphics for Star Ocean: The Last Hope. As a fan of the Star Ocean series, I loved the how incredibility charming the graphics were in Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story. The characters were very expressive, and it made the feeling of the games very simplistic and down-to-earth despite the dark plot points. The games were about how people connect and coexist regardless of their race, and considering the amount of detail that went into the graphics during the SNES and PSX era, these emotions and themes are easily recognized. I always thought the graphics were great in the first two Star Ocean games, and while I liked the graphics in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, the story did not resonate with me the way it had done in previous games. While Star Ocean: Till the End of Time had decent graphics, the gameplay and story were completely unbalanced and I found myself cursing frequently over the addictive yet frustrating battle system.
A part of me feels as though this upgrade in graphics is a way to make these particular series seem more appealing. However, this does not change the fact that until we have tried the final product, that these gorgeous graphics have the potential to deceive us. Sure, we could be given the most beautiful graphics in the world, but if the plot and gameplay do not balance, then all we are left with is just a pretty face without any substance, and I would hate to see two fantastic franchises end up destroying their reputations on a change in graphics. The bottom line is that as gamers we are there to play a game and engage with it. For those of us who play RPGs, graphics are something that should be considered secondary to plot and gameplay, however, all three things need to coexist together to make a perfectly aesthetically pleasing game. Often the problem is that one of these factors is lacking which makes it difficult to enjoy one aspect of the game.
I'm not bashing the change in graphics for these two particular franchises. What I fear is that us as fans will get our hopes up and then possibly be disappointed. As fans we should be able to call a company's bluff when they begin to change their aesthetics. Will I be buying the new Star Ocean game when it eventually hits the shelves? Absolutely. Will I have high expectations for the title? Absolutely. The problem is when you love a series to death, you will always have the highest expectations for it, and when they do not meet your expectations, you will feel a great sense of disappointment.
What I hope is that when these games are released that they meet our expectations. Even with new and improved graphics, I want to believe that these fun, light-hearted series that I enjoyed years before, will still give me that same pleasurable feeling even now with the new changes.
I suppose some change is good, right?
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