discussion Realism in Character Design vs Realism in the Story

[RedOwl]

I've noticed that I when I play games that if a game has characters that look more like cartoons, including anime style, then I am willing to accept plot points or story elements that are less realistic. A better word might be believable instead of realistic. I'm talking about things like Koikatsu as opposed to Daz3D. The opposite is also true for me. I expect a more logical story in games with 3D characters that look anatomically closer to real people.

Has anybody else noticed this?

 

[Loliholic]

Art is irrelevant. Okay, realism too, otherwise i wouldnt play any games. However, i dont see any link there.

 

[Crpapjda]

I've noticed that I when I play games that if a game has characters that look more like cartoons, including anime style, then I am willing to accept plot points or story elements that are less realistic. A better word might be believable instead of realistic. I'm talking about things like Koikatsu as opposed to Daz3D. The opposite is also true for me. I expect a more logical story in games with 3D characters that look anatomically closer to real people.

Has anybody else noticed this?

Thats "suspension of disbelief", and is commonly easier to achieve when the set up is less "real". Is the same reason of what you can accept in anime/cartoon vs what you can in a live action

Art is irrelevant. Okay, realism too, otherwise i wouldnt play any games. However, i dont see any link there.

it is kind of relevant IMO

 

[hubbabubba]

If they are to realisitic it sometimes freaks me out

 

[Crpapjda]

If they are to realisitic it sometimes freaks me out

Uncanny valley is something we still have to overcome in 3D art

 

[hubbabubba]

haha yeah I heard about that. until its fixed anime girls will do fine for me right now

 

[Crpapjda]

haha yeah I heard about that. until its fixed anime girls will do fine for me right now

Have you seen movies with deaging? they look TERRIFYING. and those have 400 trillion dollar budget. Imagine the low quality/budget

 

[cszero]

the better the design and animation the better the immersion in the game, and if it has a good plot it gets even better

 

[AlBetGam]

Yeah, common phenomenon. Same reason when Bugs Bunny hands Daffy Duck a stick of dynamite and Daffy gets blown up and turned into a pile of ashes with duck bill on top, it's hilarious. If someone animated that with a photorealistic duck and rabbit it would probably be horrific.

 

[RedOwl]

Thats "suspension of disbelief", and is commonly easier to achieve when the set up is less "real". Is the same reason of what you can accept in anime/cartoon vs what you can in a live action

it is kind of relevant IMO

That's the phrase I'm looking for. It makes sense, but I only recently noticed that I used a different scale for my suspension of disbelief based on the character design. It honestly should have hit me earlier. I watched Futurama not expecting anything serious. A few seasons in and I've got tears in my eyes after watching the sad life of a cartoon dog.

Yeah, common phenomenon. Same reason when Bugs Bunny hands Daffy Duck a stick of dynamite and Daffy gets blown up and turned into a pile of ashes with duck bill on top, it's hilarious. If someone animated that with a photorealistic duck and rabbit it would probably be horrific.

Exactly!

 

[Pablouru2020]

All games have to have a balance between both things. It cannot be super realistic because we would lose interest, it cannot be super unreal either, it has to have consistency. The same thing happens with character design, they have to be believable, with a certain consistency. I couldn't give you an exact example with any game that I remember right now. But it happens to all of us with series and movies that we notice that inconsistency, for example black elves in the LOTR series. It is not because of racism, it is rather because it is inconsistent with the ecosystem that Tolkien created. I think the same thing happens a bit with the womanizing bard from The Witcher becoming bisexual and creating a whole gay romance subplot. It's not something annoying, perhaps in another series it would be good to give depth to the characters, but in those cases it is simply a lack of consistency with the source from which they take the story, taking into account that said source is super famous and well-known.

 

[Crpapjda]

That's the phrase I'm looking for. It makes sense, but I only recently noticed that I used a different scale for my suspension of disbelief based on the character design. It honestly should have hit me earlier. I watched Futurama not expecting anything serious. A few seasons in and I've got tears in my eyes after watching the sad life of a cartoon dog.

Yes, and you can even have the opposite effect. Some series subvert your expectations. They look goofy, you expect them to be even almost surrealistic, preparing to suspend or the disbelief you can, and end up being really grounded, with hard in-universe rules or a lore that you have to pay attention to. The art goes one direction, the content goes the other.

 

[zark]

variety is the spice of life. so I'd like games that run on both sides of the street. There is a point when the art is so bad that I will not play it.

 

[JohnnySilverhand1988]

Realistic well written stories are a lot more important to me than realistic character designs.. it's the story that get's you hooked and invested after all.

 

[ideal_name]

I've noticed that I when I play games that if a game has characters that look more like cartoons, including anime style, then I am willing to accept plot points or story elements that are less realistic. A better word might be believable instead of realistic. I'm talking about things like Koikatsu as opposed to Daz3D. The opposite is also true for me. I expect a more logical story in games with 3D characters that look anatomically closer to real people.

Has anybody else noticed this?

I can kind of see that. What I would add though is that it doesn't, to me, matter if the art is realistic and the story is far fetched, as long as the writing is good. I'm willing to have fun with a silly story as long as it isn't bad writing - silly stories still require thought and skill to accomplish. just seems like there is too many people who throw a story together with no planning, no skill, and no feeling. If i want to get off, there is plenty of porn freely accessible of real girls doing whatever I can imagine. I want the games because i want to be invested in a story.

 

[User_111574]

The main thing is the story. Graphics are in second or third place. However, considering my almost insurmountable dislike for Japanese graphics, I can hardly bring myself to download a game (even if it's an absolute masterpiece) made in such a graphic variant.

 

[eezergoode]

As long as the art is good, and the story is realistic WITHIN THE ESTABLISHED WORLD, I don't really care what art style it is. As long as the story follows the rules that the story has set for the world it occurs in, they could be hand-drawn, stylized CG, photo-realsitic CG, or even real photos. I'm more about consistency than realism where both story and art are concerned.

 

[Flame125]

As long as the art is good, and the story is realistic WITHIN THE ESTABLISHED WORLD, I don't really care what art style it is. As long as the story follows the rules that the story has set for the world it occurs in, they could be hand-drawn, stylized CG, photo-realsitic CG, or even real photos. I'm more about consistency than realism where both story and art are concerned.

I agree with you. So long as the story doesn't have a random plot twist that bends the time and space of the universe of the story, I'm down with any graphic.

 

[eezergoode]

I agree with you. So long as the story doesn't have a random plot twist that bends the time and space of the universe of the story, I'm down with any graphic.

I learned long ago, from someone who is far more talented than I am, that the world and characters drive the story. When you allow the story to drive the world and characters, you lose a lot of your audience. You need to stay consistent throughout. Don't change the rules of your world or the personalities of your characters just because the story needs that change in order to progress. If you have to do that, it means the world, the characters, and the story weren't compatible to begin with.

 

[whydoineedto]

To some degree, sure. But if I make a conscious effort, it is very easy to wave away most cases of "unbelievability".