I gathered inspiration from the following games: Hollow Knight (HK), Don’t Starve (DS), Cult of The Lamb (CoTL) because of their darker and vibrant art styles as well as their portrayals of unique biomes and creatures. These three games, however, function very differently to eachother; DS is a survival game, HK is a metroidvania and CoTL is a combination of a roguelite and basebuilding.
While I haven’t decided whether my game will be 2D platformer/metroidvania or a 2.5D style hack and slash. I knew that I wanted there to be colour, fighting and a sense of exploration.
What do I specfically like from each game?
Hollow Knight (2017)
By Team Cherry
- expansive world
- highly memorable areas (including sub areas within almost all of them)
- Each world uses its own enemies
- each world uses its settings to its advantage
- art style compliments the adventurous settings and creative characters
- characters deliver story, side quests, humour, tips, etc.
- premise is very simple. Through exploration, secrets reveal the history of all characters in vast detail bringing a great immersion to the world.
- simple combat system
- items may enhance the ability to explore like traditional metroidvanias, others will allow access to new areas
- vast array of bosses that can prove a high challenge
Don’t Starve (2013)
By Klei Entertainment
- underlying dark nature – the game leaves you to your devices to figure out what to do, it evokes a sense of loneliness and forces the player to learn
- the world changes to relfect the players decreasing sanity – the world becomes more hostile, unstable e.g. “shadow creatures” will appear and begin to chase and attack players
- sharp, rough sketch-like designs, similar to Gorey’s (The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey). The woodcut/construction-paper gothic feel really sets it apart
- great audiovisuals e.g. each playable character’s voice is created using instruments, movement for all creatures, ambient sounds throughout seasons
- bosses that can be encountered each yearly season of the game & specific biomes will have their own bosses e.g. Lunar Island, the caves, grasslands
Cult of The Lamb (2022)
By Massive Monster
- Vibrant colours
- distinct palettes, aesthetics, flora and fauna for each of the world’s four regions (Darkwood, Anura, Anchordeep, Silk Cradle)
- fighting mechanics are not complex, simple hack-and-slash
- exciting, fun and unique boss fights – even if you don’t win, it still feels rewarding because you get one step closer to understanding the kiting patterns each time
- storyline is whacky and captivating, adding to the overall aesthetic. Religious themes push the narrative forward
- art style is simple yet so effective, it’s “cute” but its demonic symbolism is a great juxtaposition (amazing style guide breakdown: Cult of the Lamb Style Guide: Octopeda)
Update – December
While I am still drawn to the art styles previously talked about in this post, I think I’ve gone for a less cartoony and cute stylisation and narrowed it down to looking primarily at the art style in Hades. I found an incredible style bible for the game on ArtStation Dayron Desmet: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/kDyR9x
These three slides were the most significant to me and the features I feel are most important to the art style in the game.
- The “inking esque” style and deliberate use of line weight to create bold and striking designs
- Contrast and saturated colours are so important to distinguish between each realm and character.
- use of flat colours for comic-like shading creates really distinct and aesthetic designs.
Leave a Reply