Just because you're using 3D models, that doesn't mean everything needs to be realistic. Today, I'll go over some "unreal" visual techniques you can try.
mega man legends is so timeless aesthetically because of the tricks capcom pulled off to replicate manga styles on low poly models, i miss the series dearly
Megaman Legends did insane work on those cutscenes. There are so many unique facial expression assets that were used exclusively for the cutscenes, not to mention the perfect camera tricks used in tandem to get the most out of every scene. But if you aren't looking out for them, it's all completely unnoticeable! That's what's really mindblowing.
@@Dairunt1 Also there's only like, three titles? Two main series and that one Tron Bonne spinoff. And they're pretty large games comparatively to the Original/X series. I feel like full remasters would be a better option. As timeless as its art style is, it couldn't hurt to modernize the mechanics and reimagine the games. I mean, maybe it could hurt, but imagine if they got it right... And, c'mon, let's get Legends 3 made already! People want it, and if they market it as well as they did with the RE remakes, it'd sell just fine.
Arc system works is my absolute favorite game animation studio; their 3d games look fantastic and are the closest in the industry to looking like 2d anime in a 3d engine
I've found that coding facial features to move with the camera is a pretty easy way to replicate the effect. Think of how the Left stick moves your character, and how quickly it responds; The right stick can rotate the camera and move your character's facial features on the same frame if they're synced together. Also if the camera moves automatically, so too do your character's facial features. Combining this technique with mesh deformation can lead to spectacular results.
The first three Crash Bandicoot games were a revelation in their era, because the PS1 couldn't do the kind of dynamically-calculated squashing, stretching, and movement exaggerations of animation bones that Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin wanted to do (since they wanted the Crash games to have the animated feel of a Warner Bros Looney Tunes cartoon). The solution they came up with was basically an animation form of pre-rendered 3D graphics, where they used high-powered workstations to initially calculate and animate the characters using vertex-based animation (moving around the points that make up the anchors of the 3D polygons for a 3D model, basically moving them without underlying animation bones) to pull off the extreme exaggerations they wanted, while another computer recorded the points and relative changes in where the models were moving and then stored them as pre-rendered movements. This meant the animations, once recorded, couldn't be dynamically adjusted by the PS1, but they could re-record the animations after making changes. The results of course are visible in the high quality of the Looney Tunes styled slapstick physical comedy of Crash and the other characters (best demonstrated with all of Crash's various failure animations).
The PS1 Crash games were on another level of technological insanity. They created their own programming language and hacked the PS1 itself just to make everything run EXACTLY how they needed it to! And of course the results were absolutely phenomenal
If talking about doing manga-like CGI, ArcSystemWorks ought to get a mention too, but then again, they're not doing manga-like visuals... they're literally doing manga-visuals with frame by frame stuff.
Even then, they're still worth looking at for, like Megaman Legends, the way they "cheat" with their model's fidelity to achieve certain visuals, there's some videos around showing DBFZ Dramatic Finish animations using a free cam instead and you can almost immediately see how absolutely bizarro and fucked up the textures and models get to achieve things like mouth positions for profile shots, or specific visuals on camera angles, or various movements and blows
Tom & Jerry is pretty big in Japan. A lot of stores carry Tom & Jerry merch and I've even seen pop-up shops, collabs for make-up, and things like that.
Yes, but western cartoons are so much more varied in their character designs. The same guys who created Tom and Jerry did The Flintstones and Scooby Doo.
Seeing that trick with Mega Man Legends gives me some ideas. A lot of 2D cartoon styles might be able to be replicated with some kind of anchor towards the camera, kind of like how older Nintendo games would make sprites constantly face the main character to cover up the lack of depth.
This technique is in many in Japanese games. I've seen systems for making sure anime hairstyles never obstruct the face from the camera's view, changing the geometry of the face so it's extremely flat from the front but angled enough to be visible from the side, making sure a skirt always falls in such a way that the camera can never see the character's panties, etc.
We've been using that in various forms for ages, Doom even did that, since it used 2d sprites so enemies and objects were "billboards" that rotated to face the camera, and a lot of older games did that with props such as trees, eg Mario 64 and MMLegends both have billboard graphics for some trees
I thought we were gonna get into the slight-of-hand done when displaying that type of manga-style mouth on cel-shaded 3D characters without the use of swapping cels, but instead with 3D modelling. Perhaps Sakurai didn't want to alarm his viewers, even though this is for gamemaking? The disfigured models for manga-style faces is actually fascinating to see without the final render hiding all the design that goes into it.
I am so glad he mentioned Sonic's side mouth! Sonic Unleashed was the first game where Sonic team got the bright idea to program Sonic's mouth to snap to whatever side of his face was angled towards the camera. They've been using that system ever since and for a character with a stylized mouth like Sonic, it does a lot to preserve his cartoon-y charm in 3D. In games where Sonic's mouth stays dead center he kind of looks like a Muppet and it's off-putting, especially head-on (in my opinion at least), so I do think that stylization really makes a difference.
So many people still want that central mouth, but I think the more stylized gesture is more artistically creative. Considering how Sonic has always had a side moth in artwork and the classic title screens, I imagine the only reason they didn't do this from Adventure-New 06 is that it just wasn't as easy back then to figure out where the camera was
@@spongebobfan78 I do wish he was a bit more expressive, but I get the feeling that was more of a SEGA decision, as they have some mandates against Sonic being too expressive. A side mouth with the expressions of Brawl Sonic would have been perfect
Crying grateful tears as Masahiro Sakurai talks about the small things that we work hard to implement into games as 3D artists, even down to Sonic's side mouth. So lucky this channel exists to point people towards about this subject, it's so hard to explain as someone who does this stuff regularly to someone who doesn't know the big terms.
Oh man the timing! Just some days ago a dev channel I really like (Guinxu) posted a video about this exact topic- it's a really interesting new perspective, something that as a player you really don't even notice, but devs have to actively design and polish! I really recommend that video for those interested, the video is in spanish but I believe it has english subtitles
Of all the things I expected to see among these videos, something like mouth placement on a character model was not one of them. I never even considered that the mouth moved like this on some character models depending on the camera angle. That's pretty neat, actually.
I like him bringing out Tom & Jerry, cartoon from the late 40s, i was watching the 1949 christmas episode and i noticed that it was like an animation showcase of some sorts, with Jerry freezing, reflections, fire things, very interesting indeed, like a proof of concept for the full series going forward.
I love these videos, super informative and well edited. I can watch these videos all day!! I can't wait to use these tips into practice. Thanks for being a big part of my childhood.
I always find manga-like expressions, and visual gags to be interesting in video games, mainly for the interesting ways the animators, and character designers get to pull off some crazy shenanigans with them, especially when they go crazy with a character’s reactions! Also, who knew that Sakurai would mention Tom & Jerry in one of his videos?
I came for the Mega Man Legends drop. That, MML2, and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne are terrific games for PS1. Legends 2 looks almost like an early-gen PS2 game.
I'm surprised Sakurai mentioned Tom and Jerry for warping characters, but an American cartoon character more relevant to perspective trickery seems to be Popeye the Sailor, with his very weird mouth and the way his pipe shifts.
Anime graphics are the best since the characters and worlds are supposed to be set in a fantasy. I can take 2D anime character sprites on top of 3D backgrounds over photorealistic graphics any day. The character sprites just need to be like anime characters on cels. King of Fighters 13, Blade Strangers, and Under Night In-Birth are the prime examples of having sprite-based graphics that also use anime character images.
Two words, Silent Hill. Why do people who make these absolutist statements forget there's different genres and tones for videogames? I wouldn't want a realistic look for King of Fighters but screw the idea an anime art style works for every type of game, or the idea that every game should be a fantastical world in the exact same level. If part of the horror of a series like Silent Hill is the otherworldly invading the mundane... You first need to replicate the mundane well enough. I'm not telling you what to prefer, but it rings hollow to think the world of a videogame HAS to be fantastical at its core(there's even games with cartoon art styles about mundane things like cooking for crying out loud)
@@roskiart8750Heavy agree man, I see this sentiment a lot in Nintendo-centric gaming spaces so it's nice to see someone putting this out there. Different styles all have value, and they help set a certain tone that the studios/directors want to go for. May not appeal to everyone, but that's the beauty of gaming. It's a very diverse medium when it comes to visuals, and realism is a part of that diversity.
@@zyphyrisI think it mostly comes from fatigue. SO many games nowadays try to be as realistic as possible, but that usually leaves the core game feeling shallow or even non-existent. I won’t be surprised if by the 10th/11th generation, realistic graphics are no longer a selling point in games and consoles.
@@paperluigi6132 For sure, that's definitely been an issue in the AAA space. I just think we shouldn't disregard realism in general in gaming. Won't be too surprised either though with how far we've gotten. Art direction is king.
0:10 I'm playing that right now. Another prime example that uses this kind of style is Skies of Arcadia. The expressions used are also in the same kind of style to show different kinds of emotion.
One of those companies that do CG anime showed what one of their character models look like from the "wrong angles" and it's a horror show. When a character is filmed from the side, if you could pause it and rotate back to a front view, their mouth ends up telescoping out like a Hyottoko mask.
1:10 New Frame Plus has a great example of Sonic and his shifting mouth during the Unleashed segment, where you can really see how the game always adjusts the position of his mouth to face the screen
There is a pretty cool video presentation of how the anime style visual was achieved by the people who made Guilty Gear Strive. I strongly recommend it to people who are interested in how 3d animation are made to mimic a more 2D style.
Epic Mickey's ears are another fun topic. If you have either game, try rotating the camera and watch his ears slide and rotate along his head because it has to keep the iconic silhouette.
Something else to consider given the ridiculous amount of live adaptations of anime lately is respecting how much the medium allows you to show expression through exaggerated animation. These types of expressions and effects almost always look cheap and awkward when replicated with realistic graphics. The Mask is probably the only film I can think of that executed this aesthetic well and fully embraced its cartoonish roots. Jim Carrey's talent for physical comedy certainly helped, too.
Another game that have manga-like visual come to my mind is Megaman Battle Network 4,the art style drastically changed the game's visual compared to Battle Network 1-3.
Idk why, but knowing that THE Sakurai wasn't able to get the whiskers removed from the Kirby art just makes me remember that indeed everyone has those moments 😅
You laugh, but Naughty Dog's PS1 games did have the most expressive characters/visuals by a LANDSLIDE for their time! I still hope someday to see a Blasto! HD, before it becomes too "bad taste" to exist.
I always took it as some other way to handle his current "blushing" cheeks. I kind of like the idea of Kirby with facial hair, though. Does he have to shave? Does that apply to Metaknight too and does he use Galaxia for it? x)
If you want to see it really done well, The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is a game to see. I love they made the closed mouth an object INSIDE the head with it see-through the skin so it had that side profile and front profile without doing anything. They did it with eyes too with the same see-through, so that it had that anime look! It gave the in-game models look more character than the kinda plain 2D art they used for key art.
As a BIG Anime fan as you see of my profile picture I really like an Anime and Manga so I LOVE MAnga/Anime visual styled games and here's list about my favourite Nintendo Manga-like games: The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker, Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess Mega Man Star Force: Leo, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man Command Mission and Mega Man 11 Shantae and the Pirate's King, Half-Genie Hero and The Seven Sirens Pokemon Colosseum, XD Gale of Darkness, X/Y, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Sun/Moon, Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, Sword/Shield, Legends Arceus and Scarlet/Violet Kingdom Hearts 1-3 Naruto Shippuden and Boruto games Bleach Brave Souls Tales of Vespria Defienitily Tales of Vespria is my favourite Manga-like game with AWESOME Anime art styled characters, OP, Animations and good Story/Gameplay! LOVE Nintendo Switch and Manga-like games! 😍
To be honest, I hope future Sonic games are a bit more fluid in terms of mouth placement as you move the camera. For example, maybe make it to where Sonic’s mouth is centered if you’re looking at him straight forward. While I do like the side mouth trick, it being hard locked to either side does feel a little weird in certain scenarios. Dream Team’s cutscenes are a step in the right direction in this regard, not to mention the game actually moving Sonic’s brows.
Oh hey, Little Town Hero does the flounder mouth! It detects where the camera is facing relative to the characters and switches the mouths' position and shape accordingly.
"It's a great way of expressing the [Sonic] character." The full-of-himself-even-as-he-tries-to-be-kind version of the character Sega wants to push, anyway, as opposed to the far-nicer-but-still-in-your-face-cool version that's Naoto Ohshima's and Yuji Naka's real brainchild. And you certainly won't be merely thinking about how bad it looks when he's speaking. Note that Sakurai didn't directly say what he thinks of this Sonic specifically, just how the design relates to him. Not assuming "OMG he's gotta be agreeing with me EEEEEE!", but you never know. And I never saw those cheek marks in older Kirby drawings as whiskers, but as wrinkles since he huffs and puffs a lot. But I agree the blushy cheeks are better since he's supposed to be super-healthy for a bubblegum-like fellow and should have skin that follows suit. I'm guessing someone wasn't taking the "fuusen", or balloon, part of the Japanese term for bubblegum, "fuusen gum", seriously enough. As for his mouth, the "classic" one is more energetic while the "modern" one is cuter. I like both. Maybe the modern one's more appropriate now because Kirby's experience made him stronger, more mature and more confident and thus less worried about missing out on fun things while still quite eager for them. And as for sidemouths and side-fronts in general, they "work" because when you see something "off" in 2D, you can mentally angle-/depth-correct to a degree depending on how abstract it is. In a way, the low tech helped MML's style like that.
I mean, ArcSys properly portraying Goku's hair for FighterZ basically became the unofficial champs at this. Also shoutout to everyone who does Mickey Mouse's ears properly.
thanks I saw the images of pepper pig from the front. but since it's more efficent for games to move the face with your character, even the devs are save from stuff right out of murder drones.
Wasn't expecting Mega Man Legends to be brought up here! God, I still wish Mega Man Legends 3 didn't get canned... Honestly, I quite like it when these kinds of tricks are utilized in games!
If you’re aiming to make a photo-realistic game, then you’ll likely pull from real life as your source. If you’re making just about any other style of art, you can go a long way to making characters extra expressive by following the conventions of cartoonists, western animation studios like from Disney or Warner Bros., and of course, all manner of anime studios. Sometimes you even end up with odd exaggerations like a character’s irises being different sizes to depict anger / frustration. Obviously, this doesn’t happen in actual biology, but somehow we understand the meaning all the same.
i didnt even think that kind of detail was in Sonic Forces. and im not sure why since there is practically no place else in the game besides there where you could see that.
TIL. I've seen the mouth thing in non-anime cartoons (I'm not big on anime/manga)...so would one say it's a general animation thing or were those animators/cartoons inspired by manga/anime?
I think most of these actually apply to animation and drawing in general. He shows a flattened Waluigi as an example of "manga visuals" but that's a pretty universal concept too. And when mentioning Tom & Jerry he's referring to the squash-and-stretch technique pioneered by the American golden age of animation.
From what I understand, anime/manga just means cartoons/comics generally to a Japanese person (e.g. Tom and Jerry is anime), and it's just when the words gets imported into English that it's used to mean certain styles of Japanese cartoons. It sounds to me like Sakurai-san meant cartoons generally for much of this video.
Doesn't "Manga" and "anime" just refer to cartoons and animation in general in Japan? It's an English thing where we use those words specifically to refer to Japanese ones I think, but over there it's just the words that mean "cartoon." For example, Family Guy is a "Western anime" over in Japan I think (Peter Griffin best anime waifu confirmed).
MegaMan Legends might have aged poorly thanks to its tank controls, but it paved the way to a lot of stuff (it was the first 3D platformer, before Mario 64!). Too bad Capcom forgot about it!!
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Always remember, exaggeration is how animation reaches its fullest potential as a medium
mega man legends is so timeless aesthetically because of the tricks capcom pulled off to replicate manga styles on low poly models, i miss the series dearly
Mega Man Legends needs as much attention as possible. I desperately want a remaster and/or continuation of the series.
@@Amins88
I can see Capcom being scared of releasing a Legends Legacy Collection because fans will ask for Legends 3 in droves again.
Megaman Legends did insane work on those cutscenes. There are so many unique facial expression assets that were used exclusively for the cutscenes, not to mention the perfect camera tricks used in tandem to get the most out of every scene. But if you aren't looking out for them, it's all completely unnoticeable! That's what's really mindblowing.
@@Dairunt1 Also there's only like, three titles? Two main series and that one Tron Bonne spinoff. And they're pretty large games comparatively to the Original/X series. I feel like full remasters would be a better option. As timeless as its art style is, it couldn't hurt to modernize the mechanics and reimagine the games. I mean, maybe it could hurt, but imagine if they got it right...
And, c'mon, let's get Legends 3 made already! People want it, and if they market it as well as they did with the RE remakes, it'd sell just fine.
Its style really makes it timeless. Its to a point I have to seriously wonder if Capcom did go back to the series, could they replicate that charm?
Sonic, Mega Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Tom & Jerry got mentioned by Sakurai
I can't not think of Dragonball Fighterz and how it uses camera angles and model warping to get those iconic expressions.
overwatch does this as well, it's impressive how much they get away with
Arc system works is my absolute favorite game animation studio; their 3d games look fantastic and are the closest in the industry to looking like 2d anime in a 3d engine
The ArcSys RED Engine is FANTASTIC at this. Unparalleled. I really hope someday something like that becomes public or indie-level accessible.
DBFZ is a masterclass of animation.
I've found that coding facial features to move with the camera is a pretty easy way to replicate the effect.
Think of how the Left stick moves your character, and how quickly it responds; The right stick can rotate the camera and move your character's facial features on the same frame if they're synced together.
Also if the camera moves automatically, so too do your character's facial features.
Combining this technique with mesh deformation can lead to spectacular results.
The first three Crash Bandicoot games were a revelation in their era, because the PS1 couldn't do the kind of dynamically-calculated squashing, stretching, and movement exaggerations of animation bones that Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin wanted to do (since they wanted the Crash games to have the animated feel of a Warner Bros Looney Tunes cartoon).
The solution they came up with was basically an animation form of pre-rendered 3D graphics, where they used high-powered workstations to initially calculate and animate the characters using vertex-based animation (moving around the points that make up the anchors of the 3D polygons for a 3D model, basically moving them without underlying animation bones) to pull off the extreme exaggerations they wanted, while another computer recorded the points and relative changes in where the models were moving and then stored them as pre-rendered movements. This meant the animations, once recorded, couldn't be dynamically adjusted by the PS1, but they could re-record the animations after making changes. The results of course are visible in the high quality of the Looney Tunes styled slapstick physical comedy of Crash and the other characters (best demonstrated with all of Crash's various failure animations).
The PS1 Crash games were on another level of technological insanity. They created their own programming language and hacked the PS1 itself just to make everything run EXACTLY how they needed it to! And of course the results were absolutely phenomenal
I always enjoyed the charming aesthetic of more cartoony styles.
sylized games are really good
If talking about doing manga-like CGI, ArcSystemWorks ought to get a mention too, but then again, they're not doing manga-like visuals... they're literally doing manga-visuals with frame by frame stuff.
@@sinteleon French Bread are the best examples that made sprite-based video games.
Even then, they're still worth looking at for, like Megaman Legends, the way they "cheat" with their model's fidelity to achieve certain visuals, there's some videos around showing DBFZ Dramatic Finish animations using a free cam instead and you can almost immediately see how absolutely bizarro and fucked up the textures and models get to achieve things like mouth positions for profile shots, or specific visuals on camera angles, or various movements and blows
Dang! Someone finally mentioned MML's facial textures and animation. That game truly was ahead of its time.
And here's me, most taken aback that Tom & Jerry of all things is mentioned!
EXACTLY, WHY IS THIS MANS SO CULTURED
i am not surprised, they have set alot of standarts for animation.
Tom & Jerry is pretty big in Japan. A lot of stores carry Tom & Jerry merch and I've even seen pop-up shops, collabs for make-up, and things like that.
@@AlgodonMarinosame thing with Peanuts. When I found out, suddenly Mother/Earthbound made a lot of sense.
Yes, but western cartoons are so much more varied in their character designs. The same guys who created Tom and Jerry did The Flintstones and Scooby Doo.
Seeing that trick with Mega Man Legends gives me some ideas. A lot of 2D cartoon styles might be able to be replicated with some kind of anchor towards the camera, kind of like how older Nintendo games would make sprites constantly face the main character to cover up the lack of depth.
Like Mickey's Ears in Epic Mickey. They always try to stay in their iconic look as you rotate the camera around Mickey.
Mouths in Little Town Hero also work as such.
This technique is in many in Japanese games. I've seen systems for making sure anime hairstyles never obstruct the face from the camera's view, changing the geometry of the face so it's extremely flat from the front but angled enough to be visible from the side, making sure a skirt always falls in such a way that the camera can never see the character's panties, etc.
We've been using that in various forms for ages, Doom even did that, since it used 2d sprites so enemies and objects were "billboards" that rotated to face the camera, and a lot of older games did that with props such as trees, eg Mario 64 and MMLegends both have billboard graphics for some trees
I thought we were gonna get into the slight-of-hand done when displaying that type of manga-style mouth on cel-shaded 3D characters without the use of swapping cels, but instead with 3D modelling. Perhaps Sakurai didn't want to alarm his viewers, even though this is for gamemaking? The disfigured models for manga-style faces is actually fascinating to see without the final render hiding all the design that goes into it.
Its so cool, I love seeing DBFZ Dramatic Finish decons fly by my dash cause of that
I am so glad he mentioned Sonic's side mouth! Sonic Unleashed was the first game where Sonic team got the bright idea to program Sonic's mouth to snap to whatever side of his face was angled towards the camera. They've been using that system ever since and for a character with a stylized mouth like Sonic, it does a lot to preserve his cartoon-y charm in 3D. In games where Sonic's mouth stays dead center he kind of looks like a Muppet and it's off-putting, especially head-on (in my opinion at least), so I do think that stylization really makes a difference.
So many people still want that central mouth, but I think the more stylized gesture is more artistically creative. Considering how Sonic has always had a side moth in artwork and the classic title screens, I imagine the only reason they didn't do this from Adventure-New 06 is that it just wasn't as easy back then to figure out where the camera was
In relation to Sakurai, the change of Sonic's center mouth from Brawl to side mouth in Smash 4 was a good choice
@@spongebobfan78 I do wish he was a bit more expressive, but I get the feeling that was more of a SEGA decision, as they have some mandates against Sonic being too expressive. A side mouth with the expressions of Brawl Sonic would have been perfect
Dang, Mega Man Legends and Crash Bandicoot both getting mentioned by Sakurai-sensei. Sweet! Love manga visuals!
MEGA MAN LEGENDS MENTIONED!!!! AUTOMATIC PEAK VIDEO!!
I came to say the same! Wish there was a return to MegaMan Legends 3.
by me Tom & Jerry mentioned
Glad someone at least remembers it.
Definitly needs a legacy collection as well 😆.
@@FutureRetroRootshopefully so, I really want to play the game on the modern platform especially on switch..
Crying grateful tears as Masahiro Sakurai talks about the small things that we work hard to implement into games as 3D artists, even down to Sonic's side mouth. So lucky this channel exists to point people towards about this subject, it's so hard to explain as someone who does this stuff regularly to someone who doesn't know the big terms.
Didn't expect to see Crash Bandicoot here. That's really cool.
Oh man the timing! Just some days ago a dev channel I really like (Guinxu) posted a video about this exact topic- it's a really interesting new perspective, something that as a player you really don't even notice, but devs have to actively design and polish!
I really recommend that video for those interested, the video is in spanish but I believe it has english subtitles
Of all the things I expected to see among these videos, something like mouth placement on a character model was not one of them. I never even considered that the mouth moved like this on some character models depending on the camera angle. That's pretty neat, actually.
I like him bringing out Tom & Jerry, cartoon from the late 40s, i was watching the 1949 christmas episode and i noticed that it was like an animation showcase of some sorts, with Jerry freezing, reflections, fire things, very interesting indeed, like a proof of concept for the full series going forward.
I love these videos, super informative and well edited. I can watch these videos all day!! I can't wait to use these tips into practice. Thanks for being a big part of my childhood.
Also a reminder than you can add actual manga notations instead of facial features to express emotions, like 😓💢😨✨
I loved hearing his take on old Kirby's whiskers XD I hope he talks more about character design in the future
I knew the Sonic example was coming and we have Sonic Adventure to thank for that.
Goat using original Crash Warped footage.
Thanks for sharing this Mr Sakurai!
I always find manga-like expressions, and visual gags to be interesting in video games, mainly for the interesting ways the animators, and character designers get to pull off some crazy shenanigans with them, especially when they go crazy with a character’s reactions!
Also, who knew that Sakurai would mention Tom & Jerry in one of his videos?
I came for the Mega Man Legends drop. That, MML2, and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne are terrific games for PS1. Legends 2 looks almost like an early-gen PS2 game.
I wonder how it can implement back again.... Without camera illusion or already custom face in certain angle...
Oh boy! Another peak video!
We are spoiled with this series, these are all so valuable!
One day for the future! 🤔 1:51
Poor Kirb’s whiskers :(
I'm surprised Sakurai mentioned Tom and Jerry for warping characters, but an American cartoon character more relevant to perspective trickery seems to be Popeye the Sailor, with his very weird mouth and the way his pipe shifts.
Anime graphics are the best since the characters and worlds are supposed to be set in a fantasy. I can take 2D anime character sprites on top of 3D backgrounds over photorealistic graphics any day. The character sprites just need to be like anime characters on cels. King of Fighters 13, Blade Strangers, and Under Night In-Birth are the prime examples of having sprite-based graphics that also use anime character images.
Two words, Silent Hill.
Why do people who make these absolutist statements forget there's different genres and tones for videogames? I wouldn't want a realistic look for King of Fighters but screw the idea an anime art style works for every type of game, or the idea that every game should be a fantastical world in the exact same level. If part of the horror of a series like Silent Hill is the otherworldly invading the mundane... You first need to replicate the mundane well enough.
I'm not telling you what to prefer, but it rings hollow to think the world of a videogame HAS to be fantastical at its core(there's even games with cartoon art styles about mundane things like cooking for crying out loud)
@@roskiart8750Heavy agree man, I see this sentiment a lot in Nintendo-centric gaming spaces so it's nice to see someone putting this out there.
Different styles all have value, and they help set a certain tone that the studios/directors want to go for. May not appeal to everyone, but that's the beauty of gaming. It's a very diverse medium when it comes to visuals, and realism is a part of that diversity.
Not to discount the original post though, cause yeah this style rules. Especially in fighting games. Gotta remember the rest of the landscape though.
@@zyphyrisI think it mostly comes from fatigue. SO many games nowadays try to be as realistic as possible, but that usually leaves the core game feeling shallow or even non-existent. I won’t be surprised if by the 10th/11th generation, realistic graphics are no longer a selling point in games and consoles.
@@paperluigi6132 For sure, that's definitely been an issue in the AAA space. I just think we shouldn't disregard realism in general in gaming.
Won't be too surprised either though with how far we've gotten. Art direction is king.
0:10 I'm playing that right now.
Another prime example that uses this kind of style is Skies of Arcadia. The expressions used are also in the same kind of style to show different kinds of emotion.
One of those companies that do CG anime showed what one of their character models look like from the "wrong angles" and it's a horror show. When a character is filmed from the side, if you could pause it and rotate back to a front view, their mouth ends up telescoping out like a Hyottoko mask.
Greetings from Venezuela 🇻🇪
Greetings from Greece
@@clapiotisgreetings from the usa!
You do make a decent point, Mr. Sakurai. I'll have to remember that as a future reference. 🤔
That Crash sneak...hmmm
🤔
1:10 New Frame Plus has a great example of Sonic and his shifting mouth during the Unleashed segment, where you can really see how the game always adjusts the position of his mouth to face the screen
There is a pretty cool video presentation of how the anime style visual was achieved by the people who made Guilty Gear Strive. I strongly recommend it to people who are interested in how 3d animation are made to mimic a more 2D style.
Mario Wonder also does this right?
It does this very well yes. There are dev screenshots out there of mario running from a different camera angle.
Yup
Sakurai showed Crash Bandicoot game in his video.
Crash confirmed for Smash 6
Oh save it that's not going to happen anytime soon since he retired
@@JohnathanSuperMachine92Mcbride He's not retired yet though.
@@C_Arson for smash yeah. So you want another smash game contact sakurai and his hal headquarters
One Day! 🤔
Epic Mickey's ears are another fun topic. If you have either game, try rotating the camera and watch his ears slide and rotate along his head because it has to keep the iconic silhouette.
Something else to consider given the ridiculous amount of live adaptations of anime lately is respecting how much the medium allows you to show expression through exaggerated animation. These types of expressions and effects almost always look cheap and awkward when replicated with realistic graphics. The Mask is probably the only film I can think of that executed this aesthetic well and fully embraced its cartoonish roots. Jim Carrey's talent for physical comedy certainly helped, too.
Man, the music used in these videos is so pretty!!
Another game that have manga-like visual come to my mind is Megaman Battle Network 4,the art style drastically changed the game's visual compared to Battle Network 1-3.
1:00 "I wonder what it would look like if we could see the model from the front..."
Boundary Break: _It's my time to shine!_
"Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip" does some really cool stuff around this concept with the face, it creates a very distinct style
amazing advice! thanks sakurai!
Always glad to see someone reference good ol' Rockman Dig-Outer Adventure Story in Halcyon Days.
Idk why, but knowing that THE Sakurai wasn't able to get the whiskers removed from the Kirby art just makes me remember that indeed everyone has those moments 😅
Crash Bandicoot best anime.
You laugh, but Naughty Dog's PS1 games did have the most expressive characters/visuals by a LANDSLIDE for their time!
I still hope someday to see a Blasto! HD, before it becomes too "bad taste" to exist.
The funny thing is that crash actually does have a manga
Wow I never even read those as whiskers. I always saw those as effort lines.
I always took it as some other way to handle his current "blushing" cheeks.
I kind of like the idea of Kirby with facial hair, though.
Does he have to shave? Does that apply to Metaknight too and does he use Galaxia for it? x)
Mega Man Legends getting some spotlight here, I see?
Based video already, with a lot of great talking points of course!
If you want to see it really done well, The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is a game to see.
I love they made the closed mouth an object INSIDE the head with it see-through the skin so it had that side profile and front profile without doing anything.
They did it with eyes too with the same see-through, so that it had that anime look! It gave the in-game models look more character than the kinda plain 2D art they used for key art.
Bro never liked the whiskers on Kirby? Damn
As a BIG Anime fan as you see of my profile picture I really like an Anime and Manga so I LOVE MAnga/Anime visual styled games and here's list about my favourite Nintendo Manga-like games:
The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker, Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess
Mega Man Star Force: Leo, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man Command Mission and Mega Man 11
Shantae and the Pirate's King, Half-Genie Hero and The Seven Sirens
Pokemon Colosseum, XD Gale of Darkness, X/Y, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Sun/Moon, Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, Sword/Shield, Legends Arceus and Scarlet/Violet
Kingdom Hearts 1-3
Naruto Shippuden and Boruto games
Bleach Brave Souls
Tales of Vespria
Defienitily Tales of Vespria is my favourite Manga-like game with AWESOME Anime art styled characters, OP, Animations and good Story/Gameplay!
LOVE Nintendo Switch and Manga-like games! 😍
To be honest, I hope future Sonic games are a bit more fluid in terms of mouth placement as you move the camera. For example, maybe make it to where Sonic’s mouth is centered if you’re looking at him straight forward. While I do like the side mouth trick, it being hard locked to either side does feel a little weird in certain scenarios. Dream Team’s cutscenes are a step in the right direction in this regard, not to mention the game actually moving Sonic’s brows.
Oh hey, Little Town Hero does the flounder mouth! It detects where the camera is facing relative to the characters and switches the mouths' position and shape accordingly.
I Know It Doesn't Mean Anything But Just Seeing Crash In A Sakurai Video Gave Me So Much Hope If There's Another Smash
Man i love megaman legends, really wish the series returned.
Woah
Megaman Legends......sure could do with a collection before this year ends Capcom!
surprised sakurai was against kirbys whiskers. I can see why but they have become the main distinction for classic kirby.
"It's a great way of expressing the [Sonic] character."
The full-of-himself-even-as-he-tries-to-be-kind version of the character Sega wants to push, anyway, as opposed to the far-nicer-but-still-in-your-face-cool version that's Naoto Ohshima's and Yuji Naka's real brainchild. And you certainly won't be merely thinking about how bad it looks when he's speaking. Note that Sakurai didn't directly say what he thinks of this Sonic specifically, just how the design relates to him. Not assuming "OMG he's gotta be agreeing with me EEEEEE!", but you never know.
And I never saw those cheek marks in older Kirby drawings as whiskers, but as wrinkles since he huffs and puffs a lot. But I agree the blushy cheeks are better since he's supposed to be super-healthy for a bubblegum-like fellow and should have skin that follows suit. I'm guessing someone wasn't taking the "fuusen", or balloon, part of the Japanese term for bubblegum, "fuusen gum", seriously enough. As for his mouth, the "classic" one is more energetic while the "modern" one is cuter. I like both. Maybe the modern one's more appropriate now because Kirby's experience made him stronger, more mature and more confident and thus less worried about missing out on fun things while still quite eager for them.
And as for sidemouths and side-fronts in general, they "work" because when you see something "off" in 2D, you can mentally angle-/depth-correct to a degree depending on how abstract it is. In a way, the low tech helped MML's style like that.
Let's go, one more!
I mean, ArcSys properly portraying Goku's hair for FighterZ basically became the unofficial champs at this. Also shoutout to everyone who does Mickey Mouse's ears properly.
Never thought I'd see Sakurai using Sonic Forces footage
Sakurai giving us these free master classes are such a treat.
YO, I HAVE MEGA MAN LEGENDS RIGHT NOW
1:11 Sonic mentioned
thanks I saw the images of pepper pig from the front. but since it's more efficent for games to move the face with your character, even the devs are save from stuff right out of murder drones.
Top quality gaming content right here 👍
Noice info!👍
Megaman legends has something special that struck me at the time, it is a more important game than it seems
Wasn't expecting Mega Man Legends to be brought up here! God, I still wish Mega Man Legends 3 didn't get canned...
Honestly, I quite like it when these kinds of tricks are utilized in games!
I didn't think I'd ever hear Sakurai mention Tom and Jerry.
I wasn't really aware they had any sort of presence over there.
I believe Tom and Jerry is super popular in Japan actually. Most Japanese people watch it growing up
They're a classic cartoon referent ANd very popular in Japan.
It shouldn't be surprising to see them talked about
@@FlumpyTripod
Cool.
IIRC, there's even a Tom and Jerry anime
Even Sakurai called Kirby's cheek thingies whiskers, that's hilarious
What you can do is have the mouth cel where the mouth is close to the front of the jaw.
Pensando come sarebbe dire che Sakurai pensa Tom & Jerry, immagina poiché penserà anche quello del film nel 92"... 1:30
Yo is this the first time Sakurai used Crash Bandicoot footage in a video? :D
You bet it is. 🤔
Not big deal !
I didn't think I'd hear Masahiro Sakurai mention Tom and Jerry in a video...
Nice!
桜井政博様、お願いです！！！！！！！！
スマブラDXの続編を作ってくださいませんか？？？
私の人生はスマブラDXに支配されています。。。
毎日毎晩、スマブラDXのことばかり考えています！！！
食べるのも寝るのも忘れて、ただひたすらプレイしています！！！！
もう限界です。。。このままでは発狂してしまいます！！！！！
お願いです、桜井さん！！！ 私の命はあなたの手に委ねられています！！！！
新しいスマブラがないと生きていけません！！！！
続編を出してください！！！！ 出してくださいよおおおおお！！！！！！！
he used the one baseball game with the rarest amiibo cards as an example
Another example of the mouth thing is Super Mario Wonder
It's seem sakurai watches Americans cartoons like Tom and Jerry and plays more games like crash bandicoot.
Both are popular series in Japan. Tom and Jerry has collabs with Japanese brands to this day and Crash Bandicoot has an official manga
I now know if i get into animation side mouth lip flaps will save time
If you’re aiming to make a photo-realistic game, then you’ll likely pull from real life as your source. If you’re making just about any other style of art, you can go a long way to making characters extra expressive by following the conventions of cartoonists, western animation studios like from Disney or Warner Bros., and of course, all manner of anime studios.
Sometimes you even end up with odd exaggerations like a character’s irises being different sizes to depict anger / frustration. Obviously, this doesn’t happen in actual biology, but somehow we understand the meaning all the same.
i didnt even think that kind of detail was in Sonic Forces. and im not sure why since there is practically no place else in the game besides there where you could see that.
1:05 right when I was thinking about Sonic, he shows up.
1:50 Crash for Smash?
Maybe in the future! 🤔
Important episode
Mega Man Legends still looks so good
Going for style over realism often ages better, too. I still think Wind Waker, even without the HD upgrade, still looks great to this day.
awesome
TIL. I've seen the mouth thing in non-anime cartoons (I'm not big on anime/manga)...so would one say it's a general animation thing or were those animators/cartoons inspired by manga/anime?
I think most of these actually apply to animation and drawing in general.
He shows a flattened Waluigi as an example of "manga visuals" but that's a pretty universal concept too. And when mentioning Tom & Jerry he's referring to the squash-and-stretch technique pioneered by the American golden age of animation.
It’s a general animation thing. Always has been. All depends on the artist.
Cartoons and animes are fundamentally the same.
From what I understand, anime/manga just means cartoons/comics generally to a Japanese person (e.g. Tom and Jerry is anime), and it's just when the words gets imported into English that it's used to mean certain styles of Japanese cartoons. It sounds to me like Sakurai-san meant cartoons generally for much of this video.
Doesn't "Manga" and "anime" just refer to cartoons and animation in general in Japan? It's an English thing where we use those words specifically to refer to Japanese ones I think, but over there it's just the words that mean "cartoon." For example, Family Guy is a "Western anime" over in Japan I think (Peter Griffin best anime waifu confirmed).
MegaMan Legends might have aged poorly thanks to its tank controls, but it paved the way to a lot of stuff (it was the first 3D platformer, before Mario 64!). Too bad Capcom forgot about it!!
They call cel-shading "toon-rendering?" Interesting.
es que la toon force we está rota we
Rare Sakurai L. Kirby whiskers are peak