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Box Art . . . It Could Be Worse
- Sagrilarus
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They have announced the reprint to be done by Cool Minis or Not (in this case, not) and the new art to go with it.
This isn't throw up in your mouth art, this is go-ahead-and-make-the-trip-to-the-toilet art. Just awful. And to think it's based on Alexander Dumas' Three Musketeers.
To some extent I think game art is getting worse, as the hobby is having a bigger following and game publishers are looking for opportunities to catch your eye on a big shelf of other titles. Can't imagine this one will help sales though. Perhaps their goal is to capture the aging Monty Python fans part of the market.
S.
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- Black Barney
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- hotseatgames
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I don't want friendly goofy orcs all ready to be put on a thermos. I want terrifying orcs.
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In any case I sometimes find that the better a game looks on my shelf the higher the chance it stays there, collecting dust. Whereas some of the uglier games (for a shelf mind you, so really they're just less tasteful) come off on a regular basis and see some actual play.
I kind of like games to look a bit tacky, they're a silly pastime, a bit of a waste of time and slightly childish... so looking good on a shelf is not really the point of them. I don't want them to look good on a shelf. That sounds way too mature to me.
Still, that new version of this game does look like shit, the old one looks cool (although not 'shelf cool') and now I'm slightly curious about it.
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I look at it, and my mind goes into the gutter. I'll never be able to look at the box and not picture something wrong and off color happening out of frame. It looks like she did or has something being done that's very deviant.
Art like this done on a computer for quick color changes and manipulation makes the process cheep and you get what you pay for with cheep looking results.
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- Sagrilarus
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The title is more or less unreadable. The gold frame serves no purpose other than to cut off the top of her head. It's like the artist was paid by the hour. The ribbon on the bottom . . . ? Anyone come up with a reason for an empty ribbon?
Everything is stepping on everything else, and the core figure just isn't good to start with. Is there any attachment to the Three Musketeers theme or even the era? The clothing looks Elizabethan.
Given the look on the woman's face someone finding this box on a table out of context might be forgiven for thinking it contains a marital aid.
Here's a game where the artwork actively gets in the way of the setting.
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My eyes went to her eyes...Those are the eyes of someone that just ripped the 3' bong without coughing.
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- Michael Barnes
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I like the original, muted watercolor style myself...but in today's marketplace, that would be considered "bad" artwork. Most people have no taste or sense of aesthetics and assume that "cool" drawings=good art. Any time a game comes out with exceptional, unusual and artful illustration you can bet your bottom dollar that somebody is going to have a shitfit about it. Witness Sylvion. That game looks A-MAZ-ING. It has a very, very interesting and expressive style _and_ it's artfully packaged (it's not just pieces thrown into a plastic tray- it's actually THEATRICAL to open the box). But it's been criticized for having "bad art". By people that probably think Paul Niemeyer is "great art".
Cave Evil is one of the best games, visually speaking, ever published. Its artwork (and there is a TON of it) is not as accomplished as FFG's freelancers. But it expresses a very specific atmosphere, style and concept and it is 100% committed to having that black metal LOOK.
Modern Art was (and is) criticized for having ugly, terrible artwork. BUT THAT IS EXACTLY THE ARTISTIC POINT. If you play Master's Gallery, the art is replaced by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, etc...completely nullifying the satire.
But most people don't understand that technical execution does not always equal great art...or art at all, really. There's a reason why Thomas Kinkade is a more well-known and popular painter than Odd Nerdrum (who is amazing, BTW).
I also completely agree with Shellie about the FFG cover illustrations- but I would single out Wiz-War as at least having a DIFFERENT art style than the usual post-Larry Elmore, post-manga style that is on all of FFG's games (barring Cosmic, which is probably the best-looking game they've ever made).
I love that Wiz-War box. It comes from a time that was very different, and at that point that sort of homespun style said a lot about the industry and the people making the game. It's complete garbage, on a technical level. But at least it had heart instead of digital coloring.
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