MML3 Realism

[megaboy123]

I got an opinion question to ask... I was wondering, what if Megaman Legends 3 was more realistic (as in the sense of "not cartoony") The characters all looked in proportion, more human, grown up etc. Environments are much darker and the reaverbots looked more scary and threatening. Roll and Tron both look more "womanly."...
An example of this would have to be final fantasy games. You know how some of their games are very cartoony(7, 9, etc.) and how some are more realistic (8, 10, 12) What if MML3 is/might be/will be completely different from it's predecessors as in the since that Megaman Volnutt is no longer the little hobbit with big clenched fists, but almost looking like he's in his twenties with a fit body.
I actually would not be a big fan of this idea , since I like the cute and colorful graphics of MML, but the reason I brought this up was what if this actually happened, how would YOU ALL react.

[DreamerBoy]

It’s not going to happen though.

It’s still more than possible to make a game with the anime/cartoon graphic style Legends has. Even with brain-meltingly detailed graphics Legends 3, should it ever happen, can still retain that anime look it had seven years ago. It wouldn’t be hard. All Legends’ characters’ designs lend themselves well to the anime style(does anyone in the games not have spiky hair?)

Of course, if all else fails you can take comfort in the fact that Capcom will probably never make Legends 3 anyway so it really doesn’t matter.

[Dashe]

dreamerboy said:

does anyone in the games not have spiky hair?

Data, Bon Bonne, Bensley, Amelia, Matilda, Sera, the Master, the Police Chief from MoTB, Roxette, Mossa, the Potke Mayor and her underlings (though it can be argued that the girl who looks like Yai has polygonal spikes coming out of the ends of her braids), Johnny, the old lady in the bookstore, and any of the construction workers, police officers, and middle-aged women in the first game lack spiky hair. I'm probably missing more than a few NPCs in that sweeping statement, but what the hey.

You can still have more realistically rendered, 3D characters that still have anime traits, like they've got in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and Radiata Stories. If the Legends cast wound up getting remade in the style of, say, Resident Evil, the later Final Fantasies, or pretty much any other game where the characters look nothing like anime characters, I'd be mildly annoyed, but I wouldn't do anything too drastic provided that their character traits are still the same.

[aarond]

Look at Trusty Bell (Eternal Sonata) on the 360 for an example of Japanese-style characters on a next-gen system. That has a distinctive style but still manages to look pretty advanced.

[megaboy123]

Yeah, well I was saying that they still look animeish, but more human... Like FFX

[DreamerBoy]

dashe said:

dreamerboy said:

does anyone in the games not have spiky hair?

Data, Bon Bonne, Bensley, Amelia, Matilda, Sera, the Master, the Police Chief from MoTB, Roxette, Mossa, the Potke Mayor and her underlings (though it can be argued that the girl who looks like Yai has polygonal spikes coming out of the ends of her braids), Johnny, the old lady in the bookstore, and any of the construction workers, police officers, and middle-aged women in the first game lack spiky hair. I'm probably missing more than a few NPCs in that sweeping statement, but what the hey.

I should have been more clear. clearer? *pause*

Anyway, what I'd meant to imply by that comment was that the Legends characters' hair designs - when they actually have hair and visibly show it on their models - would not require the sort of detail you find in the more realistic looking games. Spiky in the games, spiky in the concept art, very often. (this part I didn't actually say) And even those with less than spiky hair don't have terribly complicated patterns.

So.. Data and Bon Bonne don't have hair. Didn't the police chief wear a hat, and don't all the police officers and construction workers. Wasn't Mossa bald? Ehh.. I could probably do a few more, but I don't feel like it. I think you see where I'm going.

In any case, by what logic you used above, you could've gotten away also, most likely, with mentioning Geetz and Banner; I mention those two because they're relatively large-scale characters. And of course by the more absurd stretches there, you could've mentioned all the Reaverbots and the Servbots, the Birdbots, and so on.. If Bon Bonne's to be considered here, I certainly can't see why they all wouldn't be fair game.

That's just hair of course. It would be different to see other body parts look more like they ought to as well, but that wouldn't necessarily be a stylistic change so much as a 'quality of the models' change.

It certainly would be strange to see Legends characters in graphics that are in today's quality - even if they weren't blindingly realistic. Not only did Legends get completely looked over for an entire generation in gaming, but the graphics were behind their own generation's quality at the time. Such a leap without any sort of transition.. well, I suppose it will very certainly be interesting.

Of course, now, that's just physical design aspects, and there's still the other characteristic areas to be concerned with. The Voice Acting might be different, personalities might all turn to crap(it's something that happens a lot: they'll take one aspect of a character's personality and overemphasize it until he's so annoying that you just can't stand it anymore), there's plenty of other things.

I'm more concerned about what they might do with plot. What's MegaMan going to do this time..? He's saved an island, he's saved the world, what's next? The Galaxy? The Universe? ..another dimension? Seems hard to come up with a unique idea to top or match Legends 2's plot. .. but all of this is neither her nor there.

[randomnamebullfrog]

I honestly don't get why people want more "realistic" games. Video games are there to help us escape realism and enter a totally different world. I personally enjoy the fact that these games have very few "real" traits (i.e kicking somthing will break it). The fact stands, this game was targeted for a "cartoony" look. So... why whould you want a Mega Man game with men that look like women, if wanting it to look like FFX or somthing. And I said look, not sound. They already have men with girly voices *hmaecgkacmoaung!h*(figure it out)

[megaboy123]

Well I clearly stated that I did not like the idea, I was just asking your opinions on 'what if' this happened...

[Staulmaster]

megaboy123 said:

Yeah, well I was saying that they still look animeish, but more human... Like FFX

Not to contradict anyone, but FF graphics aren't necessarily realistic, they're very well detailed and look amazing, but they're not real-looking. Name me at least one of those characters and tell me who possibly looks like that in real life. If you ask me, Final Fantasy graphics are as anime-ish as any other game, only more detailed not to make it seem that way. (Trust me, when I move, my hair doesn't swirl around in every direction)

But for this whole Megaman Legends with realistic graphics bit...I wouldn't be against it....but I mean being used to the whole cartoony thing, it would definately be something. The thing is though, graphics are what set the mood for a game, and I'm used to the cutesey happy-go-lucky mood of the game already. The graphics are what make the game, in a manner of speaking, the graphics whatever kind they may be, lets you dive deep into the gaming experience, if we change mml graphics, we'd be playing a whole new game, and those graphics are what made megeman legends, megaman legends. If you want to have a change of pace, make an entire Megaman series with realistic graphics, instead of toying with the tried and true formula. Also, if the graphics change to improve the experience and to be more realistic, so to speak, then the gameplay will certainly change to adapt to the graphics. Being more realistic-looking, the gameplay would be more 'realistic-playing'. That might not be as welcome as the new graphics...

But overall, it would be interesting...you know what? I would definately love to see that. Anything to make reavorbots look cool!

And if you all want to see the beauty of what realism can bring us, check this out! (Don't worry, it's nothing vulgar)

www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=224

[megaboy123]

well, i used ffx as an example to it's predecessors, because at the time I was pretty amazed by the graphics and how far final fantasy had come. Ffx was visually the best looking final fantasy at the time it came out.

I was just saying, what if Capcom did that with Megaman Legends, made everyting look more "real" and "believable." I mean, I love the cartoony graphics of Megaman Legends and I hope it continues on this way(if mml continues), but lets say Capcom decides to do something completely different i.e. like what they did with Resident Evil 4, improved the graphics, changed the gameplay to an awesome over-the-shoulder view for aiming your weapon allowing you to aim at enemy weakspots, etc.

Now, sorry for repeating myself, but what if Capcom wanted to do that with Megaman Legends 3. Change everything, graphics, gameplay, grown up characters(Roll, Megaman, Tron etc.), darker story(ie, Several years after MML2, Roll and company never got megaman off Elysium and all of Terra is suffering from the Elder system, while Megaman is still stranded, IDK, just an idea), cooler looking reaverbots (what staulmaster said)
Data looks like a gorilla(JK ). Would you be able to accept that... I am still unsure of the idea. Half of me says "hmmm something new and innovative" the other half "NO! Keep the cutesie graphics and original MML gameplay coming!" but this is just another wonder of Capcom's plans for MML (if there are any "plans")
Oh, and if in any case you're wondering where I got this idea from, I got it from Four's thread here: mmls.proboards7.com/index.cgi?board=fanart&action=display&n=1&thread=1570&page=6
Four's version of Megaman Volnutt looking mature just made me think...

[GustaffGlyde]

I’d say it’s a doubtful prospect, but even so, as long as we aren’t talking photorealism, it wouldn’t be too terrible. A change, yes, but once one got into the gameplay it would become more or less accepted, granted that the gameplay style itself was sustained (which is sort of what defined the game). Eh, and maybe even a photorealistic style would work, though I suspect realism just wouldn’t work well with the given character models, which tend to have the characteristic exaggerations and oddities of such a style. It would be more along the lines of whether they kept the light-hearted animated feel of the first or attempted a more detailed style (though not realistic, necessarily). No, graphics aren’t my specialty, thanks for asking.

Now, as for the actual question of what it’d be like if such were so, all I can say is it would be an interesting trip indeed. Although doubtful, it might prove a little interesting. After all, exploration played a big part in the first game, and, although to a lesser degree, the second game as well, so having a more realistic style for environments and reaverbots might not be so bad. Throw in some good ambience along with the realism and it’d accentuate the exploration quite nicely. Of course, all that might hopefully come in conjuncture with some more interesting and intricate ruins…

This leaves the characters, though. Some characters could make the transition with relative ease, while some would have to be redesigned just to save them from looking utterly ridiculous. As much as I hate to say it, a realistic Teisel just wouldn’t look too good in his armor; on the other hand, a realistic Barrel? One could only dream of such wonders... Ah, to only see that half-metallic cranium shining brightly in all its glory, and stare into those solid green, soulless eyes… Ahem, moving along, though…

Of course, thinking of Teisel, the same might apply to dear Trigger as well; his armor would most likely need a hefty redesigning just to make it not look quite so odd. I wouldn’t be opposed to that myself seeing as I’ve little care for the rest of the MM series; the sense of nostalgia meant to be invoked by the blue armor is simply lost on my senses and I’d do just as well exploring ruins as Teisel (hmm...), Barrel (actually…), or Juno (that’d be kind of cool…).

In the end, most of the characters could make the jump with the usual proportion fixing and hair smoothing, though a few might need their eyebrows clipped (No Barrel, don't do it!), but some, namely Yuna and Teisel, would need a bit of work before they could enter such a world.

Now, how this affects the storyline is another matter entirely. A realistic style lends itself quite nicely to dramatic events and dark, bleak worlds, but it does not do well with the light-hearted events found in the Legends series. Within Legends, although serious moments were certainly present, much of the game is meant to entertain, and so we have such personalities as Glyde and the Bonnes, people whose antics would seem a bit out of place in a world of realistic graphics. Of course it could be done, but the style just wouldn’t serve to bring out the comic tones as the more light-hearted style would. Now, if the story did become a dark one, which isn’t inconceivable, it might work, but it would lack that Legends feel.

So, although characters would survive, environments thrive, the storyline would suffer, though it could be made in a new image which would almost certainly necessitate the removal of much of the Legends charm which we’ve all come to know. Still, perhaps it could work, though I doubt it could do so with a truly (photo)realistic style.

Roll and Tron [would] both look more "womanly."...

Erm, you do know they’re just kids, right…? Besides, seeing as they didn’t hold back on Matilda, I’d assume they’re supposed to be that way if you’re talking about what I think you are.

Now, with all that out of the way, I’ve actually thought of another scenario that I might as well toss into the mix: What if Capcom finally got to the point of Legends in their progression through the various series and decided that, seeing as their side-scrolling formula has proven successful even into the modern era while Legends was essentially a failure to them, they decided to make the future installments of Legends in the same image as the X and Zero series? In other words, everything we knew was thrown out in favor of the gameplay of the rest of the MM series?

True, it’s doubtful such would occur for several reasons, but I wouldn’t put it past Capcom. At the very least, if they made something of a prequel series which, perhaps, followed the events of Trigger’s first incarnation, they might choose to make it in the image of old rather than that of Legends… Eh, Just something to think about.

[Dash]

Well, it probably will happen. Just not officially by Capcom. Megaboy, what you described is pretty much how my MML3 would look like. But my reasons for doing it in that way is that, although the graphics in MML1/2 were cool, none of us here are no longer children. Well...mentally.

Personally, I want a Mega Man game that's NOT for children. Catering to everyone just ticks me off, because the game isn't going to have what I want in it (yeah, I played too much Resident Evil as a child).

Now, Legends has a decent storyline, but to me...it lacks because some things just can't be expressed fully without a little kid being offended or influenced by the dialog. EVERY Mega Man game in existence is like this (and please don't get me started on the EXE series).

I'm altering the cartoony look to a more "real" and darker look because I'm catering to adults or people that want more out of the Legends series that they just can't get...at all. Yeah, I know that some of you don't like this idea or concept, but I think it's exciting. Of course, you wouldn't have to play it.

dreamerboy said:

I'm more concerned about what they might do with plot. What's MegaMan going to do this time..? He's saved an island, he's saved the world, what's next? The Galaxy? The Universe? ..another dimension? Seems hard to come up with a unique idea to top or match Legends 2's plot. .. but all of this is neither her nor there.

You must've not read my idea for an MML3.

[megaboy123]

Well, I hope your game doesn't become super bloody or gory, because to me that's just not MML. But, yeah I could understand boosting the game's esrb rating to a T(Teen) Where it has more mature material, but not enough to scare away kids.
Are you thinking of making a bloody version of legends Don't get me wrong, I would play it, but I wouldn't have that MML feel when I eventually do play it.

Also one of the main reasons I play legends is because it brings back childhood memories; memories long before I had worries about what college to go to, sports, girls, the teenage drama years lol It just gives me that feel of satisfaction I had when I was a kid

[Dash]

Well, with how the storyline is, the Omega System will use parts of Carbons and Parts of Revearbots to make Hybrids.

It's not shown in Legends (ever) that Carbons have blood. The only thing I can go off of is that Humans (me and you) are Cabon-based. If the people in the Legends series were based off of Humans and designed to be exactly like us (just named Carbons, instead since they're not real humans), then I have no other choice but to give the Carbons blood. But, because of the Hybrids, yeah...there will be blood.

But you should rest assured that the storyline is quite dark. Legends cartoony graphics just wouldn't fit the current storyline I have in mind...thus the change in graphics.

[megaboy123]

hmmm hybrids, that sounds interesting
Do u have any particualar name for these hybrids like "reavercarbs" lol

So are you planning to make this game or have you started to or is it just an idea that's been floating through your head. It sounds pretty cool.