How important are and RPG's aesthetics to you?

[Reynard]

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. It is pretty common for me to find the description of a game intriguing but then to be turned off by its aesthetics, whether that is the over-the-top grimpunk of Mork Borg, or the cutesy cartoon art of like 50% of 5E Kickstarters these days. Andof course aesthetic that I like will get me to look at stuff I might have otherwise skipped: Shadowdark's old-school reminiscent art, or the beautiful and unique style of Dragonbane (even if there are anthro races).

How important are a game's aesthetics to you? Not so much quality of art -- although that might be a factor -- but more style, theme and mood of the art? Have you ever been completely turned off by a game's art style even though it was otherwise something you might like? Or the opposite: has a game's art style so intrigued you that you gave a game a chance even though the actual system or play loop of theme of the game is something you would not have liked?

 

[TwoSix]

Break! RPG, with its JRPG crossed with Miyazaki vibes, pretty much sold me with its art.

 

[eyeheartawk]

How important are a game's aesthetics to you? Not so much quality of art -- although that might be a factor -- but more style, theme and mood of the art? Have you ever been completely turned off by a game's art style even though it was otherwise something you might like?

100%. I can't stand CGI Poser generated art. It makes everything look cheap and terrible. I won't touch all those Cepheus modules that use it. Same thing with New Comet Games. They make some good CoC campaigns but when they switched to terrible CG art I noped outta there. I mean, look at this.

Or the opposite: has a game's art style so intrigued you that you gave a game a chance even though the actual system or play loop of theme of the game is something you would not have liked?

Also, yeah. Like, I really dug the aesthetic of Myriad Song with its heavy Incal Moebius vibes. I wouldn't have touched an Albedo adjacent game in a million years otherwise.

 

[Juxtapozbliss]

I enjoy the art. But in the end it’s irrelevant to me. I want a good rule system, good world building and VTT integration to make play easier, since I only play online.

I’ll go even further…I read only PDFs and I read them in dark mode because it’s easier on my eyes. In most cases, in dark mode, the images in the PDF are reversed out! I just zoom past them to read the content.

 

[eyeheartawk]

Break! RPG, with its JRPG crossed with Miyazaki vibes, pretty much sold me with its art.

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I backed this too since I love JRPGs. But I wonder if the commitment holds throughout the leveling process. Like, for high level characters do they have art of their characters hovering in outer space, shadowed by a galaxy fighting the end-villain who is a god that appeared out of nowhere? I would deeply respect it if that were the case.

 

[payn]

It's a factor for sure, but not the most important one. I love Traveller and have been on board with Mongoose. The art back in '09 was pretty sparse and inconsistent. It did cleave close to the original classic Traveller and I appreciated that. The artwork now has been getting more intricate and has color, which has improved first impressions, but changed the old school feel slightly.

I really like FFG/Edge and Free League stuff because they use font and aesthetics so well that its easy to immerse myself in the material. On the other hand, it's often very difficult to read because of the font and color usage for these old eyes of mine.

The quick hits; 4E art was not to my taste, making the decision not to convert to the world's most popular RPG an even easier one. I picked up Anima because the artwork was so dynamic, but its complex and I doubt I will ever meet someone who wants to play it.

 

[Aldarc]

Break! RPG, with its JRPG crossed with Miyazaki vibes, pretty much sold me with its art.

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Incidentally, the art and classes turned me off a bit, and I can't quite put my finger on why. In contrast, I love the art of Fabula Ultima.

I backed this too since I love JRPGs. But I wonder if the commitment holds throughout the leveling process. Like, for high level characters do they have art of their characters hovering in outer space, shadowed by a galaxy fighting the end-villain who is a god that appeared out of nowhere? I would deeply respect it if that were the case.

There is in the High Fantasy Atlas for Fabula Ultima.

 

[TwoSix]

Incidentally, the art and classes turned me off a bit, and I can't quite put my finger on why. In contrast, I love the art of Fabula Ultima.

Yea, I know our aesthetic preferences have been fairly aligned on a lot of threads, but I guess we can't agree on everything.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Have you ever been completely turned off by a game's art style even though it was otherwise something you might like?

Mork Borg and everything trying to look like it. I'd include White Wolf's Hol and Adventure and Atlas's sole supplement for Over the Edge, but in those cases it's less actual art and more extremely impractical font and/or contrast choices.

Or the opposite: has a game's art style so intrigued you that you gave a game a chance even though the actual system or play loop of theme of the game is something you would not have liked?

Mayfair's Underground. Skyrealms of Jorune. Pretty much all things related to Tekumel, although the actual Barker stuff is dead to me now. Weirdly, AvHill's Lords of Creation - not because the art was good, but because it was so bad it made me curious. For real irony, I'd rate LoC as the most actually playable/teachable of the bunch. Again, not good, but playable.

EDIT: Oh, how could I forget - SpaceMaster. Interior art was nothing special either way, but those covers sucked me in but good.

 

[billd91]

Interesting question. While it seems kind of superficial, judging by the appearance rather than the substance, a well-done aesthetic helps set the tone and mood. It's like the score playing behind the scenes of a movie. If it's well done, it enhances what you're watching even if you don't consciously notice it. But if it is a poor fit or is absent, you'll notice. A game's aesthetic does much the same, at least as a first and major impression.
There are definitely games I've avoided because of their aesthetic. Mörk Borg is one of them. Every time I've picked up a copy to look through it at a convention table, it has annoyed the f___ out of me. Not just turned me off, actually annoyed me.