/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5078001
>Medieval and steampunk combined is not a game art style
that's an autistic way to look at Thief's visuals
>Assassin's Creed 2 doesn't have an art style no matter how much Italian Renaissance architecture is replicated in the game world. Same with Thief.
complete fucking idiot.

AC2 has a very distinctive art style, and hey since you can only notice color motifs in art styles, the way they use pure whites merged with bright reds (to contrast with the muted white and blue in the first game) and white bloom in select parts, the clothing and the UI definitely gives it its own style. Since you noticed geometric shapes for Human Revolution, AC2 constantly uses cool patterns for the UI, and the 'animus glitches' often show up in the game world such as when you swing your sword, important stuff is always shining white, etc. When photorealism is favored, the art style isn't as in-your-face so simpletons like you can't just say "aha! it's cel-shaded!" or whatever. It's there, but it's in the smaller things, the color balance of the ambiance light in various environments, lighting values in day-night cycles. It's still stylized even if it's aiming for photorealism.

Thief also absolutely has an artstyle in-game that is conveyed through its worldbuilding and lighting and watching it go from medieval gothic,(yes, architecture is also art you pleb) arcane and macabre to steampunk victorian is great. Like someone here mentioned, the game has noir inspirations too and it shows.