2024 TechRaptor Awards – Greatest Visible Design

Pixels positive seemed good in 2024, did not they? We have been a couple of years faraway from all of AAA simply having to give attention to realism in graphics, and the outcomes of which have been superior. The artwork course from these huge and small has been stellar, with 2024 being no totally different.

Listed below are the nominees for TechRaptor’s 2024 Greatest Visible Design for excellent, cohesive aesthetic.

Astro Bot
Closing Fantasy VII Rebirth
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Neva
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Try right here for our different award classes.

Third Place – Neva

Developer: Nomada Studio | Launch Date: October fifteenth, 2024

Written by Andrew Otton

To today, Gris stays some of the lovely video games ever made (successful this award in 2018), so it is no shock to see the subsequent sport from Nomada Studio on this record both. 

Neva is stuffed with lovely hand-drawn artwork and animations that place you in a fantastical world impressed largely by Studio Ghibli works. It’s hanging, evocative, and makes use of clear strains and clear flat photos to make it simple to see precisely what’s on the display screen.

It feels cliche to make this assertion, however each body of Neva seems like its personal piece of distinctive, beautiful artwork. That’s an unbelievable feat, as when that phrase is used for one thing like movie, the creator controls the digicam. Right here, we get to shift focus and transfer round at will. So it is fairly the testomony that Nomada was in a position to make each piece of Neva so enrapturing. 

Second Place – Closing Fantasy VII Rebirth

Developer: Sq. Enix | Launch Date: February twenty ninth, 2024

Written by Robert Scarpinito

Closing Fantasy VII Remake set the stage for an unbelievable retelling of a legendary JRPG, dutifully recreating Midgard in superb element. Nevertheless, everybody knew the subsequent steps past Midgard could be huge; would Rebirth be capable of to reside as much as the hype?

Sq. Enix delivered, bringing its world to life in gorgeous magnificence, lush colours, and vibrant environments. Inexperienced plains, rocky canyons, dusty deserts, all populated with lived-in cities that dot the panorama. And in case you’ve entered and explored Gold Saucer, I needn’t inform simply how breathtaking and overwhelming that place is.

The character fashions are additionally price noting right here. Cloud and the remainder of the celebration, together with Sephiroth, all feel and appear as iconic as they did within the ’90s, however with modern-day particulars and prospers. They’ve aptitude, and their character fashions are simply among the many finest on this semi-realistic animated model.

Winner – Metaphor: ReFantazio

Developer: Atlus | Launch Date: October eleventh, 2024

Written by Austin Suther

Is Metaphor: Refantazio a graphically spectacular sport? No, not notably. So why, then, did it win finest visible design? Working on the identical engine as Persona 5 and Catherine, it’s a dated engine, little question. It’s what Studio Zero does with these limitations that’s spectacular.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a masterclass in UI design. It has a visible aptitude to it that solely Atlus video games appear to seize. Its Renaissance-esque model matches its vibrant and magical setting. 

Character portraits are one other spotlight; they’re extremely well-drawn and convey Metaphor’s solid of characters to life, making up for what the graphics lack. 

Check out a few of Metaphor’s “Human” designs, too, and also you’ll see inspiration from Hieronymus Bosch, a real-life painter. The designs translate splendidly into the sport and create an unmatched and undeniably distinguished model.