Hi Guys,
I got a lot personal questions I would like to share with you to better decide…
Look closely at the original art of those games listed below, do they seem to you:
a) cartoon
b) realistic
c) stylized (cartoon w realistic elements)
d) I prefer full 2D
e) i prefer full 3D with same camera views
f) all needs to be 4K
Beneath a Steel Sky
Simon the Sorcerer
Legend of Kyrandia
Sam & Max
Monkey Island 1
Monkey Island 2
Lure of the Temptress
The Dig
IJ Last Crusade
Wow, I played them all apart Simon the Sorcerer and Legend of Kyrandia.
Anyway
P. S. It is very difficult to decide because pixel art has its own aesthetics (especially in number 5 and 9).
I can see all in 4K … very easy to do, but lots of data comes with it, HW crying.
Beneath a Steel Sky looks like 85% realistic and 15% stylized characters. Full 2D is probably best solution.
Simon the Sorcerer and Legend of Kyrandia could be 50% realistic and 50% stylized characters. Full 3D version, could be cool.
Sam&Max 1 could be 85% stylized and 15% fully cartoon characters. Full 3D version.
Monkey Island 1 and 2, Lure of the Temptress looks like 75% realistic and 25% stylized characters. Full 3D version.
The Dig is 100% realistic and full 3D version would look cool.
IJ Last Crusade would be like IJ FOASE, which is 90% realistic and 10% stylized characters
not all games deserve full 3D because of complexity and possible issues, but if its done right,…it could work both ways.
It’s hard to say, I like pixel-art and it’s hard to imagine I would prefer another version.
Especially Simon the Sorcerer has great pixel graphics!
Regarding Sam&Max: cartoonish graphics fits fine and the Telltale Games IMHO show it works great in full 3D.
Imagine the best and the most beautiful way… like you could use anybody in the world to produce it.
Sam&Max from Telltale doesnt have a good 3D, its …“OK”…but it could be much much better with all engine features today.
I think it looks good because it doesn’t try and doesn’t need to be realistic, Sam&Max works with cartoon style with simple shapes and a simple 3D engine. This certainly wouldn’t work with The Dig.
What is the question? It seems to me d) to f) are possible answers to another question (like if there would be a remake of this, what kind of art direction would you prefer?), while a) to c) is what you asked : how does the original art style look like?
Anyway:
The Dig is the only one that comes across as realistic, perhaps the background of Simon the sorceror too.
On the other side of the spectrum, Sam&Max and MI2 have a clear cartoon feel.
All the rest is in that middle category, even though I still get the same feeling about Kyrandia when seeing that ridiculous number of green shades used in the grass -which gave the game a very “realistic” super-HD feel back in the days. But that’s probably only the nostalgia talking.
I agree with @Sushi but would put BASS and Indy more in the realistic category.
I have mix feelings about remakes, specially if there is a major change in the art style.
The Dig is the only one that comes across as realistic - agree
the background of Simon the sorceror too - agree
**Sam&Max cartoon - agre
MI2 cartoon - disgree, MI2 character doesnt look cartoon at all. stylized backgrounds and realistic characters is more like it.
Kyrandia, very “realistic” super-HD - agree
Beneath also look very realistic…btw
Ah. Sorry. It wasn’t clear to me what you were asking. I thought you wanted to get some opinions, but apparently you just wanted to tell other people what is the absolute truth. Point taken. 
He just told you his opinion too. 
I also think MI2 being more cartoony because although the backgrounds looking realistic they have this painting-feel to them and also the characters often act cartoony.
All need to be remade with filmed actors digitized along with full motion video for cutscenes, like Christopher Lloyd in Toonstruck -
Ok, let me rephrase. I thought he wanted to have our thoughts (“to better decide”, “do they seem to you”), because he was facing a dillema which kind of remake art style fits best for which kind of original art style (I guess, as still now the original post question is superfluous). If he had already clearly made up his mind (up to the level of expressing things like art style in percentages), why bother asking in the first place?
Anyway, the post showed backgrounds. Only backgrounds. So then disagreeing because of the character in MI2, just underlines the feeling he was out to start a disagreement. Opposed to trying to collect inputs for art direction.
I still think MI2 (backgrounds) is more cartoon-style due to its use of saturated colors and (very) slight warping of perspectives (which was taken to whole new levels in DoTT). And also Guybrush looks more cartooney in MI2 than in MI. To me. I probably grew up reading and watching different kind of cartoons.
And to “answer” options d) to f), I like the art in all these games just the way they were. Or I just don’t care for remakes when the original still plays fine. 4K is a (ridiculously high) resolution, by the way, which is not mutually exclusive to either 2D or 3D. It is mutually exclusive to my PC though 
I think so too.
I see no reason why he couldn’t change his mind.
I like them too that way, I’d prefer a new game/story over 1:1 remakes.
Agreed, but still it all felt like that old joke :
“Excuse me. Do you know where the train station is?”
“Sorry, no”
“Well, you go straight ahead here, then take the second street on your right and then…”
I fully agree on that. New games with new contents use to be more interesting.
There have been some nice remakes, such as the MI SEs, but the style is totally different from the originals.
I don’t remember any remake which attracted me more than the original. I just like the feeling of playing THE original game. The examples above were released with contemporary artworks back then, so they just have patina nowadays, rather than being withered.
By the way, I agree that some animations in MI 2 are quite cartoonish. Also, I don’t think that the general style of the artworks was realistic. It reminds me too much of paintings.
I can’t but think that we played those games when they were quite “new”, or more generally speaking when their style was still perceived as new or at least contemporary, not outdated, by (part of) younger generations.
So I can’t but agree with you all when you say you like the original style more.
But what about new users? People that weren’t born when we played those games? Maybe the target of such remake operations is aimed at them. Don’t you think so? I’m not saying that I agree with that, I simply can’t express a firm opinion about remakes (even if I personally don’t like them particularly as said before).
I didn´t live through the 50s. Yet when I have the choice between seeing a movie from that time in black and white or a colorized version, I instantly will go for the original.
That’s true. People who have grown up with more recent games might prefer the remakes in most cases. When I read the comments on the dev blog or in these forums, I noticed sometimes that there are exceptions, but those might be a minority.
Unfortunately, the entire (point & click) adventure games genre seems to be a niche in general. For this reason, I guess that Ron ought to consider a more modern art style next time in order to make enough money.
I have the same opinion on silent movies. Most remakes are done just because the original was very successful. But, in most cases, the original movie (or game) was successful for very particular reasons, which cannot be recreated by just making a remake.
