The Video Game Art Style That Divides EVERY Gamer

Pixel Art: Not As Simple As It Seems

Following on from that point, it's undeniable that pixel art is often taken to mean simple art. This can be the case and the minimalistic approach is sometimes emphasized as far as possible (in classic titles like Snake, for instance, the peak of gaming in the Nokia 3210 era), but pixel art has also been pushed much further.

With the retro style being so common, developers are having to push the limits further and further. One great example is The Game Kitchen’s Blasphemous, a grim and gothic 2D Metroidvania that is heavily influenced by Spanish culture and religious imagery. To the untrained eye, the game’s visuals may seem rather simple, but the separate layers to the backgrounds, sublime animation and the sheer amount of detail make it a stunning (if grotesque) title.

On the subject of animation, this is another key to pixel art’s success. Having less to work with, the games must work harder to give characters and their actions life. This is seen in titles such as Stardew Valley, Crypt of the Necrodancer and Dead Cells, each of which bring their unique worlds to life in their own charming ways.

A lovingly crafted pixel art game that brings its own ideas to the table can absolutely find a place in players’ hearts, but titles such as Blasphemous had so much pressure to look as beautifully eerie as it does largely because it may have been passed over otherwise.

The fact is, a lot of gamers simply won’t be wowed by the retro-inspired aesthetic that seems inherent to pixel art, regardless of the fact that these titles can be deceptively sophisticated from both a visual and gameplay standpoint.