Tip_of_the_Hat
Member
So I recently looked into the thread concerning Death Strandings (Hideo Kojimas latest "masterpiece") box art and I gotta say the quality in box arts overall has really deteriorated over the years. Sure there are some good ones but it seems that with everything going digital, the companies are getting less and less interesting and stylish. So I thought I'd try and see what others compare as their opinions on some bad and good box arts. Come on have a go, I'll start. (btw, opinions not fact) thread that inspired this one
The Bad:
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Look, I'm excited for the game, it comes out in a couple of days and I already got it on pre-order. If I had the extra money I'd definitely be buying that special edition because at least I'd get a more udnerstanding cover of this game, why? Well, the arts good, I like the style but theres a few things that make this cover a bit of an eyesore
1. The avatars: I know this games avatars will have a higher importance to the story than previous games avatars but their designs, whilst nice on their own are really bland in comparison with the three lords, the colours just clash in a way that I don't like. Oh yeah, speaking of the lords...
2. Lords: Okay, so they're all looking off somewhere off screen (except for the big trouble maker, but we'll get to him), apparently because there is something really interesting there that we can't see (wish I could). Also why are their weapons glowing those colours in the center, I know they each have a colour to represent their houses colour but it just looks 'eh'. And then finally...
3. Claude: Okay so for those who don't know, the yellow lords name is Claude and for all those thinking of the question, I'll ask it for you... WHY IS HE UPSIDE DOWN!? I mean why? Does he think it's funny? Because it's not. It's weird.
Other than those complaints I don't really have any complaints, in fact there are things I like, such as the previously mentioned art style and also I like the blue hue they used in it. Now onto the next one...
Death Stranding
Okay so I am pretty excited for this game, not gonna lie. I am awaiting it's release with a pre-order on standby for when it comes out. Buuuuuuuuuutttt....
Kojima, my man, we know you like movies and we know you like your good ol' buddy and friend Norman Reedus. You've probably maxed out your social link with him in the past months and this is what came out (that might be how we finally got footage) but why is the box art for your game so 'meh'. I mean there's nothing exactly wrong or bad with this but it just lacks the oomph that your previous covers had, need I bring up the stellar art done by Yoji Shinkawa. Although saying that I actually more prefer your penguin adventure box art to this. At least I won't associate Norman Reedus with Penguin Adventure whenever I look at it's cover. Although I can definitely say I like the font he's got, gives me goosebumps, at least it would if I saw it as spooky but I can at least see that it's trying something menacing with it. Although I put this here because it just came out and was lacking in longevity IMO, it's not the worst box art I've ever seen. Nah, I got something even better (worse?) for that
Silent Hill
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT IS THAT!? WHAT IS THAT MONSTROSITY!? This ladies and gentlemen is the Silent Hill box art. I think this image speaks for itself on how bad it is. Its got clearly definable characters but... how is this acceptable. This is disgusting. I want it to burn. That's it. No more, no less.
Well that wraps it up on my few pics for bad box arts so let's get onto some of my favourites (So in writing this up I realised I might have picked on Konami a little much there, so I'll try and have a go at rectifying that. Doesn't fix their bad box arts but at least it can show that someone competent worked there)
The Good:
Zone of the Enders
Okay, so I will admit this right from the get go, this is not my favourite example of Z.O.E box art, that still goes to the ones done by Yoji Shinkawa, but I think we should sometimes pay attention to the little guys sometimes, so here is the Z.O.E 1 box art for ps2 (without the logo for the MGS2 demo because come on, who got that game for the box art alone). I must say I love the colours and shading used in this. The way the reds and blues clash on the mech that is Jehuty. It's so cool. SO COOL. This box art got me hyped to play this game, it just screamed awesome. Of course the game that this box art belongs to is very lacking. Just go play the second one, it's way better. But this will still be the sickest box art to get me into this series. Also that logo. So cool.
Okami (replaceables, ignore that third one)
Okay, so this one is kind of funny with why. So basically back in the day, for the WII release of Okami, the box art that they released was ripped from IGN's website and reused, so when the copies were bought by people, they all had the IGN logo on the boxart, it's slightly faded but I remember it clean as day, so they had a program where you could get some sick Okami box art replacement sent to you, all simply by putting in an order on the site. There's an old thread on NeoGAF here so I'll link it, Okami Box Art Replacement thread. So anyway, my box art of choice here is the one with the fight against Waka. The ones where Amaterasu was all neutral in her stance were a little dull, still beautiful, but lacked character in its characters. The fight with Waka though, look at it. That's all I need to say.
You know, I feel I've given too much attention to the eastern game box arts here so lets have a the last look be a great western game box art.
DOOM (switch)
Now I'm certain I'm unoriginal in this opinion, in fact I'd hesitate to say it's an opinion with the amount of people siding the one way, but the original DOOM 2016 box art was a stanced man and that was it, hte only character it had was the one standing an blocking our view of his world and all we could tell was that he looked big and bulky. Then come the Nintendo Switch and it's port and I was expecting the same, after all, game devs nowadays don't care about giving us a nice way to see what the game is like through box art, they'd rather we just play their game, not caring if in 3 years their game wound up blending in with all the store shelves, but lo and behold, this lovely specimen emerges. Ah, it's too beautiful I just can't stare without drooling. What's DOOM about? Killing Demons. Where do you kill demons? In Hell. What does this box art tell me about this game? I'M ABOUT TO GO KILLING DEMONS IN HELL... WITH A COOL SHOTGUN. It's just great, nothing less but maybe something more.
That's it. It was mainly a way to start the thread, that's why I tried to pick some well known and pretty damn good games to start those minds working. I want to hear more on all your opinions, give me something that I don't know exists. I want to be wowed. Show me some out of field picks. Try to be original, unlike me who just complains that all box arts are just non-descript men with guns on the cover.
The Bad:
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Look, I'm excited for the game, it comes out in a couple of days and I already got it on pre-order. If I had the extra money I'd definitely be buying that special edition because at least I'd get a more udnerstanding cover of this game, why? Well, the arts good, I like the style but theres a few things that make this cover a bit of an eyesore
1. The avatars: I know this games avatars will have a higher importance to the story than previous games avatars but their designs, whilst nice on their own are really bland in comparison with the three lords, the colours just clash in a way that I don't like. Oh yeah, speaking of the lords...
2. Lords: Okay, so they're all looking off somewhere off screen (except for the big trouble maker, but we'll get to him), apparently because there is something really interesting there that we can't see (wish I could). Also why are their weapons glowing those colours in the center, I know they each have a colour to represent their houses colour but it just looks 'eh'. And then finally...
3. Claude: Okay so for those who don't know, the yellow lords name is Claude and for all those thinking of the question, I'll ask it for you... WHY IS HE UPSIDE DOWN!? I mean why? Does he think it's funny? Because it's not. It's weird.
Other than those complaints I don't really have any complaints, in fact there are things I like, such as the previously mentioned art style and also I like the blue hue they used in it. Now onto the next one...
Death Stranding
Okay so I am pretty excited for this game, not gonna lie. I am awaiting it's release with a pre-order on standby for when it comes out. Buuuuuuuuuutttt....
Kojima, my man, we know you like movies and we know you like your good ol' buddy and friend Norman Reedus. You've probably maxed out your social link with him in the past months and this is what came out (that might be how we finally got footage) but why is the box art for your game so 'meh'. I mean there's nothing exactly wrong or bad with this but it just lacks the oomph that your previous covers had, need I bring up the stellar art done by Yoji Shinkawa. Although saying that I actually more prefer your penguin adventure box art to this. At least I won't associate Norman Reedus with Penguin Adventure whenever I look at it's cover. Although I can definitely say I like the font he's got, gives me goosebumps, at least it would if I saw it as spooky but I can at least see that it's trying something menacing with it. Although I put this here because it just came out and was lacking in longevity IMO, it's not the worst box art I've ever seen. Nah, I got something even better (worse?) for that
Silent Hill
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT IS THAT!? WHAT IS THAT MONSTROSITY!? This ladies and gentlemen is the Silent Hill box art. I think this image speaks for itself on how bad it is. Its got clearly definable characters but... how is this acceptable. This is disgusting. I want it to burn. That's it. No more, no less.
Well that wraps it up on my few pics for bad box arts so let's get onto some of my favourites (So in writing this up I realised I might have picked on Konami a little much there, so I'll try and have a go at rectifying that. Doesn't fix their bad box arts but at least it can show that someone competent worked there)
The Good:
Zone of the Enders
Okay, so I will admit this right from the get go, this is not my favourite example of Z.O.E box art, that still goes to the ones done by Yoji Shinkawa, but I think we should sometimes pay attention to the little guys sometimes, so here is the Z.O.E 1 box art for ps2 (without the logo for the MGS2 demo because come on, who got that game for the box art alone). I must say I love the colours and shading used in this. The way the reds and blues clash on the mech that is Jehuty. It's so cool. SO COOL. This box art got me hyped to play this game, it just screamed awesome. Of course the game that this box art belongs to is very lacking. Just go play the second one, it's way better. But this will still be the sickest box art to get me into this series. Also that logo. So cool.
Okami (replaceables, ignore that third one)
Okay, so this one is kind of funny with why. So basically back in the day, for the WII release of Okami, the box art that they released was ripped from IGN's website and reused, so when the copies were bought by people, they all had the IGN logo on the boxart, it's slightly faded but I remember it clean as day, so they had a program where you could get some sick Okami box art replacement sent to you, all simply by putting in an order on the site. There's an old thread on NeoGAF here so I'll link it, Okami Box Art Replacement thread. So anyway, my box art of choice here is the one with the fight against Waka. The ones where Amaterasu was all neutral in her stance were a little dull, still beautiful, but lacked character in its characters. The fight with Waka though, look at it. That's all I need to say.
You know, I feel I've given too much attention to the eastern game box arts here so lets have a the last look be a great western game box art.
DOOM (switch)
Now I'm certain I'm unoriginal in this opinion, in fact I'd hesitate to say it's an opinion with the amount of people siding the one way, but the original DOOM 2016 box art was a stanced man and that was it, hte only character it had was the one standing an blocking our view of his world and all we could tell was that he looked big and bulky. Then come the Nintendo Switch and it's port and I was expecting the same, after all, game devs nowadays don't care about giving us a nice way to see what the game is like through box art, they'd rather we just play their game, not caring if in 3 years their game wound up blending in with all the store shelves, but lo and behold, this lovely specimen emerges. Ah, it's too beautiful I just can't stare without drooling. What's DOOM about? Killing Demons. Where do you kill demons? In Hell. What does this box art tell me about this game? I'M ABOUT TO GO KILLING DEMONS IN HELL... WITH A COOL SHOTGUN. It's just great, nothing less but maybe something more.
That's it. It was mainly a way to start the thread, that's why I tried to pick some well known and pretty damn good games to start those minds working. I want to hear more on all your opinions, give me something that I don't know exists. I want to be wowed. Show me some out of field picks. Try to be original, unlike me who just complains that all box arts are just non-descript men with guns on the cover.
