The visuals or graphics of a game are its most important aspect to the modern gamer, as demonstrated by various surveys time and again. However, while most developers these days focus on realism and details, there is a special kind of art-style that was once much respected but now is being forgotten. I’m talking about cell-shaded graphics, seen in the likes of Zelda, Borderlands and also a lesser known game, Prince of Persia (2008). I’m going to use shots from the latter to demonstrate how gorgeous games that leverage cell-shaded graphics can really be. Ubisoft may have killed the franchise, but its remnants are too good to be forgotten.
Prince of Persia (2008) was a full-fledged AAA game that included a stellar cast and a big budget, and to be fair did rather well but Ubisoft found out it was more profitable to reskin the same game (Assassins’ Creed) every year and get a shit-ton of money by selling it over and over again. So here we are after more than a decade with no sequel and another beloved franchise down the crapper. Anyway, here are the screenshots, a link to uncompressed 4K versions is included at the end of this post:
I’ve also included some of the best artworks from the game at the end. As for the uncompressed 4K versions. Here you go!
Further reading: