Not only does pixel art have creative implications, it also opens new doors for how games are made, says Medeiros' colleague Maddy Thorson, who rose to prominence as the writer and designer of Celeste. "It's not a feeling that our games want to convey." So Medeiros intentionally avoids relying on nostalgia when designing game visuals. While some players might experience the feeling because of their gaming history, many other players weren't even alive during the 8-bit era that inspired its visuals, resulting in a very different reaction. "It's undeniable that pixel art games evoke nostalgia," Medeiros admits, "even modern ones." But any nostalgia in Celeste is more of a happy accident than intentional, he says. Artists like Medeiros and Neofotistou-who has established novel techniques during her long career-are continuing to push the boundaries of what gamers expect from modern pixel art. "I feel some games use nostalgia almost as a crutch," Medeiros says, explaining that he believes pixel art can become disassociated with nostalgia to create new experiences. Right now, the tidal forces pulling at pixel art are nostalgia (which is “marketable to adults with disposable income who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s,” according to Neofotistou), its relative affordability, and the desire among pixel artists and fans to recognize it as a legitimate modern medium. As a medium, pixel art's usage will ebb and flow in the same way oil paints might give way to watercolors depending on popular trends. This can be seen just by comparing screenshots of Celeste and Eastward-both are pixel art, but the tone, texture, and visual impact of each is uniquely defined by its creators. It's the artists themselves that bring style. The presiding point from both Medeiros and Neofotistou is that pixel art is not a style, but a broad artistic medium. Twenty-five years after Sony and Nintendo tried to kill it, it's proving popular not just for its nostalgic appeal but as a platform for modern gaming experiences. Over the past decade, pixel art has experienced a renaissance thanks to the popularity of indie-developed games like Celeste and Eastward. It's no longer about technical compromise and limitations, but a flourishing art form inextricably tied to video games. But while many of these games look like they could have been released on the Super NES or Sega Genesis, they offer more complex graphics and gameplay than those systems could ever handle.īut how does a quirky pixel art game like Eastward make such an impression in an industry obsessed with horsepower and realism? These games see pixel art as more than a relic of the past. It joins Extremely OK Games' puzzle-platformer Celeste and Eric Barone's mega-hit farming simulator Stardew Valley (also published by Chucklefish) in a rapidly growing club of video games tapping into nostalgia with high-end pixel art graphics and a retro aesthetic. "What Eastward does best is create a world that feels like the games we played growing up,” my brother said after the game’s September 2021 release. But most of all, I was wowed by its gorgeous, highly detailed environments constructed entirely of pixel art. After its 2018 reveal, I was immediately drawn to the game’s Zelda-like adventure elements, unusually colorful post-apocalyptic narrative, and motley crew of characters. Playing Chucklefish's Eastward is like coming home to a place I've never been before.
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