Some followers are expressing some confusion after seeing the newest gameplay footage from Eclipse Glow Video games’ Tides of Annihilation, which options some distinct graphical adjustments that have been made to its predominant character’s face.
Tides of Annihilation has skilled just a few large adjustments during the last month. In mid-July, acclaimed voice actress Jennifer English introduced she was abdicating the position of the sport’s predominant character, Gwendolyn, citing issues surrounding her psychological and bodily well being.
And in mid-August, Eclipse Glow Video games confirmed off 40 minutes of uninterrupted gameplay footage, giving us one of probably the most in-depth appears on the title we’ve seen up to now… however not everybody was pleased with what they noticed.
Whereas impressions of the sport’s fight, exploration, and general artwork path have been extraordinarily optimistic, the obvious adjustments to Gwendolyn’s facial design have been met with equal elements confusion and frustration. Commenters throughout social media urged builders to revert these visible adjustments, which boasts noticeably completely different facial options and a softer graphical look.
“Why are they altering the character mannequin? Appears silly and an enormous waste of cash,” one wrote on X.
“Why does the newer one look a lot worse? This is not an important signal,” one other mentioned.
“She nonetheless appears actually good however it did really feel kinda completely different after I noticed it… I assumed they’d downgraded graphics or one thing,” one other questioned on YouTube.
Fortunately, Eclipse Glow Video games addressed these issues in a Q&A, with lead recreation producer Fu Kun explaining why Gwendolyn regarded so completely different on this most up-to-date gameplay footage than in earlier trailers.
“Probably the most mentioned subject amongst gamers proper now could be that the protagonist’s face appears a bit off. Is it as a result of they used CG earlier than, however this time they used real-time rendering?” a reporter at Recreation Tea Home requested.
“Really, the earlier PV additionally used real-time rendering. The feminine lead’s face form is constant within the newest PV and the present demo. It is simply that we needed it to be smoother in phrases of lighting optimization , so there are some variations and imperfections within the facial rendering. In fact, this model could have been a bit rushed, and we are going to additional optimize the facial rendering below lighting later,” Fu Kun answered.
He additionally shed some mild on the studio’s targets to mix components of each Japanese and Western design within the recreation’s characters.
“First, for instance, in phrases of character design, we prioritized aesthetics which are acceptable to each Easterners and Westerners, and we made a complete fusion of each. The remainder could be issues that the crew feels notably proud of about Chinese language tradition — such because the Martial Saint, a consultant of Japanese chivalry, or a consultant of our conventional Chinese language tradition. Such a personality would positively be offered to everybody as Gwen’s grasp,” he mentioned.
Tides of Annihilation doesn’t but have an official launch date, although it guarantees to launch someday “quickly.” Within the meantime, there’s been rampant speculation that the actress who has changed Jennifer English — at her advice — is none apart from Angela Sant’Albano, the voice of Grace Ashcroft in Resident Evil Requiem.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s Information Editor. With ten years of expertise reporting on video games and leisure, she’s obtained a storied background within the preventing recreation group, influencer information, and viral on-line tendencies. Discover her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.