I know I’ll get downvoted to hell for this even though I’m literally posting the kind of stuff Unpopular Opinion is here for, but so be it.
I can’t even make out the faces most of the time in BotW. Just look at the screenshots for yourself. And it always bugged me just how featureless and uninteresting Link’s face looked, especially his eyes. Compare it to literally any other Link’s face (in-game for 3D, artwork for 2D).
In contrast, Pokémon XY had really good cel-shading for the Pokémon during battles. I was honestly impressed that a 3DS could have such a high polygon count and such clean, clear cel-shading lines and colors during its battles. For some odd reason, I have not seen such clean cel-shading before or since.
I would also like to say that Skyward Sword on the Wii had a much cleaner, more detailed, more beautiful look than Breath of the Wild did, and I will die with those words.
It just goes to show you that there is simply no replacement for good art direction— raw power and long draw distance aren’t enough.
I don’t really like the art style of cel shading in games anyway. I’ll play Borderlands and the like, but it’s not my first choice of art style. That’s probably why I don’t have strong feelings about any particular implementation.
I mean, there are different kinds of cel-shading. There aren’t a lot of games that really capture the look of traditional animation— but it’s totally possible. Hypothetically-speaking, would you have liked a game that looked like gorgeous traditional animation à la Disney or Don Bluth? (Don Bluth made The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, The Secret of NIMH, etc.)
Yes! When the tech is to that level I’ll be on board! I pumped way too many quarters into Dragons Lair as a kid so I guess the appreciation is buried in me somewhere.