Top 10 Cel-shaded Games

Taking art direction to another level.

 Cel-shading has been a popular visual feature of games in recent years. Prime examples include the well-known Borderlands games and TellTale's The Walking Dead game series. For the uninitiated, cel-shading, also known as toon shading, is a technique used by developers to give their games a cartoonish-based look with a heavy emphasis on shading. Essentially, it mimics the style of comic-books and cartoons, giving the object a sketch-based look. It's quite the opposite of the trending photorealistic graphics as it focuses more art design rather than realism. The process saw a rise during the sixth generation of games (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and Dreamcast), with titles such as Jet Set Radio and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker gaining popularity to their remarkable appearances. These past years saw the cel-shading technique continuing strong and for this Top 10, I'll be taking a look at games that pack some of the best uses of the cel-shading technique.

Okami (2006)

Beautiful is an understatement to

describe the art of Okami.

 A cult hit of the sixth gen. days, Okami was a game that showcased the capabilities of the PS2's power, even when it was approaching its final days. Okami heavy draws inspirations from Japanese-inspired art, as the narrative is based on classical Japanese mythology. Okami's cel-shaded visuals were excellent and something to marvel at back in 2006. The 2012 HD remaster provided additional color and clarity to the game, even though the original release still holds up well by today's standards. Most importantly, it also showcased the artistic creativity of developer Clover Studio.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003)

The HD treatment certainly gave Wind Waker

a significant boost, visually.

 This list wouldn't have been complete without mention of the GameCube classic, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Wind Waker was originally shunned by fans for its childish look after witnessing the more "realistic" E3 tech demo. However, Wind Waker has aged gracefully over the years due its colorful visuals and found a soft spot with the fans. The sea-based adventure remains memorable and engaging as it was years ago. It was made even better with the 2013 Wii U remaster, which added additional vibrancy to an otherwise great looking game.


Killer7 (2005)

Killer looks.

 Killer7 is often considered to be developer Suda51's best work. A gripping narrative with a macabre twist and on-rails hybrid first and third-person views made it a stand out game of the stellar library of  2005. One of Killer7's notable aspects was its use of cel-shading. While it hasn't aged as gracefully by today's standards, most of Suda's works don't do anyway, it's dark use of cel-shading complimented the dark atmosphere it was striving for and as a result worked well. A modern-day remaster would definitely help smooth out some of the game's rough edges.

Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- (2014)

Guilty Gear Xrd is bursting with style all-over.

  Developer Arc System Works' third main entry in the long-running Guilty Gear series boasted some of the most lavish and extraordinary use of the cel-shading technology this console generation. The eye-catching character sprites are a combination of both 2D and 3D that blend well with the game's visually charming aesthetic. The visuals are even more gorgeous when seen in the game's faced-paced, 60 FPS gameplay, Arc System are never strangers when it comes to a well thought-out presentation.


Jet Set Radio (2000)

Paint the town red.

 Many players would argue that Jet Set Radio singlehandedly popularized the use of cel-shading in games. They aren't wrong as Jet Set Radio is fondly remembered for its simplistic use of cel-shading combined with graffiti work, which further added to its vivid charm. It certainly showcased the ill-fated Dreamcast's graphical potential at the time and developed a cult following over the years as well, with many fans hoping that one day Sega would revive the long-dormant series.


MadWorld (2009)

Black, white, and a whole lot of red!

 Yet another cult classic, the ultraviolent MadWorld came as a surprise not due to its violent nature, but for the fact that it was released on Nintendo's family-friendly home console, the Nintendo Wii. Created by the staff of the defunct Clover Studio now called Platinum Games, MadWorld has players navigating through a broody premise with black and white cel-shaded visuals and a whole lot of blood. While the Wii was known to be graphically inferior compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3, MadWorld's blend of Sin City-inspired atmosphere and well-crafted cel-shaded visuals, helped it stand out against the competition and proved that sometimes a realized art-style can overcome raw graphical prowess.

Sly 2: Band of Thieves (2004)

The gang's still looking good.

 Before their work on the popular Infamous series, developer Sucker Punch was responsible for creating a stealth-based platformer series known as Sly Cooper. While the first game was great in its own right, it was Sly 2: Band of Thieves that excelled both mechanically and visually. Not only it had some of the best levels and pacing in the series but it boasted some charming cel-shaded visuals with a "Saturday-morning cartoon" feel. Sly 2 was one of the PS2's stylish games, for good reason.

Valkyria Chronicles (2008)

Sega's visually stylistic game yet.

 Valkyria Chronicles was a role-playing game with heavy influences on strategy. It was also one of those underappreciated gems of the PS3 days. Utilizing Sega's then-hyped CANVAS engine, Valkyria Chronicles delivered sharp, clean cel-shaded visuals on the PS3.  The character models and environments designs were stunning and remain stunning some 10 years later, they've also looked sharper than ever thanks to the enhanced remaster released years ago.

Tales of Symphonia (2003)

One of the purple box's impressive titles.

 The GameCube was home to classic JRPGs, one of them was none other than 2003's Tales of Symphonia. Packing a memorable cast and solid faced-paced gameplay, it remains a beloved titled with fans and a popular pick for newcomers as well. As with many Tales games, Symphonia featured colorful cel-shaded graphics alongside its deformed "chibi" character models that remain some of the best the GameCube had to offer, despite its limited graphical power. Symphonia's visuals carries a certain nostalgic charm to them, even if they've aged a bit.

Persona 5 (2017)

Atlus hits another stylish home run with Persona 5.

  A more recent entry on the list, developer Atlus' Persona 5 takes cel-shading to another level with its stylistic use of the technique. Taking queues from previous Persona games and 2011's Catherine, the team did a commendable job of handling the lighting, modeling, and shading of the characters and environments. It makes the player feel like they're playing an anime series, if that makes any sense. Persona 5's artistic choice of blending a cel-shaded anime art-style with the picaresque premise gives it a unique presence in a year filled with many visually captivating titles.