comments on art work

[Waelkman]

I have spent a lot of time looking at the art work while something is loading.

 

One of the scenes has four people in the foreground and some kind of eye-monster-with-tentacles in the background.  There is implied combat in this scene, but the four people in front are all facing away from the central eye and are each maintaining a static pose,  holding something but not actually using it.  The effect is of a group photo, in which all five participants have been told to hold still.  There is no dynamic, no tension, no sense of action.

 

Another scene has four people in the lower left corner and a fiery figure on the right.  When I first saw the fiery figure I laughed, because it looked like a villain from a comic book out of the 1950s.  Again, it is in a static pose, oddly with two rectangles on the top of its head.  One of the four people looks like it is lunging forward, but the other three are settled into a stance.  This is a Composition, not the rendering of any kind of battle.  The lighting around the figures on the left is skillfully done, on the other hand.  Another scene is arrayed like this, except that the figure on the right resembles an upright dragon, and it looks more fierce and active.

               

A fourth scene has five figures fighting on the deck of a ship against pirates and against some tentacles rising from the sea.  One of the figures, Maia, is firing an arquebus  to the right, with a wisp of fire extending from the muzzle.  The central figure, Eder, has a shield extended to the right and a sword behind him, poised to strike.  In front of him is a pirate with a sword similarly poised behind.  Another figure, Serafen, is aiming a pistol to the side.  A fourth figure, I assume to be Pallegina, is lunging toward the right.  The final figure, Aloth, is shown with a spell extending toward the lower right.  The only person is in this tableau who is in any kind of motion is Pallegina, and if you look at her actual lunge, her next action is that she is going to fall down.  The tentacles give a sense of movement to the scene, but the main figures are either in set poses or about to collapse.  There is a sense of action surrounding a basically still center where the figures are.

 

The fifth scene is the one that appears when the game is done loading.  At first it shows a brilliant yellow burst of light, then a tablet/shield appears with choices for actions.  The initial view is of overpowering, blaring light, but once the tablet/shield appears, I find the scene quite beautiful.  The eye is drawn to a fire and tree trunks in the foreground, with shimmering reflections off the trees and other surfaces.  The lighting is excellent, and the framing of bright light around the tablet/shield is effective.  Here the artist shows their strength, with a quiet tableau and skillful use of light.

 

If the developers wanted pleasant set pieces or instances of calm in the midst of mild threat, they got that.   If they wanted art work that fires a sense of drama and conflict, then they are out of luck.

 

I would also like to point out that the art work is strangely fuzzy/blurry, as though it was created for an older type screen and then displayed on HD.

[AeonsLegend]

If you knew what the eye was you'd also know there is no combat implied.

[Waelkman]

So what is it?

[AeonsLegend]

It's part of the The Forgotten Sanctum DLC.

This being is called "The Oracle of Wael" and basically watches you the whole time. The image basically portrays the party exploring the depth of the Sanctum while the Oracle watches them.