AI art in otome games

[Mikaella123]

How do you feel about AI art in otome games?

 

[Mikaella123]

Personally, I love the art of real live artists. I would love to hear your opinion

 

[AkinaSR27]

I haven't seen or heard any otome games that use AI like that so far. But I am personally not OK with supporting AI artworks, either for CG art or background art, that will put the artists out of job.

 

[heartimpact]

I haven't seen or heard any otome games that use AI like that so far. But I am personally not OK with supporting AI artworks, either for CG art or background art, that will put the artists out of job.

The one big game I have mainly heard of using AI is The Red Bell's Lament, that being having it used to generate background images. It was actually from Voltage, which also made Even if Tempest. If there were any other games that used GenAI, it'd likely be games from companies that don't have much of a reputation. Either way, it just stinks that companies want to cut corners for an already pretty small niche.

 

[AkinaSR27]

The one big game I have mainly heard of using AI is The Red Bell's Lament, that being having it used to generate background images. It was actually from Voltage, which also made Even if Tempest. If there were any other games that used GenAI, it'd likely be games from companies that don't have much of a reputation. Either way, it just stinks that companies want to cut corners for an already pretty small niche.

That's really disappointing to hear, I haven't tried Even if and Red Bell's Lament but background art are as important as character sprites and CG. With how a lot of big companies starting to use genAI, I really hope it won't be a trend in otome games as well

 

[Fishish]

Ive seen a few super cheap cash grab looking visual novels trying to get away with using generative AI art but im of the opinion that if you cant put even the bearest amount of effort to draw an image or hire someone to draw an image I dont trust the quality of the rest of the product thats for sure. There are plenty of fantastic visual novels with less polished artstyles and I feel like it often adds to the charm of such titles! I would much rather spend money on a passion project that needs some polish artwise than buy even the cheapest crap made with AI because the amount of care is shown with the tools used. Plus if AI was used in the art I would fully expect for generative AI to of been used for the text also, its bad enough looking at it let alone reading it. I just really dont see the point of giving all the fun parts of creation to a machine XD. I feel like funding a project or company by buying their creations reflects what the market wants to see more of, I want to see more visual novels made my artists and writers with a vision and a love for what they are creating not projects that actively damage the prospects of artists and writers by removing jobs from them and using AI.

 

[ninnikuryona]

im very strongly against ai "art" in any game, otome or not. but i feel like otome is especially egregious, since the genre is not as big as galge, so the impact of ai feels bigger. and its one thing to see a doujin otome using ai (not defending or excusing it whatsoever), but when big commercial releases use ai, its so disheartening!! like the aforementioned red bell's lament. like, you are expected to pay 60+$ for a game that has such cheap assets?? sorry, but i would prefer if my money went to actual human artists..
(also, i dont know if its otome or just joseimuke because i havent played it and arent planning to, but tokyo debunkers is an example of disgusting overuse of ai, both in the game and ads)

but unfortunately, until the ai bubble bursts, there will be some slop here and there regardless. i mean, a ton of voice works has blatant ai generations as cover images, which is so sad!!

 

[Scone]

How do you feel about AI art in otome games?

Dealbreaker for me. It was devastating how badly AI impacted art and artists jobs when it first came out, and it's insulting to players that some companies think we won't notice or that it's acceptable. Backgrounds or characters, it's not okay in my opinion.

Hopefully AI writing doesn't become an issue in them either..

 

[Litth]

I dont like it, I's drawing style lacks refinement and uniqueness, which I find very boring.

 

[Marrychan]

I don't remember exactly, but there are some independent producers of some novels on itch.io who used AI to draw backgrounds. I personally don't like it; take the author of Bleach as an example. He said in an interview that he's not good at and doesn't like drawing backgrounds, which is why his are super simple. There are many good artists with unique styles out there today, and I think it would be much better to give space to these artists than to just use AI because of the cost or laziness.

 

[Shikuromi]

Not a fan of it in my h-rpgmaker slop games, and not a fan of it in visual novels
Though I'll take AI translation over google translate anyday.

 

[plumtree]

I'd honestly prefer to play otome with stock sprites/assets over AI-generated ones. I feel sorry for all the artists that are getting false AI accusations though, AI is literally trained on real people's art.

 

[Shanice]

This is a tough subject. AI is becoming inevitable even for big studios, but it's a depressing trend nonetheless. So many games now, particularly in 3D adult content, rely on AI for everything from sprites and backgrounds to coding and scripts. It's a shame because these are the fields where human artists can truly shine and create unique work. I get that we can't stand in the way of progress and that people want to make life easier, but I just hope it won't be at the cost of human creativity. And I'll be really sad if this happens to my favorite otome games too

 

[sophiamolin]

I fully understand everyone's concerns. I often upload resources on otome forums in my native language. At first, I could still tell which games used AI-generated art, but now some games have evolved to the point where it's beyond my ability to distinguish. This makes me very uncomfortable. Among the gaming communities I have access to, many people strongly resist AI infiltrating otome games. Personally, I believe AI can be used as an aid to reduce repetitive work, but it must never be allowed to stifle or replace genuine creativity, and I don't want to pay for purely AI-generated art either.

 

[Beannie]

Very controversial, but I do not mind as much as others. If using AI tools enables artists to try more things or to lessen a bit their workload (prototyping, small corrections etc), then I am not against it. For me, the problem is when artists are replaced by AI due to CEOs min-maxing their business or when artists' tasks are doubled by management cause "AI can help you make things faster, so you have free capacities"

 

[Mikaella123]

In general, AI learns from the work of living people. due to the fact that now everyone will try to reduce production costs, AI will be used more and more often. this means that there will be less purely human content, as a result, the quality of AI will fall anyway, because AI will learn from existing works that will not be replenished as before with fresh works by real artists creating something new.

 

[deluangel]

I feel like there shouldn't be a place for AI images in any medium really, especially for VISUAL novels and games. Anything made by human hands that isn't typing in prompts is peak in comparison.

 

[ishibashi]

I'm sympathetic to it when it's a solo dev making free games, because it's inadvisable to invest in hiring artists for the price of free and it's hard to get people to give your game a chance if the character art looks a bit scrappy. I've seen that happen pretty often, scrappy character art free games not getting any attention I mean.

But when you start asking for my money, I'm also going to ask for you to hire artists and pay them properly for what you're charging me. Ask me to pay for your effort and your creativity that comes from people's hearts, not pay for your slop.

 

[ash-ra]

its an instant dealbreaker for me, tbh.

if its a game produced by a large company, they have money and ask for more money to play their games. if they cant hire real artists, what are we paying for?

if its a work of an indie developer... ai art is noticeable. its not consistent, its not that pretty if you look closer, its soulless. personally, im gonna pass any game with ai art, but i can give a game with wonky art a chance, especially if the plot is good or something else catches my eye idk (i actually think that games with bad art are charming in their own way, they can give off these one person passion project vibes). moreover, indie games with very pretty art can go unnoticed too, sadly...
also, ive seen so so many free/cheap indie otoges with GORGEOUS art. there may be a very small number of cgs and sprites, but you can feel the developers dedication to their game; sometimes devs continue to commission artists just because they really love their characters.

ai slop shouldnt rob us of these precious expressions of people's earnest love for creation.

 

[Beannie]

its an instant dealbreaker for me, tbh.

if its a game produced by a large company, they have money and ask for more money to play their games. if they cant hire real artists, what are we paying for?

if its a work of an indie developer... ai art is noticeable. its not consistent, its not that pretty if you look closer, its soulless. personally, im gonna pass any game with ai art, but i can give a game with wonky art a chance, especially if the plot is good or something else catches my eye idk (i actually think that games with bad art are charming in their own way, they can give off these one person passion project vibes). moreover, indie games with very pretty art can go unnoticed too, sadly...
also, ive seen so so many free/cheap indie otoges with GORGEOUS art. there may be a very small number of cgs and sprites, but you can feel the developers dedication to their game; sometimes devs continue to commission artists just because they really love their characters.

ai slop shouldnt rob us of these precious expressions of people's earnest love for creation.

Personally curious for your opinion, how would you feel, if the Ai usage is not evident? Like if artist is prototyping the character and helping themselves with Ai or just idk coloring/corrections only?

I have stated my opinion about Ai above, but I wonder if any usage of AI would still means insta no for you.

 

[com]

I am a strong supporter of the use of AI art.
This text was translated from Japanese to English using Google Translate.
Computer-generated translations were poor at first.
But now they can fully convey the intent.
I feel that one day people will be satisfied with AI illustrations as well. In fact, I am satisfied with the technology at its current stage.

 

[ash-ra]

Personally curious for your opinion, how would you feel, if the Ai usage is not evident? Like if artist is prototyping the character and helping themselves with Ai or just idk coloring/corrections only?

I have stated my opinion about Ai above, but I wonder if any usage of AI would still means insta no for you.

actually i kinda agree with your thoughts on this topic, at least in some way! sorry in advance if my response comes off as preachy or something, its absolutely not my goal, love&peace!!!

i think non-generative ai can be used to lessen workload in some completely technical aspects that dont require any creative input or other use of actual human intelligence, and if ai becomes more sustainable, im not that against this particular use of it.

generative ai, sadly, is already entangled in too many controversies... i think the most okay way of its use is when an artist feeds only their own art into ai and uses the outcome for their needs; at least noones art is getting stolen in that case. still, its hella bad for the environment etc etc. and almost no generative ai modules are used like that, especially by the broad public.

overall, i think that in a case of ai use being disguised in some way, it becomes less of an aesthetic and even more of an ethical question for me. so, i will try not to engage with works where ai is used even partially, no matter how well-hidden.

firstly, i dont want to support disrespect for artists whose works couldve been scraped for an ai model, as a fan and as an artist myself (irrelevant in case of someone's own work used, as i mentioned, but idk seems easier to commission someone). also i think that use of ai in places where peoples passion, creativity and intelligence are required can lead to some kind of degradation. we need to challenge ourselves to improve, some things just shouldnt be simplified. creative process is not only something that cant be replicated by a machine, but also is necessary for our development as sentient beings. (black companies that make their artists work without a chance to breathe are a whole other problem)
lets all draw otoge cgs together

 

[vicc.mae]

I think is strange and unpersonal, seems to miss a touch. I stopped playing some games because of that

 

[B539]

I can't name any games with AI generated art that made me interested in playing them.
But there's been plenty of games with very unique (human made) art styles that made me go "wow, this looks so interesting!"

AI art doesn't make anything unique or special. It just steals the art someone else made before.

 

[Anie_Reichi★]

I'm not ok with AI usage for producing materials such as graphics, music, voice, etc. Things that used to be only human can create. If I found the game has AI usage, I wouldn't buy it, I don't want to support them in the first place...