2D or 3D? Both at The Same Time

As long as I’ve been following the adult video game world, I’ve always seen a split between fans of 2D and 3D artwork of the games. Nowadays 3D is more popular but in my opinion 2D games compensate by looking more timeless if the artwork is nice. I rarely met someone like me who likes both styles of visualization but one day I found something new: for the first time in my life, I came across an adult game that uses and mixing 2D and 3D art in the same game. I was wondering whether this could work at all, how popular it would be or whether it was a one-time thing.

This game is called The Night Driver. The game itself takes place in a 3D space with a half-top half-side view. However, the dialogues and transitions are interspersed with beautiful 2D artwork. At first glance, it sounds like the two things must be at odds and make a strange combination. The interesting thing is that it’s the opposite, the two are in perfect harmony and personally, it never occurred to me that the two techniques could not form a whole as an art style. But this requires an artistic direction. Colors play the biggest role in this. The mood of the 3D and 2D look must not differ. In this case, the ingredients are noir-inspired colors and character designs that give a slightly comic-book impression of the mafia world. The smooth environment animations that take place on the 3D platform are nice, but the true teaser and sex-filled scenes are presented in 2D. The animation in these is quite nice, and if you consider that they are 2D, it’s even more striking compared to other games how smooth the movement is and how natural it looks.

Whether it is one of the rare exceptions or a pioneer of a new category only time will tell. One thing’s for sure if the crossover of 2D and 3D artwork brings this kind of visuals to the adult game market, the future is bright.

If you guys know games with similar art conception like The Night Driver, or do you have an opinion pro or contra about 2D art and 3D art then let us know, feel free to comment below.