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I perceive the over-the-top lights and action to be an allegory for current society, full of technology and stimulation. I assume that will be juxtaposed with the other environments, such as Paramonia, to illustrate just how extreme the difference is.
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Regarding action and animations being too fast-paced and 'spastic'. The one thing that I have always loved in the original Oddworld games was their 'fantasy-realism' which was to a large extent achieved by smooth, extremely well-timed in-game animations. In the New and Tasty they sped up the animations for some reason and while the models themselves were good the effect was lost. Same here; at least at the current stage of developement. I hope this will be addressed. They are going for grimdark atmosphere after all and goofy animations don't really help. At least this is how I see it.
Regarding the over-saturated visuals, I specifically point out the elements which are intended for the player only, i. e. not the neon advertisements but the neon tubes that connect the levers, the lights at the ledges, levers, trapdoors etc. They stand out too much and break the fourth wall in a bad sence, i. e. make it harder to suspend disbelief. The original games had signs that were only intended to help the player, too, but they were fitted the environment far better and stood out much less.
For example, take the trapdoors from N'n'T. They had those blinking lights on them. From my point of view these serve no good purpose at all. They neither really help the player nor add up to the atmosphere. Same goes for the levers and grinders. Stylistically these lights look too 'hich-tech' and out of place. While Oddworld facilities do have high-tech stuff among the more crude-looking machinery but in the established style these elements also usually look kind of run-down or the use of such devices is limited. Speaking from the in-universe perspective, some Glukkons may have a thing for decoration but I highly doubt they'll bother placing all those expensive LED lamps and electricity-consuming neon tubes to mark ledges, levers etc. Simple cheap paint would've done a much better job. Especially in a purely industrial area such as Rupture Farms. It's also good enaugh to help the player recognize climable or non-climable ledges, etc.
Another example I've mentioned are those lines of neon tubes which are indended to help the player to understand which lever activates what. If you want to have alot of neon in the environment for the purpose of storytelling it can be done in much more immersive ways. The neon ads at the passenger terminals make sence. And you could also make appropriately designed guidance light strips composed of those neon tubes that lead the passengers from one terminal to another or to a hub. But these lines we see here do not seem to have any other purpose but to 'connect the dots' for the player. This causes them to stand out so much. They could've been easily replaced with wires which would have served the same role but without standing out of the environment too much. This worked perfectly fine in Exoddus after all.
I'm pretty confident that Lorne will deliver a perfect story but since they're going for the gimdark style the visuals are very important. This kind of setting really relies on immersion and suspension of disbelief. So there has to be as few of those elmenets that remind you that you're playing a game as possible. And they have to be as natural to the environment as possible.
P. S. I hope the devs will provide us with a level editor
