I am currently comparing original graphics and remastered ones and I found that there is something off here.
I think the overall look is kinda good, but I find some issues that makes it not perfect:
(quite some nitpicking will be here as well, but I grew up on this game and I am perfectionist)
- Color balance: the remaster has too cold look in comparison with original (at least buildings, terrain seems actually same as original)
- Contrast and brightness: the new graphics is darker and has too much contrast. (at least buildings, terrain seems actually same as original)
- Shadows: I get it, the new shadows are slightly more realistic, but I feel they are too dark (again in comparison with original)
- Buildings blending with environment: The original buildings blend better with the terrain using slight shadow/black outer glow (in Photoshop language). Some remastered building sprites do use the same technique(like Pig Farm) some do not, or too little (Great hall)
- Animation on sprites: So here is the thing, original orc buildings had melting snow animation(human buildings did not for some reason), mines had a pickaxe that disappeared when someone was mining and that is now missing on winter tileset…it is theese little details missing here and there
- Stumps are too big imho
- Tree sprites are not tiling properly at some places
- Construcion sites on snow look more like someone spilled something on the snow, whereas originals looked more proper.
- Ogres have this black outline that makes them look out of place (I will call it Borderland look)
- Using winter tileset there is weird glow on the edge of mine entrance when no one is mining. Missing pickaxe!. When someone is mining the ground in front of the entrance is not illuminated. On Wasteland tileset the ground in front of the mine entrance do not fit the rest IMHO
- Deathknight’s cape is in the air all the time(when the unit is standing and looking “south”/left right… the cape should not look the same like when unit is moving(floating in the air/picked by the wind)
- both grass textures look blurry and out of place
- horde logo on Giant Turtles is not changing direction with the unit properly.
- logo on Troll Destroyers is not blending properly with the unit(on certain directions, black outline is weird there and sometimes the colored parts show outside the outline)
- black outlines are overall weird in here IMO as the originals did not have such outlines and it also seems to me inconsistent, some units look fine some looks almost like from Borderlands games.
- overall look seems way more cartoony than the original
There is probably more, but it requires more time then what I have available right now. I think it needs more attention to detail. Remaster has higher fidelity and looks ok, but I feel like it misses lot of details that make the original game look special. Right now I think the W1 remaster looks much better than the W2 remaster. I feel it could use more love and polish.
I hope this is at least somewhat constructive critique, the first three things are the most “annoying” to me.