In 2003, back before Nintendo recaptured its console crown, the company experimented with its venerable Zelda franchise by using a then-trendy (and controversial) technique known as “cel-shading” to give The Wind Waker the look of a cartoon. Fanboys immediately revolted, decrying “Celda” as a children's game and denouncing Nintendo as strictly little league.

When the now-gen machines came online, with their fancy futuristic innards capable of rendering photorealistic graphics, the technique of making computer animation appear hand-drawn fell out of fashion—though the craze that kicked off with 2000’s cult classic Jet Grind Radio (a Sega Dreamcast rollerblading/graffiti hybrid) went out with a bang on Clover's PS2 (and later Wii) game Okami, which used cel-shading to create a stylized world right out of a Japanese watercolour.   

But with so many modern games boasting same-same earth-toned dystopian settings, developers are desperately looking for a way of making their games visually striking and this has prompted the return of cel-shading, though nobody will cry kiddie this time.

Japanese-RPG fans have taken to Sega’s PS3 exclusive Valkyria Chronicles in large part because of its cel-shaded look that turns the game into an interactive manga, using the Miyazaki–esque sketchbook-style designs of artist Raita Honjou. Though it’s set in an alternate-history WWII, Valkryia couldn't look any further from Resistance 2, with its washed-out watercolour design and comic-book flavours, and most reviewers have gushed over its stunning visuals.

But it’s the latest Prince of Persia game from Ubisoft's Montreal office that will send cel-shading surging. The first PoP game on the now-gen systems has used the technique to craft a beautifully lush storybook world that appears hand-painted and yet realistic, like an Alex Ross comic cover. Variety even went so far as to claim it to be “one of the most visually stunning videogames ever made.” They’re not wrong.  

Technically, Ubisoft says it’s not cel-shading but a new “illustrative graphical style." But semantics be damned, by combining a hand-drawn middle-eastern design aesthetic with an unprecedented amount of fine detail, they achieved their stated goal of bringing concept art to life in what amounts to a “playable illustration."

Undeniably, a new graphical landmark has been achieved and in its wake we can expect other ambitious game designers to further bridge the gap between art and technology. Next up: Namco Bandai's Afro Samurai, due in January, which appears so illustrated it's nearly indistinguishable from the anime series it's based on.