This is no vaporwave on meth, this is truly dark fantasy. Black and red all the way.
Most metaverses these days are vaporwave on meth. I don’t mind that but the art and story style need a lot more work done before the real metaverse can happen. I think the art style for game genres is too dominated by cyberpunk and dark synth at this point. I would be more interested in building a meta-story with portals to different areas (dark fantasy, planetary station, bioshock underwater city, desert oasis) that share the same visual art style and theme.
For example, the initial idea is there, but the theme hasn’t been developed further. Take Bioshock for example. The theme is underwater city, but they twisted it with a 1920s spin. These metaverse style games need a deeper theme to connect with people.
For example, if it’s cyberpunk, they should dig into that. Imagine a cyberpunk world where big corporations have convinced themselves that they are saving the world, so the top levels of the city are beautifully lit solar punk greenhouses filled with lush vegetation and utopian architecture, but the lower levels and ground levels are flooded with runoff and the denizens of the undercity are getting around in florentine style barges and Yangtze junks made of…junk. Flooded apartments and floating bars, with the true scum and crime lords living in underwater bases in the murky water.
There’s a cyberpunk world that’s genuinely interesting and isn’t just vaporwave on meth like everything else.