More recently, we decided to pivot Sparkball toward a simplified, anime-inspired style. I led a small visual development team, including Ramil Sunga and Robyn Lau, to explore this new direction. We landed on a hybrid approach to set the game apart, bridging East and West by simplifying the rendering while retaining a cel-shaded look. Importantly, we deliberately kept some of the original rendering instead of removing it entirely, which allowed us to maintain a hybrid aesthetic.

In the final direction, rendering complexity was significantly reduced and PBR materials were largely avoided. Ambient occlusion was minimized, ink-style strokes were introduced, and select gradients and textures in the local materials were allowed to show through, reinforcing the hybrid style.