Animation of characters in 2D vs. 3D

[Ooojin11]

I’ve been working on a small indie game and recently ran into a dilemma: should we stick with 2D animation for our characters or switch to 3D? A few years ago, I worked on a project that used 2D sprites, and while it had its charm, the team struggled with making animations feel fluid and dynamic. Now with more tools available for 3D character animation, I’m wondering if it’s worth the shift. Has anyone else faced this choice? What are the pros and cons of your experience?

Yeah, I’ve been through something similar! I started in 2D, too, and honestly, the nostalgia factor is strong with pixel art and hand-drawn animations. But when we moved to 3D, it opened up so many possibilities, especially with how the characters interact in a 3D environment. It also allowed us to create smoother animations with less effort. If you’re working with a Game Art Outsourcing Studio, they often handle both styles, so you can combine 2D and 3D depending on what works best for your game. You might want to check out https://ilogos.biz/game-art-production to see some examples of how studios handle both types of animation.