Quoted from Aurich:The thing is none of that can address what's bugging me now that I've pinned it down. The game is moody and dark looking, and there isn't a real story in it. I like dark as a concept, but I don't like it when it's drab.
I don't think it's too late for this to be a stunningly beautiful game. TH playfield artwork is far from drab. I don't think that's the issue here. Looking at the Expo videos, I notice 2 things: 1) the lighting in that hall was really bad. Way too bright, flat and overpowering… but more importantly 2) the game lighting as implemented was very, very basic.
The inserts are all displaying static colors and doing nothing fancy. Also, the GI lighting is your basic, cool white, which is doing the PF artwork no favors. Remember, these are full RGB LEDs that can render any color in the rainbow, with smooth transitions. WOZ lighting is nothing short of stunning, and IMO set a new high bar. Have you seen what they did with Fireball Frenzy? TH doesn't have the sheer number of inserts, but the GI has been redesigned and looks to be plenty powerful to throw light. Lots of opportunity there.
I actually really like the look of the Hobbit films. The sets are all beautifully lit, and the landscapes are very colorful despite the predominance of earth tones. There is plenty of opportunity for the dev team to translate that vision and inject color into this game via the software. They just need more time to do it. I remain hopeful we will see something amazing.