I enjoy games that go for retro graphics, because with today’s technology they can do so much more with less.
As far as suggestions: any boomer shooter (Selaco, Supplice, Incision), others people have already mentioned in this thread like Signalis and Dread Delusion, and more like Tenebris Somnia which mixes 8-bit pixel graphics with live-action cutscenes.
I did see a few low-poly, very PS1 or N64-looking indies recently, even going as far as mimicking the weird texture wobbling from the PS1.
But Penny’s big breakaway is not really low-poly, or something that looks like 5th gen/PS1. Not graphically anyway.
Though it’s mechanically rather retro, with the focus on move combos, scoring and speedrunning. It’s almost more of a linear kind of skate or jet set radio-like game than a platformer.
You should check out path of exile 2 it seems like they might be addressing a lot of your concerns with the genere. And GGG (the makers of poe2) are actually a really good company to support
Signalis (low-poly (not that you can notice), low-res, CRT effect)
CrossCode (2D, low-res)
Valheim (low-poly, low-res, still graphically intensive due to lighting)
Lethal Company (low-res, bitcoin miner levels of GPU load)
Super Alloy Ranger (2D, low-res)
Terraria (you know Terraria, don’t lie)
Iconoclasts (2D, low-res)
Starbound (Terraria, but a bit worse and in space)
I don’t think these games aim for nostalgia, nostalgia alone is not a good reason to choose low-poly or low-res graphics.
Low-res textures and sprites have the advantage of being much easier for artists not only to hand draw, but to explicitly choose what details to give to a certain surface.
3D games with low-res rendering also have their own appeal, like you say: they tell you what you’re looking at but still leaves your imagination the burden of filling in the details.
To me low-poly models don’t really have their own appeal, unlike pixelated visuals, however I also don’t mind them at all.
I still occasionally play games like Perfect Dark and TLoZ: OoT on their recompiled PC ports, they look good despite their low-poly nature because they don’t need high-poly models and their animations would look uncanny if they did (goofy ahh textures though).
However, there are some retro effects that I find to be straight up ugly: Signalis applies a CRT effect occasionally, which I can’t say I’m fond of.
Well if you liked PoE I doubt you’ll like D4. It’s a much simpler game. Sadly my only advice is to try GD and Last Epoch again. I’ve got hundreds of hours in the former and I just got 10 hours into the latter.
Last Epoch feels like a more approachable PoE. I thoroughly enjoy how the skills interplay with one another, but I still prefer the itemization in Grim Dawn.
The only reason I’m not playing GD currently is because I have too many QoL mods installed so my cloud saving doesn’t work, but I can cloud save for Last Epoch for my steam deck lmao.
Season 4 is a lot more fun, but I still think D3 is a better game. But if you compare D4 to what D3 was like at after release, D4 is in much better shape. It’s definitely heading in the right direction, and I suspect that the expansion in August will make it much better, similar to how D2 and D3 did.
Back to season 4, I leveled to max level, maxed out the battle pass, and experienced all of the content and that was good enough for me. I want really interested in sticking around to switch to better build and get the best gear.
I’ve found myself lately a lot more interested in games that don’t focus heavily on graphics but instead allow other parts of the game to speak for itself. This allows for the imagination to fill in the gaps, as you mentioned.
I’ve been playing a lot or Caves of Qud recently. It’s a rogue-like game with tile graphics and colourful text. Somehow this menu simulator game has drawn me into it’s harsh and unforgiving world. The tile based graphics actually allows for an amazing amount of creative freedom both from the developer and player point of views. The developer has created this futuristic planet with mutants and cybernetics roaming the planet trying to survive. The player has the freedom to play as they like and create the most unique characters they can imagine. My current character has two hearts, a scorpion tail, a fanged beak, two dagger wielding claws and a habit for stabbing.
I think the rise of constantly better technology has inadvertently encouraged a focus on better graphics over other aspects of video games. While there are some absolutely beautiful games with higher hardware demand, I think as of late, I’m yearning for games that focus more on story or gameplay. Games where you can feel the developer’s passion. Games with polish and attention to details in the most unexpected ways. Games that attempt to push boundaries within certain limitations (think hardware or graphic styles for example).
I think what I want is a game that feels like I’m reading a fiction book in a way. What I mean is that when you read a work of fiction, your imagination is filling in all that visual information. A game can provide you more than just text, but if it can balance graphics, gameplay and story, it can really transport and immerse your imagination into that world.
It also means more people can play on more hardware, it typically focuses the experience, it makes the interactive elements more visually distinguishable from the background graphics, it’s cheaper/faster to produce so less incentive to bloat with MTX to recoup massive investments, the scope is smaller so can be better aligned with a singular cohesive artistic vision, and the limited graphics encourages stylisation and artistic decisions when ‘photo real’ becomes not an option to target.
Also you don’t need to wait 10+ years for a game, just to receive a bloated mess where you only engage with 20% of the content yet had to wait for 100% of the development time, since at that point the investment demands it has to appeal to every possible consumer, only to still get a buggy unfinished release due to the massive scope. /rant. Anyway, indies are great and i love short games too.
They can be fun for a bit. I tend to get overwhelmed with all the crap I loot. I have the same problem with games like The Elder Scrolls series. I’m alway afraid I’ll accidentally sell something important or useful, but I usually end up with a lot of junk. Lol
While I had some fun playing torchlight 2 with a friend back in the day, in reality I never got on with the entire genre (or its sibling the Looter-Shooter)
It’s like
Every video game is on some level a skinner box, but arpgs and lootershooters are the most transparent and cynical about it, idk. Well no, the SECOND most transparent and cynical about it, MMOs still take the cake.
Torchlight I & II are easily my favourite ARPGs. I wish Runic also did Torchlight III but sadly the studio is closed and its just an abomination with Chinese mobile game aspects.
I fell hard into diablo 3 when it launched on ps4. that’s my baseline and I haven’t found any that play as well on controller.
torchlight 2 on console comes close (very annoyed I can’t play this way on pc).
path of exile is also okay, but I can’t stand the drop rates and market. ftp cosmetics bug me, but online markets ruin a game.
I’ve also dabbled in a few others, mostly with poor controller support or clunky combat that just doesn’t feel good to me.
overall though, I’m just tired of sorting loot. love the grind, love finding loot, hate sorting. games like backpack hero tell us some people love that aspect, but I’d like to see more options with unlimited storage and a good sort/search menu
thanks for the suggestion! I have started before and it didnt click. maybe I just wasn’t in the mood. I think I’ll give it another chance next time I get the arpg itch, if I don’t just pick up tl2 again
Just so you know, if it’s been awhile, Crate came in and did a pretty big overhaul on Grim Dawn, and are prepping for the “final” expansion that’s supposed to come sometime this year.
Dodge roll mechanic, potions are now a recharge resource versus pickups that take item space, the next expansion is adding potion customization, prettied up the old world to be more in-line with the quality the previous two expansions brought, tons of little tweaks.
It’s not exactly a “whole new game” experience, but it’s much more smoothed out!
I mean, it’s no Diablo but I love the Hades games. If you’re in it mostly for the progression and build construction than you won’t have a great time, but if you’re looking for SOLID arpg gameplay they’re a good fit.
There’s a lot more focus on clean movement, it’s very much an arpg through a roguelite lens rather than an mmo or pure arpg.
Strong recommend, I’ve already put more hours into the sequel than I did the first game. Nyx’s mirror is replaced with a card system that allows for a bit of build customization, you might really dig it!
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