In most games I find no matter how good the static assets look, the animations immediately break the illusion of ‘realism’.
One recent exception to this were some of the cutscenes in Expedition 33, the facial mocap was very on-point and, even though the game isn’t anywhere close to photorealistic, it felt close to watching real actors perform a scene.
My expectations were far lower, without me realising it, as a child.
I remember getting Mortal Kombat 4, on the N64, and thinking “holy shit, the graphics are so good!!! SO 3D!”
it’s not even about “worse” it’s that we’ve always been more impressed by stylish graphics than high fidelity graphics. probably the most frustrating franchise to have forgotten this lessons is borderlands
Sometime in the past 15 years or so AAA became even more business and shareholder beholden.
Fuck off with this.
It’s a lazy excuse to accept worse overall quality in a medium that desperately needs life breathed into it again from AAA studios. My nostalgia days were from the N64 but even those giants of AAA games were worse than what came after objectively. If AAA studios had fractions of the artistic integrity they had before, they’d be stomping indie games into obscurity. The only reason why indies are given a seat at the table is because AAA has priced out many and diluted what was once a rich hobby.
N64 games were worse than what came after, because the technology of 3D graphics was new.
But when I say “Games should be shorter and look worse” I’m referring to the ways older games had to work within certain constraints in order to get made, and those constraints bred so much creativity.
There’s no reason why games need to be these unoptimized 200GB behemoths with photorealistic graphics. Especially when the gameplay itself is often so derivative
Might I suggest Doom Patrol? Umbrella Academy was inspired pretty much entirely by Doom Patrol and Gerard Way dropping the ball on his run at the series.
As a teenager, I warned people that at a certain point, we will reach the diminishing returns of investment on graphics. I was called a “Mario playing child” by my peers.
I started to feel validated since 2016. And the “DEI-jaw” chud gamers like to whine about is also likely created by the too much faith in how much current graphics can recreate realism accurately.
I really don’t see the point of the whole pixelated aesthetic. I mean, it’s nostalgia, but for what? For a time when we wished we had more pixels? If you want that kind of nostalgia, why not also have a loading screen showing a cassette tape going round… for 15 fucking minutes. Hell, it isn’t even accurate nostalgia, because pixelation on a hi res smartphone or monitor looks totally different from the blurry pixelation you get on a shitty CRT TV. If you can see the corners on your pixels, you’re doing it wrong.
I know there is a lot to be nostalgic for, it’s just that the lack of pixels isn’t one of those things. Some things have simply gotten better, more pixels is one of those things. Pixelation is just a way of making a game graphically less clear and less pleasant to look at. /rant
Don’t get me wrong, I love the creativity that comes from having such a limitation. And back when it was a necessity, and you could count the color palette on your fingers, some pixel art was amazing. But it was largely about trying to transcend those limitations. For example, it was very common to use antialiasing as much as possible, because you’re trying to make things look good despite the pixellation. Whereas the aesthetic of modern pixel art tends to be about making things as clunky and jaggy as can be, so you can really check out those pixels, or showcase that crappy color palette. Conspicuous pixellation is untrue to its origins. It also makes game objects less recognizable, sacrificing utility for an aesthetic. I know there are people who like it, which is fine, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be criticized, and so far I have seen no counterpoints to the criticisms I have raised.
I was wondering how pixelation actually adds utility to the game. But I’ve looked at a few screenshots and Rimworld doesn’t seem particularly pixelated to me. Maybe we’re talking at cross purposes here, because Rimworld does have “pixel art” in the sense that it’s drawn pixel by pixel, and it does have the simplistic style that’s common in pixelated games. But it’s displayed at reasonably high resolution so it’s not noticeably pixelated.
What I’m bitching about is games like Stardew Valley where they have committed to fewer pixels on screen. The simplistic style with higher resolution in Rimworld is clear and functional. What I’m saying is that pixelated games would be better if they did the same.
Just because you personally dislike certain art style doesn’t make it objectively bad. I’m a zoomer, I don’t have nostalgia for pixel graphics and yet I enjoy pixel art. I can’t stand CRT filters on pixel games (modern or emulated) btw.
I’ve dealt with enough people who think their preferences are absolute that I just couldn’t be sure whether you’re one of them or not. I’m glad we agree that art is subjective.
Once upon a time I wanted a strong PC so badly so I could play… Grand Theft Auto IV.
Now, I don’t want anything to do with that franchise. Granted I still do play some AAA stuff, more so PS3 games, and I now want a strong PC for Cyberpunk 2077 to explore its world and give myself extra background for the TTRPG Cyberpunk RED, but other than that I mostly just want indie and retro.
I have always liked ODST quite a bit for changing up the formula and being an overall solid game. I might do another run of that soon. :)
Though, I have spent more time playing CE than every other Halo combined. Much of that due to the fact only it and 2 were released for PC until somewhat recently, and Halo 2 got saddled with Games for Windows Live. But, mostly just because CE is damn good.
I’ve been listening to CE’s soundtrack regularly recently. it’s aesthetic and story are just so unique and an amazing thing I’ve never really seen replicated. Not even the sequels manage to nail it’s unique vibe, though they’re amazing in their own ways
It is among the most immersive horror experiences for me. I still clearly remember walking down a long empty corridor, stumbling upon a door at the end of it, and when I approached the door something behind it started banging - it was so fucking scary!
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