Wow Horizon looks so much better in comparison.
I thought the first game looks nice but only decent. Hyped for West to hit steam sales
Hellbade II’s eye is the best looking of the three rendered ones.
Godot my beloved!
It had really good reflections too, that intro with the wet brick castle was really impressive when it came out.
As those games were before my time, I keep thinking did people genuinely think those graphics looked realistic? Because for me even growing up with the PS3 and PS2 I didn’t think they looked particularly that good
Honestly, why do you need graphics to create that level of detail? In regular gameplay, you aren’t getting closeups of your characters face. It’s just a waste of energy on the part of the animators.
its for cutscenes. because without it, you get situations that happen a lot on underpowered devices (e.g the switch) where when you DO hit a cutscene, something looks very low res and low detailed because it was designed to be looked from afar with low performamce impact. It draws away from the immersion factor.
a common situation are games on mobile that are also playable on console/pc (e.g some gacha rpgs). Some character models use texture normal maps and not physical 3d models, so when you look at them zoomed up, it looks really off.
Pushing the limits of technology is how technology improves. Not all games need to do this, but I don’t see it as a bad thing that some do.
Pushing the limits of technology also hasn’t been a healthy thing to do all the time. If the cost of these big, expansive, detailed games is swaths of mandatory overtime for the developers only to be laid off when the project is done, it is not worth it.
As with anything pushing technical limits, there’s always risk. But what you’re describing isnt purely an issue of pushing realism in gaming, it’s an issue of pushing for profits above all else. These exact practices happen in less realistic game development as well.
Anyway, as stated, I don’t think all games should try to push the graphical envelope. Most games I play don’t attempt this. But I’m glad games like TLOU2 exist and appreciate the devs behind it.
I’m having way more fun with the solo and microteam indie titles. Cultic is immersive not because of the graphic fidelity, but because of the fluid gameplay. Turbo Overkill’s story is carried by the voice acting, not because I can see the pores on the characters faces, and Dusk is the first game in years that immersed me so much, I was leaning in the chair to dodge enemy shoots.
That’s kind of like walking into a museum, going to an exhibit on realism, and shitting on that art because the time and craft needed to make something look real is a “waste of energy.”
Just like with painting, realism in gaming is just an art style. Just because other art styles exist, that doesn’t mean realism is an invalid one to pursue.
A lot of talented creators and artists spent a lot of time trying to meticulously replicate people and nature as best as they could, and they did a really impressive job. These artists deserve props for their skill and passion.
Honestly, I pity artists working on AAA games these days. Imagine working on something for months, it hitting shelves and people enjoying it, only for it to be delisted in a few years because some suit doesn’t want it associated with their brand anymore. That’s not what’s suppose happen with “Art”, but god help you if you want to try American McGee’s Alice or the single player Unreal games through official means.
Because in some games there’s dialogue and it’s good for immersion when who or what you’re talking to looks realistic.
I grew up with the N64 and I never needed realistic pores and eyelashes to get immersed in a game. All I needed was a world and characters I liked. I can’t imagine someone picking up a classic and being like “WTF, where’s the individually rendered nostril hair? I can’t get invested in this!” That just feels silly to me.
You’re sounding very old and out of touch right now tbh. And that’s coming from someone who grew up with the original NES and the Commodore 64 😄
Just because high accuracy facial features isn’t crucial to a platformer or whatever doesn’t mean that it isn’t beneficial to an RPG like Horizon or any other game where life-like characters is part of what makes the game great.
