Video Games Got More Beautiful This Year

iNvid02

iNvid02

Member
kotaku (game names are in the article)
a few gaf screenshots scattered in here too. i'd say vanishing of ethan carter as well, looks so good. anything else that stood out for you?

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I prefer more uniqueness to the medium than photorealism

this year delivered in that aspect

I want more artists working in games
 
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is the best-looking game of the year for me. It's just brilliant at producing a gorgeous natural scene and it's only in the more fantastical uses of graphics that it ever looks a bit wonky.

However, Child of Light has the best art-style of anything released this year and is beautiful in its own special way.

Lumino City gets an honourable mention due to it not being grapics per se, but an entire game layout made almost entirely out of cardboard models.
 
iNvid02 said:
anything else that stood out for you?
Click to expand...

All of my favorite games did, D4 for its unique cel shading, Sunset Overdrive for its gorgeous, colorful design and all the great street art, and Forza Horizon 2 for the breathtaking beauty of its environments. Forza Horizon 2 in particular was chock full of beauty.

Kalimba also has a very striking visual style, I ended up liking it a lot.
 
beautiful OP, but i don't recognize like a good half the games. :/

edit:

from Kotaku, so you don't have to click over:

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Infamous: Second Son
GTA V
Child of Light
Monument Valley
Far Cry 4
Lumino City
The Last of Us: Remastered
Fract OSC
Assassin's Creed: Unity
Kentucky Route Zero
Mario Kart 8
Hohokum
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
Eidolon
Destiny
Dungeon of the Endless
Bravely Default
Transistor
The LEGO Movie Videogame
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Valiant Hearts
 
I think Dragon Age Inquisition deserves a mention for its fantastic sceneries and vivid colors. It might not be technically that impressive, but the game is much more colourful than the last two and has a lot of unique areas
 
Loads of nice ones but for me.

Alien Isolation, retro movie look.

Killzone SF, great future tech.

Ryse, great art for the era.
 
Quite true, so many great looking games this year. It's not even just because of the 'next gen' consoles either, there's great looking games on them, but Mario Kart 8 on Wii U and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter on PC really stood out to me.
 
They sure did. Mario Kart 8, Kentucky Route Zero Act III and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (
the space scene is one of my favorite visual set pieces in a video game ever
) were all pretty special.

Honorable mention goes to my favorite Spirograph of the year, Hohokum, and The Banner Saga.
 
Needs more Driveclub.



But yea, they have. Games are finally starting to look decent.



We still have a very long way to go though.
 
I dont own the game, but just looking at screenshots of Elegy for a Dead World makes me want to buy it.
 
Last gen I told my friends that I was completely fine with the way graphics were back then and a game like GTA V on last gen looked "Next gen enough" to me compared to earlier games.

I guess I really just want developers to keep last-gen graphics but focus on making the gameplay and performance better now, and so far that has kind of happened with a lot of games like Far Cry 4 and GTA Next Gen as well as Destiny (even though Destiny certainly looks next-gen too)

I'm all down for that stable 30fps gameplay. I was getting sooo sick of games having graphical settings turned up to 11 on last gen so the framerates were in the toilet. On PS2 I remember GTA III and Vice City being choppy but that was okay because those were so open world and had huge environments, but otherwise I think all my games including Nightfire, Jak 2, Ratchet and Clank, Rayman and so on, those all had great stable performances.

Far Cry 3, GTA, Mass Effect and The Last of Us had some really annoying framerates in PS3 in last gen. It's so bad that I'm not preordering stuff anymore and I always check comparisons and Digitalfoundry before I make my purchases now.

Mass Effect Trilogy ran like a charm on my PC, so I'll gladly wait 2-3 years on a better PC to play next gen than waste my money on bad current-gen console performances like AC:Unity for instance. Even Dragon Age Inquisition is almost so bad that I wish I had waited for the PC version.
 
Some really pretty stuff in the OP.

Photorealism games are okay for some genres but the most appealing visual styles are always ones that try something new and unique. We are seeing plenty of visually interesting games appear and it's great. Those also age better.
 
And this everyone shows why Artstyle > Photorealism
Color trumps brown hues.

WiiU made me very happy with how much they do with less power. Mario 3D World and Captain Toad are fantastic beautiful games.
 
Guilty Gear Xrd looks absolutely fucking amazing. I lost my shit in my car listening to the Giantbomb 'best looking' GOTY discussion when half of them had to google a video of the game, and then were subsequently floored by it.

Evil Within is hit and miss - but there are a few scenes in that game where I just had to stop and stare. It looks like...I dunno, moving concept art sometimes. And yet sometimes it looks like a mid generation xbox 360 game.
 
Good thread. I guess you could argue that games get more beautiful every year but there were some definite stunners in 2014. I also feel that we are FINALLY breaking free of all the trappings of last gen - UE3, splotchy textures, horrid bloom, etc. Stuff like AC Unity (I mean look I know it's not a great game) is unbelievably good looking. The hair and even the lips in that kiss gif.... Compare that shit to Mass Effect kissing from last gen and it's pretty undeniable.
 
Nestunt said:
I prefer more uniqueness to the medium than photorealism

this year delivered in that aspect

I want more artists working in games
Click to expand...

So a photographer or movie director could not be seen as an artist because they deal woth photorealism in some way?

Artists are involved with all of the games posted in the OP.

Ps. I know what you were trying to say.
 
maybe kotaku is still waiting for their free copy of driveclub so forgot to include it

also how could i forget hearthstone

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