Support NeoGAF

[Stuart360]

Realistic for me. I dream about the photorealism future. I can play none realistic games, but realism is what i prefer, depending on the game style of course.

EDIT. Its also a bit of a weird thing to bring up regarding next gen as what 30% of Sony's next gen games shown had 'realistic' art styles?, with the other 70% being stylized or cartoony.

 

[Shai-Tan]

different art styles can be good? I don't get it. as with any aesthetic it's subjective. the level of exaggerated proportions in the OP isn't that appealing to me but I like other animu designs

 

[jufonuk]

I think stylised games especially in 3D have visuals that can look less aged than realistic games. cell shaded games for example.

Well I found this truer going back to earlier 3D games.
Also uncanny valley and all that.

 

[JordanN]

different art styles can be good? I don't get it. as with any aesthetic it's subjective. the level of exaggerated proportions in the OP isn't that appealing to me but I like other animu designs

So if we're getting "different" art styles, why do Publishers keep pumping out the same generic military shooter every year?

Why haven't I heard of AAA games that go for a watercolor or hand drawn look yet (that isn't made by Japan)?

 

[GymWolf]

It's not a competition, i love both realistic and stylized games.

 

[Danjin44]

So if we're getting "different" art styles, why do Publishers keep crapping out the same generic military shooter every year?

Why haven't I heard AAA games that go for a watercolor or hand drawn look yet (that isn't made by Japan)?

Well I personally really digging this game's art direction and want to see more like this from other western developers.

 

[cireza]

Realistic doesn't age well. It only looks good for a short period after launch, until something even better is released. There will always be something that will change your expectations and make the other games look less impressive.

Jet Set Radio still looks cool even to day.

 

[Tomeru]

So op just likes anime tits. Cool, cool.

 

[JordanN]

So op just likes anime tits. Cool, cool.

Actually I'm on the opposite spectrum.
Ass comes first. Then it's tits.

 

[Danjin44]

Realistic doesn't age well. It only looks good for a short period after launch, until something even better is released. There will always be something that will change your expectations and make the other games look less impressive.

Very true games like Valkyria Chronicles will never age no matter how old they get.

Valkyria Chronicles (2008)

Meanwhile in games like....

Heavy Rain (2010)....This used to be impressive.

 

[Ballthyrm]

There is games with good art direction and some with bad art direction.
Being stylized doesn't make it inherently better.

Most Art Direction in video game is utter trash, uninspired and uneven.
When It's very hard to tell games apart from each with random screenshots, you know they've failed. (That goes with all the Korean MMO stuff too)

Sure everyone can produce 1-2 cool location but to get that consistently and across the game,
To get a sense of the game identity from anywhere, now that's hard !


Me being curious, how OP would qualify Horizon Zero Dawn.
Stylized or Realistic ?

For me it's neither, It's just good Art Direction.

 

[Danjin44]

For me it's neither, It's just good Art Direction.

It has nice environments but man I can tell you those faces and expressions for the character models will not age well.

Spoiler

 

[Starlight Lotice]

It is probably why I love SEGA (and ATLUS) games.

Madworld has a different look than Valkyria Chronicles, which also has a different look to Persona 5 and Vanillaware games have a certain style I love as well in motion.

Even Sonic Mania has a different Art Style from it's Promo Art and Boxart to the Animated Series.

Stylised games vary so much compared to the realistic games.

The most interesting one is Overwatch which uses both a realistic and stylised style which is a weird combination of looking realistic but also has that weird Cartoon look.

 

[JordanN]

Me being curious, how OP would qualify Horizon Zero Dawn.
Stylized or Realistic ?

For me it's neither, It's just good Art Direction.

It's still real or leaning more in that direction.

The litmus test is are they using the all the technology to bring the game closer to real life that you can't improve on it anymore?

No one looks at the CGI in Avatar and claims it's a "cartoon" even though the aliens don't exist.

 

[UnNamed]

ART >>>> Tech

GUILD WARS, 2005, incredible art direction, beautiful landscapes even for today standards.

FEAR , 2005, incredible tech back in the day, now what the fuck is this shit?

 

[JordanN]

Meanwhile in games like....

Heavy Rain (2010)....This used to be impressive.

These two images sum up why the realistic stuff is always going to age badly.

What we thought looked super awesome and photoreal at release, in 5 to 10 years later they always come back and go straight to the uncanny valley zone.

Meanwhile, the games that tried to impress us with art direction still hold up years later.

 

[Stuart360]

ART >>>> Tech

GUILD WARS, 2005, incredible art direction, beautiful landscapes even for today standards.

FEAR , 2005, incredible tech back in the day, now what the fuck is this shit?

There is always abit of a missconception with FEAR. It was never a graphics powerhous, it was a animation and effects powerhouse. FEAR didnt come close to Half Life 2 for example. By the way, Half Life 2 still looks amazing to me in parts, and that was realistic, and is 16 years old.

 

[Danjin44]

These two images sum up why the realistic stuff is always going to age badly.

What we thought looked super awesome and photoreal at release, in 5 to 10 years later they always come back and go straight to the uncanny valley zone.

Meanwhile, the games that tried to impress us with art direction still hold up years later.

I can tell you that....

This

And even this

Will age better than this...

I wish Capcom would ease on the face scans with their games.

 

[Stuart360]

I can tell you that....

This

And even this

Will age better than this...

I wish Capcom would ease on the face scans with their games.

So you just prefer worse graphics then?

 

[Throttle]

Realistic games are just so ugly these days. We have all this advanced tech and they make shit like this. Imagine putting in so much time and hard work into something that looks like shit.
Give me stylized ugly like beavis and butthead.

Those games have good looking environments, the characters were made ugly on purpose.

 

[Birdo]

It depends on the style.

If I see one more game with that Fortnite character style, I'm going to snap.

 

[Danjin44]

So you just prefer worse graphics then?

To me characters in DMC5 look less like actual DMC characters and more like real people cosplaying as DMC characters.

 

[Stuart360]

To me characters in DMC5 look less like actual DMC characters and more like real people cosplaying as DMC characters.

But DMC5 is hardy realistic artstyle, its still stylized like the older games, just better looking.

 

[Danjin44]

But DMC5 is hardy realistic artstyle, its still stylized like the older games, just better looking.

Are you kidding me! in DMC5 the character's faces is the scan of the real people, thats why you have character models like this...

This maybe just my taste but I didn't want DMC character having realistic faces, imagine if characters like Tifa in FFVIIR and Bayonetta had scan faces.

 

[Stuart360]

Are you kidding me! in DMC5 the character's faces is the scan of the real people, thats why you have character models like this...

It still has that stylized look to it though, kind of like better looking Dead or Alive characters. Its hardly going for photorealism.

 

[Danjin44]

It still has that stylized look to it though, kind of like better looking Dead or Alive characters. Its hardly going for photorealism.

Not really to me, it just looks real like people cosplaying as DMC characters.

 

[psorcerer]

With next generation consoles on the horizon, Publishers are once again going for the lamest gimmick ever to sell new games.

"Buy our game because it looks like real life, LOL"

But how exactly is this impressive, especially when "realistic" games also look dated after a couple of months?

Meanwhile, my jaw just dropped for the longest time since maybe the first time I got a hold of a Gameube as a child when I saw this character
(timestamped @2:08)




Now you may be thinking "Big deal? Just another Anime character" but what impressed me is that, the whole point of stylized games is to make visuals or graphics that just look "cool".

And honestly, it was the most stylish thing I've seen in a long time.

And if you're still not impressed, ask yourself, when was the last time you could draw something that was so cool or different? It's easy to dismiss these games or visuals but it takes serious talent to make something that defies real life expectations and just make stuff that is pure imagination.

To me, that's better than just a game whose gimmick is "we scanned a real tree and a real rock, and put it in our game".

Every game is stylized. Every movie too.
There's no point in the OP.

 

[GymWolf]

Very true games like Valkyria Chronicles will never age no matter how old they get.

Valkyria Chronicles (2008)

Meanwhile in games like....

Heavy Rain (2010)....This used to be impressive.

That child is the stuff of nightmare...it looks like a retarded child version of ethan hawke...

 

[GymWolf]

ART >>>> Tech

GUILD WARS, 2005, incredible art direction, beautiful landscapes even for today standards.

FEAR , 2005, incredible tech back in the day, now what the fuck is this shit?

They both looks bad.

 

[JordanN]

Every game is stylized. Every movie too.
There's no point in the OP.

A game that imitates real life isn't stylized.

 

[Stuart360]

Not really to me, it just looks real like people cosplaying as DMC characters.

Why dont we go back to flat shaded polygons then, i mean everyone loves that Virtua Racing retro look. Hell lets go back to PS1 and N64, no realism there.
Thank god devs like to push graphics hard, on the whole.

 

[Nemesisuuu]

That child is the stuff of nightmare...it looks like a retarded child version of ethan hawke...

Is that... (x) JAAAASOOOON???

 

[GymWolf]

Is that... (x) JAAAASOOOON???

I don't remember, i tried to cancel any memory of heavy rain.

 

[Stuart360]

That child is the stuff of nightmare...it looks like a retarded child version of ethan hawke...

I dont even know why Heavy Rain was even used as an example of 'realistic' graphics, it looks like a faded water colour painting lol, and it always did.

 

[GymWolf]

I dont even know why Heavy Rain was even used as an example of 'realistic' graphics, it looks like a faded water colour painting lol, and it always did.

Well it still is more in the realistic spectrum than the stylized one.

 

[Hissing Sid]

How can you offend a game?

Naughty Dog fans are that way ->

Kojima fans are that way <-

Either group will be able to explain it to you in great detail.

 

[Danjin44]

Why dont we go back to flat shaded polygons then, i mean everyone loves that Virtua Racing retro look. Hell lets go back to PS1 and N64, no realism there.
Thank god devs like to push graphics hard, on the whole.

you can still have impressive graphics without face scans......

 

[Schmick]

Why can't both exist?

Its a good thing that games get sequels or new games come out to replace the aged ones.

Not that it matters to me. I can still happily play old games and still enjoy them.

 

[hyperbertha]

Both have their own strengths. Realistic is currently still in the uncanny valley, it will get better. Stylized will always have a place. Personally I prefer devs model character faces themselves, than scan actors though. With, actors, in some cases they just don't fit the role. But when they do its awesome.
Final fantasy remake has custom made characters with realistic graphics. That can work too.

 

[JordanN]

Why dont we go back to flat shaded polygons then, i mean everyone loves that Virtua Racing retro look. Hell lets go back to PS1 and N64, no realism there.
Thank god devs like to push graphics hard, on the whole.

Dude bruh, it's a stereotype that stylizing art takes no effort at all.

Quite the opposite. Very few developers on this earth can do things that some of the most talented studios out there have ventured into.

Like the developers behind Guilty Gear Xrd put a lot of research and time into translating a 2D look using 3D graphics.

 

[Tomeru]

Actually I'm on the opposite spectrum.
Ass comes first. Then it's tits.

I didnt say you like tits first though?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Sometimes realism gets in the way by making it hard to differentiate objects and parse info.

Ultimately, the graphics are symbols to represent in-game challenges. If those graphics are obscuring the necessary, that can be a bad thing. Not always, just sometimes. I think sacrificing gameplay fluidity for the sake of realism (graphical or otherwise) is often a mistake, not because games "aren't allowed" to be realistic, but because so few developers pull it off well enough for it to be both realistic and enjoyable.

Two examples would be Silent Hill PS1, which pushed fairly advanced graphics for its time but used a short draw-distance fog wall to keep up the level of detail and performance. Magic Carpet (PC, consoles) was similar. In the former example, the "lack" of info conveyed by the graphics added to the tension. In the latter example, the shorter draw distances made it hard to spot enemies and buildings in the far distance, forcing you to rely on your radar minimap.

 

[ShadowNate]

I agree that real-life, "realistic" look is overhyped, usually way beyond it actually deserves (or with misleading early footage that is later proven not viable in current platforms).

I do enjoy them for what they are, especially when it's obvious that the developers put a lot of love and detail into them.

But I favour more those games that chose their own unique art style, even if it's pixelated graphics, or 1-bit like Obra Dinn, or cartoonish or any such. Even if it's not always the case, not focusing on the graphics look means more focus on gameplay, story and fun mechanics and (maybe) faster output of content.

It's also less jarring when I see something that doesn't work in the abstract art style game, than to look say at a badly animated realistic face, a badly textured rock or a visual effect that doesn't quite work within a high detailed environment.

 

[MCplayer]

I prefer realism all the way, it just needs the right tech, I'm sure red dead redemption 2 is gonna age well, better compared to zelda for example or horizon zero dawn

 

[alabtrosMyster]

There's tons of realistic games and tons of stylized games. Why does it have to be a competition?

He just means he prefers those with more expressive art style over more realistic games.

I can see why he does, but I still prefer more realistic looking games (I consider fantasy games like God of War realistic looking).

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Obsolescence is the name of the (video) game. Game makers will always be striving for realism, and what "looks real" today will almost always look uncanny in a few years.

Pixel art constraints were the great leveler. Nothing looked "realistic" on the NES, although we thought that games with characters with human proportions and a sombre color palette were "realistic". By the same token, nothing looked anime or "distinctively" Japanese because even super-deformed and chibi characters were just considered a stylized rendition of reality, limited by current technology. Improvements in tech allowed designers to differentiate their styles.

Most stuff that we'd called "stylized" today was considered realistic at the time. Think of Tomb Raider or Resident Evil. But like someone already said about Goldeneye, most of these wanted to be realistic and could now be considered stylized due to improvements in tech and the general change in expectations.

One thing that's incontestably true, is that anything deliberately striving for photorealism will age much faster. That's why a lot of those games become franchises and get remastered/remade all the time. You're not really supposed to go back to older Halo, Uncharted or GTA episodes when a new one comes out, because their graphics get old so fast and these IPs are meant to push the tech and elicit that "You will say wow" reaction from the audience. It's also the reason why today's AAA game will get a price slash in a matter of months.

"Stylized" games usually stand up to the test of time for much longer, but that doesn't mean they look "better". I like Japanese games, but I'm not more fond of certain designs and artstyles than I am of a 10-year-old game that looked "just like real life!" at release.

 

[Trimesh]

I personally think the whole "realism" thing is an undesirable aim. Not so much because it sucks up absurd amounts of time and money generating the assets (although it certainly does), but because once you get to a certain point it starts adding huge numbers of constraints on the gameplay because it has to play realistically too.

That's how you end up with things like RDR2 - great "Cowboy life" simulator, but really not a good game.

 

[Dommel]

The thing for me with realistic games, which was very apparent with TLOU 2, was that the jank is way more jarring and took me out of the experience.

Everything looks amazingly realistic and then you have some NPC bumbling around or moonwalking next to you, bothers me more if a game tries to go for realism.

 

[JordanN]

The thing for me with realistic games, which was very apparent with TLOU 2, was that the jank is way more jarring and took me out of the experience.

Everything looks amazingly realistic and then you have some NPC bumbling around or moonwalking next to you, bothers me more if a game tries to go for realism.

Very good point.

As games get more realistic, amateur flaws like human clothes and hair clipping through character meshes become a lot more noticeable.

Or how about when early PS4/XBO games had those godawful glitches in the beginning? Not even creepy, but straight up nightmare fuel.

 

[JordanN]

I prefer realism all the way, it just needs the right tech, I'm sure red dead redemption 2 is gonna age well, better compared to zelda for example or horizon zero dawn

I like Rockstar, but it's only their gameplay that will hold up.

Even Grand Theft Auto IV, which was one of the first titles to showcase what HD consoles were originally capable of, has succumb to dated tech.