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Spoiler: Summary

Graphics vs Art Direction – Modern Games Losing the Plot

• Core argument: modern games chase technical fidelity over artistic intent, often resulting in worse overall visuals
  • Example: Black Ops 2 (2012)vs its remaster
    • New version = higher resolution
    • Old version = better texture detail, stronger visual identity
• High fidelity ≠ better visuals
  • Realistic lighting often comes off as flat, dull, and lifeless
  • Older games used:
    • texture detail
    • color grading
    • stylization
      → to create visual punch even with weaker hardware

---

Why Older Games Often Look Better

• Pre-modern era = forced stylization due to limitations
  • Lower poly counts → devs compensated with:
    • strong color palettes
    • lighting tricks
    • atmosphere
• 2010s = "golden balance" era
  • Mix of:
    • improving fidelity
    • strong art direction
  • Example:
    • Batman: Arkham Knight
      • Not impressive due to raw tech
      • Timeless due to art direction (rain, neon, tone)

---

Modern Era Problems

• Shift toward:
  • ray tracing
  • path tracing
  • ultra realism
• Result:
  • stylization getting abandoned
  • visuals becoming generic
• Performance cost:
  • heavy tech → worse framerates
  • reliance on:
    • DLSS
    • FSR
    • AI reconstruction
• Criticism of AI-driven visuals:
  • introduces artifacts (wrong lighting, facial changes, etc.)
  • replaces intentional artistic design with approximations

---

Key Critique

• Developers are:
  • focusing on micro-detail (grass, lighting, textures)
  • while ignoring the macro image (overall look/feel)
• Result:
  • technically impressive
  • but less memorable and less visually distinct

---

Examples of Stylization Done Right

• Metal Gear Solid 3
  • original used lighting intentionally for emotional impact
  • remake tones it down → loses atmosphere
• Ghost of Tsushima
  • stylized wind, color, composition
  • looks more striking than higher fidelity competitors

---

Big Takeaway

• Graphics should serve:
  • mood
  • identity
  • player experience
• Not just:
  • realism
  • technical checkboxes
• Future hope:
  • once realism becomes easy → devs may return to stylization as the differentiator

 

[Guilty_AI]

i agree

 

[neo raider]

I was just discussing this with someone
Most games now are so flat and lifeless, they look worse.
It feels like im getting taxed for worse graphics compared to games from 2016

 

[riko]

Art and style over hyper realism any day of the week.

Artist games always hold up better than games gunning for realism. The visuals in TOTK will age better than almost anything else from the era, despite running on potato hardware.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I mostly disagree. I think that devs need to optimize like hell for what we have now going forward. I agree in the way that says we don't need more realistic much more but there will always be a market for that with people like me with high end builds.

That doesn't mean I want a Nintendo kiddy fest either.

 

[buttnuggett]

Realism is good for this day and age. But, ole' boy, It didn't age well 2 decades ago. Sims 3 looks like shit. While Izoi should look good for the foreseeable future.

 

[Black_Stride]

Black Ops being the example as proof is utter garbo.
Its just a "lazy" remaster thats it, not proof that games in general are getting worse.
Might as well have used the GTA Definitive version which were based on mobile games as your examples.

Exp33 is using RT(Lumen) but it doesnt look sterile?
Heck we probably have more stylized games now than sterile photorealistic (high fidelity) ones.

Dying Light 2(The Beast) are high fidelity games but also stylized and unique looking.

Doom Teh Dark ages......RT mandatory but looks stunning and runs on a potatoe..........

Damn I could go on and on.......this is a bad faith argument.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I hate how devs abuse volumetric effects. They make the picture look washed out and quite ugly imo.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

.

Doom Teh Dark ages......RT mandatory but looks stunning and runs on a potatoe..........

Doesn't run on my 1080 TI potato

 

[jshackles]

What the hell did

do now?

 

[M.W.]

2 minutes of his 11 minute video is a War Thunder ad. Fuck this clown.

 

[The_hunter]

Modern AAA games outsource to other developers like crazy, harder to pull off a stylized look when you are doing that.

 

[Black_Stride]

Doesn't run on my 1080 TI potato

Get something from this decade.....your potato is growing.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Fidelity isn't the problem. Unimaginative, bland art is.

And we have always had games with piss porr art styles, the problem now is that it's easy to get games with great looking graphics fidelity, so even the piss poor games can look realistic now.

As for the art stuff, these devs aren't even doing the shit themselves anymore.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I think this is kind of related because I have seen people on the WEB crying and bitching about...the yellow paint. But it's crazy that I didn't connect the "yellow paint" phenomenon to its real-life implementation:

so....in real life, these things are called Braille blocks or Tenji blocks...so you know , a woke thing because they are related to accessibility...TLoU really made them popular.







and so on...as you can see, a very popular topic.

I think devs have become "lazy" with these kinds of practices; they think that because there is more detail and realism, they just need to use them...like, there is no other option. which creates visual homogenization between games (everyone uses the same shit)

So, I don't think fidelity is ruining games, but "laziness."

 

[rkofan87]

I agree they should focus more on frame rate

 

[Guardian Monkey]

I think this is kind of related because I have seen people on the WEB crying and bitching about...the yellow paint. But it's crazy that I didn't connect the "yellow paint" phenomenon to its real-life implementation:

so....in real life, these things are called Braille blocks or Tenji blocks...so you know , a woke thing because they are related to accessibility...TLoU really made them popular.

I mean it's there to help you.

 

[intbal]

I watched this video.
It was good.

 

[Melfice7]

shitty devs who arent required to optimize are to blame, if you asked modern devs to make mgs2 on ps2 they would kill themselves instead

 

[reinking]

What the hell did

do now?

Double paid a bill from my HSA account. I'm still waiting on the correction.

 

[ReasonBeing]

I mostly disagree. I think that devs need to optimize like hell for what we have now going forward. I agree in the way that says we don't need more realistic much more but there will always be a market for that with people like me with high end builds.

That doesn't mean I want a Nintendo kiddy fest either.

Not having one doesn't mean you must have the other.

But that was also the point of the video, "fidelity doesn't/shouldn't have to supercede art".

 

[Puscifer]

Doesn't run on my 1080 TI potato

Hey I think the 1000 series is absolutely goated but cmon lol, people got multiple generations out of this card even a 9060/9070 would be a massive upgrade and their still available around MSRP in a lot of places

 

[buttnuggett]

I think this is kind of related because I have seen people on the WEB crying and bitching about...the yellow paint. But it's crazy that I didn't connect the "yellow paint" phenomenon to its real-life implementation:

so....in real life, these things are called Braille blocks or Tenji blocks...so you know , a woke thing because they are related to accessibility...TLoU really made them popular.







and so on...as you can see, a very popular topic.

I think devs have become "lazy" with these kinds of practices; they think that because there is more detail and realism, they just need to use them...like, there is no other option. which creates visual homogenization between games (everyone uses the same shit)

So, I don't think fidelity is ruining games, but "laziness."

Reshade FTW to put some blue into it. Yes, the over yellow shit pisses me off.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

I hate how devs abuse volumetric effects. They make the picture look washed out and quite ugly imo.

We've been in the era of particle effects for a long time, fucking EVERYTHING needs particles flying around like we're in some untouched dusty (yet colorful) barn.

 

[Fbh]

The biggest problem with fidelity is that it seems to be one of the main factors pushing dev times (and by extension budgets) higher and higher.

Or at least that's what I've always assumed. In the timeframe devs used to release entire trilogies they now make 1 game (if at all), and it's not like their gameplay is more complex or they have amazing AI, physics and interactivity compared to the stuff they made 15 years ago.

 

[buttnuggett]

The biggest problem with fidelity is that it seems to be one of the main factors pushing dev times (and by extension budgets) higher and higher.

Or at least that's what I've always assumed. In the timeframe devs used to release entire trilogies they now make 1 game (if at all), and it's not like their gameplay is more complex or they have amazing AI, physics and interactivity compared to the stuff they made 15 years ago.

That's what AI is for. Used properly of course.

 

[bitbydeath]

That and desperation to include 60FPS modes everywhere.

 

[Parazels]

Resident Evil 4 original vs remake is a better example

 

[Represent.]

Nonsense. Older games do not look better.

Plenty of modern games have great art direction

Great art direction means nothing without the tech to match it.

Otherwise you end up with shit like BOTW and Elden ring. Very ugly games with great art.

If old games look better then go ahead and keep playing GTA5, dont even bother with 6.

Crimson Desert wouldn't be half the experience it is without the Fidelity it has.

Fidelity is part of the game experience, it greatly enhances the atmosphere of the game. Stop acting like higher resolution games dont look way better lol

 

[ahtlas7]

Fidelity is the problem? Disagree. Lack of Imagination or talent is the problem.

Now excuse me while I get my War Thunder on.

 

[Loboxxx]

That's exactly the problem with DLSS5. There comes a point where the graphics reach such a level of realism that it becomes off-putting and simply less appealing. It goes from being art to being a documentary.

Of course, there are genres, like simulators, where graphical realism makes perfect sense, but for FPS games, fantasy games, etc. man, maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but if everything looks too real or fake, I'd probably stop playing video games altogether.

 

[JerryinSoCal]

There was a video of a dev talking about crimson desert and he was saying how the grass was an unnatural green and that it should be toned down etc, I 100% disagree. I love how things look in crimson desert for the most part, the bright grass is visually appealing, much more than some half dead brownish look that most devs would go for these days because it's real (lacking imagination)

 

[March Climber]

That and desperation to include 60FPS modes everywhere.

 

[SolidQ]

Art and style over hyper realism any day of the week.

Yeah. Like this game art style

 

[Braag]

The cinematic sky box vs just a dull white sky box is so true with modern games.

 

[Kiya's Guard]

But I demand that my next dead or alive xtreme will be even more realistic!

 

[Black_Stride]

I think this is kind of related because I have seen people on the WEB crying and bitching about...the yellow paint. But it's crazy that I didn't connect the "yellow paint" phenomenon to its real-life implementation:

so....in real life, these things are called Braille blocks or Tenji blocks...so you know , a woke thing because they are related to accessibility...TLoU really made them popular.







and so on...as you can see, a very popular topic.

I think devs have become "lazy" with these kinds of practices; they think that because there is more detail and realism, they just need to use them...like, there is no other option. which creates visual homogenization between games (everyone uses the same shit)

So, I don't think fidelity is ruining games, but "laziness."

Most gamers are alot dumber than you think they are.
If the yellow paint and other markers werent in the games people would quit early cuz they wouldnt be able to figure out where to go.

I worked in a videogame arcade and watching people play videogames almost made me lose faith in humanity, I was genuinely curious how these people even made it to the store.

Its also the reason protagonists started basically solving puzzles for you, or outright telling you where to go.
If you leave players alone alot alot alot these days will not figure it out and will quit the game and then post online that its not fun..........no you are just stupid.

One of IGNs most popular "things" right now is actually their guides.......because modern gamers cant figure anything out even when the developers try to make it as foolproof as possible.

 

[GymWolf]

It's not ruining shit, 85% of game still have simple\stylized graphic, they are not all 200mil budgets games.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

That and desperation to include 60FPS modes everywhere.

This should be the minimum going forward

 

[Wildebeest]

A lot of this stuff seems more focused on selling engines and creating jobs in the game industry than art or making money from games.

 

[nnytk]

I've felt for years that AAA games have started to look too much alike, all of these Horizon, GoW and TLoU type of Sony IP's had similar environments, color grading and shading. Not across the board, but extremely similar vibes in forest area's and such.

I also really don't like this homogenization of games that use UE5, they look so damn alike, no need for that.

Meanwhile, there's indie games like Peaks of Yore, Tamashika and Pigface, doing MORE with LESS. Not mentioning Mouthwashing, Buckshot Roulette, Katamari Damacy or Lethal Company.

Art direction matters way more than raw fidelity. Detail and realism shouldn't be the default benchmark. It's the same in contemporary art, people gravitate toward technical skill and realism, but something that looks simple - like a child's drawing or Cobra-style expressive work - can be just as hard to get right as academic drawing.

In other words: mainstream gonna mainstream. Slop is inevitable. Taste is defined by education and environment, context, culture. I'm happy that zoomers are embracing kitsch and pop culture extremes compared to the muted and limited cultural palette of most boomers.

AAA games have been boring 90% of the time imho. One of the main reasons I prefer Japanese developers and games.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Most gamers are alot dumber than you think they are.
If the yellow paint and other markers werent in the games people would quit early cuz they wouldnt be able to figure out where to go.

I worked in a videogame arcade and watching people play videogames almost made me lose faith in humanity, I was genuinely curious how these people even made it to the store.

Its also the reason protagonists started basically solving puzzles for you, or outright telling you where to go.
If you leave players alone alot alot alot these days will not figure it out and will quit the game and then post online that its not fun..........no you are just stupid.

One of IGNs most popular "things" right now is actually their guides.......because modern gamers cant figure anything out even when the developers try to make it as foolproof as possible.

People become dumb because the entertainment they consume is dumb. It's on creators to raise the bar and "educate" gamers all over again, just like From did with Demons Souls or more recently Team Cherry's games.

People adapt when games are challenging AND rewarding. The problem is that it takes good creators to do something like that. Yellow paint or talkative companions is lazy design executed by untalented devs, mostly. Catering to the lowest common denominator is just an excuse.

The same applies to movies and books. Before I started writing, a few people adviced me to do something simple, like The Hunger Games because "modern readers are dumb". Instead, I went for something like Dune (in complexity) and most people understood the convoluted plot lines without issues. Some remarked that it was different in a good way, because they are also sick of getting the dumb treatment in modern fantasy/sci-fi literature.

Sure, there's a fair amount of people who are beyond salvation, but the largest part of the audience can be "educated" on more nuanced and complex stuff if the quality is there (BIG IF).

 

[MrRibeye]

Crowbcat wins again

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

My personal beef has been clutter in all forms. The more realism, the more clutter there is everywhere and suddenly we need yellow paint because one can't tell anymore what's actually serving gameplay or not. There's just so much shit everywhere in modern games. Every room and space has be stuffed to the gils with "realistic" stuff seemingly.

I'm not really expressing this well but my immediate thoughts and not sure if it even fits in this topic.

 

[The Cockatrice]

It's not fidelity killing games, it's the lack of talent. You can have fidelity and amazing art style, how fucking stupid can you be? Can you guys think for a second before posting random youtube grifters?

 

[ReasonBeing]

I think this is kind of related because I have seen people on the WEB crying and bitching about...the yellow paint. But it's crazy that I didn't connect the "yellow paint" phenomenon to its real-life implementation:

so....in real life, these things are called Braille blocks or Tenji blocks...so you know , a woke thing because they are related to accessibility...TLoU really made them popular.







and so on...as you can see, a very popular topic.

I think devs have become "lazy" with these kinds of practices; they think that because there is more detail and realism, they just need to use them...like, there is no other option. which creates visual homogenization between games (everyone uses the same shit)

So, I don't think fidelity is ruining games, but "laziness."

Japan's Tenji blocks are woke?

 

[cireza]

If the yellow paint and other markers werent in the games people would quit early cuz they wouldnt be able to figure out where to go.

That's because the games are poorly readable. Yellow paint is the solution that was used to compensate for bad level-design and art direction.

If the visuals were not as bloated with effects, realistic, samey in terms of colors and gradients, with shadows that create to high a contrast. And if the places were better laid-out etc... you would instantly understand what you are looking at. Your eyes and brain run through the visuals and analyze them, if the game is poorly designed, you don't understand them, either because of a lack of information, or because of an overload.

I know people love the game, but the first area you can explore in Expedition 33 (a mountain range) is the perfect example of an overloaded place where understanding where to go, and what is important, is an absolute pain.

In a fighting game, common sense is to have the background and the two main characters either different in style, gradients or tone so that you make them out perfectly.

It is not always about people being dumb or clueless.

 

[IAmRei]

fidelity with details is still cool tho

well, it's usually depend on the artstyle in my opinion.
and people nowadays loves something simpler though it's different with case by case