Graphics

            Video games have come a long way from being square dots on a screen. Back then the player just had to use their imagination to make their own world a little more appealing. So long as the 8-bit sprites vaguely resembled a person, we could grow attached to that character. Nowadays, we don’t have to do that so much. We’ve got programs that can make hyper realistic worlds that look so stunning and bring a tear to my eye… and yet, we crave more.

            I think somewhere during the transition from 2d games to 3d games our desire for more realism in games has skyrocketed. The demand for state of the art graphics in our games has reached a point so high that only the most talented people get to do the honors of meeting those needs. Despite their skill, we just aren’t satisfied. Why do we want the graphics to be so good that they blur the lines of reality and fantasy to the point of reaching uncanny valley? I’m beginning to think our demand is too great. These developers are only human. They can only do so much and we’re working them way too hard.

            Allow me to use The Order: 1886 as an example. It recently launched on the PS4 this year and it looks amazing. I haven’t seen graphics this aesthetically appealing since Bioshock Infinite. The textures, the animation, the particle effects, the lighting, you name it. However, I looked at a review for the game that heavily criticized the gameplay. What happened? This game had a cool concept from the time it was shown at E3 last year and seemed like it would be a stellar game with a brand new IP. Instead, it failed in the gameplay department, the story wasn’t too intriguing, and enemy AI was laughable. I’ve never played this game, so maybe it’s just one guy’s opinion. But he was sorely disappointed. If you want to hear the review yourself, here’s a link to AngryJoe’s Review of The Order: 1886.

            This isn’t the first time a pretty game did badly in the gameplay (let alone everything else). Sonic Boom has this beautiful aesthetic, but the game itself is really buggy and there’s no telling what kind of game it wants to be. It mixes genres so much that Earthworm Jim is asking Sonic to politely calm down. It’s universally panned as a bad game and there’s no telling why graphics were seen as the biggest priority.

            Now for a game that looks a bit muddy, but plays well: Xenoblade Chronicles. One of the biggest flaws of the game is that it looks kind of bad. For a Wii game, that was about as good as the graphics could get. However, the graphics didn’t bother me that much. The story was compelling and the gameplay was phenomenal! I still had loads of fun with it. Graphics are important to a game and can affect how the world looks and operates, but there’s no need to go overboard and try to market with looks alone. In fact, any game trailer you see that shows you cinematic cutscenes, FMV sequences, but no gameplay, that just looks suspicious.

            Granted, this is only an issue with AAA developers. Most indie companies don’t feel pressured to have the best graphics, so they can do almost anything they want. They can’t get away with graphics that make it impossible to see, but they can avoid looking hyper realistic. As for big companies such as Ubisoft, they have to meet the demand that is ultimate graphical quality. I feel sorry that these companies have to put up with this kind of work. The artists must be highly skilled and I’m grateful for the effort they put in to their games. Sadly, I can’t lower the demand for pristine graphics. I can only hope that making games like The Order: 1886 with that same quality of look becomes easier on the developers.