PS1 Graphics in 2024... Why? Do we need more realism? And why are we suddenly bringing back those old-school PlayStation 1 graphics? by The Cutting Edge.
Honestly I'm completely sick of realism. Stop spending dev cycles trying to get raytracing to glint silver flecks off that slightly graying NPCs hair and spend those cycles putting more cool shit to do in your game. I can't remember the last time I was like "wow so realistic" in a game. I can remember the last dozen times I was like "wow what a cool mechanic" in a game
I have a buddy who is all about that stuff, but he really just wants to play simulators, so idk why it has infected all of game dev. I think it is to just sell hardware.
Strong visual design/art direction is infinitely more important to me than graphics. Every time. I do however find it kinda lame when people do retro graphics (from pixel to some specific console aesthetic) without really using retro graphics to enhance the experience.
The late 90s to early 2000s had plenty of games that moved to 3d before anybody knew how to make a 3d game actually fun to play. Examples would include most games with "3D" in the title.
Most of the games I've been playing lately are just emulated old games, anyway. Especially in the summer months when those have low reqs, meaning I don't have to go full throttle to run them, and don't generate unwanted heat when it's already warm.
Right now we are over 40c daily so I can't emulate any modern console or play anything heavy because of this. We have AC but not even that helps when the room is already hot.
Also graphics have undeniably been diminishing returns since the PS4. I remember people being dissappointed the new games looked tame. There are "diminishing returns" articles all the way back to the Dreamcast.