"Why do we need more graphics?": 2010's Alan Wake was as photoreal as videogames ever needed to be, reckons original Thief designer

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• criticon@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Image

  Remember when this was top tier?

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• Buddahriffic@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Personally, I see graphics and gameplay as separate dimensions. Great games are more about gameplay than graphics, but I still love beautiful games like Subnautica, or that Horizon VR game (which was a meh game but I enjoyed just looking around when I first started playing). Though games can also be beautiful without going just for photorealism, like Valheim.

  That said, at some point it becomes more interesting as a tech demo than a game when going for extreme photorealism. You don’t even notice the difference between realistically simulated hair vs simply simulated hair except for a few cases (like it would probably be good in a porn game), other than the framerate hit.

  And then there’s the direction nvidia wants to go in where it’s not photorealism but highly detailed slop.

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• Eternal192@anarchist.nexus ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  If a game is good then to hell with the graphics.

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• Sanctus@anarchist.nexus ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Article is kinda trash, dude goes into it with the bias that this guy is wrong. But hes not. Play the original Thief. What he is saying is graphics have now eaten the industry to the point that it effects gameplay itself. Hes right.

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• boaratio@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I loved the original Xbox 360 Alan Wake.

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• bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Thats me. Even when young, cared nothing for graphics. I still have fun with Atari 7800 games and get absorbed and transported to the game world.

  Peoples imaginations suck now, is my hypothesis. Theyre never ever bored, constantly stimulated, and depressed. They think shiny graphics will help them.

  Thankfully indie games have been killing it with great gameplay recently !

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• Coelacanth@feddit.nu ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I mean, I am a firm believer in Art Direction>Fidelity, but there is no reason you can’t have both, too. Anyone who’s played Alan Wake and then Alan Wake 2 directly after will probably agree that yeah, better graphics can have a pretty damn big impact.

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  • teolan@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    But better graphics is something you can just throw money at, while art direction requires skill and letting artists free. From the point of view of investor, putting all in graphics is the les risky choice.

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    • snooggums@piefed.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Also it is a lot easier for investors/leadership to see graphics at any point in the process compared to gameplay, which can change all the way up to release and takes time to work. Throwing money at something that can be seen is easy!

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• Ilixtze@lemmy.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  It was also kind of dull in the gameplay department? I love horror games and Alan Wake is perhaps the only horror game I’ve bounced off 3 times. I’ve beaten a lot of stinkers. I kinda liked parasite eve 2 and fucking played all the way through galerians ash.

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  • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Its great if you enjoy reading. A lot of gamers I know have never read a book so dont want that type of game. The chainsaw men in the forest did get old I’ll say that!

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    • Ilixtze@lemmy.ml ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I’m an avid horror reader and the story of Alan wake 1 didn’t really pull me, (maybe it’s the fact that i don’t like stephen king or the whole midwest americana. )

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  • Coelacanth@feddit.nu ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I’m a big Remedy-head, so I’m very biased here. But I will argue it’s worth pushing through it. The story is interesting and the payoff is worth it. AW2 is an incredible game. The first game definitely haven’t aged well though, even though I like the story and characters and think it has some charm.

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    • Ilixtze@lemmy.ml ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Would you recommend Alan Wake 2 to someone who didn’t play the first one? I’ve been tempted to buy the sequel but i often wonder how much it ties to the first.

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