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Whats the last game you saw and said "Ugh, the art style/visuals/graphics looks horrendous"
- Thread starter Lightjolly
- Start date
Nothing really stands out as truly awful recently, but I did find Control (PS5) bland and tedious on the eyes (which is why I stopped playing).
Not necessarily ugly but there's a fine line for me between minimalistic art styles and ones that are super basic, like N ++. The mechanics are fantastic but its hard to get into longer term because of its particular style of minimalism.
Its an inconsistent thing with me though, one of the the games that grabbed me the most I played this year was Faith, a ZX Spectrum inspired looking horror game. Part of its the sound effects too, its just a perfect callback to that early form of game audio. Its also enhanced by these legit creepy animated segments that look somewhat rotoscoped but also retain the limited color palette the Spectrum had. Cannot wait for Chapter III to finally release.
Its an inconsistent thing with me though, one of the the games that grabbed me the most I played this year was Faith, a ZX Spectrum inspired looking horror game. Part of its the sound effects too, its just a perfect callback to that early form of game audio. Its also enhanced by these legit creepy animated segments that look somewhat rotoscoped but also retain the limited color palette the Spectrum had. Cannot wait for Chapter III to finally release.
Call of Chtulu (2018): It looks like an early Xbox 360 game from the 2005-2007 period when devs were still struggling with adopting to realistic graphics on 720p+ resolutions and the new hardware power of the PS360 and released what looked like upgraded PS2 era titles. Except that THIS GAME only released TWO YEARS AGO (alright, soon to be three sooner rather than later, but the point stands). Like how can you have textures and effects that bad and low-res EVERYWHERE in your game in this time and age? I just couldn't stand it anymore after the first hour even though I do often play A and AA titles, thankfully I was borrowing it and hadn't bought it.
Wasteland 3. I only played the icy Tutorial section, but it looked quite a bit worse than Wasteland 2 Director's Cut particularly in the environments, which I found quite surprising. So I decided to just finish Wasteland 2 first and give the game a second chance later.
Otherwise I tend to bounce hard from PS1 era games that were going for a "realistic 3D artstyle" rather than 2D, pixel-art, hand drawn or cel-shade-ish artstyles. They just aged...so...badly. I have zero issues playing through the original Final Fantasy IV or VI for example (NOT the current versions of FF VI though, I ain't touching those character models with a 10-yard stick), but am bouncing hard from the original Final Fantasy VII. I can deal with PS2 era and later games going for realistic graphics just fine though for the most part (even say games like Fatal Frame/Project Zero 1), the jump in graphics was just that big that I don't care much except for rare exceptions like the games mentioned above or certain 2000-2002 era Western games.
Wasteland 3. I only played the icy Tutorial section, but it looked quite a bit worse than Wasteland 2 Director's Cut particularly in the environments, which I found quite surprising. So I decided to just finish Wasteland 2 first and give the game a second chance later.
Otherwise I tend to bounce hard from PS1 era games that were going for a "realistic 3D artstyle" rather than 2D, pixel-art, hand drawn or cel-shade-ish artstyles. They just aged...so...badly. I have zero issues playing through the original Final Fantasy IV or VI for example (NOT the current versions of FF VI though, I ain't touching those character models with a 10-yard stick), but am bouncing hard from the original Final Fantasy VII. I can deal with PS2 era and later games going for realistic graphics just fine though for the most part (even say games like Fatal Frame/Project Zero 1), the jump in graphics was just that big that I don't care much except for rare exceptions like the games mentioned above or certain 2000-2002 era Western games.
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"Last time", as in, most recently? Probably Ys IX, don't know about horrendous (since I'll still get it... lol) but it's definitely mediocre.
The Monster World IV remake is an abomination. I'd definitely call it "horrendous".
Immortals Fenyx Rising has nice vistas but terrible characters. Genshin Impact makes my eyes bleed all around.
This is... a... post.
The Monster World IV remake is an abomination. I'd definitely call it "horrendous".
Immortals Fenyx Rising has nice vistas but terrible characters. Genshin Impact makes my eyes bleed all around.
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This is... a... post.
It certaintly is. I dont know, maybe not the best choice of words (or word in this case), but there is something about Ori's design that turns me off, and it reminds me a bit of what i saw in Dust An Elysian Tale.
I plan to give it another chance, but not a good first impression.
It's just.... well, there's so much wrong lol. Not only is Ori a gorgeous game overall, but furries are, by definition, anthropomorphic animals, and literally no one in Ori is anthropomorphic... do you just hate all animal creatures or
Eh I don't think that's a very controversial opinion, reactions seemed mixed around here when the game was initially revealed. While the promotional artwork is great and the spritework of bosses etc seems good as well, I just find the mix of low-res sprites and higher-res environments coupled with image filters makes the end result look rather garish. Bit surprising honestly considering the pedigree of the people behind it.
I just don't understand why they don't just cel shade the game. It would do wonders to that bland aesthetic.
Ys IX
Not only is it hideous for a PS4 game the character designs are awful.
Yeah, GRID, DiRT 2, and F1 2010 were pretty bad. I think the original Need for Speed Most Wanted might top them all, though:
Legitimately gross. I'm so glad we've moved pass piss filters for the most part.
I dunno, some marshmallow anime thing or some big-head portable thing or some Blizzard ripoff mobile thing. There are a few popular styles that I can't stand, but the problem is they're so generic that the instances of them just blur together.
I still remember the untextured water graphics
Just Cause 3 has grown on me, but I'm still waiting for the "definitive" follow-up to Just Cause 2
Xenoblade 2. It can look pretty but my main issue with games is if their styles aren't consistent. I can tolerate a lot of weird games, even if they aren't always the most pleasant to look at, if they feel cohesive. Not only do some of the main cast feel like they don't belong in the same game, then you add the guest characters. And then the enemy units are an entirely different style too.
Pokemon Sword and Shield, Nintendo games usually strikes a balance expect with this Pokémon entry for some reason.
Just checked. I have 454 h playtime on steam alone. I have it on iOS too...
So, it has taken me a bit of time
Came to mention this one. It strips all the charm the original 2D sprites had.
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is the standout example to me. It's so ugly in some areas.
Piczle Colors.
It's a solid nonograms game, but man...
Like, even from a gameplay perspective, shouldn't you make the background a less saturated color so the blocks you place pop out more?
This is me. A few of my friends and fam kept badgering me to join them but I just can't stand the characters.
Avengers. No, I didn't ever expect the characters to look like their movie counterparts. The problem is they look too similar but with generally worse designs. It's extremely jarring. Captain America's design is horrendous, he looks like a barrel in Kevlar. And everything else about the game just looks generic as hell. I expected much better from Crystal Dynamics.
I don't know about horrendous, but I find Octopath Traveler pretty ugly. I really like the idea of putting 16-bit-esque textures on 3D environments, but the bloom and blurring to make it look like a diorama kinda ruin it for me.
Tone them down, and I think I'd like it better. Whenever I see people wish FF6 was remade in the OT artstyle I pray it doesn't happen lol
Link's Awakening remake is another I'm not a fan of. It's got the same diorama look as OT and I don't like the toy-like look of the characters. I'd have preferred something like ALBW, but with higher poly models and environments and better effects.
Tone them down, and I think I'd like it better. Whenever I see people wish FF6 was remade in the OT artstyle I pray it doesn't happen lol
Link's Awakening remake is another I'm not a fan of. It's got the same diorama look as OT and I don't like the toy-like look of the characters. I'd have preferred something like ALBW, but with higher poly models and environments and better effects.
Most of Sony's FP games.
But I think that's exactly what they are aiming for.
Also, any newcomers to King of Fighters.
And what they did to Charlotte in the last Samurai Showdown.
But I think that's exactly what they are aiming for.
Also, any newcomers to King of Fighters.
And what they did to Charlotte in the last Samurai Showdown.
The mention of Call of Cthulhu made me think of The Sinking City, which is probably my actual answer to this question. I've only played a little of it, but what I've played has the aesthetic of Call of Cthulhu dialed up. The game looks infected.
This. Combined with the absolute horrendous image quality and jaggies i can safely say the first hour of the game made me sick to my stomach. Amazing game though. I still think it's a shame Nintendo is always so behind on image quality.Every character except Link / Midna / Zelda / Ganon in Twilight Princess is an abomination
Except this guy, who on account of his diminutive stature and juxtaposed way of speaking - goes past being ugly and somehow comes back around to being awesome
Additional shoutout to the scenery textures in Twilight Princess. The game that made me love Wind Waker even more!
That reminds me, when I completed my first playthrough of Dishonored 2 I needed more stealthy goodness so I decided on a replay of the latest Thief game. It didn't fare well in comparison, but the art style in particular more and more oppressive as the game went on compared to the colourfulness of Dishonored 2.
It does look like that infamous "Dreamworks face". The thing that truly baffles me is that somewhere, there has to be someone that consciously makes that decision. "Let's go with the Dreamworks character design. People love it"
I probably don't feel as strongly as the other poster but I see where they are coming from. Ori does remind me of Fidget from Dust: An Elysian Tail. Maybe labeling it as furry is wrong but it's a similar vibe. I really only have an issue with Ori, the other characters are much better and the game is gorgeous.
I know it's been posted a lot but Pokemon SwSh. I recently downloaded the DLC, and the Isle of Armor was instantly incredibly off putting. Because the majority of it is a wild area, the entire island looks like a GameCube game, Pokemon pop into existence 5 feet away from you, and a lot of the colors and effects are over saturated.
Pokemon is, I think, the most successful IP in human history, and the most they can seemingly muster is what they gave us in SwSh. As a fan of Pokemon since the originals, it is so incredibly easy to imagine what a console based Pokemon game could look like in 2021, and these games were several leagues short of that. I can't help but wonder where we might be if Pokemon had a different developer.
Pokemon is, I think, the most successful IP in human history, and the most they can seemingly muster is what they gave us in SwSh. As a fan of Pokemon since the originals, it is so incredibly easy to imagine what a console based Pokemon game could look like in 2021, and these games were several leagues short of that. I can't help but wonder where we might be if Pokemon had a different developer.
Yeah, I'm with you on this. I don't quite think it's "horrendous," but the environments are so boring and the character design is pretty bad.
