What older games that went for realistic graphics (for their time) still look good?

[Firmament1]

It's generally well-known that when making a video game that stands the test of time graphically, a stylized look will almost always look better. Okami, and Wind Waker are possibly the two most well-known examples of this. Most older games going for a realistic style will inevitably age, and I think that's still gonna hold true for this generation to at least some degree.

Some games are exceptions, though, as the title suggests.

I think some of the best examples are the Resident Evil Remake from 2001...

As well as Ninja Gaiden from 2004.

While neither of these games could pass off as current-gen, and have plenty of dated aspects in terms graphically, they still look pretty decent, even today.

Are there any other examples?

 

[Sanctuary]

As you said, REmake still looks great, but so does RE0 for the same reason, even if the game itself isn't nearly as good. That's kind of cheating though since they were using incredible looking prerendered backgrounds that were not possible to create in real-time, so of course they would age better.

Wracking my brain trying to think of anything that was going for the dull "green, gray and brown" of last gen that has aged well, and drawing a blank. The last game that mostly holds up I think might be Half-Life 2. By default it's not exactly "ugly", but I normally play it with the modded assets and it looks way better.

 

[Syriel]

I wouldn't call Ninja Gaiden realistic.

 

[SupremeWu]

Ninja Gaiden wasn't even really about screen-shots to me the most impressive thing is that it looked that good and performed basically flawlessly, fluid as anything I've ever played, a screen full of demons to chop up and it never skips a beat

 

[RedSwirl]

For some reason I still like the aesthetic of Gran Turismo on the PS1.

 

[Sanctuary]

Ninja Gaiden wasn't even really about screen-shots to me the most impressive thing is that it looked that good and performed basically flawlessly, fluid as anything I've ever played, a screen full of demons to chop up and it never skips a beat

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The human characters were all on the more realistic side for a video game at the time, and seemed like they were from an incredibly good looking Virtua Fighter or Tekken.

 

[SupremeWu]

The human characters were all on the more realistic side for a video game at the time, and seemed like they were from an incredibly good looking Virtua Fighter or Tekken.

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I'm sure you meant to quote that guy right before me, i agree with you certainly

 

[Sanctuary]

I'm sure you meant to quote that guy right before me, i agree with you certainly

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Sort of, but it was more of a general reply about realism, and your own comment on the main reason you thought the game was great wasn't focused on how it looked. At the same time, the overall look of the game wasn't going for realism at all. Mainly just the human character models. I don't recall every location either, but the village area looked real enough to me back then, especially for a video game during that period.

 

[SickNasty]

Metal Gear Solid 4 is 12 years old, that counts.

 

[SupremeWu]

Sort of, but it was more of a general reply about realism, and your own comment on the main reason you thought the game was great wasn't focused on how it looked. At the same time, the overall look of the game wasn't going for realism at all. Mainly just the human character models. I don't recall every location either, but the village area looked real enough to me at the time, especially for a video game during that period.

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Sure, I thought anything that would exist in the real world was in a realistic style, horses, human fighters, backgrounds, etc. Obviously some are exaggerated (Rachel), for, reasons. And the enemies, but the Ryu character model for example would fit in fine in a typical 'realistic' setting

 

[TheMadTitan]

Metal Gear Solid 4 is 12 years old, that counts.

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The whole Metal Gear Solid franchise post-MGS1 would count if MGS4 counts, including Portable Ops and Peace Walker given the platforms they were on.

 

[lord_of_flood]

The Metroid Prime games (especially Prime 3) are the ones that first came to mind for me. There are some aspects of their visuals that are dated, sure, but they still hold up pretty well overall. There were some pretty neat things they did that still impress me to this day (all of the visor effects, like rain, reflections, and fog, are good examples).

 

[Deleted member 59109]

Actually I think Mass Effect. At least I think the art direction and atmosphere holds up really well and feels really unique.

 

[MajesticSoup]

 

[Perkin_Warbeck]

I still think Tie Fighter looks good!

 

[Anth0ny]

REmake, RE0 and RE4 still look fantastic.

 

[Pyro]

Silent Hill 3

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Hard to believe that's a 2003 game

 

[Dominic Decoco]

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005)

Chronicles of Riddick on OG Xbox still looks great too

 

[ColdSun]

This is awfully similar to another thread,

Games that were visually ahead of their generations.

I was thinking about assassins creed unity and how still to this day, its one of the prettiest and most impressive games to come out this generation. from the cloth and hair details, the lighting, the crowd density. It looks amazing still! Two games that looked ahead of their time last...

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