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Games that visually can withold the test of time without being cell shaded/cartoonish.
- Thread starter Tahnit
- Start date
That's not really what this thread is aboutNot cel shaded or cartoonish, but it is a distinctive visual style nevertheless:
I guess you mean low effort truth.
I have no gifs, but here is a video I looked up for your low effort begging.
I sadly can't find a good dolphin emulated video that only ups the resolution.
Higher resolution is the only thing that game needs. The series needs switch ports and a fourth entry.
I came to post this. Honestly I don't think I'll ever get tired of the Halo 1 aesthetic.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
The textures may be a bit low-res and some of the character models are rough-looking but, all in all, I think it holds up very well thanks to its colour palette, lighting and attention to detail. The game's environment artists and level designers really had a way of making a place feel lived-in and authentic. Plus, the cutscenes in this game look great because they used motion-capture for all the cutscene animations and they really did a good job with shot composition.
(These screenshots aren't the best but it's actually not easy to find high-res screens of the game. Most screenshots out there are from back when the game released which means they're very low-res.)
The textures may be a bit low-res and some of the character models are rough-looking but, all in all, I think it holds up very well thanks to its colour palette, lighting and attention to detail. The game's environment artists and level designers really had a way of making a place feel lived-in and authentic. Plus, the cutscenes in this game look great because they used motion-capture for all the cutscene animations and they really did a good job with shot composition.
(These screenshots aren't the best but it's actually not easy to find high-res screens of the game. Most screenshots out there are from back when the game released which means they're very low-res.)
Only 10 years old, but I think Modern Warfare 2 has aged surprisingly well:
The game looks super clean on PC and the art direction is strong throughout the campaign.
Been replaying it slowly on my PS3 for e past four months or so, lovely game!
A lot of it has to do with display technology. Tons of PS2/1 games look GREAT today if you see them in a CRT but are a downright embarrassment if you see them in an HDTV.
So, assuming you can see them in their best light:
MGS 1, 2 and 3
Final Fantasy IX, X and XII
Chrono Cross
Vagrant Story
Mario 64
Silent Hill 2/3
Burnout 3
Diablo 3
Uncharted 2
Metroid Prime
RE:make
RE4
bunch more
So, assuming you can see them in their best light:
MGS 1, 2 and 3
Final Fantasy IX, X and XII
Chrono Cross
Vagrant Story
Mario 64
Silent Hill 2/3
Burnout 3
Diablo 3
Uncharted 2
Metroid Prime
RE:make
RE4
bunch more
hope it was clear I was being facetious.
but high quality dolphin videos are pretty easy to come by... and are fucking amazing.
I am gonna add Valkyrie Profile Silmeria. I was blown away back then by this game ans still am. A lot of late ps2 games look good to this day such as Tekken 5 heck even Tag Tournament which was a launch game. Also Virtua Fighter 4, Genji, original Killzone.
First xbox has a bunch of the too: Splinter Cell, Burnout 3, the NFS Underground games, Outrun, Ninja Gaiden Black.
Edit: how come I forgot gamecube. That whole gen has aged better than ps3/360 gen in my opinion. Last gen we had way too many piss/gray filter.
First xbox has a bunch of the too: Splinter Cell, Burnout 3, the NFS Underground games, Outrun, Ninja Gaiden Black.
Edit: how come I forgot gamecube. That whole gen has aged better than ps3/360 gen in my opinion. Last gen we had way too many piss/gray filter.
Yes, much to the detriment of the visuals. It neeeeeds texture filtering
Mentioning games from this or the past gen seems like a cheat to me. It's natural those games would still look nice today, they made the HD jump. I think the real focus of the thread should be in games pre-HD era.
Metroid Prime is one that I was replaying recently and holds really well. The atmosphere and execution work just as well today as they did in 2001.
Metroid Prime is one that I was replaying recently and holds really well. The atmosphere and execution work just as well today as they did in 2001.
the lighting in the game is some of the best and most unique ive ever seen
MGS2
Reminder that this game came out in 2001
MGS 2 still looks great.
These screenshots, however, do not.
I'm not totally sure if it counts, given the game is an odd mix of pixel art sprites and 3D world, but I feel that Ragnarok Online's graphics have aged surprisingly well - given the game was designed to run on late 90s PCs.
The forced top-down perspective probably helps with lowering the polycount and lighting effort required.
I remember when I launched it when it was still newish, in 2004, and it blew my mind. Bright, clear, 3D graphics. Nicely lit, with an art style that meshes nicely with the sprites, without being overstylized.
Though, the Z-fighting and transparency bugs do grate pretty badly nowadays.
The forced top-down perspective probably helps with lowering the polycount and lighting effort required.
I remember when I launched it when it was still newish, in 2004, and it blew my mind. Bright, clear, 3D graphics. Nicely lit, with an art style that meshes nicely with the sprites, without being overstylized.
Though, the Z-fighting and transparency bugs do grate pretty badly nowadays.
Neither realistic, nor cartoony, nor cell shaded:
Shadowrun Dragonfall (entire Shadowrun return series).
Shadowrun Dragonfall (entire Shadowrun return series).
Wow, I did not think about the Dishonored series, but gotta say I think this is probably the closest to being the 'right' answer.
This game is 7 years old.
I am still to this day flabbergasted at how great Halo 4 looked. I mean, they literally used every ounce of power the 360 had. While 343 has def fumbled around with Halo IP, Halo 4 is still amazing to me in so many ways.
This. I've been playing the HD version for the first time on the big screen, and it's still as stunning to me now as it was back then.Resident Evil REmake on Gamecube still looks fantastic to this day due to it's blending of pre-rendered backgrounds and great character models/lighting.
and while I think Blood Curse looked technically rough even when it was released it still had an unforgettable look and atmosphere to it
I think Diablo 2 still looks pretty damn good. Hell, it'll very likely age way better than Diablo 3 because of the art style they went with.
Yep, a lot of the images posted here look already pretty dated. People also shouldn't be posting realistic looking games of this generation. They look great right now, yes, but they will definitely look old once next gen arrives.
oh yeah, Alien Isolation captures perfectly the set design of the original, and looks photo-realistic af and its like 6 years old
My conclusion seeing this thread is that the whole idea of visuals aging well or poorly is kind of a meme. Graphics are ninety-nine percent art, so generally speaking what looked good looks good, anyone with half a brain knows to contextualize blocky visuals within the technological constraints of their time period.
Visuals that age poorly rely a lot on technological novelty or gimmicks, my personal example would be games that made heavy use of shader effects on the original Xbox, I was so mesmerized by the novelty of bumpy surfaces and dynamic shadows in games Riddick and Splinter Cell that I didn't really see the bigger picture, these games were not particularly pretty. Halo 2 would have looked better had it skimped on some of the fancy effects and gone for a more old school visual style like the first game.
Visuals that age poorly rely a lot on technological novelty or gimmicks, my personal example would be games that made heavy use of shader effects on the original Xbox, I was so mesmerized by the novelty of bumpy surfaces and dynamic shadows in games Riddick and Splinter Cell that I didn't really see the bigger picture, these games were not particularly pretty. Halo 2 would have looked better had it skimped on some of the fancy effects and gone for a more old school visual style like the first game.
It looks great but I'd kill for a Pro/X patch.
It so deserves one.
Hopefully as much as with my post.
I've found this vid in my search but it has some stuttering so I chose against posting it. That's why I specified 'good' videos.
Also, there should not be a need to post gifs or videos of Rogue Squadron. Anyone that wants to see the games in action again should turn on their Gamecube/Wii/PC and start the game up.
To me a lot of Dreamcast games are still good looking today, even more when you're playing with the internal resolution.
Power Stone, Virtua Tennis, Soul Calibur, House of the Dead 2, Jet Set Radio and many more 3D games are still pretty legit even though they're polygonal.
I'd post screenshots under normal circumstances but I'm at work at the moment. :P
Power Stone, Virtua Tennis, Soul Calibur, House of the Dead 2, Jet Set Radio and many more 3D games are still pretty legit even though they're polygonal.
I'd post screenshots under normal circumstances but I'm at work at the moment. :P
It still hurts that we never got a domestic version of these games... two of my favorite arcade racers of all time.
I'd add TLOU. It's probably early to add it but I think it deserves to be included.
Halo 1 has definitely aged the best of all the older halo games(especially on a CRT). And in terms of more love for bizarre I'll add PGR4 and Drive club. All of those will be remembered nicely in the coming decades for unbelievable visuals.
Halo 1 has definitely aged the best of all the older halo games(especially on a CRT). And in terms of more love for bizarre I'll add PGR4 and Drive club. All of those will be remembered nicely in the coming decades for unbelievable visuals.
Same here(although I'm sure frame rate might be an issue)
Resident Evil REmake on Gamecube still looks fantastic to this day due to it's blending of pre-rendered backgrounds and great character models/lighting.
It all starts here...