Summary
To many gamers and studio executives alike, graphics are everything. And while graphics haven’t exactly peaked, the impressive fidelity of modern games is bordering on the limits of what the human eye can actually see, and someday, game developers will have to collectively decide how far they want to go in conveying pores, cells, or even molecules.
That being said, some studios took a look at the ever-improving visual eye candy of video games and opted for a more Spartan look. The developers of some absolute classics have been known to cut corners to squeeze in extra gameplay, opt for a retro look, or even craft intentionally ugly environments to achieve a unique aesthetic. Either way, these potato-faced games are some of the best around.
While some gamers might consider its gigantic pixilated landscape beautiful in their own right (and they wouldn’t be wrong), there’s no denying thatMinecraft’s rough look isn’t exactly the crown diamond in the beautiful video games club. However, it’s hard to imagine the game looking any other way.
That’s because the uniquely basic-looking style allowed Mojang to quickly throw in new features in every update without having to wait too long on the art department. Of course, love and care go into each skin, but given how big the worlds inMinecraftare,and how crazy builds can get, low resolution was the way to go.
7Cruelty Squad
Graphics (and how good or bad they look) can be a contentious issue in gaming culture. However, there can’t be much controversy when assessing this feverish, foul-looking 90s throwback masterpiece. From its bloated and throbbing UI to its mismatched environments and characters,Cruelty Squadwasintentionally designed to look as ugly as possible.
Technically, it falls into the first-person immersive sim genre, but for those not in the know about this game’s surreal but memorable gameplay and open-ended design, it’s easy to see why few gamers might not want to get “immersed” in this abyss of gunge, cannibalism, and gore. That being said, it’s an extremely fun and unique experience that couldn’t be had any other way.
6Star Fox (Super NES)
TheStar Foxseries has produced some of the finest games Nintendo has ever put out, and some iconic memes to boot. This soup of blurry colors and pointy shapes was considered cutting-edge at the time. However, considering that this game was released on the same console (less than a year before!) asDonkey Kong Country, it’s astonishing that it went on to become as popular as it did.
Perhaps the developers were opting for a smooth frame rate over smooth graphics. Considering that games had yet to make the transition into 3D, it must have been a marvel to see back then. Today, however, all that most gamers will be able to see on their smart TVs are jutting triangles and fuzzy circles.
5Dragon Quest 7
Dragon Quest 7is a straight-up RPG classic, and while it’s by no means an ugly-looking game, it’s one of the most backward-looking PS1 games from the year 2000, especially considering thatMetal Gear Solidhad come out two whole years earlier. As critics noted at the time, while it may not be up to much graphically, the game’s deep gameplay and diversity of activities made it a hit, especially in Japan.
Sixteen years later,Dragon Quest 7(known as “Dragon Warrior 7” in North America) got a 3DS makeover and a new subtitle,Fragments of the Forgotten Past,which turned out to beone of the best RPGs available on the handheld. Finally, DQ7 got the recognition it deserved.
In the hallowed halls of gaming,GTA3certainly has a place on the loftiest shelves. It is important for many reasons, not least because it kicked the door open to the open-world genre. However, looking back, especially on new, high-end TVs, it’s probably fair to say it looks a little rough (or, more accurately, smeary, drab, and blocky).
It’s funny to think that this game was once a great scapegoat for violence in society, given how low-res everything (including the pedestrians) looked. But perhaps the charm ofGTA3lay in filling in the cracks with sweet imagination. Whatever the case, today, Rockstar puts outsome of the most richly detailed games in the industry, including the modern entries in theGrand Theft Autoseries.
3Dwarf Fortress (classic)
For most of its life (or development),Dwarf Fortressplayed like trying to read the falling green text seen on computer screens inThe Matrix. It took two decades (including one decade of being featured in New York’s Museum of Modern Art) for the game to get a graphical overhaul to look anything close to being playable to the uninitiated or casual gamer.
Of course, if Bay 12 got bogged down with graphics, even the simplest of sprites, the game would never have runwith all those mad dwarves running around, and those magically esoteric lines of code that make Dwarf Fortress such a juggernaut of emergent storytelling would have never been written. However, the Steam release of the game makes playing this masterpiece easier on the eye, thanks to some very talented (and hardworking) sprite artists.
Flash sells. It could be said that the pursuit of finer and finer visual details in video games only really provides short-term wins in the industry.RuneScapemight be an example of a main-stayer that, while it has been known to upgrade and button up to modern standards, has always had fans for other reasons.
Part of what madeRunescapeso appealing and successful was its accessibility,facilitated by its free-to-play structureand low hardware requirements. With simple graphics, the developers were able to craft an expansive world that kept players of even the longest playtimes under their belt happily grinding away.
In 1997, gamers everywhere lucky enough to get their hands on a copy fell in love with the world ofFinal Fantasy 7. For decades after, fans begged Square Enix to remake the game with new tech. It’s debatable whether this fervor began with the more richly realized cutscenes or battle models or following the release of its follow-up,Final Fantasy 8, which features life-like models throughout.
While this game shines like a perfect diamond in the memories of manyFinal Fantasyfanatics, the short-stack character models used for the entirety of the game’s overworld and non-combat maps hardly look stellar, especially when the camera cuts in so close to Cloud’s squashed, bulbous body. Of course, the 2018 remake could make even the coldest Shinra SOLDIER cry,not just for all those tearful moments this time, but in all the game’s beauty.
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