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[Bill R Boggess]

I don't buy that just color saturation can negate the photorealism when photography has such a long history of capturing the world without colors.

I don't think it entirely negates it but I also would remind you we haven't yet reached 1:1 in terms of games looking like real life either.

When you dial up colors in a game that already has some uncanny valley/artificiality present, I think it magnifies and intensifies the lack of realism.

But again, that's just my take. Clearly these games are striving for more realism than something like Mario Odyssey or Zelda.

 

[Bill R Boggess]

That's an attempt at photorealism. By a studio that didn't have the budget to make the film actually look good whilst simultaneously being hampered by decade old video game character design:

Okay, and maybe you're right, but now we're discussing intent instead of outcome.

Like I said, when I look at those visuals, I see stylized realism, not photo-realism.

Maybe Naughty Dog was trying for photo-realism but were constrained by current technology but regardless, the outcome looks more stylized than photo-realistic, at least to me. (And to be clear, I am not pretending to be an expert in such matters)

 

[Izuna]

Anthem will get you.

 

[MaximusPayne]

OP, you lost me at Battlefront II and Uncharted didn't impress you...

 

[Lord Error]

Uncharted is stylised realism. Characters and environments certainly look realistic, but they have an artistic hyper-real twist where everything looks more colorful and "better" than real. TLOU (2 especially) certainly pushes things towards less 'hyper' and more 'real', but it still straddles the line. Something like recent battlefield is more of an attempt to actual realism IMO.

Characters in UC4 don't have this sort of greatly exaggerated proportions.

And they are better for it if you ask me. Characters in TinTin look like actual people who have nostral deformations. TinTin himself less than others, but they all practically have more or less deformed noses, while the rest of the face is fairly proportional to realistic norms. Other than the character design however, I too think that both TinTin movie and recent UC games went in that kind of hyper-real direction in terms of world designs, texturing, lighting and color choices.

 

[tuxfool]

And they are better for it if you ask me. Characters in TinTin look like actual people who have nostral deformations.

What they did to Tin Tin, to me, was akin to this:

 

[Lord Error]

What they did to Tin Tin, to me, was akin to this:

Yeah. Just a wrong stylistic choice for the source material. An actual movie that would do real justice to TinTin, shouldn't have looked like that. Also, the movie they made would have looked better with different character designs IMO (but then it couldn't be TinTin).

 

[butman]

Anthem will get you.

Sure. Like Watch Dogs and The Division tech demos.

 

[KORNdoggy]

i definitely think uncharted goes for something other than pure photo realism. i think that's evident in their texture work (hand painted) and their facial animations (hand animated) they're approximations of reality, often stylized and exaggerated, especially in the facial animations. i think that's how they consistently manage to avoid the uncanny valley.

things behave believably and look believable, but they don't try to be real. i honestly feel like uncharted has more in common with say, disney's UP then i do say, CGi Peter Cushing in rogue one. one is trying to trick the viewer into thinking they're viewing something real. the other is just trying to be aesthetically pleasing with believable, emotive characters.

as for the thread topic. i definitely appreciate technical prowess in titles like uncharted and horizon. and i can appreciate the unwavering artistic achievements of something like tearaway. the former is hitting some diminished returns and the latter is finally getting the technical power to accomplish their artistic visions more consistently.

 

[Brotherhood93]

In my opinion Uncharted is akin to something like Mad Max or Blade Runner. You wouldn't say the aesthetic in either of those films has a realistic look despite the fact that Tom Hardy and Harrison Ford are clearly real. The character models are very realistic and extremely impressive but the environment and effects less so, "cinematic" is a more apt description but that is also used to describe games that do attempt a more 1:1 realism than Uncharted, like a Quantic Dream game.

 

[Kolibri]

I've gone full circle.

Photo-realism no longer impresses me. But well drawn pixel art blows me away.

 

[Bill R Boggess]

And they are better for it if you ask me. Characters in TinTin look like actual people who have nostral deformations. TinTin himself less than others, but they all practically have more or less deformed noses, while the rest of the face is fairly proportional to realistic norms. Other than the character design however, I too think that both TinTin movie and recent UC games went in that kind of hyper-real direction in terms of world designs, texturing, lighting and color choices.

Thanks for this post.

I wasn't intending to suggest that Tin Tin and Uncharted had the exact same art styles but rather share a vibrant and colorful aesthetic combined with more realistic animation and character models, sans the exaggerated noses, etc.

 

[Vital Tundra]

When I played Uncharted 4 I was blown away and stuff, but now I just enjoy the visuals like anything else. Sometimes Ill think "hey that water puddle looks awesome" or something along those lines but otherwise, the "awe" has left me. Now games with incredible art direction or stylistic interpretations make my brain receptors go off! Breath of the Wild may not be the bets looking game but it feels me just taking in the landscapes.

And yeah, Uncharted is far more vibrant than what the real world is, but its still approaching a point of photo realism I think. It looks more real than most games sooo.

 

[CyberChulo]

If you have a really good HDR set that can pump out over a 1000 nits of brightness, Uncharted Lost Legacy really shines! (Pun intended)

 

[Meme Master Flux]

I felt the same really soon after I got my PS4. Next gen is going to be weird.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Okay, and maybe you're right, but now we're discussing intent instead of outcome.

Like I said, when I look at those visuals, I see stylized realism, not photo-realism.

Maybe Naughty Dog was trying for photo-realism but were constrained by current technology but regardless, the outcome looks more stylized than photo-realistic, at least to me. (And to be clear, I am not pretending to be an expert in such matters)

Even a cursory look at their workflow and assets shows that they're going for much higher realism than before:

The stylization is massively reduced compared to before. With some characters even being digital doubles of their mocap actors.

Sure. Like Watch Dogs and The Division tech demos.

Those demos were made before the devs had a final idea on what the consoles were capable of. Anthem doesn't have that issue.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

In the more realistic games you would.

There are certain art styles that hold up even today.



I can never understand this.

To me Uncharted aims for realism with regards to textures etc, even the character models. Look at Lost Legacy and the character models, the hair etc, it looks like they're aiming for realism to me. It's certainly not "gamey" like Breath of the Wild.

Then again I've seen some people say that Battlefront games arent' "realistic" or aiming for "realism".....

Fifa doesn't look realistic to me, but EA are certainly aiming for realisim....

The character models yes, but the environments are not realistic. They look like concept art basically. Paintings.

 

[jett]

Uncharted is stylised realism. Characters and environments certainly look realistic, but they have an artistic hyper-real twist where everything looks more colorful and "better" than real. TLOU (2 especially) certainly pushes things towards less 'hyper' and more 'real', but it still straddles the line. Something like recent battlefield is more of an attempt to actual realism IMO.


And they are better for it if you ask me. Characters in TinTin look like actual people who have nostral deformations. TinTin himself less than others, but they all practically have more or less deformed noses, while the rest of the face is fairly proportional to realistic norms. Other than the character design however, I too think that both TinTin movie and recent UC games went in that kind of hyper-real direction in terms of world designs, texturing, lighting and color choices.

This argument could be made last-gen. ND's "stylized realism" in UC4 isn't any different than the average game with AAA production values. Some of you are grasping at straws here. This is a character in Battlefield 1:

How is that any different from anyone in UC4?

 

[Lord Error]

This argument could be made last-gen. ND's "stylized realism" in UC4 isn't any different than the average game with AAA production values. Some of you are grasping at straws here. This is a character in Battlefield 1:

How is that any different from anyone in UC4?

I was thinking more of that infamous scene of that woman talking, that everyone uses as an example of "creepy CG", which I thought was a scene from a Battlefield cutscene. I don't want to get dragged too far into the Battlefield vs. Uncharted discussion, as I'm clearly not familiar with battlefield enough. Maybe I picked the wrong counter-example, but in my mind BF games looked a lot more like an actual photographs of various terrains, whereas Uncharted games definitely look much more hyper real and concept art-like overall. Not just strictly in terms of characters, but in terms of finalized image.

 

[Bill R Boggess]

This argument could be made last-gen. ND's "stylized realism" in UC4 isn't any different than the average game with AAA production values. Some of you are grasping at straws here. This is a character in Battlefield 1:

How is that any different from anyone in UC4?

I think the character models are very similar but the overall aesthetics are much more vibrant and less realistic-looking, which makes a significant difference when discussing photo-realism versus stylized realism.

 

[Crossing Eden]

This argument could be made last-gen. ND's "stylized realism" in UC4 isn't any different than the average game with AAA production values. Some of you are grasping at straws here. This is a character in Battlefield 1:

How is that any different from anyone in UC4?

Also this, it's so odd to try and prop up UC4 as some example of stylization when the cast looks about as realistic if not more than other games now:

And TLOU's claim to fame is going for incredibly naturalistic daytime lighting compared to UC:

 

[Bill R Boggess]

Even a cursory look at their workflow and assets shows that they're going for much higher realism than before:


The stylization is massively reduced compared to before. With some characters even being digital doubles of their mocap actors.


Those demos were made before the devs had a final idea on what the consoles were capable of. Anthem doesn't have that issue.

But the visuals of a game are more than the characters. The vibrant, oversaturated colors that permeate the environments were not an accident. If they had wanted a more realistic, less stylized look, they would have opted for more muted coloring.

 

[Bill R Boggess]

Also this, it's so odd to try and prop up UC4 as some example of stylization when the cast looks about as realistic if not more than other games now

But again, you are focusing ONLY on character models, which I will admit look very realistic, and not the entirety of the game's aesthetics. The Uncharted games - all of them - have a vibrant, painterly look to the visuals that I don't think is accidental.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

I 100% agree, although this happened to me sometime around the end of 360 and transitioning into Wii U. I feel like many realistic games look too similar and have no identity. Makes me not even want to play them because, "I've been there and done that." already.

 

[Toni]

I haven't played Horizon yet. I will!

You are about to witness greatness, my friend.

 

[Lord Error]

But the visuals of a game are more than the characters. The vibrant, oversaturated colors that permeate the environments were not an accident. If they had wanted a more realistic, less stylized look, they would have opted for more muted coloring.

And not use hand-painted textures, that's for sure. I mean, rocks in UC4 look absolutely nothing like photoreal rocks, just to throw out an obvious example.

 

[GrizzleBoy]

It's because realism isn't directly correlated to good art.

With increased "realistic" graphics comes a higher demand for well done "visuals" that mimic rtthings we'd expect from top tier movies.

 

[ChronotriggerJM]

I love "realistic" as it applies to science fiction. And the more a game can simulate a realistic aspect like lighting, physics or audio, the more immersed I can be. I love realistic lighting.

 

[Lord Error]

It's because realism isn't directly correlated to good art.

Yes, this also really needs to be said. If I make a video pan around my office using my phone, that will certainly look extremely photo-real. But it will not look in any way artful. Something like Blade Runner also looks real, but it's a totally different story compared to my phone video.

 

[Blam]

A really good looking game, and one with it's aesthetic done right is Horizon Zero Dawn. Nothing beats how well and perfectly everything fits together.

 

[Si2k78]

artistic direction + framerate >>>>>>>> realistic graphics / polygons / resolution

Thank you. It’s getting to the point where visual fidelity is reaching diminishing returns. I would hope that devs put more resources towards better game design, y’know, aspects of games that actually make it fun to play, and fun to keep playing.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Get an OLED 4KTV (and a Pro if you can). It's been 6 months and I'm still so so impressed. Uncharted TLL looks photo real in places.

Even lower res games like Xbox One stuff looks better on OLED though. Total game changer.

I used to have an awesome 50" 1080p LG Plasma and I've yet to see any 1080p set look as good.

Got rid of it though because the fucker was like 75 lbs and a pain in the ass to move (i don't own a home).

 

[Crossing Eden]

But the visuals of a game are more than the characters. The vibrant, oversaturated colors that permeate the environments were not an accident. If they had wanted a more realistic, less stylized look, they would have opted for more muted coloring.

But even with the more saturated colors, they're still striving for a much bigger sense of realsim.

as overall their lighting is much more naturalistic after working on TLOU:

I 100% agree, although this happened to me sometime around the end of 360 and transitioning into Wii U. I feel like many realistic games look too similar and have no identity. Makes me not even want to play them because, "I've been there and done that." already.

This just says more about you not playing enough games.

 

[paragonpro]

Yeah i find stylized to be much more impressive, hell even horizon zero dawn for how good it looks had a unique art style and color palet that elavated it beyond just being very pretty

 

[HotHamBoy]

Looks like you just like cartoon graphics.

Actually, I appreciate attempts towards realism and natural or filmic lighting & environments.

I'm not saying I don't think a lot of those games are beautiful. I'm not saying that I don't expect next-gen console graphics to wow me again.

I'm just saying that the technical feats of current gen consoles have stopped being the showstoppers they were before. I guess I'm desensitized or I'm taking it for granted.

I'm also saying that those games tend to visually age much worse over time.

 

[LordKasual]

What does still impress me is a unique and well-executed aesthetic. A lot of Nintendo's Wii U games (no Switch) still look amazing IMO. I still can't get over how good the Guilty Gear Xrd series looks. To that end, DBZ Fighters looks phenomenal.

And then there's Cuphead which is just on another level

I do wish realism was less of a focus because it's never going to hold up.

I can sort of understand what you're getting at, but "Realism" isn't really what you're looking for.

I think what you're looking for is a level of deliberate detail that more grounded titles like Uncharted or Last of Us have, but in a different direction than a game like Xrd or DBZ.

This is one of the reasons i was so fond of FFXV visuals -- it's a game with AAA graphics, except most of its graphical horsepower is applied in a direction that most games (with a focus on visuals) do not go. It's a depiction of a realistic world, in the eyes of a fantastical character.

I don't really care about face textures or realistic trees. I wanna see magic spells, explosions, lightning bolts, meteors...you know, shit you don't get to see in real life.

You won't see that kind of thing in a game like Uncharted, Assassins Creed, The Order, or Last of Us because those games aren't telling stories in those kinds of worlds.

It doesn't matter how good the "graphics" are. You're never seeing something like this depicted in Battlefield or GTA. So yeah. It's not "realistic graphics". It's the direction they're taking them in.


In a nutshell, games like DBFZ/XRD uses its graphical power to bring its characters and their ABILITIES to life. Most AAA games with "realistic graphics" are using that horsepower to make the environments and interactions between characters feel more believable.

That has honestly always been the big difference between Western and Eastern artistic focus in games. "Satisfying" vs. "Believable".

 

[Aaron D.]

I remember playing Superman 2600 back in '78 or '79 and being legit blown away by the graphics. It's one of the first titles I played that had multiple screens you could traverse. The standard back then was single, static screen gaming ala Space Invaders and Asteroids.

I've never stopped being in awe of tech advancements since. It's almost as if the graphic benchmark of Atari Superman is burned in my brain as "OMG!" and there's virtually no where to go from that point but up.

That long-view perspective on the medium makes it easy for me to appreciate incremental advances in tech, even if minimal. Over the decades I can't think of a single time when I've thought, "These visuals suck. Pass." Note this is more about raw tech benchmarks than subjective artistic talent.

The upshot is that I'm constantly being blown away by new material, whether it's ultra-realism or retro throwback or anything in between. It's actually kind of refreshing, as an old-timer where jaded apathy is pretty easy to come by when you're closing in on 50.

Guess I'll never understand how apathy and ambivalence can take over in a medium that's so constantly evolving and expanding.

 

[Papo Swing]

I for one vote for stylized realism because real life does not look like Uncharted.

Not gonna comment on what they were aiming for, but I have always felt it is stylized realism in the same way Humans look a certain way in Pixar films.

 

[Vipu]

If you want to get impressed you need to play pc games at 1440p 144hz gsync screen, your world will change.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Mighty impressed by GT Sport. Realistic graphics always add a sense of immersion.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Mighty impressed by GT Sport. Realistic graphics always add a sense of immersion.

I still think Driveclub looks better but of course it runs at half the framerate.

Driveclub it's pretty amazing.

 

[kunonabi]

They stopped impressing me during the Wii/PS360 era.

 

[blu]

I largely share OP's view. Last photorealistic game I was blow away by was Kirby Rainbow Curse.

 

[Izuna]

For me, VR blows me away and so does good use of HDR.

We'll eventually get both and bob's your uncle.

 

[Bill R Boggess]

But even with the more saturated colors, they're still striving for a much bigger sense of realsim.
.

But my point is that if they were going for pure photo-realism, they wouldn't have the painted textures or employed the oversaturation of colors.

Something can emulate a more stylized look while still skewing towards realism.

I think games like Horizon and Uncharted implement realism but also add in those flourishes to give their games a distinct visual look. The realism is clearly present in the minutia but there are also constant, purposeful reminders that you are looking at a game.

By contrast, something like Drive Club is basically attempting to create a 1:1 visual approximation of the real world. It's a fantastic-looking game but there are no overtly artistic flourishes to differentiate it from reality.

 

[Bill R Boggess]

I'm just saying that the technical feats of current gen consoles have stopped being the showstoppers they were before. I guess I'm desensitized or I'm taking it for granted.

That seems premature given the recent advent of the PS PRO and the upcoming XBOX X.

And games like Horizon continue to floor me - even when I boot them up for the fiftieth time.

I also think Battlefront II basically looks like a playable SW film, which is pretty spectacular.

I think this generation still has some surprises left to reveal, especially with the more powerful stopgap iterations of the consoles and what they can output in terms of increasd visual fidelity.

 

[inner-G]

To me, this gen just looks like PS3/360 get with higher resolution and better textures/effects

Probably doesn't help that I have a gaming PC, so I was already playing games at 1440p before the gen started

 

[sems4arsenal]

I still think Driveclub looks better but of course it runs at half the framerate.

Driveclub it's pretty amazing.

Driveclub in the rain is unmatched.

 

[Crossing Eden]

But my point is that if they were going for pure photo-realism, they wouldn't have the painted textures or employed the oversaturation of colors.

Something can emulate a more stylized look while still skewing towards realism.

I think games like Horizon and Uncharted implement realism but also add in those flourishes to give their games a distinct visual look. The realism is clearly present in the minutia but there are also constant, purposeful reminders that you are looking at a game.

By contrast, something like Drive Club is basically attempting to create a 1:1 visual approximation of the real world. It's a fantastic-looking game but there are no overtly artistic flourishes to differentiate it from reality.

What you're talking about is mainly art direction. Doesn't mean they aren't going first and foremost for realism tho. They even mention specifically how they try to make their games look less like games and more like film. Hell even in terms of stylization stuff like Mirror's Edge is hella more stylized.

 

[EVIL]

I still think The Order 1886 is one of the best looking games on PS4

I seriously wish ready at dawn will continue to push their engine tech since its an absolute marvel