to be fair, this should be expected in a thread that is basically asking for tons of pictures.
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What is the most beautiful game?
- Thread starter sn00zer
- Start date
to be fair, this should be expected in a thread that is basically asking for tons of pictures.
Pretty much. Just that there is a limit, and tons of oversized GIFs is really annoying. Especially since GIFs, with their low resolution, say very little about the appearance of a game. That's why a full-res picture + youtube link is much better.
No because i love the look and style of it.
It conveys what it wants perfectly, so you'll have to suck it up.
K&L2 is a shit game, but it looks and sounds amazing.
Next i may mention Hotline Miami, going for the same, dog shit vibe.
Dragon1893
Member
Can we all just stop for a moment and bow to video games. I mean wow.
What other medium has given us what we see here. And this is just visuals, add in sound and interaction and you get, you get..
This.
Personally I can't narrow it down to one. It's impossible.
Edit: I don't think anyone mentioned Child of Eden so here's a shout out:
Can't seem to find pics that do it justice, it really needs to be seen in motion. Now that I think about it it really is a serious candidate for most beautiful game ever.
foobarry81
Member
There's no trick. You just need a buttload of resources put into asset creation.
rosaceadude2112
Member
kane and lynch 2 is one of the best looking games ever, y'all
That sequence? Yes. The game overall? Eh, really?
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
Really. That entire game looks beautiful.
My memory betrays me, I guess. Been 5 years since I last played the PS2 version.
More games today should use prerendered bg's.
I agree, just played it again recently. Stage 3 (Beauty) especially stands out as impressive, which I suppose is appropriate for the thread.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_wwyQeKmBE
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
No they shouldn't because then the game can only look at high resolution as its backgrounds. Boo.
Ōkami
Not just that, but easily the best game I have ever played. The freedom that you feel in this game is incredible.
Goddamn I need to play Okami HD and not give up after 40 hours like on PS2/Wii...One day I will beat this massive thing.
Dion Blaster
Member
Probably Braid or Wind Waker HD for me. Or JSRF.
Came in to post this.
I'm still mad that there isn't a wallpaper sized gif of that tree area or other art from El-Shaddai. I fucking love the art in the game, so good.
Ōkami
Not just that, but easily the best game I have ever played. The freedom that you feel in this game is incredible.
I just wanna say that this is all from the first third of the game.
Whole game took me 60-70 hours to complete.. without any sidequests.
Manmademan
Member
didn't get a chance to post examples (some others did) but it's impossible to overstate just how ridiculous el shaddai actually is. The art style varies considerably throughout the game, and it is GORGEOUS.
but as nice looking as stills are, it has to be played to be seen. All of this looks ten times better in motion, and the direction of the game improves on it tenfold over that- it's just a game that bleeds style and creativity all over and MUST be mentioned in any conversation about games as art.
here are some shots that are different than what was already posted, but really- play the game. it's cheap and easy to pick up and play.
it's just untouchable, personally. wow.
but as nice looking as stills are, it has to be played to be seen. All of this looks ten times better in motion, and the direction of the game improves on it tenfold over that- it's just a game that bleeds style and creativity all over and MUST be mentioned in any conversation about games as art.
here are some shots that are different than what was already posted, but really- play the game. it's cheap and easy to pick up and play.
it's just untouchable, personally. wow.
Chrono Cross. Absolutely the BEST game of all time... and the most beautiful!
High five, my brother.
Chrono Cross is a visual orgasm. At least easily the best looking JRPG ever.
mhayze
Member
I think there's two art directions that really appeal to me at an aesthetic level - a) the stylized, 'painted' or cel-shaded look and b) the semi-photorealistic, 'gritty' look.
For each of these it's a toss up between posting the pioneers in the field and the latest and greatest variants that certainly build on ground-breaking originals. For the 'stylized' camp, I think 'Flashback' & 'Out of this World' are 2D pioneers and Wind Waker is one of the 3D pioneers, but recent entries like Rime look amazing. I hope to see this generation continue to push the boundaries of the stylized game look, utilizing all the multi-teraflop capabilities of current hardware, since most of the focus seems to be on 'realistic'. I dig the 2D / 2.5D look of what Vanillaware and their ilk can do as well, but they sometimes tend to be a little jarring in motion.
In the gritty camp, I think / hope that Naughty Dog will blow us away with their next PS4 game.
For each of these it's a toss up between posting the pioneers in the field and the latest and greatest variants that certainly build on ground-breaking originals. For the 'stylized' camp, I think 'Flashback' & 'Out of this World' are 2D pioneers and Wind Waker is one of the 3D pioneers, but recent entries like Rime look amazing. I hope to see this generation continue to push the boundaries of the stylized game look, utilizing all the multi-teraflop capabilities of current hardware, since most of the focus seems to be on 'realistic'. I dig the 2D / 2.5D look of what Vanillaware and their ilk can do as well, but they sometimes tend to be a little jarring in motion.
In the gritty camp, I think / hope that Naughty Dog will blow us away with their next PS4 game.
Manmademan
Member
things like "most beautiful" are always subjective and in the eye of the beholder.
that being said: not really.
games today have higher resolutions and can push plenty of polygons, but art direction is one of those things that vary a lot from game to game. Some games (el shaddai) have fantastic art direction that manages to be beautiful without being photorealistic, while other games (resident evil 5) might push a lot more polygons, or run in higher res but would be a stretch to call "beautiful" per se- since that's not really what they were going for.
There are some PSX games I can think of (saga frontier 2, legend of mana) that i would think of as "more beautiful" than many current gen games.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
Yep, and they have the artists needed, just no more tiling restricting them.
Manmademan
Member
Eh...I can't really get on board the pre rendered background train.
A lot of these being posted (FFXIII, Chrono Cross, Resident Evil) take what are admittedly nice looking still shots, then layer the worst looking polygonal models known to man over them during gameplay.
It was jarring then, and worse now.
SOME games can get away with this by choosing sprite based or cell shaded models that blend in with the background and "work" as a whole.
Legend of Mana and Saga Frontier II both did this and hold up, while I can't say the 32 bit FFs do well at all.
Glad to see Trine getting recognition. It's got one of the richest fantasy settings I've ever seen, superb lighting, and the deepest layers of 2.5D visuals. To me it's more like 2.6D.
Rayman is the king of 2D, no contest.
While it's not a popular entry to like, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One has some of the best environments in the franchise.
El Shaddai is a great mention too. I bought it on art direction alone.
Puppeteer, Hohokum, Rime, and The Witness all look very promising.
Rayman is the king of 2D, no contest.
While it's not a popular entry to like, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One has some of the best environments in the franchise.
El Shaddai is a great mention too. I bought it on art direction alone.
Puppeteer, Hohokum, Rime, and The Witness all look very promising.
What does that have to do with the world itself being beautiful? I'm not seeing how character models make them ugly, that's it's own seperate criticism.
I also disagree that they all don't look good, especially listing something like XIII.
eddfromtheriver
Banned
journey is my #1, just jaw droppingly beautiful and thatgamecompany did it with relatively simple shapes. gorgeous art direction,
You had to post beautiful screens (from areas that i haven't seen, i thought all of the game looked brown) from Journey didn't you?... darn it!!!, i had an order of how i'm going to tackle my backlog... but now with those screenshots you're gonna make me have to re order the games on the list...
Acquiescence
Member
This post is why I miss pre-rendered environments in Final Fantasy games. Combined with Uematsu's score, they'd give the various settings so much character and a sense of place. I think all three of the PS1 Final Fantasy mainline instalments deserve a place in this thread.
KillerTravis
Banned
Green Wiggly
Member
Is there any legal way to play it other than tracking down a PAL SNES + Cart on ebay? Could you, for example, create a Wii European account and get it on VC that way?
There doesn't really seem to be anything too stand out from that.
TheBlueBomber
Member
All of these El Shaddai shots have seriously sold me on the game, definitely looking into get a copy now, the game looks FANTASTIC
soulassssns
Banned
Damn that game looks awesome. I truly hope GaiKai will have it on PS4 since my PS3 died and I don't want to repair it for only 1 PS3 game.
Green Wiggly
Member
Are games themselves art, or are they capsules that contain various forms of art?
