I wish that instead of being embarrassed of games with older graphics and seeing them as something to be updated, that game companies would see these older graphics as art worthy of being preserved and celebrated and studied.
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literally older graphics in games are often so charming and timeless! i love sachiko wada's beautiful character portraits in FE6 - 8 and the simple but clear maps and sprites were both functional and charming
Hate that game preservation has gone out the door. There are so many amazing titles and they get passed over simply for not looking as glossy as modern games. My fav is still a game called Septerra Core. Amazing game
I agree. It’s fascinating to me what people could do even with the limitations of the time. The workarounds they found for limited technology are so cool, and worthy of celebrating, not just patching over!
This is one reason I think the FF1-6 pixel remaster is so neat! It keeps the same feel of the original FF Games all the way, but with small touch ups and QoL changes needed for a next gen remaster. But it’s still the same game you loved and knew.
There are some old games that I definitely believe need a remake (Zelda II has excellent potential). But there are some that are so solid that I don’t get why they don’t just port/virtual console it. I’m glad Super Metroid has no remake because I can’t see a reason to.
Just really depends on how its handled. I do think having quality and bug fixes for old games is a really good thing. Maybe a graphic update is great but it just depends.
Everytime a re-release with updated graphics comes out, the company should have to provide an option to load the old graphics with the new mechanics at least, if not just the older version of the game
Cave Story + did this. You could toggle the updated graphics and soundtrack on and off separately. I like to play with new graphics (16bit! Wow!) and original music.
It probably won't be so bad if they considered the art direction and aesthetics of the old games when they remade them. Because you can update graphics and maintain the original intent.
Unfortunately a lot of them just end up looking like generic UE5 assets and losing all charm they once had.
They really don't, plenty of old games simply failed realistic graphics, that is why they are realistic now.
Likewise other remasters preserve cartoony looks because that is what the concept art intended.
Aspyr, nightdive and feral all have made classic remasters with preserved art styles.
You're also missing certain aesthetic choices older games had that the remasters outright remove. SOTC lost the mist that gave it an ethereal look. MGS Delta's filter that emulated old war films becoming optional. Even Until Dawn lose it's blue filter and all it's artistic camera angles for OTS.
Yet this is not always the case. Gamers also tend to spread urban myths such as every old game being in their intended art form, or ue5=realistic glossy game. Many times technical limitations prevented devs to recreate the *concept art*, which is used by many remasters as reference to update towards
seriously
so many older games, you can instantly recognize them at a glance, because the lower fidelity meant they needed a more defined style to look good, while a lot of modern games kinda just look the same because they can just go for photorealism
This is why the Indie game community is so important to the gaming landscape. I do still love remakes and remasters because they bring new fans into the community, but older art styles are what inspired so many people to become game devs. Indie devs need more credit for keeping the old ways alive!
I'd like to see "remakes" that preserve the artstyle while updating aspects such as screen resolution, render distance, load times, and actual glitches.
Like I don't need i-Ninja fully remade with new textures, but a modern port with optional widescreen I can just run on Steam is something I'd buy.
Many have such a charm to them and their look due to technical limitations could just be adapted into their own artstyle like we've seen many successful indie games do. Artstyle > Hyper Realistic Graphics everytime.
The best example for this I can think of immediately is the way the fog worked in the original SH2.
No other version has ever gotten close to just how well it managed to reduce visibility at just the right pace.
Rumor has it, it's because the effect was actually a bug they then used deliberately.
Ya I agree. As I said to some friends concord failed with a budget of 200 million they could have easily done 10, 20 million dollar games instead but nope all money into graphics.
Increasing the fidelity of the existing graphics is the way. Original Xbox games were updated to use their ultra graphics settings for the backwards compatibility versions. Emulation communities regularly upscale everything via mods too. Playing a non-blurry, 16:9 Mario Sunshine is magical.
Companies seem to love homogenizing art to make it perform more consistently and what better way than to never actually create new art and just let a fresh coat of HD graphics paint set the standard for what is innovative or worthwhile.
preach!!! will never stop being mad at how dirty they did Halo CE Anniversary. look at how they massacred my boy, they made everything bright blue and bloom for some reason
So much. Just made a recent post regarding this train of thought and the beautiful artwork that adorned the installation and play manuals for some games.
There’s definitely a problem with people who “causally game” wanting more realistic graphics and that makes this constant needing of new consoles with better graphics. I’d much prefer games with purpose in style like how jet set radio and games with art styles like it will always be timeless
100%!!! Folk miss out on appreciating just how much clever heavy lifting and innovation early graphical limitations did for story and atmosphere. Like the purpose for the fog in the OG Silent Hill 2, or how expressive OG FF7's body language for characters was (and on the SNES games' sprites too).
I will die on the hill that FF7’s original graphics are much more artful and full of character. And I first played that game in my late 20’s so it’s not just childhood nostalgia CHECKMATE ATHEISTS
I mean I think the new trilogy will one day be considered an absolute masterpiece of what was possible at the time, but I agree with you that the original FF7 remains astounding in so many ways. Can’t wait for the “animation of final fantasy” YouTube series to get to 7!
Good devs recognize this. One day, after AAA gaming has finally imploded, corpos will finally realize that they don't need to push fidelity constantly, and that most of their games would work just fine if not better with "retro" graphics.
I view it as less about embarassment and more about the way planned obselescence has been marketed by the corporatists. "Outdated" when applied to still-functioning tech is propaganda. E.G. A microsoft cultist coworker scoffing at my command-line centric workflow for being "50 year old technology"
I think we should have both, honestly. It's interesting to see how people update and add tweaks to games they may have loved as kids, but we also really need to up the preservation game.
yeah, like that newer gta trilogy never got my interest, but on the other hand there are a couple of old games that i would love to see remade with newer technologies
Thats why as a Demon's Souls fan I FUCKING HATE BLUEPOINT. WHY DID THEY TOUCH THE GAME. THE ORIGNAL IS MOODY, ITS DRAINED, THE REMAKE LOOKS LIKE A CARTOON, THE STRUCTUAL DESIGN OF THE WORLD BENDS TIME AND SPACE FOR NO FUCKING REASON.
Part of the barrier I see to this is how the graphics of those times took advantage of how CRTs worked at lower resolutions than we have today on monitors and displays.
For sure, imagine if all companies just remaster their old games and we lose that. It would be kinda depressing. If anything older graphics can be seen as how much games evolved over the years!
I agree to some extent, nowadays they're focusing too much making the games realistic rather than making the games fun at all. Indies are becoming more relevant due to this reason. Can't make everyone happy but I really don't like what some people are doing to this industry
I'm not sure if companies look at old games with that approach. Modern remakes of old games tend to be reinterpretations instead of straight upgrades.
Though, in a time where TLOU1's been re-released like 4 times, the other perspective still holds true.
Games companies update graphics because they think it will make them more money. And it probably does. But also, they usually sell the original and you can spend money on that instead. They don't care.
I agree. I absolutely love 2000s era graphics like Jade Empire, Knights of the Old Republic, Oblivion, Mass Effect 1, Dragon Age Origins, etc, and want to see them rereleased and on modern consoles, but they don't need graphics changes, they're nostalgic and lovely the way they are imho.
BG2 is still my favorite game of all time, as much as I like the 3rd game, there is a beauty to the backgrounds and settings in bg2 that I hope never gets updated.
That way people who like the original graphics can swap between both remaster wnd orginal graphics on a whim, just like with Halo CE Anniversary and Halo 2 Anniversary with the simple press of a button
Also, rereleases of those old games should come with CRT Shaders and cable filters (composite,S-Video, etc.).
RetroArch shows how much those additions can improve the experience, instead rereleases use those stupid softening filters that only make the games look much worse than they should.
i really like what tomb raider and monkey island have done with having a toggle switch to go from the classic graphics to more modern ones that still keep the essence!
yea, if it's an artistic choice especially, ppl should stop whining about it, i get wanting to see games that had that style due to limitations then love for the style, but games intentionally having them is nice.
I loved in Master Chief Collection you could toggle the original graphics on and off. Like, all else being equal, I’d rather play games with nice graphics, but it was a really cool feature to kinda keep that original art alive.
Honestly, I think it's easier for someone to build an emulator to run old software. You can make one emulator to play dozens / hundreds of games, instead of updating a single game.
Like DosBox works for many old PC games, I don't know of any games that it doesn't work for (but I don't know)
while that is fair, that always has the chance of being shutdown from the companies, unless if they actively made an emulator with all the games and such, so im not sure
EXACTLY!!! The old sometimes wonky graphics from especially early 3d games is so... fun? Idk, it has a unique feeling, and I am happy that Indie games are using the aesthetics for more than just the horror genre.
Now the big companies need to learn as well
At last, Beloved Childhood Game has been brought into the MODERN AGE (it is now 200GB, full of bugs, horribly optimized, and won't run on any computer more than two years old or cheaper than ten grand)
I wish people wouldn't refuse to play a game if the graphics are outdated or look and aint the most realistic thing ever. Like if a single eyelash lacks detail they refuse to play! Like what the heck!? Games are for enjoyment and some the best games don't have best graphics ever they are missing out
Can we talk about how some games aged with grace like fine wine because they used their graphics as part of their art style? The ones that focussed less on realistic and more on unique artistic direction?
I mean stuff is obviously always "a product of it's time" and it is alright to see reimaginings of stuff, it's just an issue when it's either marketed as a replacement or something "better", because inevitably both will have pros and cons.
There's also a bit of a charm to the older graphics. Modern indies love paying homage to them, and end up making fantastic art with it. Even something as retro-looking as Crow Country looks fantastic.
I agree, if porting the game to modern systems with the original graphics will be wonderful for preservation, but also releasing a physical copy would help in sales also
Absolutely! One of my favorite games is the Sly Cooper Series. And while the 4th and last game looks and plays the best as a thieving game, the 1st game is full of unmatched passion and worldbuilding. It can be janky and picky about timing, but it's fantastic.
We did our best with what we had available. But most game makers are not nostalgic for the early days. We all had things in our head that we could only vaguely approximate on the screen.
This is some Military-grade coping right here, and that's coming from someone who is also coping. I wish companies would see what we see but I guess us Legacy players only have memories now!
there is definitely a level of charm older games have. i feel the same way about every animated series/movie being made live action. realism is not always what we need
I love old video game graphics. I love all the tricks and shortcuts they used to make the absolute most of what limited computing power they had available.
I have no idea why, but modern Remakes almost always get rid of the older, more better Art style. One of the most Popular to do nowadays is just to port the old game into Unreal Engine and making that Engine do basically all of the work without any tweaks... Which makes them look weird and odd...
A perfect example of a game studio using old graphics as art is Nightdive with the System Shock remake. It still looks updated in a way, but it has really cool pixellated textures that are a neat callback to the original game.
I love a good remake, but losing the original can mean losing the original vision and art style of the time. Like re2 for example with the changing of controls and fixed camera angles.
I will forever cherish Shadow of the Colossus, through all the platform and the remaster was another cherry on top, but the bright sky in the OG and the more purple-ish fur of the colossi in the OG is still so magical to look at :D
We need more N64-style games. The problem with making games FOR N64 is that games were built to work around the limitations of the console. I imagine it would be harder to program a game on that system, instead of a more modern software library.
Not that I've ever tried to make an N64 game
I agree, but there's definitely a charm to the games on the system that work around it's limitations and the ways developers had to get creative
I share the same views for any other game that's stylized off an older console
as a note: I don't wanna come off as saying that all N64-styled games should be able to run on the console, I just think the limitations of the old tech contribute to the style in a significant way. I'll still love any games that would be impossible to run on the 64 but still have the aesthetic
I think a proper programming library for the job could help you work within the limits of an old console... while also allowing you to go your own way where desired
agreed!! they just have their own, unique vibe that cannot be recreated, graphics in games now are very realistic but I think sometimes they're missing something
i agree with the graphics side but some games do need updating, like ape escape. i tried to play it the other day but the controls and the camera movement sucks. its a shame because i love the vibe of the graphics and the game, would kill for a remaster
Definitely agree. It feels like if it can't be resold it isn't really given a chance. There are a lot of cool games out there from long gone companies that will never get remakes or remasters that might be lost given enough time
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On the other hand, we see new indie games emerging like a reinassance of PS1 graphics like abiotic factor and ultrakill.
Unfortunately a lot of them just end up looking like generic UE5 assets and losing all charm they once had.
Likewise other remasters preserve cartoony looks because that is what the concept art intended.
Aspyr, nightdive and feral all have made classic remasters with preserved art styles.
There's a lot of character and distinctiveness in older games, even if it isnt RTX On level graphics
(Aside from that one asshole who AI'd """the rest of""" Starry Night.)
so many older games, you can instantly recognize them at a glance, because the lower fidelity meant they needed a more defined style to look good, while a lot of modern games kinda just look the same because they can just go for photorealism
Like I don't need i-Ninja fully remade with new textures, but a modern port with optional widescreen I can just run on Steam is something I'd buy.
No other version has ever gotten close to just how well it managed to reduce visibility at just the right pace.
Rumor has it, it's because the effect was actually a bug they then used deliberately.
New people gaming is good. Making remakes doesn’t affect the legacy of older games at all
FFVIII also could do with an update to not make the background characters look way worse than foreground.
And then sometimes it's just plain ol' boring compatibility.
SPIT YO SHIT INDEED!
Though, in a time where TLOU1's been re-released like 4 times, the other perspective still holds true.
Some older games won’t run on newer operating systems, other times they have gameplay systems. I would prefer not to have to deal with anymore.
The graphics themselves are rarely sticking point for me.
That way people who like the original graphics can swap between both remaster wnd orginal graphics on a whim, just like with Halo CE Anniversary and Halo 2 Anniversary with the simple press of a button
RetroArch shows how much those additions can improve the experience, instead rereleases use those stupid softening filters that only make the games look much worse than they should.
99% of modern games are investor pitches to get the stock price higher
Like DosBox works for many old PC games, I don't know of any games that it doesn't work for (but I don't know)
Now the big companies need to learn as well
He is obsessed with classic games and the older graphics
Like updated graphics can be nice, but if you’re bot gonna make the original version available too then what’s the point?
I absolutely love so many older game styles and I honestly miss seeing so many of the different styles they had!!
They were all so amazing in they're own ways!! XD
I deeply miss games like FF3 and love it when new games have that look.
It's the reason I'll start studying game design!
Not that I've ever tried to make an N64 game
I share the same views for any other game that's stylized off an older console
Fidelity is nice, but an artstyle and how one approaches it is absolutely stellar. Games are not movies!