Gorgeous Looking Game that Don't Have Amazing Graphics

[thatstheguy]

I just got S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC off of Steam as a recommendation from a friend. I didn't see much of the game prior to buying it, but it sounded interesting enough to buy it. Upon playing, I realize how great the world looked. It's kinda hard to explain, but it just had this saturation and atmosphere that made it stand out and look impressive (it's a very well optimized game as well, on an unrelated note). I had to just wander around for a couple of minutes to really soak in the environment. Added to the effect of wandering into the anomalies just added to atmosphere. So what games can you categorize as "good looking without good graphics"?

 

[BRMXJzjsoawk321]

I always thought Minecraft looked good.. Well, before the biome update..

 

[spartan1077]

I always thought Minecraft looked pretty.. Well, before the biome update..

This. I always loved how beautiful minecraft looked and how nice it was to see from a high tower...but now the biomes are way too close and you look out seeing desert, snow and then tropical island in 6 squares.

 

[Loud Noise]

F.E.A.R. 2
Legend of Mana

 

[Ruslan1011]

World of Warcraft. The landscapes, especially in the later expansion zones were really really well done.

 

[Tupolev]

I really don't get the expectation that games need to have cutting-edge graphics to be visually appealing. The games that you were wowed by in 2000 haven't changed. If they've stopped being beautiful, it's either because:
-The game relied entirely on being advanced for its time (and thus may age poorly; this is more common with hyperrealistic aesthetics, since new games have a base goal to "improve towards", than heavily stylized ones)
-Your aesthetic preferences have changed
-The game uses an aesthetic that requires acclimation and you aren't presently acclimated (fortunately, this one is easy to resolve...)

More powerful graphics broadens game developers' visual toolboxes, but it doesn't suddenly make things look inherintly better. In fact, arguably, the obsession that can pop up sometimes in development with high-powered, cluttered visuals can destroy a games' ability to wow with simple geometry.


I'll still hold that the early Sonic games look absolutely beautiful, and the first Halo game is the most gorgeous of the series, and Shadow of the Colossus is stunning. High-powered visuals cannot by themselves beat out solid visual style any more than some random person with a calculator can out-physics a physicist.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

The Burnout games still look pretty good, 3 being the shining example between "Old game" and "good graphics".

Also, Grandia II. The character models aren't great, but the environments are well done and their weird choices for the spell effects have actually aged pretty decently in my opinion.

 

[TKretts3]

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth looks groovy.
Oh, and the Silent Hill games. : )

 

[Jamesfox849]

Okami, hands down Beautiful.
On that note: Windwaker was pretty nice as well.

 

[Loud Noise]

Okami, hands down Beautiful.
On that note: Windwaker was pretty nice as well.

I really agree on Windwaker. it took some time getting used to the style but I really enjoyed it.

 

[CultistRat]

Okami, hands down Beautiful.
On that note: Windwaker was pretty nice as well.

The more love Okami gets, the happier I am.

 

[OctalLord]

I kinda found Dwarf Fortress looks pretty good.

 

[RogueNinja299]

the first Halo game is the most gorgeous of the series

Yeah. Who else remembers walking out of the drop pod at the start of the second mission and being like "Wow. Well there goes the bloody fryingpan."

 

[Darkeagle6]

-Okami and Wind Waker, as has been mentionned above
-The two Baten Kaitos games have some truly beautiful towns; I'm told it's because they're hand-drawn.
-For all the terrible things I've said about it, the visuals is one of the few things I liked about Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. The graphics themselves are nothing special, but the game just looks nice.
-Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, for its often ingenious use of the whole "Paper" theme. Not exactly "Gorgeous", but really well done.

Can't really think of anything else... I'd give Pikmin a honorary mention. I really liked that game's atmosphere.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Yeah yeah I know, I'm obsessed.

 

[Stoic raptor]

Shadow of the colossus

 

[default]

I hate to pull out the trump-all master of gaming, but yeah. Shadow of the Colossus.

The slight blurriness of the slightly low-res graphics pale in comparison to the beautiful artwork and design, fluid and rythmic animation and grey and desolate colour tones.

Fucking amazing game.

 

[Omikron009]

Minecraft, Super Meat Boy, Cortex Command.