As consoles and computers increase in their ability to crunch numbers at incredibly high speeds, we all bear witness to prettier and prettier graphics. While this could be good, we might see some games come along with pretty graphics but suck so bad in the gameplay department.

The purpose of this thread is to shine the spotlight on some (often under-appreciated) games that uses a solid art direction, not technology, to get you to stare at the screen for the totality of the game (and no, boobs don't count).

Let me start:
I for one, loved Odin Sphere. If I can complain about two things in that game, they would be the almost crippling slowdown (especially in the fight against a certain queen of the underworld) and the high difficulty curve at the beginning (stick with it and it gets a lot more bearable). However, over all, I really liked how that game looked, enough to get me to play through it again and again just to see the 'good' ending.

Muramasa seems to continue that tradition (too bad I don't have a Wii to play it on when it comes out).

While this could be good, we might see some games come along with pretty graphics but suck so bad in the gameplay department

There are plenty of those games anyway. Assassin's Creed being a major culprit for my money.

Eternal Sonata. Terrible and pretentious story, gameplay was good enough to get me through the game, but man I really enjoyed how bright, vibrant, and clear that game was. Great colors, loved the cell shading, good textures.

I just picked up X3: Reunion the other day and I think that was put out in 2003 but it looks great. Too bad it's boring as hell.

The Wii is becoming a bit of a master at this type of thing... there's the obvious ones like MP3 and SMG but further to that you have No More Heroes, De Blob, Lost Winds, Zack and Wiki... and in the future we have Fragile, Oboro Muramasa Youtouden and Madworld.

On my other machine I've always thought Kameo: Elements of Power was gorgeous, one of the best looking games of this generation - I love the look of Crackdown too.

There are too many to mention going back, the obvious ones are Okami, Jet Set Radio, Rez, Ico... All the usual suspects.

There are too many to mention going back the obvious ones are Okami, Jet Set Radio, Rez, Ico... All the usual suspects.

I was expecting these two to be mentioned here. Man that was quick, only 5 posts in. I wonder if someone will post something from the PS1 and back era.

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There are too many to mention going back the obvious ones are Okami, Jet Set Radio, Rez, Ico... All the usual suspects.

I was expecting these two to be mentioned here. Man that was quick, only 5 posts in. I wonder if someone will post something from the PS1 and back era.

Just wait for my answer...
It's Shadow of the Colossus, of course =P

Alone in the Dark, 'nuff said.

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I wonder if someone will post something from the PS1 and back era.

I got it covered:
Bust a Groove on the PS1 was mental genius and looked awesome.
Other notables are Vib Ribbon with it's sketchy black & whiteness, Pocket Fighter in all it's toony glory and the lo-tech-hi-style of the much under appreciated B-Movie!

The only thing that springs to mind on the SNES is the impossibly simple UniRally (UniRacers)

BmC:

It's Shadow of the Colossus, of course =P

That too. The first time I saw the first Colossus, my jaw dropped. Colossus 13 is the best fight ever. I also liked the subtle hints of life littered in that desolate (desolate as in no people, not unlivable) world.

Are we talking less-than cutting graphics at the time of release or games that we still play despite their graphics being slightly out of date? If the former then Tenchu Z for lovely visual effects (read: stealth kills) and if the latter than the prince of persia series.

Scorched_Cascade:
Are we talking less-than cutting graphics at the time of release of games that we still play despite their graphics being slightly out of date?

Can be both actually, for as long as the graphics isn't on par with what we expect to see today. Or something that you can call "decidedly low-tech" but still endears you because of the visuals. Like Disgaea (bad example, I know).

Has everybody forgotten about XIII? That game had a great art direction - gritty and cartoony.

Viewtiful Joe.

-Ricky

The team ICO games and Homeworld hold up really well.

Odin Sphere is great. Thankfully they fixed the technical issues in the PAL version so there was little to no slowdown.

I would dispute whether games like Ico and Okami feature graphics that are "not exactly cutting edge". When Ico came out it looked incredible (in particular with regards to lighting) and Okami pushed the PS2 to its limits. They may not have traditional 3D Unreal engine graphics but they are (or at least were) cutting edge in their own way.

Killer7 would be my candidate. On the surface it's a mish-mash of lazy cel-shading and low resolution textures but everything comes together magnificently. I also liked the graphical style in the earlier PS2 MegaTen titles - Nocturne & Digital Devil Saga. While not technically stunning they seemed to be perfectly suited to the mood of the game. Rez is another obvious pick. And XIII.

Going back to the previous generation, I loved the style in Valkyrie Profile. It just seemed so effortlessly artistic and so relentlessly imaginative.

I really wanna steer this thread toward pure "Art Direction Appreciation Day" type stuff, and mention Bioshock, but on top of amazing direction that game has lighting affects and graphic horsepower to spare and I don't think that's in the spirit of things

So instead I'll mention Prince of Persia. I guess the games were pretty cutting edge in the day? But even with the graphics getting quite outdated, it's still fun to see the amazingly well-designed architecture, and the fluid, perfect movements of the Prince.

Golden Sun. Both games used mainly drawings over graphics, meaning their still pretty to look at. Throw that in with awesome effects and you have a game that's still amazing to look at, and fun to play.

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[quote=BmC post=9.73306.791629]
It's Shadow of the Colossus, of course =P

That too. The first time I saw the first Colossus, my jaw dropped. Colossus 13 is the best fight ever. quote]

Really? The desert dragon one right? I found that a pointless one as the possiblity of dying nearly none existant. Not that running along side it, jumping off Agro to latch on wasn't extremly epic at all :P.

My personal fav was Colossus #3.

Baby Tea:
Eternal Sonata. Terrible and pretentious story, gameplay was good enough to get me through the game, but man I really enjoyed how bright, vibrant, and clear that game was. Great colors, loved the cell shading, good textures.

I'd say the biggest problem with the story is that it wasn't pretentious enough. It was grade school shit, a typical evil empire story. The parts about Chopin were awesome. Pretty game though.

I'd say Yakuza and Yakuza 2 for the ps2. It really makes me sad they didn't make them for the ps3. The recreation of Tokyo is stunningly realistic and acurate, you'll be amazed at how the little dollar stores (yen stores?) are literally packed with shit, or how the streets are all neon soaked, crowded carnivals of moochers, punters, muggers etc. It's a gorgeous game, shame about the jaggies.

Vib Ribbon.
Bastard hard but effective graphics and fun to play.
Wish I still had my copy.

I think a lot of Unreal 3 games look friggin' ugly, with all that blur and "wax" look that it gives things...but they are still getting some great looking games out with that thing.

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There are too many to mention going back the obvious ones are Okami, Jet Set Radio, Rez, Ico... All the usual suspects.

I was expecting these two to be mentioned here. Man that was quick, only 5 posts in. I wonder if someone will post something from the PS1 and back era.

If you want to go back era I got tons for you.
But you have to remember that back then, it was nothing about graphics all about gameplay.
So basically bringing the old days in the topic deviates your topic from its goal as it would come down to asking which games had the best gameplay back then.

No more heroes
psychonauts

Wii Sports. That was probably the best video game to ever come out for the Wii, and despite the simple graphics (which often had newcomers immediately writing it off), it was amazingly welcoming and addictive for non-gamers. It's too bad the whole "gameplay over graphics" thing didn't last long, but kudos to Nintendo for trying.

half life 2 and all the episodes.Its last gen,but it is funner than halo 3 off line.

Another World, the spiritual prequel to Flashback. It was 2D and practically monochrome, but unique in its day.

And personally I think the art design on World of Warcraft is wonderful. But maybe that's just me.

castle crashers. I love the art style and humor in that game.

Castle Crashers makes me think of Boom Blox. That game looked so adorable it causes "awww"'s at 50 paces. When I played it the first time, I was the only man in the room. Those little rectangles had the girls squealing for hours.

Well, Psychonauts is up there, and World of Warcraft has a strong, prominent style, but Castle Crashers gets my vote.

JaguarWong:
The Wii is becoming a bit of a master at this type of thing... there's the obvious ones like MP3...

Sorry but I still have to say MP3... woah! In that skyworld, I've spent 5 minutes extra every room just looking around ^^

games from Rare are still looking good I think. Jetforce Gemini springs to mind...

Also any 2D/sprite game, they don't age that much ;)

I always found the very first Oddworld: Abe's Oddesy (apologies if I spelt that wrong) to be a very visually pleasing game, in the sense that the environments and enemies really portrayed the grittyness of Oddworld.

On a side note, the gameplay was also really good, its one of my favourite games from childhood :)

Wasn't part of Nintendo's motivation (outside profit) for not worrying about increasing processing power was to motivate developers to innovate in ways that, y'know, appealed to people besides hardcore gamers? A striking visual style and aesthetic goes a long way if a company takes the time to really push themselves.

Anywho, I miss the artwork from old VGA adventure games. Monkey Island 2, King's Quest V & 6...all of them had great watercolor and oil paintings that the player marched around.

The_Deleted:

While this could be good, we might see some games come along with pretty graphics but suck so bad in the gameplay department

There are plenty of those games anyway. Assassin's Creed being a major culprit for my money.

Meh, i enjoyed assassins creed (for most of it). Didn't really see what the fuss was about, at least its trying to be different.