Restrictions + competition, yes. In the olden days all the companies published their games on single floppy disks/cassette tapes/cartridges and they had to create actual works of magic to overshadow the competitors. It's when everyone switched to the CD and 3D graphics that creativity took a nosedive and companies started to compete in who makes the biggest polygonal tiddies.
The example I like to give is the Legend of Kyrandia series. The first one came out on four floppies, the second one on eight and the third one on a cd. These screenshots from Mobygames say everything. The pixel art in the first two games is absolutely breathtaking and interactive, whereas the final one has frozen 3D textured/modelled backgrounds with 2D characters dumped on top of it.
Quest for Glory had a similar trajectory. First 4 were beautifully hand-drawn. 5th one was in the era of early 3d and it just didn't have the same quality.
A lot of games like that made the jump to 3d way too early.
Restrictions + competition, yes. In the olden days all the companies published their games on single floppy disks/cassette tapes/cartridges and they had to create actual works of magic to overshadow the competitors. It's when everyone switched to the CD and 3D graphics that creativity took a nosedive and companies started to compete in who makes the biggest polygonal tiddies.
The example I like to give is the Legend of Kyrandia series. The first one came out on four floppies, the second one on eight and the third one on a cd. These screenshots from Mobygames say everything. The pixel art in the first two games is absolutely breathtaking and interactive, whereas the final one has frozen 3D textured/modelled backgrounds with 2D characters dumped on top of it.
Quest for Glory had a similar trajectory. First 4 were beautifully hand-drawn. 5th one was in the era of early 3d and it just didn't have the same quality.
A lot of games like that made the jump to 3d way too early.