I tend to prefer early 2000s 3D graphics over the modern stuff anyway. There was plenty of capability to work with, and it seemed like the game designers did a much better job of giving a game a "feel." There was also much more done creatively with lighting and darkness and my favorite how many games liked to make things like breakables and loose objects. Think something like Half-Life 2 or F.E.A.R. where you walk around carelessly and bump into things and it goes flying off a shelf etc.
Now, they just go crazy with their ugly character models and realistic frizzy hair movement but the world is always so "same" feeling and very rigid.
Restrictions breed creativity. It truly is that simple. Remove the restrictions of technological capability, and it's no surprise that the creativity of design also starts to vanish.
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.
Every gamer: "go back! Go back! It was better before!"
And that's why everyone if they're not playing indie, are playing older games.
I tend to prefer early 2000s 3D graphics over the modern stuff anyway. There was plenty of capability to work with, and it seemed like the game designers did a much better job of giving a game a "feel." There was also much more done creatively with lighting and darkness and my favorite how many games liked to make things like breakables and loose objects. Think something like Half-Life 2 or F.E.A.R. where you walk around carelessly and bump into things and it goes flying off a shelf etc.
Now, they just go crazy with their ugly character models and realistic frizzy hair movement but the world is always so "same" feeling and very rigid.
Restrictions breed creativity. It truly is that simple. Remove the restrictions of technological capability, and it's no surprise that the creativity of design also starts to vanish.
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.