My method of finding games is browsing tumblr and looking at what autists are currently overfixating about.
this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2024
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Ever since the Gen 8 consoles came out, there has been this trend of smearing the screen with TAA, post processing, and shader effects that IMO make games look worse. It makes games look blurry, and it can make the colors very flat. Perfect example of this is RDR2. Whole game has an orange tint, this weird grain effect, and the dreaded TAA smearing. I'm the type that also doesn't like motionblur, DOF, bloom, any of that. I just want to see the textures & models in as great of detail as possible.
"shader effects"
R E A L
I want to say "So true bestie" but that would truly be redundant and hard to take seriously.
No, but seriously, the post-processing thing is also something I've noticed. I guess it's the... future or something? Seriously, they ALL look the goddamn same and I hate it. And yeah, games look blurry nowadays and flat besides. And yeah, RDR2 is a good example of this, though it's probably the "better" of the games that we're thinking of; everything else looks even worse!
I assume RDR2 looks beautiful in HDR but if you don't have HDR everything outdoors in shadow is just incredibly dark.
Some games I played in the last year which all have very different art styles outside of photorealism or pixel art:
- Inscryption
- SIGNALIS
- Pizza Tower
- Cocoon
- Return of the Obra Dinn
- The Witness
Oooo, Signalis
I tried to get the OST vinyl, but I don't think it's out yet...
...sadge...
I probably should at least try COCOON and Inscryption.
If you haven't played Obra Dinn definitely try that as well. I spent a very pleasant Sunday afternoon churning through it with the aid of a large ledger book to take notes. Very unique gameplay experience once you get into it. Don't worry too much about trying to solve crimes as you work through the scenes the first time, just unlock everything so you can really get to work.
I do like nautical games...
Alright, I'll try the Obra Dinn and, besides, it's not that big of a commitment.
I guess it depends on what you're looking for. There are plenty of games that abuse pixel art or Unreal/Unity and end up looking like every other game that wants to save time/effort/money on the visual identity of the game, so I don't think you're imagining that phenomenon, but also some of those games are decent. There are also a ton of games with unique and interesting visual styles, and not all of them are actually fun to play, or at least not for everyone.
My guess is that you might be a bit burned out on games in general and are struggling to get excited about even attempting to find one, let alone give something your attention. I've been there, and it is a very common symptom of depression, fwiw. That, and the number of options makes it harder, not easier, to find something that you actually like. I miss the Nintendo Seal of Quality days.
It might help to go watch some game trailers, or read or watch reviews about games, that sort of thing. If you can get hyped about wanting to play a game, it might help getting over the hump of getting into the groove. That, and sometimes you just have to grind it out a bit. It's like when you want to read a book but don't have the motivation, sometimes you have to just commit to giving it five minutes, and if you don't want to keep going after that, you stop and take a run at it another time. Often I need to play a game for a bit before it clicks, get a sense of the mechanics, pacing, and overall feel. I've bounced off of a number of great games the first couple times trying to play, only to get sucked in properly on a subsequent attempt. It can be hard to get to the other side of that hump when the whole reason you want to play a game in the first place is to escape the feeling of being frustrated and unmotivated, but that initial phase is sometimes the investment required to get to the fun and engagement.
Yeah, the games are decent but I feel like they re-iterate each other. How many games are set in a wasteland? How many are zombie games? How many include vampires? You can make entire video lists out of 'em. And I think that's my problem: they're decent but they don't have my particular flavor or style.
Idk. I could be wrong. There's much to find out.
It might help to go watch some game trailers, or read or watch reviews about games, that sort of thing. If you can get hyped about wanting to play a game, it might help getting over the hump of getting into the groove. That, and sometimes you just have to grind it out a bit. It’s like when you want to read a book but don’t have the motivation, sometimes you have to just commit to giving it five minutes, and if you don’t want to keep going after that, you stop and take a run at it another time. Often I need to play a game for a bit before it clicks, get a sense of the mechanics, pacing, and overall feel. I’ve bounced off of a number of great games the first couple times trying to play, only to get sucked in properly on a subsequent attempt. It can be hard to get to the other side of that hump when the whole reason you want to play a game in the first place is to escape the feeling of being frustrated and unmotivated, but that initial phase is sometimes the investment required to get to the fun and engagement.
Very much agreed. I definitely need to find ways to be hyped and stay hyped. Alternatively, I can give myself a break.
Nothing wrong with taking a break! Can be good to focus on something else for a while.
If you want some recommendations, this video is the first in a series released over the last month or so about underrated Steam games. By 'underrated' the creator means that these are games that have <500 Steam ratings with >85% sentiment. Some really interesting stuff in this and the other videos that you wouldn't see elsewhere or likely run into on your own, and the videos respect your time. It's pretty easy to find the stuff that's already highly rated and regarded, but odds are you've already seen a lot of that.
nice, I see a few that look interesting after watching 15 mins of that
"the creator means that these are games that have <500 Steam ratings with >85% sentiment."
That is rather underrated! Guess I'll check it out!
Not untrue, but it helps to look for niche stuff, and learn to look past graphics.
Yeah, I'm trying to find something right for me.
I just feel like the gameplay loops are the same.
Say, anything dealing with the Ottoman Empire outside Assassin's Creed Revelations?
Or RTS games?
RTS games?
Against the Storm. Remember when you would beat a level in WarCraft 2, but then leave an enemy building so you could derp around for an hour mining all the gold and making cities? AtS is a game entirely like that.
It's real time with pausing and you focus on building up an economy to survive storm seasons. There's events/quests that can be found out in the wilderness, but you can actually win games without ever leaving the start area.
I just wish it had a Dinotopia mod, because someone else brought up how great it would be for it and I haven't gotten that out of my head lol
I just feel like the gameplay loops are the same
One suggestion that I'd like to make is consider games without gameplay loops. In particular, puzzle games.
Nah, games look too diffrent. Look at Majora's mask. Or well. Zelda in general I guess. More assets should be reused for unrelated projects.
While it's gotten better somewhat over time for me, I did give up entirely on new video game hype around the time bleeding edge graphics cards were primarily used to present... rusty metal fences and decaying rural areas. 
Videogames have always been mid, but recently with how designed-by-committee and risk-averse AAA gaming has become and with how samey indie gaming has gotten it's become especially dire. Every AAA game is a barely-disguised Ubisoft game, every indie game some version of a roguelike deckbuilder vampire survivors clone or whatever.
We really don't need AI to turn out slop if all you've ever been fed is videogames you'll produce slop all on your own, even when produced with as few outside pressures as possible in our late-stage capitalist world.
I dont have a lot of time right now but if you are looking for something different in terms of looks ...maybe check out Hylics and Hylics 2 ? Its at least pretty dang weird. If you just want something pretty to look at how about Ori and the Blind Forest ? Sorry if I misunderstood you.
Mabye make a thread - give us games/ gernes you like and im sure folks could recommend you games if that is what your looking for.
Hylics 1 and 2!
Yes, those are two games I've wanted to try for a long while now!
Also, I already made a previous thread for the thing you suggested down below in this comment.
It's there, but honestly, I'm already noticing that some games look "samey" or look the same as the next one...
Not ALL, mind you, but it got me thinking that this is becoming a problem lately.
Of course, I'm probably exaggerating, but eh. I'm still gonna game and gonna git gud, but I do feel that even with the variety and quantity, the quality could be better.
No problem. I hope you find what you are looking for -plus sometimes taking a break from gaming can be legit (as some other posters recommended)
Splatoon has a pretty varied color palette lmao