We used an audio medium to talk about a visual one—art styles in video games! Was this a mistake? Only you’ll be able to decide when we start discussing the hands of Final Fantasy characters as an example of evolutions in graphical fidelity!
In all seriousness, this fun episode of The Punished Podcast has us reflecting on why and how visuals shape our impression of video games, what art styles have longer staying power, which games are the most beautiful, and if Toon Link is better than Twilight Princess Link.
12/13/2024 Update: I meant to talk about Okami! Re-pushing the audio to include it 🙂
– Amanda Tien, Editor
The Punished Podcast Episode 11
Check out the latest episode below. A reminder that you can listen here, download the MP3 file, or catch us wherever you get your podcasts. Happy listening!
MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Amanda Tien | David Silbert | Kei Isobe | Sam Martinelli | Vaughn Hunt | Zack Gulinello
Timestamps:
- 0:00 – 5:00 – Intros and Beautiful Games
- 5:00 – 34:43 – What Makes a Game Look Good, and Why Does It Matter?
- 35:48 – 50:00 – Visuals in Remasters and Remakes
- 50:00 – 59:19 – Indie Games and Standing Out Visually
- 59:20 – 1:08:30 – Uncanny Valley and Realism
- 1:08:31- 1:17:09 – Who Ya Got?! Vote and Debate
- 1:17:10 – Outro: What We’re Playing
Episode Intro by Sam Martinelli
“Let’s discuss video game visuals. While any video game experience centers on play and control, visuals and visual design have always been an essential pillar to the medium. After all, the main way companies build hype and excitement for a game is through visual media: trailers, screenshots, gameplay demonstrations, etc. But what exactly do players want visually from their games?
To some extent, graphical fidelity vs. art direction has been a subject of discourse for decades, but now that upgrades to hyper-realistic graphics are getting smaller and smaller and AAA budgets keep ballooning, the nature of that discourse seems to be changing. It’s also worth noting that we’ve seen somewhat of an indie game revolution over the past decade-plus, where smaller studios—most of which are unable to produce graphical fidelity on par with their AAA counterparts—are forced to be more creative and intentional with their visual design.
So to start, let’s go around and describe what we think makes a game look ‘good,’ and whether you think fidelity matters more or less than style…“
Song Credits:
- “Porkrind’s Provisions” from Cuphead by Kristofer Maddigan
- “Lord Shimura” from Ghost of Tsuhima by Ilan Eshkeri
- “Dung Defender” from Hollow Knight by Christopher Larkin
- “Grasslands Theme” from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth by Masashi Hamauzu
- “Mii Plaza Theme” from the Wii by Kazumi Totaka
