What do you guys think of this old PSX era graphics?

[goregasm]

I still have every console from vectrex up to Xbox one. Never fire them up. Just like looking at my collection once in awhile. Got some shit millennial will spend good money on, but don't have the heart to sell anything.

 

[Desu]

I actually grew up with the PS1 so I think all this fake nostalgia for it is fucking gay. Zoomers should be banned from making video games.

 

[Raghar]

I'm glad computer piracy completely removed all need to look at PSX era graphics. There is only problem with Kagero deception, which didn't have remake because happy ending that allows her to became eternally young magic user requires murdering 100 people.

But aside of that most decent PSX games had either 2D graphics, or decent sprites.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

It isn't that the Playstation intrinsically had bad graphics - its graphical capabilities were a substantial improvement over the previous console generation, of course - but that this era of console gaming was dominated by a premature rush to 3D graphics across virtually all genres. The result was clunky and ugly graphics in the vast majority of 3D games, with the exceptions being those relying on stylization and a better aesthetic sense. Moreover, 3D graphics generally age terribly relative to 2D graphics, so these Playstation 3D games are being measured against the textures, number of polygons, and other aspects (shading, shadows, anti-aliasing, and so forth) of recent 3D graphics and found wanting.

 

[Saldrone]

Let's be real. On technical levels, when an indie game is described as "PS1 Style" they actually mean Quake 1 on DOS.



The PS1 had very limited hardware leading to games only running at 30 fps cap even at a very low view distance and pre-rendered backgrounds, while Quake looks very smooth by comparison whch looks more on par with these 'PS1 style' indies

 

[Athena]

The PS1 had very limited hardware leading to games only running at 30 fps cap

This is patently false.

https://archive.is/fHube

 

[Stormcrowfleet]

Let's be real. On technical levels, when an indie game is described as "PS1 Style" they actually mean Quake 1 on DOS.



The PS1 had very limited hardware leading to games only running at 30 fps cap even at a very low view distance and pre-rendered backgrounds, while Quake looks very smooth by comparison whch looks more on par with these 'PS1 style' indies

If all indie games had Quake 1 graphics I wouldn't mind it. I still love it.

Let the haters be anathema.

 

[Morenatsu.]

i am zoomer and i like ps1 grafick

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I kinda (kinda...) liked playing games like RE or MGS on my friend's PSX. But always scratched my head real hard at people trying to hail it as the next amazing thing when my P200MMX with 12MB VD2 run proverbial circles around it when it comes to both fluid gameplay and image quality. There was this guy at the biggest potato gaming mag at the time who would give 9/10 to p much every piece of software released on psx/saturn and would mention how "pc suxx" every second sentence. I vividly remember that as a point when the teenage me realized consoles and journalism have this weird tendency to act as a magnet for retards.

And for the record, that same friend had MegaDrive before he got PSX (as most people where I lived, he was supplied from usa) and I remember liking games on that much more both in gameplay and presentation. Come to think of it, MD version of Desert Strike is actually one of the fondest memories of my early gaming life.

 

[Alienman]

Love that old pixelated PS1 style, both for nostalgic reasons and that I find the aesthetics very pleasing to look at. The games from that time just feel good to play too, from low-key space sims like Star Trek - Invasion to survival horror like Dino Crisis. That's not to say I want every game to look like that, and I understand there is a certain "hipster" element to it in new games.

Some games seem to make great use of it, however. Like Compound Fracture.

 

[Reinhardt]

But always scratched my head real hard at people trying to hail it as the next amazing thing when my P200MMX with 12MB VD2 run proverbial circles around it when it comes to both fluid gameplay and image quality.

pixelated 3d actually aged better than "kwality" clean 3d from that time.

 

[Saldrone]

This is patently false.

https://archive.is/fHube

Exceptions don't make the rule though, some of the best stuff the console has to offer don't even appear on a list of such quantity

 

[Athena]

Exceptions don't make the rule though, some of the best stuff the console has to offer don't even appear on a list of such quantity

Goalpost moving

 

[MasterofThunder]

Love that old pixelated PS1 style, both for nostalgic reasons and that I find the aesthetics very pleasing to look at. The games from that time just feel good to play too, from low-key space sims like Star Trek - Invasion to survival horror like Dino Crisis. That's not to say I want every game to look like that, and I understand there is a certain "hipster" element to it in new games.

Some games seem to make great use of it, however. Like Compound Fracture.

I think software rendered 3D games on PC might scratch that sort of itch. They tended to have a bit of a texture and chunkyness to them that has been missing ever since hardware acceleration entered the picture IMO. In many ways I prefer how some games look when rendered entirely in software, it's almost like a lost art. The PS1 didn't have a GPU, if I recall, so that would contribute to it's signature look.

 

[Ash]

You mean that don't have "Mario" in the title?

In regards to modern mario I need informing, not played much in that regard. Which is the best?

My favorite Mario is 3 (1988).

 

[JoacoN]

While I do agree with you Ash over the fact that PS1 games had an unique appeal and artistry, I do not think that using pre rendered backgrounds as examples is the best idea, because they do not show off the real power of the console or the more unique tricks for it.
I think some better examples would be Final Fantasy 9, Bloody Roar 2, Soul Edge, Tekken 3, the Crash series, etc...

Images

And there were also the pixel art and 3D-2D mix games, which look really good

Images

However, I also believe that the Saturn and the latter Dreamcast had much more vibrant, complex, and profesionally done styles than the PS1, with much more artistical qualities than the N64 or PS1.

Images

Just throwing my thoughts into the discussion.

 

[Ash]

Final Fantasy 9 was the very first image I posted bro. And is largely a pre-rendered game.

Otherwise yes, there is plenty merit to "ugly" 90s 3D technology:

-First and foremost, costs little time and money to produce by comparison to everything that came after! This allows the primary focus to be on gameplay, story, sound etc unlike today where art/graphics is the source of all decline.
-It goes back to the usual imagination vs clear image argument. It was a nice middle ground between providing realistic/believable 3D environments, while still requiring the brain to fill in the blanks. The result was often better than the bland clear image of the painting of a toilet they call modern games, or 2000s era games especially.
-The technological limitations of the PS1 created an almost normal mapping & detail 'materials' texture-like effect with its textures by default, which in the next generation in its absence + higher resolutions everything looked sterile and flat. Speaking purely visually now, I prefer 90s era 3D or modern-era 3D to 2000s era 3D (e.g PS2). Everything looked bland and sterile as shit. A clear image of mediocrity was attained. Exceptions apply but they're pretty rare. Not a fan of the visuals of most 2000s era shit.
-Limited Draw distance, too hardcore 4 u (the casuals of the codex). Creates increased navigational challenge, can't see distant obstacles, inflates sense of scale, increases the tension and atmosphere. Games like Tomb Raider, Ultima Underworld, Morrowind and Silent Hill would not at all be the same without.
-Far more diversity to visual styles. For example pre-rendering. 2D pixel art. 3D. not all devs were ready or wanted to move to full 3D just yet. 2D games still had moderate presence (and would sometimes hybridize with 3D elements too, for yet more diversity of styles. For example the spinning coffin in SotN), as opposed to 2D games only existing in the realm of the indie as today.
-With pre-rendering, true beauty could still be attained regardless as my screenshots demonstrate. These games still look better than modern super expensive 3D, to me. These games however are not true 3D and limit the kind of gameplay styles possible (because of fixed camera perspective).

If I could reset the industry's technology to those times I would in a heartbeat. Then the gameplay, the stories, the SOUL could come back.

 

[MasterofThunder]

I have more of a fondness for early 2000s PC 3D than any other era. Games like Unreal Tournament 99/2004, Quake 3, and all the games that used their engines to produce similar-looking titles. They were crisp, cozy, and full of SOUL.

 

[jimster]

I think the pseudo PS1 graphics thing is already pretty passé. When I see a game that has it, I just write it off as being vain and probably not worth checking out.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

In regards to modern mario I need informing, not played much in that regard. Which is the best?

I don't know. When I open the "Mario Folder" and browse through what I have, I always jump to Mario Kart 7.

 

[JoacoN]

Final Fantasy 9 was the very first image I posted bro. And is largely a pre-rendered game.

yea just woke up today and realised it was ff9 lol, idk what i was somking last night

to add a little more to the conversation, I think another big part of what made that style really good for development is the fact you couldn't overload the enviroment with random props and shit because every tiny model and texture limited what you could do with the more important elements on the screen, so there was more of an effort to try and blend the character and enviroment together to keep them unified (obv most noticeable with pre rendered background games, but there still were a lot that did it well)

I disagree with PS2 games looking bad, I think it has to do more so with the massive gap there was between AAA games and smaller productions, and even between AAA and the AA studios. Cause during the PS1 everyone worked with around the same tools and limitations, and it was the first 3D console for hundreds of devs, so there was more of an unified style that could evolve in a couple years together with the console.
However, the PS2 was more difficult to develop for, and it had much different limitations depending on the project.
Still, it was more than capable of doing some really good effects (Silent Hill's 2 lighting and fog come to mind).

 

[Ash]

Definitely still some pretty PS2-era games, but late 90s offers more thanks to significant diversity of styles, heavy use of pre-rendering, imagination filling in the gaps, being tied to superior games, blah blah blah. So many games have a dull sterile look in PS2 era and look rather similar to each other. Cel-shaded 3D made an appearance here too and while I appreciate the attempt at diversity in an era lacking it...I hate the look.

 

[MasterofThunder]

I think it's less the raw graphical aspects of a game that make it appealing, and much moreso the art direction and talent involved. There are now more indie "low poly" games, but none of them reach the same highs of actual PS1 and late 90s PC titles. The talent and spirit is no longer there, and it shows in the sorts of games that are produced. It doesn't help that most of these indies happen to be left-wing redditors who cannot resist giving their characters quirky dialogue and adding a ton of poz into their product.

 

[Borelli]

That Gunmetal Gothic game from the OP looks like a pure action game, while i like me some nostalgia baiting, PS2 > PS1 when it comes to action gameplay.
PS1 graphics would be great for horror games, jrps and platformers.

 

[Ash]

That Gunmetal Gothic game from the OP looks like a pure action game, while i like me some nostalgia baiting, PS2 > PS1 when it comes to action gameplay.

Depends. We did this before but:

FPS? PS1. Almost zero contest on PS2.
Platformer? PS1. Some good stuff on PS2 but PS1 simply has a number of untouchables, and no it isn't fucking crash bandicoot lol.
Stealth? PS2. Some good contest on PS1 but PS2 takes the cake.
TPS? PS2. Very little contest on PS1.
Hack & Slash? PS2. Golden era of hack & slash.
Survival Horror? PS1. No contest.
Vehicular Combat? PS1.
Arcade? I don't consider my opinion valid here.