Why does this still look better than most games today?

Why do we need to spend $400m and 8 years making games with ugly photorealistic graphics when this took like 8 months and <10 employees and is still one of the greatest games of all time even today?

It's mid by SNES standards

>>714817410 (OP)
To be fair it's really not that great. The dungeons especially are VERY repetitive.
Then again, considering that the whole thing is like 600kb, it's pretty awesome.

>>714817410 (OP)
This is my favorite Zelda game and I think it looks like shit

>>714817410 (OP)
Stupid 8 rocks, fuck you. Link to the past is a good game but it's always looked like shit.

>>714817521
Name a single better looking SNES game.

It still looks absolutely incredible, easily top 5 in the SNES library.

>>714817619
Trials of Mana (1995)

alttp is not even a good looking snes game

>>714817567
Each dungeon has its own unique themes, layouts, enemies, puzzles, and boss. They are also much faster paced than the absolute slog that is OoT dungeons.

Unless you are talking about the lack of original soundtrack for each dungeon or the backtracking to a boss after death, I don't see how they are repetitive at all.

>>714817410 (OP)
i think lttp looks great too, don't get this nu-contrarianist bullshit. yea there are some better-looking snes games but the artstyle fits and still looks good even today.

>>714817410 (OP)
Zelda's never been about having realistic art direction, the sprites are heavily stylized and made clear with outlines.

>>714817567
Apparently the plan at one point was to have THREE worlds instead of two, but it was already bursting at the seams with just two. It's clever from a developer standpoint in terms of how they saved space, and it certainly helps the player to figure out where they are when the time comes to use the mirror. I get that. I just wish the second world's layout was entirely different. And I really wish there was some sort of concept art for that supposed third world, but not even the gigaleaks revealed anything.

>>714817712
That game is ugly as fuck. The effects look absolutely nauseating and the depth perception is fucking abysmal. You would know this if you actually ever beat it.

It looked better at the time as it was a bit of a technical showcase, but ALTTP aged infinitely better.

>>714817738
The visuals. What the thread is about. The dungeons arr rook same.

>>714817619
Final Fantasy 3

>>714817410 (OP)
3D games became an arms race to depict photorealism and real life scenarios. Interactive movies. 2D games still have lots of soul and imagination.

>>714817935
you mean 6

Return to retro gaming. Reject modernity.

>>714817619
Bassin's Black Bass with Hank Parker

I'm not joking.

>>714817879
How the fuck do these look the same?

>>714817410 (OP)
I've had this thought. Why can't studios just make smaller games that don't have to include cutting edge visuals. Every single studio (AA or AAA) I've seen so far goes for a big 3D game in Unreal. Why can't they focus on easier projects but make them super polished.

>>714817619
Star Ocean

>>714817410 (OP)
ive seen flash games made by a solo dev in a few months that look better than this garbage

I think 2D games still have their place, not because we should scream like manchildren at epic retro graphics, but because retro graphics can be done in a fucking flash, development time could probably be sped way up. the only exceptions to this would be fighting games (3D models are easier to edit and adjust the frame count for attacks so the game can be patched), first-person shooters (at least the maps themselves), and a few other genres.

Developers used to be able to put out so many games within a year or two apart. Now we're lucky and it's considered a miracle for a major mainline title's sequel to come out a minimum of three years apart from the previous game. This shit is NOT sustainable, not with the amount of money being thrown around. Surely there's a market for people who just want games to play and can do with much lower budgets that still deliver fantastic results and faster release times.

>>714817410 (OP)
>Why does this still look better than most games today?
No? What the fuck are most games today?

>>714817410 (OP)
I never understood the hate for ALTTP's graphics. They've always looked very clean, neat, stylized, charming, colorful, and quickly convey information at a glance.

So many games of that era, and even moreso now, focused on having realistic cutting-edge visuals, to the point where the screen just looks cluttered and messy.

>>714817619
Super Turrican 2.

This game is from 17 years ago, yet it absolutely mogs everything coming out now.

>>714818128
Them both being perfectly square rooms with identical size, for starters. Not the guy you're replying to, but I definitely agree with him. Everything else about the dungeons are great though.

>>714818632
Ugly, garish, messy. Technically? maybe. But in terms of artstyle, charm, and visual clarity? Absolutely not.

>>714817410 (OP)
Seriously.. 2d and pixel graphics are the way to go. I never cared for 3d past game cube limitations. These moron developers lost their creativity and touch with stupid open world trash. I couldn't care less about super realistic graphics. It's so stupid how games have devolved.

>>714818945
try actually playing the game zoomer retard

>>714819218
Beat it before you were born I'd wager.
The reason they look so similar is because they stuck to the grid-based level design which was the standard for Zelda at the time. A more organic design wouldn't have worked as well I don't think.

>>714817619
Ninja Warriors.

>>714817619
I love LttP, but it's visually quite simple. To stay in the same genre: Terranigma totally beats it.

>>714817619
Shadowrun

>>714817619
Chrono Trigger and DKC trilogy immediately come to mind.

>>714819386
Grid based layouts are comfy and functional, and the movement is not grid-based which makes it feel more fluid and dynamic

>>714819849
that looks ugly as shit though. LTTP's artstyle is MUCH more appealing and timeless even if it's not as technically impressive or realistic

>>714817410 (OP)
God I fucking love and adore this game

>>714820812
okay, tendie

>>714821081
wholesome post, i am happy for u anon

>>714817410 (OP)
I always thought this looked ugly like it's straight up nauseating to look at the colors and artstyle inspire revulsion in me

Now pic related is a good looking game

>>714821978
>adjusted colors

>>714821978
ALTTP looks so much better and it's not even close.

>>714821978
>toonshit

I want to fuck the Zelda from this game so bad

>>714818632
Turrican games are a mess.

>>714823259
BASED

>>714817410 (OP)
Graphics never needed to go beyond PS1/PS2 era. All you need is skilled artists which have sadly mostly gone away.

>>714817410 (OP)
>Why does this still look better than most games today?
denial
if you weren't a dipshit zoomer you would know that LTTP looked extremely plain and unappealing for the era

>>714819754
Terranigma was stunning playing it for the first time a year ago. But that only reinforces OP's point.

Yeah, I agree.
Way too many people care about le modern graphics. But I would much rsther play Majora's Mask than Tears of the Kingdom.
Both are sequel games, Majora released 2 years after Ocarina and while reusing assets it created one of the most tight ludonarrative harmony I've ever had the joy to play through, taking Ocarina of Time premise and setting and exploring it in a different manner. 10/10
TotK had several years and it feels extremely derivative, it took everything BotW had and made it worse. The quiet minimalist emptiness of traveling through a ruined Hyrule got replaced by vehicle building.
If games are to be art then they should stop chasing graphics and focus on sctually using the strengths of the media to tell significant tales. The worst part is even though Nintendo is fumbling the last decade or so, it's still more adept at gamecrafting than most other studios.
>>714821978
You are right, Minish Cap is peak 2D Zelda aesthetic.

>>714825220

more images like this?

>>714817410 (OP)
why do people lie?

>>714817619

Bro could people here be any more contrarian and gay

>>714828363
Yeah LTTP is inarguably a bona fide 10/10

>>714828117

>>714828506

got any more 3D sovl?

>>714828624
Sorry, meant to post this one

>>714817410 (OP)
>Why does this still look better than most games today?
Because of tech limitations, art style tended to be emphasized. Now, everyone is trying to be photorealistic because the tech is getting better, but that ironically ages the game faster.

>>714828827

moar

>>714828827
>>714829072

>>714829238

image acquired and entered into sovl database

is the lighting here done with vertex colors? or are those actual lights?

>>714829509
It was done with vertex colors

>Older arcade games looked better
Also alttp looked amazing. Trials too.