Is a game's graphical quality important to you?

[P4-630]

Yes and I have a preference for presentation - as photo-realistic as natural as possible as were the Far Cry back in 2004 and Crysis between 2007 and 2013.
Since then, everything is very bad and Minecraft (2011) for example is the most stupid presentation ever.

Insult to the human intelligence!

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Yup that's a game I will never play because of the graphics, that's just a no buy for me.

 

[eidairaman1]

I'd say the overall presentation matters: if a game has all the bells and whistles but animation is crap and there's no style then no amount of RT is going to save it visually.
I might ruffle some feathers but out of the upcoming AAA games to me Starfield looks like the biggest offender in this regard - textures and lighting are there but characters talk and move like they always did in Bethesda games (crap), shooting looks like it's from a bargain bin PS2 shooter and it's just bland sci-fi all around. It might still be extremely fun to play though!
At the end of the day I guess it doesn't really matter (I'm still playing Doom 2 multiplayer every week) but it's cool if the developer can afford to make it stunning both on artistic and technical level.

RT we can do without.

 

[gffermari]

Yes.
Since I don't have much time to game, when I do, I want to play games with beautiful graphics and story.

RT is very important to me and due to my experience and background, I can see the slightest improvement using it.
In general, RT is not necessary, if the game is developed properly. There are hundred of games with prebaked lighting that look amazing.
I just cannot stand the games where the objects seem to fly around.

 

[Zyll Goliat]

Sure I like games with nice graphics 'tho gameplay is so much more important also if I could I will prefer higher resolution over the quality settings but that really depends of the game,sometimes is really hard to notice any difference between medium,high or ultra settings.....

 

[Frag_Maniac]

I voted yes, because it's important enough to me that I'm really put off by games with bad graphics. That said, I can see why Yes (up to a point) is leading the poll, because more and more games with high end graphics are releasing in horrible condition performance wise. It's part of what has me playing older titles like Machine Games Wolfenstein series.

It's gotten so bad in fact that one of my fave game tech reviewers, Alex Battaglia of Digital Foundry, is considering not reviewing games that launch in horrible condition performance wise anymore. It just takes too much time to keep re-reviewing with each game update, and it can take time away from less popular titles that launch in much better condition.

 

[KrazyT]

That said, I can see why Yes (up to a point) is leading the poll, because more and more games with high end graphics are releasing in horrible condition performance wise.

That why we should praise good devs with optimized games !
Games should be optimized enough to play well in Medium with a modest configuration.
At least, a multi platform game should run the same on a PS5 / XBox as a PC (worth at least the same price than theses console) with the same quality image.
And better image quality with better PC, don't you agree ?

 

[Frag_Maniac]

That why we should praise good devs with optimized games !
Games should be optimized enough to play well in Medium with a modest configuration.
At least, a multi platform game should run the same on a PS5 / XBox as a PC (worth at least the same price than theses console) with the same quality image.
And better image quality with better PC, don't you agree ?

The problem isn't that I disagree, because I certainly do agree to that, the problem is getting a lot of devs and pubs to agree, that's the hard part.

 

[qubit]

Up to a point. It's a combination of graphics, gameplay and functionality for me. Get the balance right and the game can be epic.

 

[R-T-B]

I voted 'No, up to a point'.

Games are meant to be played for fun (that's why they are games). Immersion can be a part of that fun, but it is very dependant upon the game and the person. I loved playing the Steam game Super Hot, and the graphics are both simplistic and hyper-effective. That game, I think, would not benefit from shiny graphics - the entire point of the game is the gameplay.

When I want hyper-real graphics, I go for a walk outside.

Same logic here.

That said, great graphics do add to immersion for me, but they aren't nearly as important as good gameplay. No contest.

DRG is an example for me that gets it "just right" balance wise.

 

[Vya Domus]

If they weren't games would still look like this :

 

[lightning70]

I would never buy a game with good graphics but bad optimization and scenario. Graphics are important, but other factors should be fine.

 

[wheresmycar]

Voted: YES

Immersive gameplay for me is a combination of great gameplay + realistic graphics (or super defined graphics with smooth animation). Which is one of the reasons, 5 years ago, i picked up a high refresh rate 1440p panel. I now fancy shifting up to 4K but hi-perf GPU prices are a repellant hence maybe a couple of years down the line. I'm also quite choosy about the type of titles I play which usually resemble realistic graphics (to some extent). What i don't do is crank up all the settings at max just for the sake of it... i tend to look for sweet spots by adjusting some settings without compromising on the visual eye candy ... a good enough practice to get the graphics quality i want whilst easily scaling a little higher on the performance side of things (target: 90fps+)

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Voted: YES

...but hi-perf GPU prices are a repellant hence maybe a couple of years down the line.

I used to think/hope for that too, but since 4K capable GPUs have been around, they are only getting more expensive.

 

[Frick]

Yes and I have a preference for presentation - as photo-realistic as natural as possible as were the Far Cry back in 2004 and Crysis between 2007 and 2013.
Since then, everything is very bad and Minecraft (2011) for example is the most stupid presentation ever.

Insult to the human intelligence!

View attachment 276979

So Super Mario Bros 3 would be a better game if it had photorealistic graphics? And are you saying Crysis looks better than say Horizon Zero Dawn?

 

[neatfeatguy]

I do like when graphics can make a game look good, but they certainly aren't needed for me. I spent many years on my GTX 570s across 5760x1080 resolution with graphic settings down to medium or less to get games to run at least around 45fps. For the most part, there isn't a lot of difference between medium/high settings and even less of a difference between high/ultra.

Right now I'm going back through and playing the Batman games (Arkham Asylum/City/etc....). I think the games still look decent for being around 10 years or older, now.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Voted yes.

I don't buy high end GPU's for nothing.

 

[Vario]

My standards are pretty low. Graphics have to be okay, I would draw a line at the N64 style graphics, while the games on that console were great, Goldeneye 64 (for example) was a really ugly game. Sprite based games like NES, SNES, Genesis are fine. Preferably a new PC game should have graphics at least on par with UT99 Hi Res Texture Pack. Morrowind would be too ugly. Most modern PC games since 2011 have graphics that are suitable for me. I mostly want decent frame rate and smooth gameplay, 120+ FPS without stutter is nice.

 

[Lei]

View attachment 276979

Minecraft is a ....
It's a litmus test to diagnose sanity of the mind.

 

[Ruru]

Yes but only to a point, I do like eye candy in games and see how graphics and related tech advances over time but its not a deciding factor if I'm playing a game or not unless the art style of the game rubs me the wrong way.
I'm playing Cyberpunk currently with some RT enabled and it looks great to me but its not why I picked up the game and I mainly enabled it cause at my resolution I have some headroom for it. In newer games where I won't be able to use RT at playable frames I will simply turn it off.
Same with Plague Tale Requiem, that game had my jaw drop at some places how good it looked but its not the main reason why I liked the game in overall and is my personal game of the year.
In general I'm okay with ~mix of medium/high settings, Low is when its starting to bother me/upgrade and I prefer maxed or almost maxed out Textures. 'even modded ones with HD mods'

And just a few weeks ago I've finished FEAR 1 and the graphics did not bother me at all, had a blast playing that game.

I think I draw the line at those really old school pixel art games even if they are brand new, I just can't get into that art style/design at all.

Yo, FEAR is a classic! Truly enjoy that still, and it was a blast back in 2005!

Though it fits to the thread's idea as I finished it at 640x480 low settings with GF4 Ti

 

[Morgoth]

i enjoy games that are pretty but i dont mind playing once in a while older generation game like dark souls 1 looks very gritty but it suits there story line

 

[wolf]

Yes, up to a point.

I have a strong desire for immersion from video games, it's a MASSIVE part of why I play them, I want to lose myself in the game world and really feel like for that time, I am truly in it.

So they matter, but it's a balance, I want to strike a balance of static visual fidelity, say image quality, with fluidity or framerate. Both come together to be able to blend into a mixture that allows the suspension of disbelief, and I really feel as the character of the game.

Some more important aspects of graphics that matter to me is anitaliasing, jaggies and shimmer are the instant detractor for My perception that remind me this is faked, if the anitaliasing is perfect and shimmer eliminated (and the fps is high and smooth) a lot of other shortcomings can be forgiven.

Of course, good graphics don't make a shit game good, and bad graphics don't (necessarily) make a good game bad, but for me personally? They matter. I am fancinated by techniques at the forefront of video game visuals, always have been.

 

[Jaffakeik]

As I em more old school gamer, I never thought graphics are something important, for me fun factor is more important. I can look at real people in life if I need realistic things. In games it should be fun 1st and than graphics,

 

[TumbleGeorge]

Answers:

1. I have prefer to realistic quality but up to point that representation not require PC with too high characteristics and price on the market.
2. Quality of graphic is not the only once. I prefer combination of good story, good mechanic's, good physics and good graphic quality (see point 1)

 

[Dirt Chip]

A worthy game to take my time will be just as good (up to a point) even when compromising on settings and eye candy.
I will not play at 1080 on a 4K monitor nor on low settings but medium-high with +/- tweaks is very common for me, also 1440p on a 4K monitor is OK depending on the game.

If you must have all out max settings to enjoy the game- I don`t think you should play it the first place.
You probably fighting graphic setting more than anything else and that`s a bizarre game to play imo. You can just play benchmarks instead.

 

[Vayra86]

Up to a point, but all of the games I keep playing are not being played for graphical presentation, but the game itself. If graphics help immersion, theyre fine. If they break it, by trying too much especially, I find myself trimming down graphics options. In DX9 days the first and biggest offender was Bloom. Fcking annoying, oversaturated blobs of light over assets.

In DX11, I kill vignetting, motion blur, and in some cases chromatic abberation. Stuff I want maxed is texturing, geometry/lod, draw distance, and lighting/shadows. Im apparently not the biggest fan of post processing nonsense. Make me real, detailed assets and design things nicely, rather.

Because of this I can also run lots of stuff at high IQ on older GPUs. The basics are never that heavy to run. The extra bs is where your FPS plummets and overall a lot of it can be missed. With DX12 I find it harder to trim down like this. Effects are more refined, help the scenes in their atmosphere a lot, esp due to volumetric effects and reflections.

But all of this is really just a bonus, on top of a solid game. If the game is not good, graphics will never save it.