What are the most graphically stylish games lately?

[Dilton Doiley,Philosopher King]

Not necessarily the game with the "best" or most realistic graphics. Something with vibrant colors or a unique design style... something you might want to play just because it looks so damn fun!

[mswas]

Mirror's Edge is the most graphically unique game I've played recently.

Force Unleashed has very vibrant colors.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Take a look at Mount & Blade (http://www.taleworlds.com/mb_gallery.html). If only the clouds were dynamic...

[Lute Skywatcher]

Oh, yeah: Lord of the Rings Online (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/lordoftheringsonlineminesofmoria/images.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gsimage&tag=images;header;more)

[mswas]

Eve Online (http://www.eveonline.com/trinity/assets/screenshots/screenshot-1-high.jpg)

[mswas]

Halo 3 (http://www.ascendantjustice.com/files/cocop/The%20Covenant/The%20Covenant%20Large/TwoScarabs3-large.jpg)

[mswas]

Far Cry 2 (http://z.about.com/d/compactiongames/1/0/z/5/farcry2.jpg)

[mswas]

Rainbow Six: Vegas (http://static2.filefront.com/images/jsveeptwkz.jpg)

[Elyanna]

Okami is absolutely beautiful. Its style is based on Japanese paintings, as far as I know.

[mswas]

Force Unleashed (http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/847/847637/star-wars-the-force-unleashed-20080124104755666_640w.jpg)

Mirror's Edge (http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/02/mirrors-edge-01-490.jpg)

[MJinks]

I have to mention Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) (http://www.sega.com/valkyria/us/media.html). They refer to it as a 'Canvas engine', meaning the graphics look like they're been carefully hand painted on a canvas. I think it looks awesome but the screenshots really don't do it justice.

[Mekhazzio]

Team Fortress 2. The stylized 50s-spytech theme is definitely distinctive.

[Hoopy Frood]

Bioshock. There's an interesting mix of drab and vibrant color.

[Larry Mudd]

Not necessarily the game with the "best" or most realistic graphics. Something with vibrant colors or a unique design style... something you might want to play just because it looks so damn fun!It hasn't exactly got much in the way of vibrant colour, but I'm really looking forward to playing Mad World (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oma7_0kaS98) (Youtube), just because the art design makesit look like such over-the-top freaking fun.

I generally have very little interest in beat-em-ups, but it looks like something special.

[Trepa Mayfield]

Zelda: The Wind Waker and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

[Mr. Excellent]

World of Goo. Adorable, and very much a unique look.

[kasuo]

Pixel Junk Eden (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viLB8_u5jJ4) for PS3.

[FlyingRamenMonster]

Bing Bang Mini for the DS is often absolutely gorgeous, we're talking serious eye candy here. Unfortunately, it's not much fun.

Magical Starsign has possibly the most amazing pixel art backgrounds I've ever seen in a game and looks like a cute, stylish adventure. It's also not much fun.

Avalon Code has a really charming and captivating style. Admittedly, a lot of modern console jrpgs share its look, but you never see this kind of thing on DS. It's bordering on unplayable.

I'm slowly learning not to judge a game by its graphics.

[Hoopy Frood]

"Too Human"

Absolutely beautiful game.

That's the only thing noteworthy about it.

[Tanbarkie]

Braid has a gorgeous "moving storybook" style of art. It's also one of, if not THE, best 2D platformers made in the past ten years.

[Red Barchetta]

Super Mario Galaxy. A beautiful, beautiful game that wouldn't look out of place on a 360 or PS3.
http://wii.ign.com/dor/objects/748588/mario-wii/videos/mariogalaxyhd_052306.html

[mswas]

Super Mario Galaxy. A beautiful, beautiful game that wouldn't look out of place on a 360 or PS3.
http://wii.ign.com/dor/objects/748588/mario-wii/videos/mariogalaxyhd_052306.html

Reminds me a bit of Kameo (http://www.winsupersite.com/images/reviews/kameo_review_10.jpg).


But I am going to have to disagree that it wouldn't look out of place on a 360 or a PS3, it's definitely not on par with their graphics capabilities. The design is a great use of the medium available to it, and I don't say that insultingly, but it doesn't look anything like the other more advanced consoles.

[Rigamarole]

I saw someone (here I believe) accuse Resident Evil 5's graphics of being too "brown", but I really enjoyed it aesthetically. Very detailed and realistic horror-survival type game.

[Cyberhwk]

Braid has a gorgeous "moving storybook" style of art. It's also one of, if not THE, best 2D platformers made in the past ten years.I second this one. Although to be honest I don't know any 2D platformer games made in the past 10 years PERIOD.

Music in Braid is phenomenally beautiful too.

[Red Barchetta]

But I am going to have to disagree that it wouldn't look out of place on a 360 or a PS3, it's definitely not on par with their graphics capabilities.

To each their own. To me, art style trumps technical graphical achievements every time (though the two aren't always mutually exclusive, obviously), and Mario Galaxy is easily the most visually impressive game I've played this generation, and I've played a lot of them, being I work in the industry.

It's the first game I had played in years that evoked a feeling of awe from visuals alone (Flower is the only gave I've played since that provided a similar sensation).

[Argent Towers]

Take a look at Mount & Blade (http://www.taleworlds.com/mb_gallery.html). If only the clouds were dynamic...

Seconded, but PLEASE download the 1217 AD mod for this game if you do; the original version is good but that mod makes it 10000 times better! And I will send you a copy of my own custom mod that incorporates all the aesthetic and gameplay elements of the 1217 AD mod, AND add literally hundreds of new armors to the game, if you PM me.

M&B is where it's at, totally...SO addictive! Hacking guys to death on horesback never gets old.

[Martini Enfield]

Bioshock. There's an interesting mix of drab and vibrant color.

And, more importantly, Art Deco and Retro Futurism.

Fallout 3 isn't very colourful but the style (Post-Apocalyptic Retro-Futurism) is very cool, IMHO. :)

[HPL]

Braid has a gorgeous "moving storybook" style of art. It's also one of, if not THE, best 2D platformers made in the past ten years.

I can't believe it took 20 posts to mention Braid. It may be one of the most beautiful games I've seen(and heard) in recent memory.

[mswas]

To each their own. To me, art style trumps technical graphical achievements every time (though the two aren't always mutually exclusive, obviously), and Mario Galaxy is easily the most visually impressive game I've played this generation, and I've played a lot of them, being I work in the industry.

Like I said, it's a pretty game, but there are some tell-tale aspects of the graphical style that show it as being made for an inferior graphics platform. I definitely agree that the art style trumps technical graphics achievement. I am just saying that it doesn't cross the boundaries as suggested.

It's the first game I had played in years that evoked a feeling of awe from visuals alone (Flower is the only gave I've played since that provided a similar sensation).

Mirror's Edge does that for me lately.

[mswas]

And, more importantly, Art Deco and Retro Futurism.

Fallout 3 isn't very colourful but the style (Post-Apocalyptic Retro-Futurism) is very cool, IMHO. :)

Fallout 3 is a pretty game, too bad it's so monumentally boring that I didn't get to see much of it.

[Snowboarder Bo]

Mad World for the Wii looks amazing. Like a skunk in a blender: black and white and red all over. The game is also a ton of fun, too.

[mswas]

Hmm, Braid looks interesting. With all these games people are mentioning with a pseudo-painterly style, I find myself wishing that someone would go all the way. Like if Braid looked like the splash screen on the web site, I'd probably be in love. It seems like an interesting take on the Super Mario Brothers style with a cool design style.

[mswas]

Wow just as I mentioned wanting a more painterly style in games, Snowboarder Bo posted about Mad World, Wow...it looks like Sin City. I don't have a Wii but that game is awesome looking.

[Red Barchetta]

Like I said, it's a pretty game, but there are some tell-tale aspects of the graphical style that show it as being made for an inferior graphics platform.


And my point is that, despite that (whatever those may be), it's still more visually impressive than most (if not all, imo) games on those platforms.

Higher resolutions and texture quality do not automatically equate to "superior," just as modern CGI hasn't necessarily negated the less technically advanced effects of its earlier years.

[MJinks]

Seconded, but PLEASE download the 1217 AD mod for this game if you do; the original version is good but that mod makes it 10000 times better! And I will send you a copy of my own custom mod that incorporates all the aesthetic and gameplay elements of the 1217 AD mod, AND add literally hundreds of new armors to the game, if you PM me.

M&B is where it's at, totally...SO addictive! Hacking guys to death on horesback never gets old.I searched on Google but couldn't find that. Do you mean the 1257 mod? I always meant to mod my M&B but could never decide which ones to use. Your custom mod sounds perfect, if you have it uploaded somewhere I would love to try it out.

[mswas]

And my point is that, despite that (whatever those may be), it's still more visually impressive than most (if not all, imo) games on those platforms.

I disagree with that, but it's a good looking game.

High resolutions and texture quality do not automatically equate to "superior."

I'm not talking about graphics in terms of technical superiority, but in terms of medium, whether one medium looks like another, and I'm saying that it doesn't look it the other medium not that this makes it inferior stylistically.

[Red Barchetta]

I'm not talking about graphics in terms of technical superiority, but in terms of medium, whether one medium looks like another, and I'm saying that it doesn't look it the other medium not that this makes it inferior stylistically.

But technical superiority is the only thing that separates the 360 and PS3 from the Wii, and are a fundamental of the medium.

Unless you mean that Mario Galaxy doesn't look like a shooter?

[mswas]

But technical superiority is the only thing that separates the 360 and PS3 from the Wii, and are a fundamental of the medium.

Unless you mean that Mario Galaxy doesn't look like a shooter?

No Mario Galaxy doesn't look like other games of it's type like Kameo for instance.

Yes, technical superiority is what separates them, but as Braid shows, technical capacity isn't a limit on creativity. The landscape in Mario Galaxy based on the video you posted is quite boxy. What they have done with their limited resources is definitely neat. I like the jumping from asteroid to asteroid aspect, and how they use the perspective of distance to make it seem quite epic. But the textural limitations are quite obvious. Mario Galaxy looks like an older gen game in terms of it's surface, and a newer gen game in terms of how it uses the visual space.

[Red Barchetta]

Yes, technical superiority is what separates them, but as Braid shows, technical capacity isn't a limit on creativity.

Which was my entire point.

No Mario Galaxy doesn't look like other games of it's type like Kameo for instance.

"Of its type"? I'm not even sure what that means. Halo 3 looks nothing like Killzone 2, and I would presume those are of the "same type." Regardless, I think Mario Galaxy is a better looking game than Kameo--technical merits have nothing to do with this.

The landscape in Mario Galaxy based on the video you posted is quite boxy. What they have done with their limited resources is definitely neat. I like the jumping from asteroid to asteroid aspect, and how they use the perspective of distance to make it seem quite epic. But the textural limitations are quite obvious. Mario Galaxy looks like an older gen game in terms of it's surface, and a newer gen game in terms of how it uses the visual space.

"Quite boxy"? That seems a bit of an exaggeration. Sure, you can spot where some of the polygons are, but that's something 360 and PS3 are subject to as well. Halo 3's environments also look "quite boxy"--does that mean it also doesn't look like a 360 game?

I should also note (though I didn't think I would have to, otherwise I would have mentioned it earlier) that I merely linked to the first video of the game I found, which was taken from a pre-release version of the game. Having played the final game in full, the off-screen video I linked to doesn't quite do the game justice.

To clarify my original point, I believe if you were to give this game to a typical 360 player and somehow remove Mario from it (as Mario obviously wouldn't be on 360), the player would be none the wiser that it wasn't native to the 360 platform.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure why we're still discussing this. I think it's one of the greatest looking games ever made, you don't. And it seems there's no convincing the other, so I'm not sure there's much more to be said about this.

[mswas]

Which was my entire point.

Yes, it took a while for you to realize I wasn't disagreeing with you.



"Of its type"? I'm not even sure what that means. Halo 3 looks nothing like Killzone 2, and I would presume those are of the "same type." Regardless, I think Mario Galaxy is a better looking game than Kameo--technical merits have nothing to do with this.

I disagree that Mario Galaxy is a better looking game than Kameo. But yes, technical merits are not the main consideration.


"Quite boxy"? That seems a bit of an exaggeration. Sure, you can spot where some of the polygons are, but that's something 360 and PS3 are subject to as well. Halo 3's environments also look "quite boxy"--does that mean it also doesn't look like a 360 game?

No, Halo has rolling hills and such. Everything in that level you showed me was pretty much straight pillars or the round asteroids. Not much contour to the landscape.

I should also note (though I didn't think I would have to, otherwise I would have mentioned it earlier) that I merely linked to the first video of the game I found, which was taken from a pre-release version of the game. Having played the final game in full, the off-screen video I linked to doesn't quite do the game justice.

Ahh, do you have some better examples?

To clarify my original point, I believe if you were to give this game to a typical 360 player and somehow remove Mario from it (as Mario obviously wouldn't be on 360), the player would be none the wiser that it wasn't native to the 360 platform.

Maybe, but there are a lot of games that don't take full advantage of the platforms capabilities.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure why we're still discussing this. I think it's one of the greatest looking games ever made, you don't. And it seems there's no convincing the other, so I'm not sure there's much more to be said about this.

I never said it looked bad. You kind of got defensive about it. I just said it doesn't look like a 360/PS3 game.

[Red Barchetta]

Yes, it took a while for you to realize I wasn't disagreeing with you.

Really? Because your arguments seemed to imply the latter.

I disagree that Mario Galaxy is a better looking game than Kameo. But yes, technical merits are not the main consideration.

But you haven't played Mario Galaxy, from what I gather? I don't think it's fair for you to assess such based solely on the video I've linked to.


No, Halo has rolling hills and such. Everything in that level you showed me was pretty much straight pillars or the round asteroids. Not much contour to the landscape.

Again, play the game. I'm not going to go round up videos to demonstrate every aspect of its graphical fidelity. Rest assured it has hills, even ones of the rolling variety.


Ahh, do you have some better examples?

The game.

Maybe, but there are a lot of games that don't take full advantage of the platforms capabilities.

Okay...I'm not quite sure why we were arguing then, as this was pretty much my original point, which you admit is a possibility.

I never said it looked bad. You kind of got defensive about it. I just said it doesn't look like a 360/PS3 game

And I never said that you stated it was a "bad" looking game--quite the opposite in fact. And I got no more "defensive" about it than you did regarding the 360's technical prowess. The fact is, I've played practically every major game--it's my job. You haven't played Mario Galaxy. I don't think there's much further we can take this.

[mswas]

Really? Because your arguments seemed to imply the latter.

I disagree that it looks like an X-Box/Playstation game, not that it's a pretty game.



But you haven't played Mario Galaxy, from what I gather? I don't think it's fair for you to assess such based solely on the video I've linked to.

Right, I asked if you had a better example.




Again, play the game. I'm not going to go round up videos to demonstrate every aspect of its graphical fidelity. Rest assured it has hills, even ones of the rolling variety.

I don't have a Wii.


Okay...I'm not quite sure why we were arguing then, as this was pretty much my original point, which you admit is a possibility.

My point was just a comment on aesthetics of the medium and not a rejection of the prettiness of Mario Galaxy.


And I never said that you stated it was a "bad" looking game--quite the opposite in fact. And I got no more "defensive" about it than you did regarding the 360's technical prowess. The fact is, I've played practically every major game--it's my job. You haven't played Mario Galaxy. I don't think there's much further we can take this.

No, I haven't played Mario Galaxy, I don't have access to it.

[Red Barchetta]

No, I haven't played Mario Galaxy, I don't have access to it.

Alright, I think we're done then.

[Robin Goodfellow]

I came in to second Valkyria Chronicles.

Also, an in-development MMO called Love (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/29/gdc09-impressions-of-love-the-game/), which has visual representations for wind and sun and an interesting aesthetic despite most of the world itself being manipulable and created by players as they play it.

Also, as in many topics/lists, the real winner is The World Ends With You.

[mswas]

I came in to second Valkyria Chronicles.

Also, an in-development MMO called Love (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/29/gdc09-impressions-of-love-the-game/), which has visual representations for wind and sun and an interesting aesthetic despite most of the world itself being manipulable and created by players as they play it.

Also, as in many topics/lists, the real winner is The World Ends With You.

Wow Love looks great.