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1eyedking 1eyedking's List of Games Full of Tasteful Art Direction

1eyedking

Erudite
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
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Location
Argentina
1eyedking's List of Games Full of Tasteful Art Direction

Disclaimer: this is not a best games list, but a best artistic games list (which, in my educated opinion, is immensely more important).


***

The Crème de la Crème

In no particular order, games that can really get into your skin:


Fallout

Fallout 2

Thief: The Dark Project

The Witcher

StarCraft

DOOM 3

RAGE

Diablo

Rome: Total War

Medieval II: Total War

(lesser than RTW but still great)

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Company of Heroes

Darkwood


***

The Honorary Mentions

a.k.a. games that got a good couple of things right artistically, but don't achieve a new level of immersion or lack a cohesive whole:


RUINER

Path of Exile
(visual design is pretty good though, terrible voice-acting and music)

Thief II: The Metal Age
(much less art direction than the first)

Risen

DOOM

DOOM II: Hell on Earth

Icewind Dale
(HoW is good up to the meeting with the Seer; avoid Trials of the Luremaster entirely)

Icewind Dale II

WH40K Dawn of War
(not Soulstorm, that one sucks)

Early Command & Conquer games
(they've got something going on, but not terribly atmospheric either)

Early Lucas Arts point-and-click adventure games
(MI 1-3, Full Throttle and The Dig in particular)

Daemonica
(play it if only for the music)

DreamWeb
(ditto)

Inquisitor

Left 4 Dead
(the sequel is OK but misses this one's atmosphere)

Stronghold

Stronghold: Crusader

X-COM: UFO Defense

X-COM: Terror from the Deep

Nuclear Throne
(p. good music)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl
(great music & atmosphere, abysmal game mechanics)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky

Planescape: Torment
(the plot is good, however the writing itself is very uneven, oscillating between good and bad—an example of bad is Deionarra's sensory stone)

Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Diablo II

Diablo II - Resurrected
(the only remaster I know of that actually improves on the original)

Alien: Isolation

Penumbra: Overture

Penumbra: Black Plague
(avoid The Requiem)

HATRED
(good music, sort of gloomy—overall it's OK, which says a lot about general art quality nowadays if this game made it here...)

Darkest Dungeon

Metro 2033

Metro: Last Light

Metro Exodus

Total War: SHOGUN 2

GTA V
(nice visuals: take a ride through Sandy Shores at night and you'll see what I mean)

Red Dead Redemption II
(more of a simulator than a game—story, writing and characters are terrible though)

Assassin's Creed: Unity

HOM&M 4
(great soundtrack, cheesy yet sometimes endearing writing, but beware bad visual design)

Battlefield 1
(would be at the top if it weren't for the needless SJW'ing and it being a pop-a-mole shooter)

Hunt: Showdown

>Observer_
(braindead walking sim, but it's got some good imagery)

The Witcher 3
(wilderness out of German Romantic painting, a pity the plot is beyond terrible; writing and dialogues are good in polish but english translation is bad and reads like a literary major trying too hard; music is forgettable)

SOMA
(great atmosphere and plot, albeit bad dialogue and voice-acting ultimately hinder the experience)

Space Hulk: Deathwing

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
(great japanese voice-acting, good music, good plot)

Factorio

Ghostrunner

Blasphemous

Necromunda: Hired Gun

The Ascent

WORLD OF HORROR


***


All other games in neither of those two lists severely lack tasteful direction in one or more artistic departments (music/sounds, visual design, writing) -- even if their gameplay mechanics are top-notch (CIV4, FTL, SMAC, MOO, CS, etc.).

 
Last edited:

spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,273
Nice text formating, mang.

As for the content - 1/5 and:

giveup.gif
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
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Messages
33,003
Location
KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Wait, you include vanilla Rome Total War which had the most ridiculous HURR HOLLYWOOD ROMANS art direction and don't include SMAC which had a very fitting atmosphere and lore?

:retarded:
 

Wyrmlord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 3, 2008
Messages
28,886
Frankly, all developers should simply splash black, brown, and grey all over the graphics, and then just get on with developing the actual core game.

I say to hell with art direction. I only notice how beautiful a game is for...one hour. Then I just take it for granted.
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
"Wyrmlord" said:
Frankly, all developers should simply splash black, brown, and grey all over the graphics, and then just get on with developing the actual core game.

That's what they do currently anyways. Well, minus the developing core game part.
 

Cassidy

Arcane
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7,922
Location
Vault City
I gave up modding for ungrateful fucks like you and learned how to live the good life while you remain arguing your bullshit and virgin.

- Qwinn
 

praetor

Arcane
Joined
Apr 27, 2009
Messages
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Location
Vhoorl
Wait, you include vanilla Rome Total War which had the most ridiculous HURR HOLLYWOOD ROMANS art direction and don't include SMAC which had a very fitting atmosphere and lore?

:retarded:

yeah, seriously... choosing RTW over any other TW (especially when you don't consider mods and you talk about the art direction) reveals what a supreme dumbfuck he is. or a really bad troll. hmm.. that's actually not mutually exclusive

wait.. he's from argentina, right? that's like the southamerican greece populated by italians. no wonder he's such a moron
 

zerotol

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
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Location
BE
Most titles on the list are good, but a lot are missing. As always the case with these lists.
 

pipka

Savant
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
1,351
Location
The Penal Zone
The list seriously lacks Final Fantasy series and Shin Megami Tensei series to be considered complete.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,607
I still don't know why Mr. Verisimilitude likes Fallout 2 so much. Oh look I just killed over 40 giant ants underneath Broken Hills ah yes this is a truly plausible scenario in this post-apocalyptic world, to have far fewer ants or other creatures to fight would be completely implausible. And all those modern guns!

b9avk0.png

I am definitely ready for some of this new shit.

I say to hell with art direction. I only notice how beautiful a game is for...one hour. Then I just take it for granted.
Prepare for a beatdown, art direction is more than just art style when he talks about it.
 

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