Arty games

[Vrex360]

These days there has been rather a lot of emphasis on good looking graphics, but sometimes I wonder what's the difference between games that just look good and games that actually look artistic.
Evidence has arisen that the games industry is no stranger to a great visual aesthetic, some look like pretty watercolour paintings, some have stylish colour, some have clever design in general and of course some are just plain gorgeous.
There are a few games that I can think of that fit this bill, Briad, Otogi, Bioshock, MadWorld, No more Heroes and the latest Prince of Persia. I get the feeling we are probably going to be seeing a lot more of these kinds of games in the future, and I'm all for it because if a game can look pretty and stylish then it does a lot to show that the games industry is 'growing up' as an industry and might one day be accepted as real art.
Enough rambling though, what game do you think is the mot artistic and why?

 

[SimuLord]

My vote goes to Oblivion on this one (especially with Qarl's Texture Pack installed if your computer's got the chops for it). Reason? Simple. I think art design should be geared toward offering the best opportunity for the player to easily see and deduce what's going on at a glance while serving the needs of the gameplay. Jack the detail up to max on Oblivion and not only are the visuals mind-blowing (I came out of the Great Forest to a rise just west of the Imperial City just as the sun was rising over White Gold Tower and my mind was blown) but the immersion and fun factors are greatly improved. I like my art functional and grounded in real-world aesthetics (which is why I think "dogs playing poker" is better than anything the Impressionists ever painted), which is why stuff like Oblivion and the Total War series impresses me.

 

[Roundhousekickintheface]

Arty games ehh? Like Okami?? or Graffiti Kingdom?

 

[Arisato-kun]

Meh..... I see what you're saying, but my very personal opinion, and it's just that, is that a game is a work of art when it works best. The art is in the game play and in the immersive quality.

Exactly. Games that are immersive are truly art. I love a story that just sucks you in and is chock full of references that work. To bolster my argument I present these.

http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/unangbangkay/thou-art-i-and-i-am-thou-legends-to-lineart-in-persona-3-117584.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/your-fate-is-in-the-cards-the-fool-s-journey-in-persona-3-116180.phtml

 

[Flying-Emu]

Oooooo, very nice.

Completely off-topic, but I just remembered where your avatar is from. I like that anime.

Anywho, Psychonauts anybody?

 

[Paulrus_Keaton]

Killer7 and Okami are the two that jump out immediately for me.

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

Mirror's Edge for all its shortcomings had a beautifully made world. Final Fantasy has some great artistry in some installments, others reek of trying to hard. World of Warcraft is also aesthetically pleasing, especially in the environmental sense; character and gear design is a bit more debatable.

 

[fliptopia]

American McGee's Alice was worth playing just for the wacky stuff in it. The game play was ok but a bit to jumpy jumpy for my liking but I just wanted to see everything it had so I played through the lot of it.

 

[AceDefective]

Arty games mean a game with more backround texture and story then game play and subtract Okami a golden egg

 

[dreadedcandiru99]

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, because...well, come on. Somebody was going to bring those two up eventually.

 

[Woe Is You]

Arty games mean a game with more backround texture and story then game play and subtract Okami a golden egg

Does a game have to have a story to be artistic? I don't really think so. Gravitation, a game most people consider artistic, has no story at all but all of the game mechanics have a deeper meaning to them .

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Duke Nukem! No?

Anyway, I have to give mention to Panzer Dragoon Orta. The game's set in a desolate wasteland populated by characters that speak a language invented for the game (A hybrid language of Latin, Ancient Greek and Russian), has beautifully stylised graphics and a refreshingly different heroine. Why hasn't Microsoft released this as an Xbox original yet?

 

[Archeopterix]

Visual aesthetics means a lot to me in a game. I'm not necessarily talking about the latest in shaders and polycount, but if I see a lot of things that make no sense that makes it look like the artists weren't researching the thing they were making, it tends to be an annoying mosquito-like distraction. Things like animals with the joints in the wrong place or improper equipment (impossible equipment, not fantasy gear, such as people who make horses bridles incorrectly), or if I see something that I would be able to fix, I tend to obsess on it.

Aestheticly pleasing games to me include the Elderscrolls series, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, and I heard Braid is very nice looking. Guild Wars is pretty too, as is the Myst series (excluding #3, sorry the inside-a-sphere effect made me kind of woozy). FFXI is very well done too, especially if you take into account when it was released and that there is such clever use and reuse of bits of textures and meshes everywhere.

An example of a game that sort of missed the boat and tried very hard is Two Worlds, they really tried for the Oblivion look and the textures themselves are for a good part quite well done, but every once in a while you come across something that looked like it was just rushed through. For example my friend and I came across a stone/lava dragon that looked more like a texture error than a dragon model, it was obvious a lava texture had been slapped on the dragon mesh with no thought to the shape of the model. Also I didn't particularly care for their engine, where everything in the distance is blurred out so you are permanently near sighted. Also, if the cover art is any indication, the horses are wearing lunging cavessons instead of bridles, and for anyone who knows what that is, that's just... weird.

 

[Chaosthief]

Arty flash games anyone?

http://www.kongregate.com/games/TerryCavanagh/dont-look-back - The story's a work of art in itself really

http://www.kongregate.com/games/DSuN/red-moon - Mainly the graphic design and music

http://www.kongregate.com/games/Reflexive/music-catch-2

 

[ExodusinFlames]

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, because...well, come on. Somebody was going to bring those two up eventually.

Second

 

[RavingPenguin]

Me and My Katamari and Nobi Nobi Boy are all about arty stuffs.

 

[khululy]

I've played Zeno Clash the other day but that game is pretty much art as well.

I think games are art when graphics, gameplay, music and art design/presentation flow together in one seemless whole that is not only fun to play but also fun to play again and again and after years, even when the game is technically dated, is still as good as a game as it was when you first played it.

 

[curlycrouton]

My vote goes to Oblivion on this one (especially with Qarl's Texture Pack installed if your computer's got the chops for it). Reason? Simple. I think art design should be geared toward offering the best opportunity for the player to easily see and deduce what's going on at a glance while serving the needs of the gameplay. Jack the detail up to max on Oblivion and not only are the visuals mind-blowing (I came out of the Great Forest to a rise just west of the Imperial City just as the sun was rising over White Gold Tower and my mind was blown) but the immersion and fun factors are greatly improved. I like my art functional and grounded in real-world aesthetics (which is why I think "dogs playing poker" is better than anything the Impressionists ever painted), which is why stuff like Oblivion and the Total War series impresses me.

Ah, Oblivion provides simply the most extraordinary views I've ever seen in any game. I have QTP3 installed, as well as a number of other graphical mods (I'd really recommend "Beaming Sunglare" and "Illumination Within", as well as "Natural Environments" and "Night Sky Fire and Ice"), and it looks simply stunning, especially as you emerge from the top of a mountain (reached with the "Akatosh Mount" mod, if you're interested) to the sight of the beautiful night sky and the imposing planets, preceded by the silhoutte of the White Gold Tower. Fantastic.

Another game I found to be very aesthetically interesting was Bioshock, as it created a deeply atmospheric and involving world, included a horrifying, yet immersive storyline, and presented a number of different philosphical and moral dilemmas.

Also, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, as they conjured up such a feeling of loneliness and vulnerability without ever resorting to cheap shocks, it was quite a feat.

 

[thecresta]

Obviously Ico, Shadow of the Collosus and Okami.

Also Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Jet Set Radio, Little Big Planet, Street Fighter 4, Mad World.

And Linger in Shadows - but that was just art, not really a game.

 

[Anachronism]

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, because...well, come on. Somebody was going to bring those two up eventually.

Beat me to it.

SotC was probably the most artistic game I've played. It was as much about the atmosphere and the experience as it was about the gameplay, and while the graphics, technically speaking, weren't brilliant, it still looked absolutely beautiful because of the art direction.

I just really liked the way all the colours were so washed-out; there were few, if any, bright colours in that game, which really added to the whole idea of being completely alone in this ancient land.