Why I Value Graphics & Atmosphere In Gaming

[@isthatagamer8844]

Personally, I prefer playing games that have unique graphics rather than the “realistic look” of almost every AAA fps game and stuff like that.

[@blazaram3368]

art and animation are criminally underrated and they take so much effort to make too

[@JJSSBU]

Oh, so you like the MK8DX DLC? I dont think they look too bad, they just look cartoonish

[@isthatagamer8844]

@@JJSSBU I’m not the best fan of it tbh, but I do understand why they might do it. If MK8 was like that from the start I would have enjoyed it a bit more.

[@waterbottler2761]

I'd say music is a similarly underrated part of creating the atmosphere

[@idioticed4379]

@@waterbottler2761 I feel like sound design as a whole is pretty underrated

[@PragmaticAntithesis]

Regarding the path from Deepnest to Queen's Gardens, it's actually part of the any% speedrun route, but it's used as a path from Queen's Gardens to Deepnest instead of the other way around.

[@ajculum723]

Yeah that’s how I found it

[@ectoOLDACC]

ye i was gonna say pretty much everyone knows about it, just from the other way around

[@OmPrakashSingh-ux7lf]

Titanium legman also discovered it in his playthrough.

[@fosforuss]

In COD: World At War, while it doesn’t have very good graphics, it uses the atmosphere and detailed environment to make you feel uncomfortable, telling you about the horrors of war instead of just killing enemies. This also applies to a favorite game series of mine, Metro Last Light, a game made years ago. On levels where you go outside alone, the environment really makes you feel lonely, but its still makes you feel like there’s something lurking in the grass, or underwater, you constantly look up to see if there’s anything that might catch you by surprise, anyways I just wanted to talk about this game in the comments, so I’ll just end it here before it gets too lengthy

[@kurtkan5566]

Holy shit, I was just writing the same exact comment then decided to scroll down and saw this

[@fosforuss]

@@kurtkan5566 Damn, what a coincidence

[@caesar7786]

@@fosforuss wdym "repetitively" killing enemies?

[@fosforuss]

@@caesar7786 Accidentally put that in, srry.

[@GodlyDra]

Wait, WaW was supposed to make you uncomfortable? Its literally my comfort game because the atmosphere is my preference. Foggy with nearly no light.

[@ArcadeStriker]

I never expected something like being wanted dead in Rayman Raving Rabbids until you eventually turn into the hero of the colosseum and everybody cheers you. Heck, by the end where you're "taken" to your prison cell with the Rabbids cheering at you with the carpet and the brute letting you in like a celebrity, it reminds me of Biscuit Oliva in Baki, which pretty much lived on a prison but his cell was like a mansion inside and could leave whenever he wanted. Having a leisurely and rich-filled life on a *prison cell* of all things is such a funny thing to see

[@Content_Deleted]

Don't forget sound design is just as important if not even moreso than graphics! Ambiance, music, sound effects and quality soundscapes can really take a game a long ways, Valheim is one of my favorite games because of this! The graphics aren't great up close but the views and environments are a sight to behold, the gentle breeze of the wind and the calming music are just the cherry on top.

[@Pyrodiac]

The fly on your Pfp almost got me to slap my screen.

[@rafam5853]

Honestly, I wouldn't play throughout the Ori games if they didn't have such a charming atmosphere

[@MatthewHollow]

O e

[@qu1253]

The first time I saw snippets of Ori and the Blind Forest, I honestly thought based on the graphics and art style that it was probably a walking simulator with maybe some light puzzle solving, so I steered clear of it. It wasn't until later I learned that it's a fully featured Metroidvania style platformer. I feel like such an idiot missing out on that gem for so long because of my dumb assumptions.

[@nyctomint]

the visual and auditory spectacle is the main driving force of the ori games fore sure. the gamplay is pretty average, but the sheer BEAUTY of it all is why it remains one of my most fondly remembered game series

[@CaptainRx-ss3rt]

@@nyctomint i don’t know about that, I think Ori on top of being nice looking, is probably one of the best plateformer. The character is so fluid and the range of movement is insane, I have yet to play another plateformer with the fluidity of Ori.

[@nyctomint]

@@CaptainRx-ss3rt maybe it's just me? but I feel like the second game's platforming is incredibly lackluster compared to the first

[@qu1253]

On the topic of Hollow Knight, I didn't find Deepnest that scary, either. Especially since by the time most players will start exploring Deepnest, you'll likely have several nail upgrades, at least one or two health upgrades, and probably a soul upgrade or two, so you'll be more than prepared to handle whatever creepy crawlies you find down there. No, the two places that really gave me the creeps were the Ancient Basin and the Abyss. Ancient Basin isn't particularly dangerous, but it's so... unnerving. There's no music, very little cave ambience, and the colors are washed out. It's the lowest part of the world, and it feels like it. It gives me that feeling of "I shouldn't be here". Then I got to the Abyss, and the creepiness factor got dialed up ten fold. It starts off with a long descent, going down to an even lower point in the world. When you reach the bottom, you realize you're standing on top of a mass grave - thousands upon thousands of failed vessels. Worse yet, the vessels reanimate as inky black phantoms that deal 2 points of damage and don't yield soul when hit. When you get to the next screen, there's these huge towers in the background that go back as far as you can see, and a lake of black water with these really disturbing creatures lashing out when you get close. No other area in a video game has given me that feeling of "I really really shouldn't be here" quite like the Abyss in Hollow Knight. Deepnest is primal fear - fear of being hunted and caught by predators. The Abyss is intellectual fear - fear of things that the mind can't properly comprehend.

[@nacitalatincirli793]

yea, but theres that one way hole in greenpath! its not hidden or anything, just go left instead of backtracking right (I think)and the ground will jumpscare you by taking your base mask base nail knight to one of the late game areas. In my first playthrough I had to go through deepnest,got the tram pass, went to ancient basin and than to kingdom’s edge before even getting to city

[@howitchewstofeel5gum787]

The ancient basin is my favourite area by far. It's just so nerve racking. Like you dropped from the city of tears into a desolate well basin. The abyss is the cherry on top to this cave system if unnerving horrors and the broken vessel fight is just good. Rant over

[@RinRin72769]

Walking into a room of Primal Aspids is still scarier

[@howitchewstofeel5gum787]

@@PoppyParade especially when there's a nearby boss simply called broken vessel not for out from there.

[@twiddle10000]

The path you took to Queen’s Gardens in Hollow Knight, you’re actually supposed to discover it by going through Queen’s Gardens, but you discovered it BACKWARDS. That just means you’re really good at spotting tiny details in games.

[@nevermind3476]

I think everyone's aware of that path between queen's gardens and deepnest, but there seems to be a misconception that you can only unlock it from the queen's gardens side, probably just because it's so well hidden in deepnest. i certainly wouldn't be surprised if you're the only person who entered the queen's gardens for the first time using that entrance, you generally get in from fog canyon.

[@Shyguymask]

Yeah I think I should have specified more. Even when I asked a friend of mine who is a huge HK fan he told me that you must unlock it from QG's side and can't discover QG from Deepnest.

[@fakeAratPrime]

*_Graphics are like lyrics on a song, it doesn't matter if they are good or not if the music (story,gameplay) is amazing, but it brings chills down you'r spine if they are done correctly._*

[@darianclark3980]

*Lyrics* However, Graphics *can* be as important as gameplay/story because it brings some uniqueness on what each game is

[@Omner3000]

amen

[@valenfusco]

True

[@James-oj6ru]

Gameplay is like… a pencil and Conté Crayons, it serve as the foundation and roadmap for the finished portrait Graphics is acrylic and molding paste, to give more life and depth into said sketch but is also both the one to brush Santa Lilio Sangre or a literal child crayon sketch And the music? The shading, lighting and symbolism of the portrait, the India ink and gloss polymer which truly shine the best elements of the game It’s a grand scale balancing act, if one side is dominant, the other would falter behind it, but it all depends on intention isn’t it?

[@darianclark3980]

@@James-oj6ru I really like your perspective and your representation of those things 👌

[@AshenDust_]

I feel like people pay a lot of attention to the Elden Beast, for good and for bad, but no-one really says anything about the Radagon boss fight. There’s something about it that I really like, I can’t really describe it, it’s just… clean, I guess? His attacks are simple, but in a good way somehow, he’s not an easy boss, and the golden explosions look really cool. Also the passage from Queen’s Gardens to Deepnest in Hollow Knight is pretty well known, it’s even used in speedruns.

[@aldmjr]

Honestly Deepnest is more than just a “dark area”. There are darker areas elsewhere in HK. The draw of Deepnest is the darkness along with the tight spaces and the stealthy nature of enemies. It’s meant to keep you on your toes more than scare you. While Little Weavers aren’t randomly spawned, they’re also not just there in plain sight, unlike most enemies in the game. And Dirt Carvers occasionally DO spawn randomly, although just in timing (their spawn areas remain the same). I’m assuming you had seen some gameplay before playing yourself given how you said you “knew what to expect”, but on the first time some random Dirt Carver spawned in the hot spring in Deepnest and hit me while I was choosing different charms for a platforming challenge, I really kept my guard up throughout all of Deepnest until I’d done everything there. Deepnest is awesome and I only wrote all of this because it came across like you dismissed the whole area as just “some dark place” without really taking into account the rest of the visual work in it lol

[@DJTileTurnip]

It's honestly one of my favorite areas

[@spooder__dooder]

There is also a ton of lead up to it when you get in through the mantis lords, it makes it feel much more intimidating when you beat the mantis lords (for me they were a much higher difficulty ramp up than hornet) and then they open this grand door revealing a pile of corpses leading to a dark maze of at the time quite difficult enemies and some hard platforming sections.

[@Shyguymask]

Most of the enemies in Deepnest always felt more about trying to ambushing me constantly rather than being stealthy. Deepnest is actually one of my favorite areas in the game though because of how different it is from the rest of the game, and you need to keep your guard up at all times and not run into enemies and take damage constantly. I had no idea an enemy could spawn at the hotspring though.

[@aldmjr]

@@Shyguymask yeah, that’s what I meant by stealthy. For some reason I couldn’t think of “ambush” when I wrote this lmao. But after retreating a few times from that platforming puzzle to the right I eventually rolled an enemy. Fun times!

[@aldmjr]

@@spooder__dooder I didn’t get to it through the Mantis Lords but I agree lol. I got through the Fungal core to the Deepnest. There’s so many ways in it’s insane

[@gabby_5820]

I dunno, but most Crosscode bosses are really really stunning. Probably one of the most beautiful and detailed looking pixelated enemies I've seen in a while.

[@squidking2679]

The worst part about playing these games is that you'll never experience those games like this ever again

[@wiselychosenname2867]

Yeah

[@pixel_moo64]

Yeah I wish I could experience Hollow Knight again but without it being spoiled by my fear of the new areas leading to me watching too many tutorials. One of my most fun moments was in that strange awkward area to the left of the hive, where you climb up and it joins up with the right of the sewers, as I discovered it on my own, and it was such a breath of fresh air, as I have never seen it on a video before. I'm guessing that you want to play Hollow Knight again as well (nice pfp).

[@ghostlymeteor2747]

Thank you so much for your opinion on Elden beast. Everyone I would talk to would only compliment how the boss looks but hate on everything else. The atmosphere and its hypnotic, graceful movements make it by a mile my favourite souls borne boss and maybe my favourite boss in any video game.

[@coolgamer2964]

It's honestly sad how little views this video has, this was really great and showed some great insight on video game graphics and atmosphere.

[@JJSSBU]

Undertale's facial expresion with just a few pixels is perfect, also I loved that you chose the Helix Fossil (Dont mind, just want to alterate the YT algorithm in a positive way towards appretiation videos and ShyGuyMaskYT)

[@bilingualfish4246]

As someone who plays HK too much, the Queen's Garden to Deepnest thing is a pretty common sight: Its one of the easiest ways to get into QG as it doesn't require some sort of late-game ability (e.g shade cloak, isma's tear) and its also the fastest way to get to herrah in the any% route. The way you entered QG is in reverse, thats why you couldn't find anything on it. You're meant to go through QG and then get to deepnest that way, but you did it in reverse.

[@shayne3005]

I did it the same way SGM did which was certainly interesting. Was wondering why some of the gates existed as they seemed kinda pointless, but on my second playthrough I entered through Fog Canyon and the area made so much more sense.

[@antomicx1]

Great examples! I especially loved the discussion about the lantern tree at the Old Hideout in CrossCode. It's a calming and tranquil place that's perfect for characters (and the player) to explore their inner selves and think deeply about what really matters. If I were to add a game to this list where graphics and atmosphere add to the experience, it would be Final Ninja Zero. For those who never played Final Ninja Zero, it was a stealth platforming flash game where the main character Takeshi must escape from an industrial base filled with futuristic soldiers and droids. While a lot of games where the hero must go through a base like this are grey and dreary with forgettable areas, Final Ninja Zero's levels were not only colorful but also designed to feel like legitimate sections of a much larger building that were connected in a believable way. Even the level select menu had level selection buttons that were irregularly shaped like sections in a building, and they matched the relative shape and scale of each level! Despite the fantastic and meaningful variety in level aesthetics, the visual standout for me is the moving backgrounds. Throughout the base are large windows and open areas where the silhouettes of two skyscrapers on a waterfront are visible. While it's never explicitly stated in-game, these skyscrapers are implied to be part of the base Takeshi is escaping from and make the areas you traverse feel like parts of a much vaster facility. These skyscrapers also facilitate the tone of the game's story through their visuals. In the first half of the game, you see the skyscrapers at night with moving searchlights seeking all about. That visual creates a sense of urgency and isolation for the player, helping them feel how Takeshi must feel while making a daring escape on his own. In the second half of the game, you see the skyscrapers at daybreak with the sun shining behind them. This creates a sense of hope for the player, reinforcing the hope Takeshi feels as he works with his allies and gets close to finishing his mission and making his escape. While Final Ninja Zero could have told its story in an underground bunker, the background visuals of those skyscrapers and the changing time of day contributed to the story and atmosphere in a meaningful, unforgettable way.

[@420quickscoper5]

Nitrome in general make games with amazing art direction

[@antomicx1]

@@420quickscoper5 Indeed! Which Nitrome games had some of your favorite art design? For me, the Final Ninja, Toxic, and Test Subject series as well as Glass Works really standout due to their futuristic sci-fi aesthetic.

[@420quickscoper5]

@@antomicx1 Rubble Trouble, Frostbite, Feed Me and Pest Control are super nostalgic for me, the art is just so simple and the way the little characters and enemies look really brings me back to young me playing those games for the first time on Miniclip. Big shoutout to the music for those games as well, I can still play them in my head.

[@antomicx1]

@@420quickscoper5 Great choices! I remember being fond of Feed Me and Pest Control, though I remember having trouble completing some of Frostbite's levels. I completely agree, each game had excellent music too! It's a shame that after the fall of Adobe Flash, fewer people will be able to play these amazing games.

[@electric_ajax]

The moment after the first slide in deltarune chapter 2 when A CYBER'S WORLD? drops as you walk across the path with the city in the background... I was already hyped but that really make it spike up to insanity levels. Easily my favorite song in the game because of it.

[@lexicon1742]

Wow, I haven't seen anyone discover Queen's Garden up from Deepnest! That's so cool that you discovered it like that. I especially like the bench near the area you surfaced at, where it plays the area's soundtrack on a gramophone.

[@Noob_Ian6581]

I can definitely agree with this. While I do care about gameplay the most when it comes to a game, graphics and atmosphere can make it a better experience and make it feel dynamic and have some good scenery so it doesn't feel boring.

[@Glacorite]

0:50 I'm glad to see that even Shyguymask has played the new Madness Combat: Project Nexus too.

[@purplehaze2358]

"Before I knew it, I had already become fully distracted and went into a train of thoughts for around two minutes as I mindlessly walked in circles." Ah, an experience anyone in the audience with ADHD can relate to.

[@petrikhorr]

i do this irl literally all the time

[@clash9087]

Shyguymask really has some pretty good taste in games.

[@damocleas]

Great video as always, given me a newfound appreciation for a rabbids related game of all things lol

[@pingapenty4797]

I always wished you would do a video on Hollow Knight, and although this one's not focused entirely on HK, thanks for making my wish come true :D

[@_TikiWiki]

perfectly nailed that hollow knight segment in terms of describing how i felt, especially with the infected crossroads to deepnest comparison

[@illumimatt]

elden beast is such a beautiful moment, even with the kinda janky fight, it is breathtaking and imo one of the best endings to a game

[@lnpREKKA]

Nice video bro!

[@jessehunter362]

In Other Waters had amazing graphics. I’m not much of a graphics person usually- can’t see super well- but it managed to be abstract enough that i could see what was going on easily while conveying all the needed information at once. And the atmosphere was great- using color palettes to set the mood for the description. For something that is very close to a text-exclusive game, it is extremely visually stunning.

[@chunguskhan3009]

Personally, I absolutely adore Dishonored for this very reason, the visuals look like an oil painting, the first game is very dark, disease ridden and it really feels like it, while retaining this sort of victorian aesthetic. Even though many people prefer the first game, the second game in my opinion has it's own charm, it has a way brighter colour pallette, and every level just seems like a different country (which it is) without falling behind in quality. The story of Dishonored is just alright in my opinion, but the aesthetic makes it one of my favorite games!

[@ajculum723]

The way I’ve tried phrasing it when I have conversations about this is “graphics matter, graphics settings don’t”

[@valenfusco]

Wow, it's a pretty interesting video Congratulations SGM

[@hrpang]

I feel a lot of people don't have a good grasp on what makes graphics good to begin with. Just take a look at Pokemon circlejerks that talk about graphics. So glad this video exists because it has a great concept on what makes good graphics that I find people just don't appreciate. Charm is what makes graphics good, the ability to immerse or sell the world the game takes place in makes it good. You said it best, "Graphics are at their best when used for artstyles".

[@Shyguymask]

To be fair, Sword/Shield's graphics are visuals are bad because of not only inconsistent texture quality all over the place, but also cases of artstyle clashing mainly seen with Wild Area elements.

[@johnclark926]

I think it’s important to note that although realism doesn’t equal better graphics, it’s still an important visual medium to communicate certain qualities to the player, and the amount of times that realism has been abused is shameful. For example, Pikmin 3 makes use of realism for the flora and fauna to make the fruits seem edible and the creatures to feel more alive. This creates a convincing naturalistic look that couldn’t have been achieved if they went with another style Mario plastic-style or a cel-shaded look. I’d also argue that many horror games benefit from aiming for realism even if they can’t quite make it; I don’t believe Silent Hill 2 would feel as Lynchian as it does if they had gone for a traditional anime style instead of a fittingly uncanny pseudo-realism style that maximized what the PS2 could do, and I also don’t believe Dead Space would feel like Alien or The Thing (1982) if they had gone for a graphic novel style instead of the extent of realism possible for 7th generation consoles. In contrast, games like Battlefield 2042 use realism as a crutch for a lack of strong artistic direction. I believe that even if you were to change the artstyle of Battlefield 2042 to something wildly different like pixel art or claymation, the game would still look bland because it’s bland to its core, there doesn’t exist a medium that can magically communicate “generic sci-fi shooter” into something interesting. Another example of poorly using realism would be the one of that one Mario in Unreal Engine video; the use of realism there isn’t used to communicate anything, it’s just there by accident because the map is an unedited stock asset that’s not meant for Mario. So many AAA producers and amateur Unreal Engine demos throw around realism like it’s candy that they’ve forgotten what the point of realism is for. It’s cool that we live in an era where graphical styles can vary so wildly, but it sucks to see realism being associated with morons who think it will automatically make their fundamentally ugly games look better. There is so much untapped potential for realism, like making a house feel cozy enough to live in, or making a forest feel alive and seemingly endless, but for the past 3 generations in gaming, we’ve seen 95% of use cases be largely wasteful.

[@tornadojohnson4709]

From the thumbnail, I think a better word would be Art Style instead of graphics, as graphics (at least to me) is more of a technical term

[@Shyguymask]

I would have said "Visuals" instead, but "Graphics" is a more surface level and recognizable choice of word for a YT title.

[@ajculum723]

I agree that graphics might not be the best term, as that makes me think of particle effects and resolution, but I think this title is the best way to put it. I feel that this is a push back against people who have grown a gameplay only mindset in respond to people who care far to much about their technical graphical capabilities. This counter was originally warranted, the amount of particle effects doesn’t really affect whether a game is fun, but as with many things people took it too far. Instead of seeing graphics as that technical thing, they began to see it as visuals, but were convinced by people that graphics didn’t matter without understanding what that meant. Now we have gotten to a place where an increasing number of people disregard visuals almost entirely and that is who this is responding to.

[@Brackets_Guy]

[@ItzyTheSlime]

Old Hideout most beautiful place in CrossCode, chilling after fighting Di'obris for 2 days

[@stepmanialdash]

1:55 you uploaded a wallpaper version of that on steam and I'm using it

[@Sylocat]

Always glad to see CrossCode get some love.

[@claymor]

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is also very atmospheric game. Maybe it's absurd sometimes, but you literally associate with Raiden (first Sam appearance, when Raiden lose). And music of bossfights is amazing, it fit under the bosses and reveal them.

[@jabahood8274]

I actually took the path in queens gardens the other way around, its really interesting to see how the game plays different for every player :)

[@flyingrafts7287]

When I found that link between Deepnest and Queen's Gardens it was the other way around, I made it to Queen's through Fog Canyon and later found the connection into Deepnest

[@jraff2735]

some of the people that say graphics don't matter are actually saying that you could have a gba and make it look nicer than a ps4. ex: minish cap vs mass effect 4

[@tvy2069]

Need for Speed Underground 2. In the area Jackson Heights you'll see the whole city plus the stars if you view it at a certain angle. Just gorgeus for a 2004 PC game!

[@fireflowergaming3572]

Hey, what’s that game at 0:50?

[@Shyguymask]

Madness Project Nexus

[@fireflowergaming3572]

@@Shyguymask thanks!

[@themarshcat7195]

I could have not said it better, atmosphere might be one of the most important elements in metroidvanias for me

[@battlebrobug]

The boss from elden ring reminded me a lot of demise’s arena from skyward sword, which is one of my favorite arenas ever in gaming.

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

For my DeltaRune Chapter 2 playthrough, I found a few "Easter eggs" that spooked me before reaching the acid tunnel. Looking back it calmed me down a bit. I found the Annoying Dog car scare while trying to actually progress, and it spooked me at lot. But the underground area with the NEO armor scared me SO MUCH. Spamton didn't unsettle me, but the basement was such a tone shift from the entire game, and fighting Spamton Neo with no guide made everything "a surreal nightmare that becomes a boss fight". The boss fight was the teacups, only thing that killed me, once, during my original playthrough. Somehow beat Spamton NEO on my first try. Probably because I practiced Jevil and sans day or 2 prior but eh.

[@rdaquilanea8492]

pretty good video, nothing else to say because i've only played 1/5 games

[@seratope]

I found the Queen's Garden path from the other side... it's actually how I found Deepnest for the first time.

[@xman9354]

Yo Shyguy thoughts on Hollow Knight compared to Celeste?

[@rafam5853]

They are way to different to be compared imo

[@eurasian8492]

I hate Celestes level design and i adore HK's.

[@nyctomint]

@@eurasian8492 all in jest, but have you tried getting better at celeste

[@eurasian8492]

@@nyctomint Yeah, left at farewell.

[@nyctomint]

@@eurasian8492 funny you say that considering that the community is almost perfectly divided on that one level and quite consistently in favour of most other levels

[@wiseguidedmissile]

In Hollow Knight, I was aware of the Queens garden path in Deepnest, because I explored every other area before going to Deepnest

[@Pyrodiac]

Honestly, I much prefer simpler graphics and such, now I do think graphics are still very important, but I don't really like the looks of your average hyper-realistic games like RedDead, that's why games like Jumpjet Rex or Terraria or Geometry Dash or Just Shapes & Beats are games I like so much, they have awesome gameplay but don't try so hard when it comes to graphics, while still trying to make it look appealing.

[@Kittycat7070-]

Good video, I enjoyed it

[@nixonearl6728]

The opening scene of FF6 is so good the snow the music it sends chills down my spine

[@eurasian8492]

Youre meant to get to Queens Gardens first and THEN find that specific entrance to deepnest, its not meant to be a main entrance but a shortcut and a place for mask maker. It is very much known but you ARE the first person i saw using the shortcut in reverse.

[@Shyguymask]

I should probably have specified more than the reverse is what I had in mind. I even remember asking a friend on Discord and he told me at first that doing the shortcut in reverse would lead to a wall that need to be broken from QG's side, even though there's no such thing. I thought I was having a false memory for a little while there.

[@curseofbinding]

In my first playthrough i got to queens gardens through deepnest and to me, it felt like a even calmer version of greenpath

[@mrpiccionedivino5598]

Ngl I trought you were about to talk about metroid fusion since you mentioned how it create atmoshpere in your top 10 videogames

[@Shyguymask]

I almost included Metroid Fusion in the video to talk about how Serris's sound design and the GBA's small screen size made it in my opinion one of the most chaotic and batcrap insane boss fights in gaming. But it was too focused on aspects other than actual graphics and such.

[@eladblaier898]

I think art style is the word you were looking for instead of graphics but yes I totally agree. A game can shove a billion pixels on screen and be ultra realistic and still look bad while simple pixel art games can look amazing. It’s all about the art style

[@Shyguymask]

I pretty much shoved art style and other words under the "Graphics" umbrella in this video.

[@eladblaier898]

I noticed. I just prefer using the word artstyle as the umbrella but that's just my own preference

[@htlchtlc]

Deep nest isn’t scary if you go through the mantis village thing, but what if you accidentally fall into it from the ceiling trap with no light upgrade? I walked all over the place with no map, no light, and a broken nail, took me 1 hour or something, found cloth and got a tram pass, then finally found how to go up from the hole.

[@ericwijaya2119]

On topic of really nice graphics, Paper Mario The Origami King. I'm no graphics snob but GODDAMN is that game beautiful. Each environment in that game is just so pleasing to the eyes top to bottom from Autumn Mountain to Shogun Studios to Snif City to the Great Sea and Shangri Spa... And of course we can't forget the infamous Origami King WATER. God that is some GOOD LOOKING WATER.

[@lowbudgetracc]

you kind of went the 'wrong way' in terms of the queen's gardens deepnest thing. usually you would drop down from queen's gardens and find another deepnest entrance lol

[@James-oj6ru]

I know I’m like… 15 hours late and no one would even notice this comments but: My favorite example of environment and atmosphere is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, specifically the Catacomb, it’s music and even enemies gives off a strange dreamy yet haunting and decrepit catacomb, and the music emphasizes that Alucard never visited it before and the Legion boss… ah man, is it a huge flex on the developer’s side and the culmination of the stages Another example is Apotheon… I unfortunately haven’t played it enough to come to a conclusive thoughts but it makes you feel like you’re in a land of gods and people who are above you in many ways

[@James-oj6ru]

While I do value gameplay, _I can’t for the life of me that it is the only thing that matters for a game,_ if it truly doesn’t matter then games like Blasphemous have no reason revamping the graphics again, the demand of remakes is a fruitless endeavor, Darkest Dungeons 2 didn’t need to go 3D and people wouldn’t complain about the graphics so much. _It is deeply ingrained in game design philosophy and I can’t just say it is secondary_ You might say, _making a game is a grand scale balancing acts_ of having fun and competent gameplay of box fighting against other boxes (gameplay), music which doesn’t overstay nor being absent in the journey (atmosphere) and having characters emphasize and triggers the dopamine rush and more of our brain (graphics), _after all… Castlevania game’s when strip down of it’s graphics, is just 1-3 boxes_

[@JamVsJam.]

I think they both go hand in hand, gameplay and visuals (including atmosphere here). The visuals are usually there to make the games more attractive towards you (of course, this depend at which generation it is being attractive towards. Kids nowadays probably prefer stunning visuals vs retro, meanwhile older people play retro for nostalgia because that's what they were grown up with and etc). Meanwhile gameplay is there to keep having you hooked up into the game and wanting to finish it aswell as visuals improving and adding onto that experience. I usually consider myself a puzzle guy who really don't care much for stunning visuals (i can literally watch a video on lowest quality and not complain) and usually prefer the retro approach despite not being grown up with the absolute retro era. There are games like OUTER WILDS (i strongly strongly suggest this game to anyone whenever i can, so go play it now!!! NO REGRETS) and Ace Attorney Series and Professor Layton Series and many more that tops on my list. Hell, Ghost Trick is a hidden gem that i'm sure has passed by many people. A DS 2D game where you play as a ghost trying to figure out who you originally were. Not the most stunning graphics, but it really points out the areas. And the gameplay and story compells you to continue playing the game. I could ramble on and on, but i think i've made my main thoughts clear of what i'm trying to say. 💙

[@keyman245]

4:52 Just a Heads UP, I heard somewhere that windowed mode actually HURTS perfomance, fullscreen with aero turned off is way better because It just turns off everything that ain't the game

[@theofroisgomes6457]

I'm surprised you didn't talk about The Hollow Knight, sure, it's not visualy stunning, but it's atmosphere is close to perfect, specially the Music. The first phase feels off, it's the final boss of the game, who has been built up as something close to a noble, strong warrior, with a few scattered hints he's like you at most, yet he's so easy, and the Music reflects that perfectly, you would expect a tense, fast song for the final boss, yet it's slow and kind of sad. And the phase 2 begins, and it hits you like a truck, when he stabs himself, a lot of stuff comes trough your mind, and you might realize, he doesn't want this, he is in pain, it is not an epic battle, you are just saving him, and the music also gets all sad, everything comes along to help you realize how sad this is, and it's not the best part in terms of atmosphere (for me). Once hornet comes in and you dream nail to challenge the radiance you get an even stronger atmosphere, just the bosses introduction is already setting up stuff, with beingbone of three instances a bosses name appears in full screen, and most likely the first you see, just so you stuff's about to get serious, and the music, again, helps establish this, with it being a very clear song,unlike most others, to help you know that you are fighting a god, and the final clima at the end just seems like the boss is getting desperate, and when you reach the top and deal the killing blow, even the final cutscene has great atmosphere, first it shows the void, going down to reveal hornet, who looks around, only to find the main character's broken shell shown to imply it was self sacrifice, sacrificing yourself to save hallownest, and then it cuts to the abbys (another area with great atmosphere, as pointed ou by another commenter), th shades are now finally able to rest, and they go down, showing these spirits are finally at peace. Hollow knight is one of my favorite games for a lot of reasons, the atmosphere being a big one, and that entire sequence is just the best atmosphere the game has to offer

[@trollegeeldritchlordofhorr4461]

One thing i would like to say about graphics is that just because a game is pixel DOES NOT mean that it can't be as good as games which look realistic. Some of the most beautiful looking games for me are dead cells and octopath traveler.

[@plushloler]

Sometimes it's about the gameplay, sometimes it's about the story, sometimes it's about the sound and visuals. A game which has it all is very great, like undertale which is really popular and widely considered to be one of the best games ever. But not all games need to have all 3, inscryption for example is mostly about story and grahics, hollow knight is graphics and gameplay (there's also story but it's more subtle), but other games may jsut be gameplay or just be graphics, all of the styles can be great.

[@charsage1036]

I always will take gameplay over graphics and stuff like that but good graphics and such can turn a good game into to a amazing game.

[@GamesbiteRtDL]

I once had an argument with a stupid person that plays a standard Pay to Win FPS Game known as World Of Tanks The argument went like this: Him: „Go and continue playing Kirby (my favorite game franchise).” Me: „Yeah what about it?” Him: „You are still playing animated games, nobody does that nowadays!” Me: „So?The atmosphere and soundtrack really get to me while you are playing World of Tanks and wasting your money on tanks that you don't even own, I'm done with AAA FPS Games with boring gameplay and nothing interesting to say about it (apart from the history of tanks).” At this point, he repeats sentence 1 and I realized I'm talking to a wall.I can't believe such people exist and it gets worse: most of the people have the same opinion about it, they're just the same as the person I had the argument with. Just watch Bonhoeffers Stupidity Theory and you'll know what I mean.

[@CanofCorn1022]

have you ever played dont starve together? It has an amazing art style and all around feel

[@Shyguymask]

DST is a big winner too

[@Purpledlime]

Hollow knight!!

[@cyaniire6924]

Marvel's gotg was one of the most stunning games i've ever played, i'm gonna be honest. Every boss fight, every scenery, pretty much every moment was beautiful in that game

[@itsnotpaul8548]

What do you use to edit these videos?

[@Shyguymask]

VEGAS Pro

[@Salmonwithfeet]

I actually went to deepnest through that path. I always put it off because I really didn't like the vibe of it.

[@retenh3932]

If you would make a follow up, include the cutscene from DS1 when you leave Sen’s Fortress and arrive at Anor Londo. Absolutely stunning to 14 year old me.

[@rerg6923]

I knew that path into green gardens exists, it’s just I think there’s like 3 or 4 other ways to enter that area and they’re all faster so nobody really talks about them

[@archsteel7]

I… Wow, could not possibly have had a more different opinion of Elden Beast than you. It’s probably my least favorite boss in any souls game. It looks like a giant tardigrade, it comes out of nowhere, the arena is just a completely uninteresting flat plane, and it has some of my least favorite mechanics of f any boss ever. My legs hurt, man. Though maybe the gameplay was a bit more important to me, as you also admit it sucks ass. I was kind of hoping you’d pick a boss like Regal Ancestor Spirit, that _is_ really just drop-dead gorgeous. The music, the move set, the way it hops through the air, all combined with it’s haunting gaunt exterior create such a wonderful sense of lost majesty. As opposed to just throwing discs of light and then running halfway across the map.

[@mhx5071]

Omori and the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games are some more visual spectacles

[@Salmonwithfeet]

Im a bit bummed you didn't talk about rykard. Also, ori and the will of the wisps has pretty great graphics.

[@arandomperson3757]

i knew about the path from deepnest to queen's gardens

[@Goat_gamering]

Thanks to this I feel like i will appriciate hollow knight content more. Also Terraria is wierd in graphics because more you progress more deatiled the stuff gets which I only noticed when writing this comment (I know it is random but it is somewhat related)

[@outbands8938]

i honestly feel like crosscodes pixel art style looks like a game on a gameboy advance

[@Shyguymask]

You'd be right! Playing CrossCode for the first time made me feel like a kid playing on the Gameboy Advance SP again.

[@existnt]

I think graphics are a lot more important for single-player games than multiplayer. i play on garry's mod servers and i feel like having "better" graphics would just be distracting, but spore's 2008 graphics are stunning because they are also unique and the game has a good atmosphere

[@zaneheaston8254]

That’s exactly the reason why I love Kirby & the Forgotten Land & dislike Super Mario 3D World despite both games having similar structure

[@majorleaguegamingpack828]

My favorite example is the Queen’s Garden Also I have a question for you shyguymask

[@INeedTherapy0]

HOLLOW KNIGHT ALERT! My life improved

[@maciejwaciej]

I'm contractually obligated to watch and like any video that contains Hollow Knight.

[@ToxiccSpore]

Everyone to some degree cares about graphics whether they realize it or not, I always assumed that the reason people started saying visuals don't matter is because triple a games prioritized cool 4k graphics that the vast majority don't care about whilst having bad/buggy gameplay (*cough* cyberpunk *cough*), and thus the idea of gameplay being more important then graphics was born

[@qix1703]

The community knows every secret in Hollow Knight, its just that literally nobody goes from deepnest to queen's gardens, that path is used the other way around to get deeper into deepnest from queen's gardens

[@Shyguymask]

Yet not even the wikis mentioned this about going from deepnest to queen's gardens last time I checked.

[@MasterIsabelle]

“Holy shit why is everything exploding?”

[@interface5389]

Have you played rainworld?

[@theregalproletariat]

A pity this has 10% of the views of his whip video. He's right, this is very important.

[@SockyWockyOsu]

You should try oneshot its really good u cant really explain it since you need to see for yourself

[@xuansangdotrinh1055]

You've played Madness combat?

[@Exshem]

yay Crosscode for the win

[@kwad9145]

the graphics matter, but not the ART STYLE. i have seen so many people say that a game is garbage just because it doesn't have realistic graphics

[@Burning_Marshmallow]

In my opinion, graphics only really change how you view the game and how the world in it is from your perspective. It doesn't really change the gameplay most of the time, it can change the mood but won't really change how you play the game. I think graphics should be used ro change how immersed you are in the game and how much of its beauty is seen by you.

[@Malam_NightYoru]

i swear i hate the "realistic graphics over style" trend i would rather have the old feeling of Rainbow Six Siege than the bullshit we have now, if you ask me. Dirty maps looking like plastic, every rain map looks lik you cleaned it with soap and water before going to fight idk, it just... looks ugly. And theoretically it should look better but.. i can't feel the appeal.

[@Pyrodiac]

Same.