So my next statement might be ruffling some feathers with this statement, but I believe that graphics alone do not make a game special. Sure you can argue that it forms part of what makes a game good or even great, but it only forms part of the gaming experience as a whole. The Crysis franchise would be a perfect example of this. When Crytek developed Crysis, I think it slipped their minds to create memorable characters or write an amazing story. Because they are/were so single mindedly focused on creating photo realistic graphics that they forgot about the rest of the game. So the Crysis series ended up being a showcase for what could be done with today’s technology in terms of physics and graphics, but the rest of the game is pretty forgettable.
Bad graphics are not a deal breaker for me as long as the game has a memorable story and characters I can sympathize with and relate to. The Walking Dead game by Telltale would be a great example for me of a game with average graphics but above average story and characters. But even I have to admit that I prefer good graphics depending on the type of game I am playing, as most of the gaming community probably do too. I regularly hear people who don’t know the difference between bad graphics and art choice say that games like Terraria, Fez or Minecraft look bad. It is called pixel art, which is a very hard art form to master in video games. Developers tend to use it when they want to give their games that retro feeling.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not discounting the overall influence graphics has in a game and the overall immersion that it creates in a video game world. But it is pretty debatable what constitutes good or bad graphics as it varies from person to person, I myself prefer stylized graphics like the Borderlands and Walking Dead series, over that of games like Crysis and Heavy Rain with photo realistic graphics. Graphical fidelity is artistically valueless. If the art of a game itself looks good and works for the style of the game, then you don’t need photo realistic effects and lighting. The Darksiders series is evidence of this, the art of Joe Madureira lends itself very well to the graphics used in the game, and I cannot imagine it looking any other way.
My personally preferences (In order) when it comes to games are as follows: 1. Gameplay; 2. Animation 3. Art style 4. Sound and then 5. Graphics. Most games like Crysis fail 1-4 and its why we get a game that looks pretty but is terrible in all other aspects. I call it the 20% rule, a game in my opinion consists of 5 parts as I mentioned above each of those parts contribute 20% to a game. On their own they don’t add much but together they make a well balanced game. If the balance is out of whack then the game suffers because of the imbalance. CEO of Crytek, Cevat Yerli, has very boldly claimed that graphics “matter” and account for “60% of the game”. Once Crytek figure out that balance, their games are going to be awesome. Graphics aren’t so important that they should account for 60% of the game like Crytek believes.