How much Graphics affect preference of game selection and immersion?
Let's asset each game genre's factors catching popularity.
1. Every genre
* Graphic
* Sound
2. RPG
* Degree of freedom
3. RTS
* Balance
* Diversity of strategy
4. Adventure
* idea
* Story
For confirming Graphics aren't everything, explaining affect preference and immersion enlargement; and finding examples.
Game company develop their own game engine for building game based on that engine, or buy other company's highly stable and versatile game engine for build their game.
Such as e.g.
Epic Games's 3D game engine Unreal Engine
Crytek's Cry Engine
Valve's Source Engine
Havok's Havok Physics
These game engines provide all round game developing environment, amplifying specific part of graphic depending on which engine is used
First Unreal engine is an integrated game engine supply general game developing environment; that composition is very flexible for combining many technologies. Many game companies adopt that for using stabilized technology to develop their game on time.
Frequently, it counts as a way to check of game quality.
Second Cry Engine typifies the FPS engine that is specialized in wide vision and high quality description of nature. Far Cry and Crysis adopt this engine.
Crysis
Far Cry
Third, Despite of low requirement, it is superior specifications which optimized the Havok Physics. The Source Engine provides an accurate lip-sink, high quality face-expression technology and graphics like real picture .
Left 4 Dead uses this engine.
There is a common saying:
“Names and natures do often agree.”
High-resolution graphics makes gamers say "I wanna play!".
Graphics are very basic element to luring users. However, if the graphics of game development affects the preference of game selection and immersion enlargement, then high-resolution graphical games should good receive, but this is not truth.
Let's see why great graphics don’t always make the best games.
Dark Desert Online produced by Daum games and Pearl Abyss does not adopt famous engines like cry engine or unreal engine. Instead, they adopt their own developed game engine.
Dark Desert Online in game screen shot
This game provides high-resolution graphics to make users can see the home interior through the windows and provides an elegant character graphics.
However, their game engine has a fatal flaw; deadly bugs were discovered. Gamers became angry and one-by-one they left.
Also the story was problem. They promised a deep and complex story but it turned out be shallow.
Users realized the incompleteness of the story and found new bugs. Eventually, the game was unplayable.
Secend, The Division was produced by Ubisoft and released in March 2016.
The division
The game adopts the ** Snowdrop Engine** developed by Ubisoft Massive. They advertised that they were concerned with applying realistic detail for example you could see when a car exploded and when snow melted away.
However the graphics were misleading. Moreover, the online server's condition was terrible. There were too many happening connection delays. Players had to line up in ques and there were disconnections during game play which led to characters disappearing.
They couldn’t even control online cheaters.
By May 5th, 2016, Even though they stopped online cheaters, the game's days looked dark because of it lacked playable content.
These are the repeated problems of the MMORPG genre.
Nevertheless, this game's contents were too much limited.. Also even though many users are led by their unique background story, there are not enough in game element supporting the background. Users couldn't immerse in the game and gamers repeatedly wondered what is the story.
Now we will look at games without high graphics.
2012's GOTY(Game Of The Year)'s the winningest game was Telltale Games's 'Walking Dead Season 1' derived from the original namesake comics.
Walking Dead
2012 GOTY's the winningest game
Gamers can play a simple 'point & click' method without a complicated interface. This game was directed wonderfully involving the proper blending cartoon-landering method and it looked and expressed the mood of the comic.
The game recommended multiple play-throughs to get the whole story; keeping the gamer’s interest. The Walking Dead surpassed other high-resolution titles such as Far Cry 3 and Assassin’s Creed 3 to become the GOTY of 2012.
Also, there is Undertale produced by Toby, who created it alone.
Undertale in game screen shot
This game was tied GOTY at No.6 and is awarded total 8 parts prizes
It also tied at No.9 as one of the best games by TIME magazine.
It took 1st place from a users survey tournament choose the best game in GameFAQ's 20 anniversary list.
This game's genre is RPG adopted dot graphics.
The users feel a deep interest in the story and sound.
I think there is a similarity between games and reading. If reading is feeling the flow of the story, then gaming is how the player gets into the story and becomes part of the story.
If Reading is passive, then Gaming will be mutual.
Through gaming, users can change the story or write their own story.
These two games didn't rely heavily on graphics.. Instead, they focused on the basic component 'story', so they can captivate gamers.
Naturally, graphics are an arresting element, but it’s not the most important.
No one would play the a boring game.
A game should be based on a well-made background story, a game that adopted high-resolution graphics, magnificent sound, and a superior degree of freedom will draw more gamers.