Aesthetics Showcase

Aesthetic studies of electronic media

[realstarfarts]

[realstarfarts]

Does anyone remember Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2?

I'm certain I'm one of only a handful who do. It's one of those games where the sum is better than its parts; for example, 80% of gameplay is aggravating platforming typical of that era. There's only a bit of combat, about as much time spent slicing enemies to shreds as watching cutscenes. At least the dialogue is funny!

Science fantasy needs a comeback big time. I miss the experimental phase of video games where devs took chances and made cool things instead of checking boxes for suits and boards and shareholders.

[realstarfarts]

2077 is a true feat of digital aesthetics. Previously, cyberpunk as a concept existed mostly in the heads of the hopeful...or at least, on the scale of 2077. Movies did it, of course, as far back as the late '70s and early '80s, and video games naturally produced genre archetypes as soon as PCs were able to render the colors. But a real, immersive, interactive, 3D, and "complete" cyberpunk world never existed until this one released.

Shame the gameplay is so uneven. I mean, did anyone actually attempt to drive a car in first person? I mean, literally anyone?

[realstarfarts]

How about some glorious Bannerlord screenshots? This and Warband are two of my top four games of all time and it's so easy to immerse completely in being a mercenary or warlord. I can't wait until the mod scene ages more, but Shokuho is an amazing start.

[realstarfarts]

Yeah, I'm the other guy who loves Starfield. It's possible because I never watched any pre-release hype nor did I read any articles or do anything besides look at the Steam page. I recommend doing this for everything, because liking things is far more enjoyable than bandwagon hating. I expected Skyrim in space, and I got Skyrim in space.

That said, fuck the loading times. I mean seriously.

[realstarfarts]

I finally got around to making some videos again, and it feels pretty nice actually. Four years straight of serious operations, organ loss, illness, etc etc aren't over yet, but perhaps I can see an end.

Regardless, I went through 1999's Kingpin: Life of Crime by request of a commenter. Aesthetically it's quite bland considering the primary palette is brown with some gray occasionally; there are a few bright spots--like the last levels--but everything comes together to present a bleary, dreary, and rather depressing product.

In terms of gameplay it's an early Quake/id Tech engine showing through and through. Standard lineups of weapons, standard varieties of enemies. One major complaint I have is that [on the middle difficulty] enemies are colossal bullet sponges; towards the later bits, regular thugs can facetank half a dozen rockets. They balanced this by having very few enemies per level, but in my opinion it was awkward and frustrating.

Also, Kingpin somehow combines Italian Mafia with Black Street Gangs and 1920s Art Deco...while blasting hip hop music. It's a confused game for certain and naturally it was the developer's final project--they shuttered the day the game went on sale.

[realstarfarts]

Star Trek Online is easily the most underappreciated “mainstream” MMO of the last fifteen years--even better, it’s gorgeous to look at. ...well, not from a technical standpoint, I mean the engine was outdated when the game launched in the late 2000s, but artistically it never gets old traveling to new planets and stations to see a unique tileset.

[realstarfarts]

Besides being an extremely good looter shooter, The Division 2 is also a visual masterpiece. The level of detail in every single location is unparalleled in games even though we’re almost four years on from its launch. Most games (and therefore developers) take visual clutter for granted and instead opt to shove massive textures in our faces, but Massive Entertainment opts to cram each area with maximum clutter and only sacrifices the bare minimum in terms of fidelity.

[realstarfarts]

Everyone knows Assassin’s Creed peaked with Odyssey; I’m certain some disagree, but it has the best combination of characters, locations, visuals, and gameplay. Ancient Greece is beautifully rendered with incredible attention to detail and a world with an almost offensive amount of content to explore.

[realstarfarts]

I finally got around to making a video with the new PC I picked up...almost a year ago. What better way to experience ray tracing than with the most aesthetically exceptional video game ever produced.

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More good shit from 2077 I captured during my journey. And speaking of Journey, I made an aesthetics video on Japantown which I’ll link when it’s through uploading.

[realstarfarts]

I’m only a couple hours into Resident Evil Village, but these environmental designs are sometimes so good I just have to sit and stare. I’ll definitely be posting more.

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If you’re able to ignore endless zeitgeist pandering and take the world for what it is, Horizon Zero Dawn has spectacular aesthetics, particularly in costumes and environments. Like other console-ized open world action games of the last ten years, the gameplay is whatever, but there are some amazing things to see out there.

[realstarfarts]

Still sorting through several thousand screenshots I’ve taken while I forgot Tumblr was a thing....

Well, there’s not much to say about Cyberpunk 2077 that hasn’t already been written about in mainstream news, business journals, legal briefs, and seven trillion Youtube videos. The game is whatever, but the aesthetics are second to none. Unironically unparalleled in video gaming to this date.

And the grapevine says a big update will be announced next month, so there might be more reason to jump in and enjoy the sights soon.

[realstarfarts]

I was shocked by how much fun I had with Outriders. I knew all about its terrible launch when I picked it up for twenty bucks, but it gave me twenty hours of gripping entertainment before I completed the main story. A dollar an hour is money well spent in my opinion.

The environmental designs are top-class--vivid, and full of color--and they really serve to compliment an Avatar-inspired sci-fi tale. Total recommend if only for the eye candy.

[realstarfarts]

I recently bought back into Elder Scrolls Online in order to catch up with the DLC, and some of the sights to see around the world are breathtaking. Unironically.

[realstarfarts]

I briefly reinstalled Black Desert recently and was determined to follow the main quest--at least until the level requirement outpaced my own. I noticed significant changes from the last time I attempted the feat, and it took me to a few places around the world I’d never been. Unfortunately, like most times I give BDO another shot, eventually it turned into a job rather than a game. Such a shame because even after all these years it’s one of the most beautiful experiences you can have, MMO or otherwise. The attention to detail on the smallest props blows my mind.