Something else to consider is that realistic graphics do not age well. In most video games, the more stylised/cartoony graphics age the best. Games like Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank and Halo (at least the Covenant) have all aged well and are much easier to get back into than a Medal of Honour or Killzone from the same years. This is because if you shoot for realistic graphics, you ultimately have to be compared to real life and the rate at which games become better at emulating real life, increases fast. On the other hand, if you have more stylised graphics, you move away from real life and there are fewer things by which you can be judged, and so more that the audience will allow you to get away with. World of Warcraft is a good example, which still holds up after nearly a decade, along with Beyond Good and Evil which is pretty much as good as its HD re-release despite being now more than a decade old. What I'm trying to say is that if this game wants to last for a longer length of time, it should not try and be too realistic. Not like a cartoon, but more like the recent game Space Marine. We'd all like exquisite gore, mud effects and extreme facial textures, but in my opinion, it may be better to be a bit stylised. This helps reduce the age boundary, looks more appealing, slightly less work for the development team and, yes, ages much nicer.
Realism in games is tied to the available technology and hardware power, and you're forgetting that any game can "age poorly" if it lacks fidelity, no matter it's art style. I've always thought WoW looked awful, regardless of it's graphical updates, regardless of it's fantastical art style. Stylized games are not subject to exclusivity from criticism because they weren't aiming to look realistic. If I'm honest I dislike the term "aging poorly" when applied to games as it isn't always applicable. How do you use the argument? In present-tense, does Call of Duty age poorly as the franchise progresses because games released prior to it look better? In past-tense, does any game from the past look poor compared to modern, more recent titles, due to advances in hardware and technology? Or do you compare that title you're comparing from the past to titles of the same period, and compare them? How do you justify comparing a title from 2007 with one from 2013? What modern games set the benchmark for comparison? One that's high end, middle ground? What exactly? What about the platform that game is released on? It's a facile statement, "game ageing", because there are so many parameters involved in the comparison that you havn't thought of. This thread was created with two extremes in mind, realistic and stylized with few people considering middle ground.
I have to agree with you on that, games dont "age" only on their particular graphical merits, its plays a part to some people i guess but it is far from the only thing that affects it. For instance im still to this day playing Heroes 3 exclusively even if theres like 3 more games that people say arguably look better, and ill never stop playing it irrelevant of its age. So im on the side of letting EC have its realistic and gritty playstyle and let the future judge how it ages.
I wish people would post examples of what they mean when they say realistic or stylized. Everyone seems to have their own definition of what these are
The best and easiest examples, in my opinion, would be to compare TF1 to TF2. TF1 was more realistic in style, albet on a much older engine, than TF2, being extremely stylized.
I disagree good sir! I played TF1 like a madman with my friends in internet cafes when i was younger. It was to me allot more enjoyable.
The main advantage of stylised, in my view, is the ability to make things distinctive to the player. You want your heavy weapon guy to stand out, make him 8 foot tall. Have the flamethrower dude walk around in fire retardant gear with a thick mask. Have the scout be slim and subtle. Etc. There's also gameplay advantage in that it makes visual identification of your opponent very easy. And it creates a certain iconic flavour The downside here is that the 40k universe is not especially stylised. It's lore has always aimed for realism. Dripping with awesome and subject to intentional exaggerations for effect, but not inherently stylised in aesthetics. I'm personally struggling to imagine how 40k could be stylised in a good way. For a "bad" way, look at the dark Millenium proposed animations. Ugh. Warhammer Online and Space Marine both struck a fairly reasonable balance for the setting, in my view.
