Alex: I agree that we’re not at the point of “true” photorealism. I suspect that we’ll never get there, actually, and that’ll we’ll just inch ever closer — approaching it asymptotically, if you will. I use photorealism here to describe what you’ve called realistic art direction — striving to match a real-world visual aesthetic as closely as possible. As I said above, that’s a perfectly viable approach in games, just as it is in, say, painting. But it’s also great to see other approaches as well, like the ink and wash-inspired art in Okami.

Do you really think PS3/360 graphics have reached photorealism? (Or is that just a short way of saying realistic art direction?) I’ve heard people suggest that this generation’s graphics are as good as it will get, but I’m not so sure. I’ve only just gotten a PS3, so while I’m floored by the environments in games like Assassin’s Creed and Uncharted, I think character models leave something to be desired.* I think one problem (others being facial movement and animations looking stiff) is the realism is a bit broken when character animations don’t interact with the environment properly, like when you jump off a ledge in Uncharted. Even when the character is just running around, it /feels/ like they’re a model placed in a box (for example, walking on a flat surface rather than grass, or whatever) rather than a person interacting with their environment. I’m not really sure how to explain it.

Coincidentally, this is something that Okami does very well, with the blooming flowers and other things: Amaterasu is a part of the world and her every action has some effect on the environment around her.

Hmm, big tangent there, sorry!

*I haven’t played MGS4 yet, but if the whole game looks like what I’ve seen in videos, then this probably won’t be a problem here.

While I usually try and steer away from these games (these games are often about some sort of war which doesn’t intereste me; be it America replay a past moment of glory or a fictional telling of America playing a future moment of glory) I have actually made myself watch trailers to some of these games and by golly (no sarcasm) they are just so very…..grey. Particularly the latest Gears of War 2 trailer actually. So uninteresting. -_-

Realistic doesn’t necessarily mean a loss in artistic direction and I think that people are quick to jump to that conclusion. Particularly with the flood of war/post apocolyptic war games.

As I have found before though realistic itself is a highly subjective term which in this case has caused a lot of confusion. One realistic may be Tiger Wood’s Golf while another Metal Gear Solid. Yet MGS is in many ways unrealistic.

I’m interested to know how you approach this. Because why I too love my Zelda Wind Wakers and Locorocos, Castlevania and Halflife have their own merits.