Weekend Hot Topic: The best graphics ever seen

metro.co.uk:

Readers discuss the most graphically impressive video games ever made, from the early 16-bit days to modern next gen consoles.

The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader pete216state, who asked what’s the best graphics you’ve ever seen on a particular console? It doesn’t have to be the best graphics ever, just the best graphics on that format.

We had plenty of suggestions from decades past, with many pointing out that video game graphics can age quickly and it’s the ones with distinctive art styles, or the best gameplay, which last the longest.

Short term appeal I have had a lot of ‘How can graphics ever get better than this?’ moments in my life and every example more than a few years old is laughable now, except Zelda: The Wind Waker, as graphics always continue to improve.

The most recent example was Ghost Of Tsushima Director’s Cut on PlayStation 5, which admittedly coincided with buying my first 4K television. I was almost questioning the point of the PlayStation 5 as what was essentially a PlayStation 4 game looked prettier than I could ever imagine. How on earth could a game look better than this?

Surely this was as good as we could ever get, as it is both technically impressive and also artistically appealing? Then I started the DLC and somehow the start of that was an order of magnitude prettier than the main game. Things suddenly looked convincingly wet in a way I hadn’t realised was missing previously.

I do like pretty games and enjoy seeing what is now possible, but the appeal of fancy graphics dulls very quickly. There is a reason why the opening bit of the Ghost Of Tsushima’s DLC stuck with me more than the rest of it. Gameplay will always be king, and it is incredibly rare I will play a game