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Up until recently, I considered myself one of those gamers for whom graphics had little allure. Sure, I thought, some pretty pictures are nice and mean that your attention remains even when a game becomes embroiled in dialogue or bogged down by constant battles. I always placed the highest precedent on the quality of the story, the depth of characters and the variety of the world they inhabit. I find those gamers who obsess over graphics, and see them as more important than plot and gameplay, as rather shallow. So I fully expect to see rebuttals accusing me of this, as it’s a natural reaction for fans of a genre that more than any other emphasises what can be achieved with words and a story, and also has strong ties traditional role-playing.
However, whilst going through my games collection I started to ruminate on the evolution of graphics, and realised that rather than just creating an interface for you to control the protagonists, they can actually add to events. Your perception of the world can be coloured by the graphics. Before the 32-bit era, the RPG realm had to be fleshed out more through content and background more than anything else. I was amazed how the monotonous world of Lufia 2 was able to make ever want to save it – no wonder I grew tired of the same towns, over and over again (and more towns than any other RPG of it’s ilk). The same thing is present FFVI, with the same design for every town due the graphical limitations of the system (true, it is one of the game’s only flaws). In comparison, the visual variety of Suikoden 3 can’t make up for the games’ failures in other areas, which render the game weaker than the two previous installments. So, do graphics have little relevance to our overall experience?
The first game that really took advantage of the PS’s visual capability was FF7. Since then, the floodgates have opened for companies to create fantastic looking games that very rarely match the style with substance. I played through and completed most of the SNES era classics like FF4 and FF6, Chrono Trigger, Tales of Phantasia, the Breath of Fire games, and their inferior graphics had no effect on my enjoyment. I always ignored a game with below par graphics for the PS1 if it had an interesting, Xenogears a case in point.
But consider the potential of graphics today. Rather than create a more realistic looking world, a trend of the games industry that I have never liked (if I have to live around in a dull, suburban/urban environment, I don’t want it replicated so that I can wander around it in my free time, thanks all the same Grand Theft Auto), the power of the graphics engine could be harnessed to create wildly original and imaginative worlds. Graphics could be used the enhance the plot and characters – towns could have more depth, with interesting landmarks which have a back story, and world maps could deviate from the current format, with weather systems in different areas, seasonal cycles. You could even have a world map that had geographical features like hills and valleys to traverse.
I have to admit that I have never taken part in (or wanted to) in traditional role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. I have, however, had ideas that I have put onto paper concerning world maps and ideas for settlements, etc. But when I play a game I like to be able to explore the environment, a fully formed world where I don’t have to use my imagination. Graphics are there to enhance our enjoyment, not to remove it. Whilst I still believe that plot and gameplay come first, there is no reason why graphics can’t be used to create a deeper and detailed world. If anything, they can make the fantasy even more powerful.
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