One of the sticking points from Tuesday’s post has rung a bit harder than most, and as I have thought about it the past few days…I feel it warrants it’s own post.

The original quote was from ApochPiQ’s gamedev.net post. I’ve linked to it in the previous post. The relevant snippet is this though:

Graphics are amazingly critical. If you don’t have a great looking game, don’t expect to attract too many players. The MMO space more than any other genre is dominated by players who are into aesthetics and first impressions. A great game with bad graphics might still get some hardcore fans, but it’ll never compete with a great game with great graphics.

In this one statement, more than anything, is a solid definition of what is wrong with parts of the game industry. Let’s review a game franchise that tragically (In my opinion) went down the “improve the graphics at all costs” road.

Final Fantasy

Let’s face it… Square, whether it was their intention or not turned themselves into less of a game company in favor of becoming more of an interactive movie company. The very RPG elements that made Final Fantasy so highly regarded were, over time, discarded in favor of cut scenes and pretty. This process accelerated with the purchase of their main competitor Enix. Without any serious competition…the games became less than mediocre. Gone are the games which required strategy, planning and thinking. It has recently culminated into people succeeding in FFXIII by doing nothing more than simply pressing X.

Final Fantasy looks very nice. But, I don’t want to play something that amounts to an interactive movie 100% of the time. Call me old school, but I happened to like having to plan out attacks. I can look back and honestly say: I enjoyed a system where I could fail. But those days are mostly gone in the Final Fantasy franchise. I expect them to be completely eradicated with the acquisition by Disney.

Aside from Final Fantasy VII..the first in the modern console era… know what the runner up usually is when it comes to favorite Final Fantasy?  4, 5 or 6. Many people consider Final Fantasy six to be one of the best ever.

The lesson of Final Fantasy is one that should be obvious to every single person who refers to themselves as a game developer or designer…

“Just because you can do a thing, does not necessarily mean you should.”

The most dangerous and wooly thinking comes into play when you start believing that gameplay in a game takes a backseat to graphics. Yes, to some degree you have to design visuals that can give you a suspension of belief. Yes, sometimes that design has to go an extra step and create immersion. But the moment you start to tell yourself graphics are the bigger priority…you’re already in trouble.

We here at Double Cluepon deliberately selected static camera isometric for Emerald Kingdom. We did this for many reasons, but I can tell you right now the primary reason was this: We had game play ideas that precluded the need for bouncy breasts or photorealism. Static camera isometric has been in the spec from day one.

Could we have created an MMO using full 3d? Sure. But the temptation to attain the unattainable when it comes to looks is not something we ever wanted to contend with. We wanted a better, more satisfying challenge. We wanted to challenge ourselves with game play, mechanics, and fun. Graphics can add to the fun, certainly. They should not be discounted. But they should never be at the apex in terms of design and function.

A lot of game companies, especially the AAA title publishers will keep foisting mediocre shovelware games on the public, as long as the public keeps buying them. Sure, Final Fantasy can still sell. But you know what everyone talks about? How cool Super Meat Boy was. What is notch up to with Minecraft? Popcap might get purchased for 1 Billion. Nobody is talking about the cool new battle system in Final Fantasy games. Most of the stuff in Final Fantasy as of late is regurgitated  (yet nerfed) elements of titles long past. Nobody talks about the must have innovation in the latest Dead or Alive.

When you start thinking that graphics trump all, you run the risk of ignoring game play. Playing is what games are all about. If you have forgotten this, you need to take a step back and ask yourself some hard questions.