The push toward more and more realistic graphics is a pointless one, honestly. After an hour or two, even the prettiest game's graphics become normal and you stop noticing. After that, you only notice things that are less realistic, and I think it's pushed the industry into a bad place of putting money into the visuals instead of the gameplay. I'm hoping they do something more stylized. unique, and easier (to both make and run) that will allow them to focus on the writing, mechanics, and quest design.
It isn't pointless.
Overall, it's a good thing. Photorealistic graphics will push the envelope in terms of storytelling. And mark my words: it might signify the death of movies as we know them esp. with the advent of virtual reality. It's likely that movies will become more like video games/evolve into some form of theater.
Are games worse now then before in spite of better graphics?
Sure. I agree. But it's because they are playing with the big boy now. They bring in more money then movies and they have a bigger toolset (like facial emotions). They cannot simply get away with good writing. They have to master the delivery.
Something similar is happening to music. What Nobuo Uematsu could do with the SNES was nothing short of extraordinary given its limitations. He moves up to symphonies, he loses a lot of his punching power.
In a way, it only reflects general mediocrity in modern arts and the youth of the medium. The tools are there, but the skillset isn't. While we blame the industry as a whole, we should really point fingers at the individual artists. They are deeply in bed with a corrupt and decadent Western popular culture.
We need someone like Richard Wagner. Someone who recognized everything around him was crap, was not afraid of offending anyone and decided to do things his way.
I'm not worried for CP2077. The way that the W3 is reviewed, I have high hopes. I'm somewhat worried that the combat will be boring, but it isn`t a dealbreaker if it is.
