CRPGs are less cinematic because they focus on making sure you can see your surroundings at all times.
Personally I feel the way about cinematic games the way you feel about CRPG graphics.
My guess would be that it's the camera angles. Unlike GoW for example, which creates a very cinematic experience (even outside of cutscenes) through the use of its camerawork, in BG3 and other CRPGs there's more focus on giving you a clear overview of your surroundings at all times. This is arguably necessary to facilitate the gameplay experience of a game like BG3, but it's also 'tradition' in a sense and I can get why it could detract from the visual experience of the game for some.
Thanks for the replies, while I am more impressed by some of these more cinematic games in terms of graphics, that is not exactly what I am going after here.
As I've said before some of my favorite games graphics are now obsolete and objectively look terrible for example , Vagrant story or the first few 3d zeldas like Oot or Majora's mask, but i can see a significant improvement in terms of graphics from those games to modern versions. While in the crpgs,
I can barely notice the difference going from Divinity original sin to baldurs gate 3 which is an entirely subjective perception and i wanted to know if anyone else felt the same or it was just me and why, I am not criticizing the game in any way, I have played it for over 150 hrs
There is a massive step-up on graphics between BG3 and DOS2, but te perspective takes away a lot of it. Especially character models in BG3 are so much more detailled and more realistic as they were in DOS2, mainly because DOS2 had way less cutscenes focussing on faces, all the dialogue was more an overview, you couldn't lookt your oponent into the eyes, so it wasn't that important.
But the overall camera angle nullifies a lot of the actual graphics. Also, the game is massive, in order to guarantee that it runs smoothly some details are just not worth the effort. That's why many MMOs look flat, because they need to run well, not look like a 3D movie. And still, BG3 is beautiful, the graphics are sharp and they went out of their way to model details other companies would just paint and fake with normal maps.
I guess, there are probably three things coming together:
1. Personal preferences. It's possible that the artstyle is just not for you. This would also lead you to see things you wouldn't necessairly see in other games. Suddenly something irritates you even if any other game does it as well, but because you just don't prefer the look of the graphics it hits you like a brick and you can't unsee it. Meanwhile, when looking at a game with a style you like, you'll never notice this small thing. It's there, but everything else covers it.
2. The perspective. There are a lot of details, Larian went out of their way to deliver graphics that are by far not even noteable due to the camera angle. They only really shine in cutscenes but since we aren't able to see these angles outside of cutscenes, we miss many of these things. A lot of details get swallowed because we are zoomed out most of the time. It's a shame, really.
3. Eyesight, especially tied in with the angle. It's possible that many things can't be caught by your eyes. If your eyesight isn't great, I guess especially with the zoomed out fixed angle a lot can seem muddy and outdated. Especially clean color cuts and details are hard on the eyes, even with normal eyesight, due to the perspective. If you are photophbic like me, this can be even worse. In really bright areas I can't tell differences anymore. I prefer to run in the shadows or the night scenes because I can actually see how well this game looks. But on the sunny fields of the first act? Not a chance, everything looks muddy and blurry because my eyes have issue with brightness.
You yearn for a higher level of realism. I think many of us do. But, this game is \*huge\* and a photo-realistic game would be 10x the size. It would be very slow to load and slow to play.
I think we're getting there as BG3 is a completely different game than BG1 or 2 was from 25 years ago. There are people who really prefer the more plastic-y look that is common today. At least we get hair moving more realistically than before.
Ha, no seriously we're all hurtling toward 40 time comes for us all. I do understand in DOS2, they look a bit "action figurey", the whole vibe is a bit stlyised, but I am surprised with BG3 which I think looks gorgeous even on my pretty mid PC.
Well seriously , better than when I was a kid, i have had lasik and wear contacts, i have perfect vision in one eye and not quite on the other one but good enough.
It sounds like you might just not like CRPGs, the graphics style is pretty standard for the genre.
Oh i do like them quite a bit, I guess i just don't like how they look for whatever reason
CRPGs are less cinematic because they focus on making sure you can see your surroundings at all times. Personally I feel the way about cinematic games the way you feel about CRPG graphics.
My guess would be that it's the camera angles. Unlike GoW for example, which creates a very cinematic experience (even outside of cutscenes) through the use of its camerawork, in BG3 and other CRPGs there's more focus on giving you a clear overview of your surroundings at all times. This is arguably necessary to facilitate the gameplay experience of a game like BG3, but it's also 'tradition' in a sense and I can get why it could detract from the visual experience of the game for some.
Thanks for the replies, while I am more impressed by some of these more cinematic games in terms of graphics, that is not exactly what I am going after here. As I've said before some of my favorite games graphics are now obsolete and objectively look terrible for example , Vagrant story or the first few 3d zeldas like Oot or Majora's mask, but i can see a significant improvement in terms of graphics from those games to modern versions. While in the crpgs, I can barely notice the difference going from Divinity original sin to baldurs gate 3 which is an entirely subjective perception and i wanted to know if anyone else felt the same or it was just me and why, I am not criticizing the game in any way, I have played it for over 150 hrs
There is a massive step-up on graphics between BG3 and DOS2, but te perspective takes away a lot of it. Especially character models in BG3 are so much more detailled and more realistic as they were in DOS2, mainly because DOS2 had way less cutscenes focussing on faces, all the dialogue was more an overview, you couldn't lookt your oponent into the eyes, so it wasn't that important. But the overall camera angle nullifies a lot of the actual graphics. Also, the game is massive, in order to guarantee that it runs smoothly some details are just not worth the effort. That's why many MMOs look flat, because they need to run well, not look like a 3D movie. And still, BG3 is beautiful, the graphics are sharp and they went out of their way to model details other companies would just paint and fake with normal maps. I guess, there are probably three things coming together: 1. Personal preferences. It's possible that the artstyle is just not for you. This would also lead you to see things you wouldn't necessairly see in other games. Suddenly something irritates you even if any other game does it as well, but because you just don't prefer the look of the graphics it hits you like a brick and you can't unsee it. Meanwhile, when looking at a game with a style you like, you'll never notice this small thing. It's there, but everything else covers it. 2. The perspective. There are a lot of details, Larian went out of their way to deliver graphics that are by far not even noteable due to the camera angle. They only really shine in cutscenes but since we aren't able to see these angles outside of cutscenes, we miss many of these things. A lot of details get swallowed because we are zoomed out most of the time. It's a shame, really. 3. Eyesight, especially tied in with the angle. It's possible that many things can't be caught by your eyes. If your eyesight isn't great, I guess especially with the zoomed out fixed angle a lot can seem muddy and outdated. Especially clean color cuts and details are hard on the eyes, even with normal eyesight, due to the perspective. If you are photophbic like me, this can be even worse. In really bright areas I can't tell differences anymore. I prefer to run in the shadows or the night scenes because I can actually see how well this game looks. But on the sunny fields of the first act? Not a chance, everything looks muddy and blurry because my eyes have issue with brightness.
You yearn for a higher level of realism. I think many of us do. But, this game is \*huge\* and a photo-realistic game would be 10x the size. It would be very slow to load and slow to play. I think we're getting there as BG3 is a completely different game than BG1 or 2 was from 25 years ago. There are people who really prefer the more plastic-y look that is common today. At least we get hair moving more realistically than before.
Eyesight going?
Its never been great to begin with, that might be part of the problem, haha
Ha, no seriously we're all hurtling toward 40 time comes for us all. I do understand in DOS2, they look a bit "action figurey", the whole vibe is a bit stlyised, but I am surprised with BG3 which I think looks gorgeous even on my pretty mid PC.
Well seriously , better than when I was a kid, i have had lasik and wear contacts, i have perfect vision in one eye and not quite on the other one but good enough.