Can I just say... that Hallow Knight Fountain, with the Activate Windows in the corner, feels way more sombre with the watermark there than without in a really weird aesthetic way.
I think it's important to note that older games had much smaller dev teams, working on much smaller time scales, which produces art unified by a singular vision. That's a much more challenging thing to do in a modern triple A title.
@@APDS-Akin triple A games can take half a decade or more, compared to the 3-6 month turnaround times you saw in the 8bit era. Most games on the PS1 didn't take longer than a year to develop.
Just wanna say I LOVE the way you insert yourself into every scene, not just standing in front of the visuals but actually becoming a part of them, sitting and laying in seats, trunks, the ground, the editing must have taken forever but the end result is really fantastic visually. The part where you're showing us the low poly sky boxes and just lay next to the camera, pointing and the different scenery and even showing us a visual on your phone instead of cropping it into the vid. So immersive, beautiful, massive props for the effort you've put into this video. Love it!
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
Thank you so much for this comment! I always did the more immersive shots here and there as I developed this style but only recently have I decided to really lean into it so that most of the video is me sitting, laying down and stuff. It takes a lot longer to plan the vid out now but based off your comment I feel it’s worth it! Adds to the chill vibes lol and most importantly as a a guy who took influence from Nakeyjakey to use a green screen he never really did what I do with really implementing my pose and seating into the shots so I felt by doing this I’m making it more my own thing!
@@InternetPitstop friendly reminder that i have hardly ever seen someone utilize a green screen so well for youtube videos. you may make videos about aesthetic, but your editing choices elevate the entire video. Lean into it, lay on everything, its a fucking mood and i love it
I really like the idea you mentioned of not thinking of older graphics as stepping stones, but thinking of them as an art style to be used for games when they fit the theme
It's funny cause I feel the same way about shitty CG film effects. There are cut scenes in old games like AoE 2, and teasers for Diablo 2 that I thought were the coolest shit growing up. The Final Fantasy movie or that Linken Park music video is "bad CG" by modern film standards but there's something about the super sterile, clinical look that I find so satisfying. It's very similar to those videos of lawns being mowed or dirt being power washed. A nicely shaded object with a clean gradient is a pleasing aesthetic even if it isn't photo real.
This is why Elden Ring and BOTW / TOTK still look better than Red Dead Redemption 2, despite the latter being released on an extremely underpowered handheld
@@anonymous01201 "look better" is still just a preference. RDR2 isn't just throwing realistic assets on a map, its a well researched and developed look, where the subject matter worked best with a very realistic setting.
Pokémon visually has embraced 3D, but hasn't moved out of the 2D mindset. When there are two sprites talking to each other, your brain can fill in the rest as to what each character might be doing while speaking. But if it's two fully-rendered 3D models, having them blankly stare at each other or do one animation that you've seen them do a hundred other times while text comes out of their mouths and then do a full 180 degree turn without their model actually moving... that's on the other side of the uncanny valley. It's the same concept, two characters looking at each other while talking, but you have to do more to convey what's happening in 3D otherwise it just looks bad. Pokémon has yet to figure out that they can't just replace sprites with 3D models and expect everything to be the same.
Honestly mainly cud to how they cut corners in areas of 3d animation where there's limits . It's why I think making a game with absurd high polycounts but limited animation variety is obnoxious.
Something big about the low poly look is shape language. Shape language in character design refers to how shapes imply characteristic, a square is sturdy, a circle is cut and harmless, a Triangle is sharp and dangerous looking, these trains are combined in strategic way to tell a story about the characters through their looks. In modern games character models have so many polygons that they can look totally smooth as they would be in real life, so using that bloodborn example, those ghost guys are smoother which in spite of them being creepey is still send off that circular lack of threat vibes. In older games, no matter how hard you try to make something a circle, it will always be angular, which makes everything feel a little more dangerous and threatening.
Interesting idea but I don’t think it *completely* holds up. When we were playing those older games as kids they were on CRT televisions. There was a bloom that smoothed the image, which isn’t something you get now. So roundness definitely was possible. I mean just look at Yoshi, for example. But of course it’s more complex than that - Boos and Goombas were also largely round. The danger comes from the fact they look angry, the colour, movements… and that they kill you 😮 haha
@jimmahgee Well, i'm not just talking about the enemies. I'm talking about the general uncanny nature of these games. Also, it's important to note that CRTs certainly smoothed things you they didn’t get around the overall polygonal look of everything. There's a reason why people knew Lara Croft had triangle boobs. And these days, when people do demakes or replay old games, they see these on modern screens so they see that jaggedness.
@@marche800 I just don’t buy it, there’s far more context and it all works together to produce the experience, including what the viewer brings. Mario 64 didn’t look “uncanny” and “dangerous” to me as a child. It was dangerous in some respects but in others I found it beautiful. In Ocarina of Time Kokiri forest felt safe, and Hyrule field during the daytime was full of potential. When I studied animation at university shape theory and silhouette were an important part of character design but they aren’t the “be all and end all” - once you have colour, movement, facial expressions, music, they all work in concert.
@jimmahgee Well there’s also the fact that our imaginations tend to fill in the blanks when it comes to things we saw as kids. We got what things were supposed to be and extrapolated from there. I've heard tons of people say they thought a game they loved looked better than it actually did. Though more to the point, I'm not trying to say that all polygonal games are inherently threatening, but there are definitely points where the uncannyness of the game design enhanced spooky elements. Like deadhand. When Deadhand was made smooth in the 3ds version of OOT, he became less threatening. The jankiness of his model made a creepy design genuinely terrifying. I'd say the same for redeads or even RE zombies.
As an actual older gamer who grew up in the 90’s, I was legitimately choked up at that moment. And at “You’ve reached the internet pitstop, would you like to rest?” (Chrono Trigger is a gut-punch nostalgic blast for me in general)
It's easy to understand why industries are obssesed with realistic graphics. Just think why live action is taken as "more adult" than animation, and there you have it. It's wrong, of course, but it hasn't changed for nearly a century, has it?
because realistic graphics makes it simple to outsource to people or buy random assets that already exist. With an ideosincratic art direction you add a shiton of design resourcces needed for every single thing, and is hard to hire people to fit into it. When a game becomes too big is almost impossible to do every single asset that way, realistic is the faster and cheaper way to produce more stuff, like all the bloat open world games have.
@@100lovenana ^ "live action is taken as more adult than animation" * *cough* *cough* * _Rick and Morty_ * *cough* * _Helluva Boss_ * *cough* * _Fritz the Cat_
@@j.2512 Well unrealistic deosn't necessarily mean cartoony. Also movies/shows are much more harder mediums to get immerse to than videogames. My theory is just since you already know it is not visually realistic unconsiously you would not compare it to real life. I also think consitancy is also have a role in this because when animations get worse or get better we notice pretty much instantly. I think a lot of "realistic" games suffer from non realistic animations too.
It may have been low polys but the amount of effort to convey atmosphere, lighting, color and tone was CLEARLY shown back in those days. They had to make due, and if I had to be honest, i think it made them take more effort in character actions specifically. Even something as simple as water, had to be designed in a simple yet very DISTINCT memorable way.
For me, nothing will ever beat the beautiful pixel artstyle of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. Like... Wigglytuff Guild, the beach at dusk and Sharpedo Bluff, Fogbound Lake and Crystal Lake, the Hidden Land with Temporal Tower, Sky Peak... Gosh I don't know a more beautiful fantasy world.
I haven’t gotten Explorers of Sky yet but I HAVE played Red Rescue Team and the character animations alone make me so happy I have to hold back physical reactions.
I live for the way he inserts himself into different games and funny scenarios. As always, this channel still feels like an immersive little world. 9:26, like what other video essay channel would go the extra mile to do something like this.
Man I have to say, I had been thoroughly burnt out on UA-cam as a whole these past few months. After watching this, you’ve reignited my love of my childhood and nostalgia content. The way you stylize your videos and present your information is unlike anything anyone else is doing on this platform right now. I feel like I’m watching old school youtube and Adult Swim at the same time. Really top notch dude. And I’ve seen quite a bit of your stuff and this is by far your best video yet. Ah God, take me back to 2010’s youtube, when creators made real shit like this.
Your videos remind me of hanging out with my best gaming mate in school. We live a thousand miles away now and our lives and interests have changed, but this gives me that old comfy feeling of excitement about little details nobody else seemed to notice or care about. Thanks very much for taking me back and I wish you every success.
Ps1/N64 graphic are timeless,I never understood the whole "they age poorly" mentality,just to give you an idea I show Super Mario 64 to my niece(she’s 11) and she love these graphics a lot,that just show that these graphics are still great to look at today
i remember adults in the 90s saying it looked weird and shitty and didn't get why us kids liked it. I don't see kids today wanting that when given the option to choose between that and newer titles, If devs back then had more tools they would have used them to not make their asset look like jagged ass
The limited capabilities of the time did severely limit what could be done with making shit like organic cause the hardware simply can't afford smooth looking shapes, so unless the people working on the specific game knew what they were doing everything just looked like an unappealing geometric mess, the art direction needs to be extremely on point to make those games look any good, not to mention that the 3d view meant more complex movement was required to make the characters seem believable, while in 2d you can just have a character sprite on a JRPG flip a 180 without any animation of them turning and no one will question it cause it matches the level of detail of the rest of the game, if a character just rotates 180 degrees in a 3d game it will just look wrong cause the three-dimensional perspective feels too "realistic" to allow fir that movement. Even just PS2 games aged a lot better in this department cause, while not realistic, in a sense they are kinda realistic enough to achieve at least the bare minimum of what people want to see in a 3d game. Like reasonably smooth models with only some visible edges that are detailed enough to convey the intricacies of a character be it "real" or cartoon looking, like their expressions, hand gestures and even hair to a degree abd sane can be applied to the environments, the animations are just detailed enough to convey most things you'd wanna see like a character properly holding something or have stuff like bushes react to your character when walking on them, and in general it's all kind of the bare minimum of what people have come to expect from modern 3d games in general be it realistic or cell shaded, triple A or indie. The PS1 simply lacked on a lot of these things abd had to make up for it in other ways which not all games did successfully just as even modern games fail to account for their limitations. It's also worth remembering that fir every Super Mario 64 there's like a thousand shitty shovelware games that just looked and played like ass even back in the day.
The retro aesthetic and art style in general just makes me so happy. There's something about packing in so much detail in such simple shapes, being able to use your imagination to fill in the blanks, that games don't really have nowadays unless such graphics are intentional, but even then, it's very hit or miss.
Your videos are like finally hanging out with that kid that knows dope shit and they're actually an ascended knower who becomes your main homie. Forever.
I see a lot of people recently disparaging the return of low poly and pixel art in gaming, calling it "unoriginal" or even more frustrating, claiming that by capturing that look without using the actual hardware restrictions makes it wrong. Sure, being forced to work within the hardware limitations is what gave them their heart and soul, but because of them the aesthetics have become an art style in themselves, and that's what people fail to understand. Using modern tools for pixel art, like you said, has allowed games to become even more beautiful in that style. There's no reason low poly can't have the same done (and it is being done). As someone who's been planning out a game in a low poly aesthetic because they always enjoyed the look, I just hope more people aim to recapture it without fear of it being played out. Also, peak for going for the Spyro skyboxes. Haunting and dreamlike is what I always used to describe them, it's gorgeous.
There is a reason PS1 style is popular for horror games. The fog in many games created an atmospheric and claustrophobic feeling, and the weird dithering and wobbly geometry creates a surreal feel. I also think the N64 style lends itself to a great atmosphere and is also great for cartoony aesthetic. Bright and colorful games like Mario and Banjo Kazooie excelled on N64 for a reason. People who complain about this have definitely never made a game. I would rather complete a game in a "limiting" art style like low-poly than not finish a game at all. Making professional quality 3D is very, very time-consuming, especially if you are not particularly skilled in that discipline.
That's crazy, that's like saying any artist who still draws with pen and paper is inauthentic because we now have digital art programmes they could be drawing with instead.. physical limitations don't have to be FORCED by circumstances they can be embraced and used DESPITE technological advancement
its not only unoriginal but 99% of time isn't even real pixel art or real psx graphics, Most of that stuff is done with scripts anyways , Blender hsa code that automatically makes sprite effects which everyone uses to fake it , it doesn't look or feel like the original thing and its just an excuse to be lazy and do something low effort
One of the reasons stuff like that holds up is this weird thing where when you're limited in you're creative space it seems to bring out the best in some people.
Sometimes when games of an older era are remade with modern graphics, I can't help but feel like a certain charm was lost. I don't think it's just nostalgia. I think your brain might have been more engaged to fill in what's missing. The older the graphics are, the more you have to imagine. They put you in these different locations that aren't anywhere near as detailed and lifelike as what we have today and your mind has to fill in the gaps to make it seem realistic. I think your mind put in more effort with those older games and it made the experience richer because of it.
It's also because they replace those old unique assets with generic new redesigns like a beautiful wall with cryptic text and crystals is now replaced with generic stonewall made of normal rocks and nothing else the colors are different too and artstyle is all over the place, the whole vibe is just bland like any other new game
@@samhein321The Demon's Souls remake completely ruined the horror aesthetic and oppressive dread of the original game. The remake just looks more like generic fantasy. They made Flamelurker look like a WoW character. And don't even get me started on the soundtrack.
I think it is also differs from person to person, some might find games such as mgs1 or silent hill to be realistic looking. Especially when played in original resolution. But when you have a higher resolution the illusion goes away quite quickly (i.e in a remaster with just higher resolution and framrate).
i also feel like with games, a massive part of the appeal is escapism and just being in another world. I feel like the more "realistic" something is, the less otherworldly it is. Like if it's realistic graphics, you gotta add personality somehow for some worldbuilding, or it's gonna feel a bit bland
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
Man, I am so glad that low poly art is finally receiving the attention and love it deserves. I thought I was going crazy because everyone kept saying how beautiful Pixel-Art was and how "ugly" those old PS1 and N64 games were. Now there are people making low poly games and even animations & pictures (myself included lmao) as well as dedicated tutorial series on how to archieve the look. (Check out the tutorial series by "TheSicklyWizard" if you want to learn it, it's really good!)
because its piss easy with blender and people are lazy and are using the nostalgia excuse to get asspats on amateur work . Most of the time it doesn't look at all like the real thing its mimicking and its not following any of the parameters or original restrictions, its a gimmick. Low poly models with no textures are just trivial to make in 2024
FF7 was my childhood and it is such a cool aesthetic. Pre-rendered backgrounds and animated 3D fights were so mind blowing and I still love it. It feels like stepping into a painting. I can’t describe it better.
@@high.level.noob. not entirely rose-tinted glasses, i played ff7 for the first time like 4 months ago and i didn't find them all too confusing, a couple were for sure, but the large majority of them were just jaw dropping, whether that's cuz they actually were or cuz of what they were aiming to portray, i'm not sure. that game had a very good art direction though, imo.
"I'm a shitty writer that's why I'm a UA-camr" boi you made me watch a 5 hour video about anime backgrounds and I didn't even notice how much time passed. Every video is on point. I cried, I laughed, I felt nostalgia, I learnt, your editing is funny and unique and fits your channel amazingly. Don't sell yourself short. You're amazing. Even if I think I don't care about a topic in your videos you manage to get me excited and keep my attention all the way through. Because you ARE a good writer.
So glad you mentioned Chrono Cross. For the past 3 months I've been obsessed with atmosphere of Chrono Cross. The contrast between blue sky, yellow beaches and green forests is just perfect. And then there is that opening, which I've had on repeat for months.
internet pitstop-core is one of the most genuine aesthetics on this platform. love the creativity in your editing, the pov hands while exploring got me good lmao
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
I ADORE your work dude, I have a blast seeing you jump around and chill on the backgrounds haha, it's super fun, what a unique and cool editing style you have it just... speaks to me. I'm so used to leaving UA-cam videos in the background while doing something else, but I always have to make time for yours because I must take in everything in the video since it's so purposeful. Just... Thank you!
i wouldn’t say so much unique, this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
You're so right about the ff7 aesthetic, Cosmo Canyon is my personal favourite for some of the most beautiful backdrops and art pieces, so much that even as a kid I wish screenshotting was possible on my ps1.
those segments in the beginning where you were just sitting in video game landscapes with the characters got me right in the heart. id say that i cant believe i was jealous of an edit but i actually can
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
The thing that fascinates me the most about low-poly graphics is that all the details are in the textures. Especially games from Rare. They have mastered texture work on the N64, so much so that I always catch myself stopping every few minutes and just smelling the roses. It's magic, despite the limitations and flat surfaces everything feels alive and like the structures have sophisticated geometry, even up close. Ocarina of Time is the exact opposite, that game doesn't hide the cardboard scenery whatsoever. Flat looking structures, cardboard tree and mountain walls and blurry, smudgy, stretched textures left and right. From a technical perspective it's pretty bad. But I love the vibe of the aesthetics. It feels like a crude painting. Up close nothing makes sense, but if you step back you see the rough brush strokes form a clear and detailed picture. It creates a comfortable uncanniness that I never feel in modern games. So many games of that era have a cozy vibe to them. I feel like I could just sit down and have a nap in those environments.
I’m really happy Bomb Rush Cyberfunk’s art style was inspired by Jet Set Radio’s beautiful cell shaded art style bc overall the JSR’e cell shade art style is just awesome. And I hope we see more games have that style
I feel like you gotta be my favourite art appreciator on this platform, there’s not many people who can simply point at a pretty picture and make it feel alluring, ya know? Pure positivity, it’s nice to be shown pretty stuff. Sometimes it has to be forced sometimes there doesn’t have to be a point, only a purpose. To make people remember how much we have accomplished, accumulated. The beautiful art that exists in all the corners many wouldn’t think to look for on their own. Sincerely, goodnight It is 3 am
That PS1 horror game vibe is real man, just last night I started playing Crow Country (an indie survival horror that uses the PS1 aesthetic) so I've been living in that headspace for a bit before seeing this video and it's hard to put into words but it's just a very different feel from a modern, hyper realistic horror game, and just super effective.
One thing I always LOVED about low poly is that it feels like A GAME and not a photorealistic BS... I remember having like 10 years old and PS2 and GameCube was about to come out and I was like "why?! We don't need those crazy graphics" as I felt like the whole imagination driven from low poly was going to go away.
The Bloodborne Demake menus are also largely based on the Armored Core PS1 games of From Software. The Garage UI is basically the same in Armored Core . The Now Loading screen is also directly ripped from Armored Core but colored red.
Your channel looks like it was made by me, so i can never forget how happy i was when i was a lil kid. like... i don't even have words to express how your videos make me feel. Thanks man, to put words on these niches subjects that i like in pop culture. i can't talk about these with people because they won't understand , but at this little pitstop i feel surrounded by common nostalgia. so thx man... like from the bottom of my heart. From a congolese/french guy in france
The green screen use in this video was top notch. Every time he looked back at the pixel art or whatever behind him, or seemed like he was laying back in a deck chair or something... Never got old. Good job, man!
got a binge session going on right now, this is my 4th straight video! holy wow dude, BRAVO to the editor whether thats you or someone else. and your story telling captivates! well done
How are you gonna talk about Low Poly aesthetics and NOT talk about Sonic 😭 literally the face of most of the revitalized y2k older graphics type of the aesthetics
I love stylized graphics with all my heart but I still think Alan Wake 2 really did deserve that win. It has some visual effects I haven’t seen before like the ones where two places are layered on top of each other like a hologram taking up the whole screen. Also the neon city Alan’s story takes place in looked amazing though at places a bit uninspired. Changing the atmosphere of places and their lighting and objects in there in real time was really impressive too. AAA has a very distinct boring realistic look but I think Alan Wake shouldn’t be put in that same group.
@@j.2512 I think we have it best these days with indies carrying the torch of the experimental nature of the games around the millenium. Back then I would imagine crunch and overworking was already a problem even though people got to be more creative in those game companies. These days anyone can have an idea for a game and work on their project for however long it takes without higher ups breathing down their necks.
@@maaki50 No they don-t, every indie "spiritual succesor" is a cheap bootleg of the oldschool AAA game they are trying to mimick, is always worse and much less creative. Indie devs only use the nostalgia and aesthetics as an excuse to be lazy. Like 99.999999 of retro inspired indies are shovelware and pretty much nothing really measures up to the stuff AAA 90s devs made.
@@j.2512 I see you don’t know what the 99.9999% of 90s AAA games were… fucking shovelware! You just don’t remember them because they were quickly forgotten about. Also can you name like 10 shovelware indies since there seem to be so many of them.
There's like a liminal space quality to a lot of these old games. The atmosphere allows your mind to fill in the blanks and your imagination to run wild. What isn't said, is more impactful than what is. Even though its more modern, I think Dark Souls 1 captures that feeling too. Also, "got my willy going silly.'😂
This. Ocarina of Time’s overworld is small, and it is sparse. But Hyrule Field still _feels_ large because of how empty it is. It may take less time to travel from one side to the other than in the BotW/TotK Hyrule Field, but it _feels_ just as large if not larger, _because_ your brain has to fill bits in.
@@j.2512 okay I tried to leave this be but I keep seeing this same sentiment so I’m gonna take it out on you. OP is entirely justified in their use of liminal space here. Liminal simply means “between”, but it carries connotations of being precariously balanced. OP is referring specifically to liminal spaces, as in areas that hit the uncanny valley - just normal enough to be recognisable but with something unsettlingly wrong about them, that’s often (but not always) hard to pinpoint or summarise. This is where the “precariously balanced” connotation comes in, as there’s a sweet spot for maximum unsettling-ness in the uncanny valley - go more realistic or more unusual and you evoke less instinctual revulsion/fear. Blocky polygonal graphics like the PlayStation or N64 styles do often bump up against the uncanny valley. They’re juuuuust on the far-enough-from-normal-to-be-cartoony-or-cute side of the uncanny valley. A classic example of this is the Ben Drowned creepypasta, where a sprite used in an N64 game that was intentionally bumping into the uncanny valley by being unusually detailed is used as part of proof of a particular copy of the game being haunted. On a more metatextual level, low-poly art styles often intentionally resemble pop-up books, heavily associated with early childhood for most people; by taking something resembling this early developmental milestone and making it intentionally unsettling, a sense of fear is achieved. This is the same concept as what made Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared or Five Nights At Freddy’s successful, by imitating children’s television or playground-arcade-restaurants, respectively. “Liminal spaces” are usually when a place that should be filled with people, and is also often transitional (e.g. a hallway), is emptier and _far_ larger than one would expect. Low-poly games also tend to embody this by having large empty spaces that are pointless to interact with; they can evoke a sense of agoraphobia with their scale, and indeed in low-poly horror games often do.
My only regret in finding this channel is that there arent more videos! Ive watched all of them over the past few days and bro hasnt missed once. Editing style is hilarious topics are interesting music bops and theres so much passion in these video. I cant believe you arent at least 1m subs my boy i hella hope you blow up. This channel is gonna become a comfy place for me and i cant wait to see what bangers youre cookin up
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
The old aestitics simplicity gives your mind room to interpret an think about what you are looking at and textures like the PS1 has the lack of any anti-aliasing and low color-bit count gives textures this real grit to them.
Putting yourself in those pixel art shots is a whole aesthetic in itself. Playing these games as a kid I always saw the game screen as like a window to a world where that's what reality looks like; people are made of pixels and have framerates, and all the motions and magic are just what physics is. Seeing a regular dude in that world, with all our rules alongside theirs just kinda blows my mind in a way I can't describe. I never really saw them as places I could go, and now I want it. Intent achieved, well done sir. Also, I appreciate the planning and retakes required to make those shots while keeping the script flowing. Altogether great work done well for a good cause.
I have to say this is easily my favourite channel on UA-cam. Every video feels like a chill chat with a good friend. Time just flies. Keep producing great content!
As an elder millenial who is practically a fossil now it warms my heart to see someone younger raving about low res background graphics in 90s games, and set to the masterpiece that is the Pilotwings 64 soundtrack. Devs back in the day had to work so much harder with what they had which drove creativity and meant games didn't all look the same. If you haven"t already, check out the backgrounds in 1080 Snowboarding and Final Fantasy 8, the pared back graphics in F Zero X, and the water effects in Wave Race 64.
Man no one else does greenscreen homely videos like you do. The vibe is so nice and cozy, I always have a smile on my face when I see one of your videos drop in my subscription box. I didn't really care about fashion all that much in the past but after your videos on it, I gave making my own drip a go and I instantly got a massive confidence boost so thanks. Keep it up, and ill be anticipating your next fashion video. But I'll be real you could make a video about compasses or some shit and I would watch it, the genuine care and vibe of your videos gets me watching no matter the topic. Sorry for the long comment, but you deserve the praise, keep it up man :)
And also!!! Pixel art is amazing. Am playing Minish Cap for the first time until the end after being captured by it when I was a child, and holy shit I feel like am on another universe. The perspective of the backgrounds and characters changing as you get smaller are so enchanting to me. The colors too, so pretty.
Bro I cannot express how much I enjoy watching your videos, you have somehow made content that appeals almost exclusively to the part of me that played Golden Sun on the Advance for hours, watched Super Mario Bros Z and listened to 90s anime openings of shows that I'd never watched And sure this specific video is ABOUT older graphics but quite literally every video youve made gives me a nostalgia that I cant find anywhere else, keep this stuff up man youre too good XD
You should definitely do a video on video game soundtracks from this era as well. Nostalgia hits so hard and it's great to hear some of these tracks years later
Sharpedo Bluff from pokemon Mystery Dungeons Explores IS my house. Hearing the Treasure Town theme is my childhood bedroom. Both these things make me want to cry because I'm 25 and not 8 anymore. Imagine a timeline where Pokemon ledgends Arceus looked like Ōkami. We were robbed. Edit: You earned a subscription just for shouting out Gravity Rush, Quality taste.
Dude, the demake of Bloodborne looks so cool! Old graphics, even though they looked that way due to hardware limitations, the artists at work were able to create magic with it all and I wish more games would go back to it. I would kill for another game with OoT graphics.
Kh1 has a special place in my heart because of that aesthetic. Even though some of the controls fucking blow those damn graphics just makes the game feel so cozy and just a fockin vibe. Another banger by IP 🙏🏼🙏🏼🔥
I always loved pixel art. The way they manage to capture so much detail with so many restrictions is extremely impressive. I love how much it inspires the imagination. Freedom Planet and Freedom Planet 2 are some of my favorite examples of pixel art. It was extremely impressive to me. I really wish Pokemon kept its pixel art aesthetic, its a shame they removed the remaining mini pixel art in Scarlet and Violet. Side Note: Something that was always cool to me, is when a pixel art game uses low poly 3D. It utilizes the aesthetic, to suck you into the world, and the 3D to elevate the scale and the power of something. Its such a beautiful way to use the medium.
The fact that he inserts himself in the scenes that he shows is a detail that give so much character and shows just how detail oriented this guy is ,i have the upmost respect for the kind of content you create .
Oh the intro alone tugged at my nostalgic heart strings 🥹 new graphics are gorgeous and it’s amazing how far technology has come, but the old graphics just scratch an itch that newer ones can’t.
The thing about the older games was sure they look like that but the graphics actually let more room for imagination and imagination is one of the key elements of playing just remember playing with toys as a kid the older games are just perfect art.
I remember when I used to play the PS1 with my older sister, games like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, etc. While I will agree that nostalgia plays a part, there is just something about those graphics that makes them feel different. Maybe it's truly something about the fact that they came out in an era where 3D was THE innovation and that latches on to my mind, those games would make me say "Wow! Just look at that!" now modern games after years of churning out a bunch of realistic games make me go "Eh, very pretty." Modern realistic games are not bad, but they are not capable of scratching an itch in my mind.
Right bro! I was thinking like what beats would go well with it and I kinda thought we’ll Mortal Kombats whole vibe is being bloody, gruesome, and dark and that’s kinda a similar vibe to 3 six mafias first album and boom it was perfect!
I remember watching the pre-rendered cutscenes and looking at the artwork for the original Final Fantasy 7 thinking one day games will be able to look like that in real time, now not only do games look many many times better than that but a game looking like that old artwork is an aesthetic choice, a welcome one. and if the devs want it can even look like the drawn artwork. It's amazing how far the tech has come.
I think nintendo only nailed the vibe of dead hand again in Tears of the Kingdom, those out of nowhere hands with eye coming at you and the atmosphere changing all of a sudden. They being so hard to kill, the sound. It gave me a creep the first time I saw it and still does even after I learned how to deal with them.
The music choices for your videos Pitstop is fantastic, you never fail. I think you're spot on about everything stylistically speaking (except for the cel-shaded Spider-Man aesthetic, but to each their own). I think this was a great way of making content that strikes to the the heart of what a lot of us gamers feel about this current era of visuals that we might have a hard time putting into words. Kudos!
I get where you're coming from with the Alan Wake 2 example, but that game actually does have a lot going on with its art direction, it's not just the graphical fidelity that won it that award. It does some of the most interesting stuff with mixing up the mediums of video games with other ones like tv or novels that I've seen, and the dark place sections are cool and both look and mechanically function like weird dreams or nightmares I know out of context I looks like just another generic, realistic game but it actually does have an interesting art direction in my opinion
See i do like pixel art and modern indie games that use that style, however its kinda weird that it became an aesthetic at all really, those games never looked like that during our childhoods because we played them on those old crt TVs, it smoothed out the pixels and had this warm glow and the scan lines, i wish more indie games tried looking like that, how these old games actually looked like and were intended to look like at the time, and not like you're playing on an emulator
Agreed. I actually like the modern pixel art that mimics the CRT scanline and glow feel. They look much better and are a lot more smoothed out. I think the other kind of pixel art looks really cheap most of the time. Eastward is one example of it being done really well.
The way you interact with the green screen "environment" is so fucking money dude. It feels like your genuinely inside the sets you use and its dope. 21:00 is a perfect example and I don't see many other creators utilize the space like this. Made it feel like we're all kickin it watching space do crazy shit. Its cool!
My first video of yours was the one about modern gaming's obsession with graphics. Looks like we've come full circle! Thanks for all the videos and vibes!
This is the first video I’ve seen from you and from the way you present yourself and how your video was edited, you’ve created such a vibe. It felt more like a conversation that I would have with my friends late at night then a essay-type video! Just AWESOME
Thank you! That’s a big goal with my scripts and content instead of a video essay more of a hang out with a friend who has a bunch of stuff to talk about
Okay, you CANNOT hit me with Zeal and the Another World theme from Cross at the same time like that. my emotions cannot take it, it is Super Effective nostalgia damage and GODDAMMIT Pitstop, I'm crying now! in all seriousness, I'm a big fan of retro game aesthetics. Maybe it has something to do with being a video game addict since 1989 (no, you're never gonna outgrow it), but really good 16-bit style pixel art or really creative low-poly graphics in a modern title are the key to my soul.
you also thought "this is probably easier than actually learning the real stuff and can get likes for less effort" which is true, nowadays pixelation is just a blender script and hipsters go bananas for something that isn't even hand crafted
One of the things I love the most about these older graphics is especially how much more *readable* everything is, because the artists and programmers had to make more with less, due to the crushing hardware contraints. Halo 2 reads better than Halo Infinite. Smash Melee reads better than Ultimate. Super Metroid reads better than Dread. Hell, I'm playing Jedi Survivor at the moment and despite all the highly detailed photogrammetry assets of the mindblowing environments.. it just.. lack so much instant visual clarity that helps the particular medium of videogames. All ths to say, modern devs have a lot to learn from older games when it comes to a healthy amount of restraints mixed with great art direction.
I grew up in the US but spent my summer vacations from school in Guadalajara, MX in the 90s to early 00s. Thank you for introducing me to Victor Estrella's artwork. It hits that nostalgia part of my brain and soul in such a way that just... I can't describe but is just fantastic. Man I really need to get myself back to Mexico as soon as possible. Such a beautiful country that deserves more love and respect than it gets usually. Edit - By the way, you are one of my favorite UA-cam videogame essayists. Love the way you relate the topic to your own life experiences. Also love how you never come across like your opinion is superior or that your taste is in any way better than anyone else's. Keep up the fantastic work dude.
Here's the factor link straight from the time vortex! strms.net/factor75_internetpi...
Can I just say... that Hallow Knight Fountain, with the Activate Windows in the corner, feels way more sombre with the watermark there than without in a really weird aesthetic way.
No shadows, or shadows, pick
Hollow night is shadows, nice try
>she
That gets my willy going silly
I love how your whole channel feels like a friend just nerding out over a random topic to you and I am just sitting here listening
I know right, I’m just standing here making dinner and it feels like my friend is over at the kitchen table geeking out and it’s just so much fun
@@ledojaeger7474 Here making speech about things they are passionate about is so fun, also what you have for dinner?
@@kirbythingys garlic chicken with mashed purple potatoes and savory carrots. I got the carrots reeeal good this time. Thanks for asking haha!
That video about anime backgrounds was peak
@@ledojaeger7474 pillowy mounds of mashed potatoes, perchance?
I think it's important to note that older games had much smaller dev teams, working on much smaller time scales, which produces art unified by a singular vision. That's a much more challenging thing to do in a modern triple A title.
Fax......"too many cooks in the kitchen ruin the stew." Same thing happens in a lot of movies that get canned down the road too.
Woah this is a great perspective
smaller ' *shorter* ' time frames , more so than the present ?
@@APDS-Akin triple A games can take half a decade or more, compared to the 3-6 month turnaround times you saw in the 8bit era. Most games on the PS1 didn't take longer than a year to develop.
Just wanna say I LOVE the way you insert yourself into every scene, not just standing in front of the visuals but actually becoming a part of them, sitting and laying in seats, trunks, the ground, the editing must have taken forever but the end result is really fantastic visually. The part where you're showing us the low poly sky boxes and just lay next to the camera, pointing and the different scenery and even showing us a visual on your phone instead of cropping it into the vid. So immersive, beautiful, massive props for the effort you've put into this video. Love it!
I absolutely agree, I love the way he does this as well, so much more thought and care is put into every frame and it goes a long way.
I agree. I love this kind of thing and I want to do it myself.
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
Thank you so much for this comment! I always did the more immersive shots here and there as I developed this style but only recently have I decided to really lean into it so that most of the video is me sitting, laying down and stuff. It takes a lot longer to plan the vid out now but based off your comment I feel it’s worth it! Adds to the chill vibes lol and most importantly as a a guy who took influence from Nakeyjakey to use a green screen he never really did what I do with really implementing my pose and seating into the shots so I felt by doing this I’m making it more my own thing!
@@InternetPitstop friendly reminder that i have hardly ever seen someone utilize a green screen so well for youtube videos. you may make videos about aesthetic, but your editing choices elevate the entire video. Lean into it, lay on everything, its a fucking mood and i love it
I really like the idea you mentioned of not thinking of older graphics as stepping stones, but thinking of them as an art style to be used for games when they fit the theme
It's funny cause I feel the same way about shitty CG film effects. There are cut scenes in old games like AoE 2, and teasers for Diablo 2 that I thought were the coolest shit growing up. The Final Fantasy movie or that Linken Park music video is "bad CG" by modern film standards but there's something about the super sterile, clinical look that I find so satisfying. It's very similar to those videos of lawns being mowed or dirt being power washed. A nicely shaded object with a clean gradient is a pleasing aesthetic even if it isn't photo real.
Can we talk about how he learned those moves for the Jet Set Radio bits just to dance along with the characters, gotta love the dedication
I absolutely love and appreciate the dedication to the craft and the lova and appreciation shown to all of these games especially JET SET RADIO!
The pixel graphics of gen 4 Pokémon and the DS in general makes me wanna cry
Same with gen 5. THEY MOVE IN BATTLE
@@raptortown I love gen 5 as well, but gen 4 reminds me of my childhood
i miss pokemon pixel graphics sooooo bad 😭
Soul Silver & Black & White 2 were the BEST pokemon games! The 3DS 3D pokemon games were the beginning of the end…
It's gen 3 for me
Art direction > Hyper realism
Realism with art direction is cool tho.
I get what you mean but hyperrealism doesn't exclude art direction
This is why Elden Ring and BOTW / TOTK still look better than Red Dead Redemption 2, despite the latter being released on an extremely underpowered handheld
@@anonymous01201 "look better" is still just a preference. RDR2 isn't just throwing realistic assets on a map, its a well researched and developed look, where the subject matter worked best with a very realistic setting.
Every time.
Pokémon visually has embraced 3D, but hasn't moved out of the 2D mindset. When there are two sprites talking to each other, your brain can fill in the rest as to what each character might be doing while speaking. But if it's two fully-rendered 3D models, having them blankly stare at each other or do one animation that you've seen them do a hundred other times while text comes out of their mouths and then do a full 180 degree turn without their model actually moving... that's on the other side of the uncanny valley.
It's the same concept, two characters looking at each other while talking, but you have to do more to convey what's happening in 3D otherwise it just looks bad. Pokémon has yet to figure out that they can't just replace sprites with 3D models and expect everything to be the same.
So accurate
Honestly mainly cud to how they cut corners in areas of 3d animation where there's limits .
It's why I think making a game with absurd high polycounts but limited animation variety is obnoxious.
Nailed it
Something big about the low poly look is shape language. Shape language in character design refers to how shapes imply characteristic, a square is sturdy, a circle is cut and harmless, a Triangle is sharp and dangerous looking, these trains are combined in strategic way to tell a story about the characters through their looks. In modern games character models have so many polygons that they can look totally smooth as they would be in real life, so using that bloodborn example, those ghost guys are smoother which in spite of them being creepey is still send off that circular lack of threat vibes. In older games, no matter how hard you try to make something a circle, it will always be angular, which makes everything feel a little more dangerous and threatening.
OHHHH that explains so much!! I love shape language so much
Interesting idea but I don’t think it *completely* holds up. When we were playing those older games as kids they were on CRT televisions. There was a bloom that smoothed the image, which isn’t something you get now. So roundness definitely was possible. I mean just look at Yoshi, for example. But of course it’s more complex than that - Boos and Goombas were also largely round. The danger comes from the fact they look angry, the colour, movements… and that they kill you 😮 haha
@jimmahgee Well, i'm not just talking about the enemies. I'm talking about the general uncanny nature of these games. Also, it's important to note that CRTs certainly smoothed things you they didn’t get around the overall polygonal look of everything. There's a reason why people knew Lara Croft had triangle boobs. And these days, when people do demakes or replay old games, they see these on modern screens so they see that jaggedness.
@@marche800 I just don’t buy it, there’s far more context and it all works together to produce the experience, including what the viewer brings. Mario 64 didn’t look “uncanny” and “dangerous” to me as a child. It was dangerous in some respects but in others I found it beautiful. In Ocarina of Time Kokiri forest felt safe, and Hyrule field during the daytime was full of potential. When I studied animation at university shape theory and silhouette were an important part of character design but they aren’t the “be all and end all” - once you have colour, movement, facial expressions, music, they all work in concert.
@jimmahgee Well there’s also the fact that our imaginations tend to fill in the blanks when it comes to things we saw as kids. We got what things were supposed to be and extrapolated from there. I've heard tons of people say they thought a game they loved looked better than it actually did. Though more to the point, I'm not trying to say that all polygonal games are inherently threatening, but there are definitely points where the uncannyness of the game design enhanced spooky elements. Like deadhand. When Deadhand was made smooth in the 3ds version of OOT, he became less threatening. The jankiness of his model made a creepy design genuinely terrifying. I'd say the same for redeads or even RE zombies.
This little pitstop on the internet has a big place in my heart. So comfy.
Him sitting with Yoshi watching the sunset always gets me
😂 so good
Peak
As an actual older gamer who grew up in the 90’s, I was legitimately choked up at that moment. And at “You’ve reached the internet pitstop, would you like to rest?” (Chrono Trigger is a gut-punch nostalgic blast for me in general)
Same here, my personal guy punch is the DKC2 sunset
PS2 graphics is not an insult. It's an aesthetic.
YES!
Exactly kind of like how 90s anime is also an aesthetic
like its batter than being so real game now so real they even lose their art style
Except when talking about Scarlet and Violet. Then suddenly it’s bad. 🤣
@@aintthatapotofeffluck8926 it can be done well and it can also be done badly lol I stand by pokemon works better in pixel art!
As someone that does not understand the obesion with games having realistic graphics these days this video is a great breath of fresh air.
PFP checks out
It's easy to understand why industries are obssesed with realistic graphics. Just think why live action is taken as "more adult" than animation, and there you have it.
It's wrong, of course, but it hasn't changed for nearly a century, has it?
because realistic graphics makes it simple to outsource to people or buy random assets that already exist. With an ideosincratic art direction you add a shiton of design resourcces needed for every single thing, and is hard to hire people to fit into it. When a game becomes too big is almost impossible to do every single asset that way, realistic is the faster and cheaper way to produce more stuff, like all the bloat open world games have.
@@100lovenana ^ "live action is taken as more adult than animation"
* *cough* *cough* * _Rick and Morty_ * *cough* * _Helluva Boss_ * *cough* * _Fritz the Cat_
@@Abeo93 But have those shows stopped most adults from claiming that animation is just for children? No
One of the thing i noticed is it's easier to get you immerse into an unrealistic setting than a realistic setting.
Of course if it's well done.
This is why I don't want my work to be realistic.
not true, i hate stuff like one piece and can't inmerse myself in something thats too cartoony
@@darkzeroprojects4245 and you can't draw so its a convenient excuse
@@j.2512 Well unrealistic deosn't necessarily mean cartoony. Also movies/shows are much more harder mediums to get immerse to than videogames. My theory is just since you already know it is not visually realistic unconsiously you would not compare it to real life. I also think consitancy is also have a role in this because when animations get worse or get better we notice pretty much instantly. I think a lot of "realistic" games suffer from non realistic animations too.
@@j.2512
That's a you problem then.
It may have been low polys but the amount of effort to convey atmosphere, lighting, color and tone was CLEARLY shown back in those days. They had to make due, and if I had to be honest, i think it made them take more effort in character actions specifically. Even something as simple as water, had to be designed in a simple yet very DISTINCT memorable way.
For me, nothing will ever beat the beautiful pixel artstyle of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. Like... Wigglytuff Guild, the beach at dusk and Sharpedo Bluff, Fogbound Lake and Crystal Lake, the Hidden Land with Temporal Tower, Sky Peak... Gosh I don't know a more beautiful fantasy world.
Bruh, the mana series???
straight up play the time gear theme all the way through and im finna cry, much less with "I'll always remember you"
I haven’t gotten Explorers of Sky yet but I HAVE played Red Rescue Team and the character animations alone make me so happy I have to hold back physical reactions.
The aesthetic and sound font is so deeply nostalgic to me. It kinda leaks into my own art
I live for the way he inserts himself into different games and funny scenarios. As always, this channel still feels like an immersive little world. 9:26, like what other video essay channel would go the extra mile to do something like this.
I agree, nobody else on youtube does that. This dude has created a really unique style for his vids
The first person POV while showing the audience pics on your phone… so immersive 👌🏻
Man I have to say, I had been thoroughly burnt out on UA-cam as a whole these past few months. After watching this, you’ve reignited my love of my childhood and nostalgia content. The way you stylize your videos and present your information is unlike anything anyone else is doing on this platform right now. I feel like I’m watching old school youtube and Adult Swim at the same time.
Really top notch dude. And I’ve seen quite a bit of your stuff and this is by far your best video yet.
Ah God, take me back to 2010’s youtube, when creators made real shit like this.
Your videos remind me of hanging out with my best gaming mate in school. We live a thousand miles away now and our lives and interests have changed, but this gives me that old comfy feeling of excitement about little details nobody else seemed to notice or care about. Thanks very much for taking me back and I wish you every success.
Old school graphics never fail to remind of being a child watching my cousins play wind waker on the gamecube. Thank u for this nostalgia trip.
You know a creator is good at what they do when you don't skip their in-video sponsorships. Well done, brother.
Ps1/N64 graphic are timeless,I never understood the whole "they age poorly" mentality,just to give you an idea I show Super Mario 64 to my niece(she’s 11) and she love these graphics a lot,that just show that these graphics are still great to look at today
You’re right. My daughter is 4 and she’s the same. Instead of asking ‘why’, they see it for the beauty it has.
i remember adults in the 90s saying it looked weird and shitty and didn't get why us kids liked it. I don't see kids today wanting that when given the option to choose between that and newer titles, If devs back then had more tools they would have used them to not make their asset look like jagged ass
The limited capabilities of the time did severely limit what could be done with making shit like organic cause the hardware simply can't afford smooth looking shapes, so unless the people working on the specific game knew what they were doing everything just looked like an unappealing geometric mess, the art direction needs to be extremely on point to make those games look any good, not to mention that the 3d view meant more complex movement was required to make the characters seem believable, while in 2d you can just have a character sprite on a JRPG flip a 180 without any animation of them turning and no one will question it cause it matches the level of detail of the rest of the game, if a character just rotates 180 degrees in a 3d game it will just look wrong cause the three-dimensional perspective feels too "realistic" to allow fir that movement.
Even just PS2 games aged a lot better in this department cause, while not realistic, in a sense they are kinda realistic enough to achieve at least the bare minimum of what people want to see in a 3d game.
Like reasonably smooth models with only some visible edges that are detailed enough to convey the intricacies of a character be it "real" or cartoon looking, like their expressions, hand gestures and even hair to a degree abd sane can be applied to the environments, the animations are just detailed enough to convey most things you'd wanna see like a character properly holding something or have stuff like bushes react to your character when walking on them, and in general it's all kind of the bare minimum of what people have come to expect from modern 3d games in general be it realistic or cell shaded, triple A or indie.
The PS1 simply lacked on a lot of these things abd had to make up for it in other ways which not all games did successfully just as even modern games fail to account for their limitations.
It's also worth remembering that fir every Super Mario 64 there's like a thousand shitty shovelware games that just looked and played like ass even back in the day.
The retro aesthetic and art style in general just makes me so happy. There's something about packing in so much detail in such simple shapes, being able to use your imagination to fill in the blanks, that games don't really have nowadays unless such graphics are intentional, but even then, it's very hit or miss.
Your videos are like finally hanging out with that kid that knows dope shit and they're actually an ascended knower who becomes your main homie. Forever.
I see a lot of people recently disparaging the return of low poly and pixel art in gaming, calling it "unoriginal" or even more frustrating, claiming that by capturing that look without using the actual hardware restrictions makes it wrong. Sure, being forced to work within the hardware limitations is what gave them their heart and soul, but because of them the aesthetics have become an art style in themselves, and that's what people fail to understand. Using modern tools for pixel art, like you said, has allowed games to become even more beautiful in that style. There's no reason low poly can't have the same done (and it is being done).
As someone who's been planning out a game in a low poly aesthetic because they always enjoyed the look, I just hope more people aim to recapture it without fear of it being played out.
Also, peak for going for the Spyro skyboxes. Haunting and dreamlike is what I always used to describe them, it's gorgeous.
I would love to see your low poly game whenever it comes out! There is so much charm in that style.
There is a reason PS1 style is popular for horror games. The fog in many games created an atmospheric and claustrophobic feeling, and the weird dithering and wobbly geometry creates a surreal feel. I also think the N64 style lends itself to a great atmosphere and is also great for cartoony aesthetic. Bright and colorful games like Mario and Banjo Kazooie excelled on N64 for a reason.
People who complain about this have definitely never made a game. I would rather complete a game in a "limiting" art style like low-poly than not finish a game at all. Making professional quality 3D is very, very time-consuming, especially if you are not particularly skilled in that discipline.
That's crazy, that's like saying any artist who still draws with pen and paper is inauthentic because we now have digital art programmes they could be drawing with instead.. physical limitations don't have to be FORCED by circumstances they can be embraced and used DESPITE technological advancement
@@darth6129is there a noticeable difference between the styles? I mean, aside from N64 loading faster but from less data than CDs
its not only unoriginal but 99% of time isn't even real pixel art or real psx graphics, Most of that stuff is done with scripts anyways , Blender hsa code that automatically makes sprite effects which everyone uses to fake it , it doesn't look or feel like the original thing and its just an excuse to be lazy and do something low effort
One of the reasons stuff like that holds up is this weird thing where when you're limited in you're creative space it seems to bring out the best in some people.
its because back then videogames weren't sjw crap with black lesbians
Sometimes when games of an older era are remade with modern graphics, I can't help but feel like a certain charm was lost. I don't think it's just nostalgia.
I think your brain might have been more engaged to fill in what's missing.
The older the graphics are, the more you have to imagine. They put you in these different locations that aren't anywhere near as detailed and lifelike as what we have today and your mind has to fill in the gaps to make it seem realistic.
I think your mind put in more effort with those older games and it made the experience richer because of it.
It's also because they replace those old unique assets with generic new redesigns
like a beautiful wall with cryptic text and crystals is now replaced with generic stonewall made of normal rocks and nothing else
the colors are different too and artstyle is all over the place, the whole vibe is just bland like any other new game
@@samhein321The Demon's Souls remake completely ruined the horror aesthetic and oppressive dread of the original game. The remake just looks more like generic fantasy. They made Flamelurker look like a WoW character. And don't even get me started on the soundtrack.
I think it is also differs from person to person, some might find games such as mgs1 or silent hill to be realistic looking. Especially when played in original resolution. But when you have a higher resolution the illusion goes away quite quickly (i.e in a remaster with just higher resolution and framrate).
you'll go crazy when you learn about this low graphics medium called books.The crazier part is , they still make them!!!
i also feel like with games, a massive part of the appeal is escapism and just being in another world. I feel like the more "realistic" something is, the less otherworldly it is. Like if it's realistic graphics, you gotta add personality somehow for some worldbuilding, or it's gonna feel a bit bland
Hands down most aesthetic UA-cam channel out there.
I could watch you gush about shit you like for an eternity.
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
Chrono Cross's OST and backgrounds slap so hard they deserve their own 40 minute tribute
NOSTALGIA just hits the soul different
Man, I am so glad that low poly art is finally receiving the attention and love it deserves. I thought I was going crazy because everyone kept saying how beautiful Pixel-Art was and how "ugly" those old PS1 and N64 games were. Now there are people making low poly games and even animations & pictures (myself included lmao) as well as dedicated tutorial series on how to archieve the look. (Check out the tutorial series by "TheSicklyWizard" if you want to learn it, it's really good!)
because its piss easy with blender and people are lazy and are using the nostalgia excuse to get asspats on amateur work . Most of the time it doesn't look at all like the real thing its mimicking and its not following any of the parameters or original restrictions, its a gimmick. Low poly models with no textures are just trivial to make in 2024
@@j.2512 Yeah, nice gatekeeping dude
@@j.2512 Dude we get it, you hate indie devs. Shut up about it already.
FF7 was my childhood and it is such a cool aesthetic. Pre-rendered backgrounds and animated 3D fights were so mind blowing and I still love it. It feels like stepping into a painting. I can’t describe it better.
FF7 pre renders are ugly asf, and makes the areas confusing at times. Ff8 now that’s where pre renders are beautiful
I got confused at the mechanical hand, after Aerith's house, took me ages to realise how to navigate that part as a kid. @@lulu_TheWitchBoy
@@UltimateGattaioh yeah now that I remember, that was confusing. Well it seems I see through rose tinted glasse then. I still love the style though.
@@high.level.noob. not entirely rose-tinted glasses, i played ff7 for the first time like 4 months ago and i didn't find them all too confusing, a couple were for sure, but the large majority of them were just jaw dropping, whether that's cuz they actually were or cuz of what they were aiming to portray, i'm not sure.
that game had a very good art direction though, imo.
@@lulu_TheWitchBoyI disagree, the low poly character models are cool. It’s like the artists made origami versions of each character.
"I'm a shitty writer that's why I'm a UA-camr" boi you made me watch a 5 hour video about anime backgrounds and I didn't even notice how much time passed. Every video is on point. I cried, I laughed, I felt nostalgia, I learnt, your editing is funny and unique and fits your channel amazingly. Don't sell yourself short. You're amazing. Even if I think I don't care about a topic in your videos you manage to get me excited and keep my attention all the way through. Because you ARE a good writer.
So glad you mentioned Chrono Cross. For the past 3 months I've been obsessed with atmosphere of Chrono Cross. The contrast between blue sky, yellow beaches and green forests is just perfect.
And then there is that opening, which I've had on repeat for months.
internet pitstop-core is one of the most genuine aesthetics on this platform. love the creativity in your editing, the pov hands while exploring got me good lmao
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
I ADORE your work dude, I have a blast seeing you jump around and chill on the backgrounds haha, it's super fun, what a unique and cool editing style you have it just... speaks to me.
I'm so used to leaving UA-cam videos in the background while doing something else, but I always have to make time for yours because I must take in everything in the video since it's so purposeful. Just... Thank you!
i wouldn’t say so much unique, this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
You're so right about the ff7 aesthetic, Cosmo Canyon is my personal favourite for some of the most beautiful backdrops and art pieces, so much that even as a kid I wish screenshotting was possible on my ps1.
those segments in the beginning where you were just sitting in video game landscapes with the characters got me right in the heart. id say that i cant believe i was jealous of an edit but i actually can
Lol thx man!
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
The thing that fascinates me the most about low-poly graphics is that all the details are in the textures. Especially games from Rare. They have mastered texture work on the N64, so much so that I always catch myself stopping every few minutes and just smelling the roses. It's magic, despite the limitations and flat surfaces everything feels alive and like the structures have sophisticated geometry, even up close. Ocarina of Time is the exact opposite, that game doesn't hide the cardboard scenery whatsoever. Flat looking structures, cardboard tree and mountain walls and blurry, smudgy, stretched textures left and right. From a technical perspective it's pretty bad. But I love the vibe of the aesthetics. It feels like a crude painting. Up close nothing makes sense, but if you step back you see the rough brush strokes form a clear and detailed picture. It creates a comfortable uncanniness that I never feel in modern games. So many games of that era have a cozy vibe to them. I feel like I could just sit down and have a nap in those environments.
I’m really happy Bomb Rush Cyberfunk’s art style was inspired by Jet Set Radio’s beautiful cell shaded art style bc overall the JSR’e cell shade art style is just awesome. And I hope we see more games have that style
Real fun and short game
I feel like you gotta be my favourite art appreciator on this platform, there’s not many people who can simply point at a pretty picture and make it feel alluring, ya know? Pure positivity, it’s nice to be shown pretty stuff. Sometimes it has to be forced sometimes there doesn’t have to be a point, only a purpose. To make people remember how much we have accomplished, accumulated. The beautiful art that exists in all the corners many wouldn’t think to look for on their own. Sincerely, goodnight It is 3 am
It's crazy how I was able to point out that Spyro skybox at 20:30 when I haven't played the original in 20 years.
That PS1 horror game vibe is real man, just last night I started playing Crow Country (an indie survival horror that uses the PS1 aesthetic) so I've been living in that headspace for a bit before seeing this video and it's hard to put into words but it's just a very different feel from a modern, hyper realistic horror game, and just super effective.
One thing I always LOVED about low poly is that it feels like A GAME and not a photorealistic BS... I remember having like 10 years old and PS2 and GameCube was about to come out and I was like "why?! We don't need those crazy graphics" as I felt like the whole imagination driven from low poly was going to go away.
Hello PinternetItstop
Hiiii
wow
Hi Supernintedo Chalmers
The Bloodborne Demake menus are also largely based on the Armored Core PS1 games of From Software. The Garage UI is basically the same in Armored Core . The Now Loading screen is also directly ripped from Armored Core but colored red.
i laughed my ass off when he said "she" when referring to the dev , i just knew it was gonna be a trooner, every "female" programmer is.
Your channel looks like it was made by me, so i can never forget how happy i was when i was a lil kid. like... i don't even have words to express how your videos make me feel. Thanks man, to put words on these niches subjects that i like in pop culture. i can't talk about these with people because they won't understand , but at this little pitstop i feel surrounded by common nostalgia. so thx man... like from the bottom of my heart. From a congolese/french guy in france
The green screen use in this video was top notch. Every time he looked back at the pixel art or whatever behind him, or seemed like he was laying back in a deck chair or something... Never got old. Good job, man!
Yeah especially the green scarf in Front of the green Screen was a great idea. 😂
@@bobswarley7512 omg i was like why is no one talking about the green scarf and clothes hahaha
got a binge session going on right now, this is my 4th straight video! holy wow dude, BRAVO to the editor whether thats you or someone else. and your story telling captivates! well done
How are you gonna talk about Low Poly aesthetics and NOT talk about Sonic 😭 literally the face of most of the revitalized y2k older graphics type of the aesthetics
He's a zoomer cut him some slack. He didn't grow up nor understands what's made that aesthetic popular even when it was new.
@@that1zombi3kid nga i'm a "zoomer" i'm younger than this guy wtf does that have to do with anything
5:24
@@Jordan-jv1tzthat's pokemon
@@mult1versal5:16 *
I love stylized graphics with all my heart but I still think Alan Wake 2 really did deserve that win. It has some visual effects I haven’t seen before like the ones where two places are layered on top of each other like a hologram taking up the whole screen. Also the neon city Alan’s story takes place in looked amazing though at places a bit uninspired. Changing the atmosphere of places and their lighting and objects in there in real time was really impressive too. AAA has a very distinct boring realistic look but I think Alan Wake shouldn’t be put in that same group.
all those old games were AAA once
@@j.2512 I think we have it best these days with indies carrying the torch of the experimental nature of the games around the millenium. Back then I would imagine crunch and overworking was already a problem even though people got to be more creative in those game companies. These days anyone can have an idea for a game and work on their project for however long it takes without higher ups breathing down their necks.
@@maaki50 No they don-t, every indie "spiritual succesor" is a cheap bootleg of the oldschool AAA game they are trying to mimick, is always worse and much less creative. Indie devs only use the nostalgia and aesthetics as an excuse to be lazy. Like 99.999999 of retro inspired indies are shovelware and pretty much nothing really measures up to the stuff AAA 90s devs made.
@@j.2512 I see you don’t know what the 99.9999% of 90s AAA games were… fucking shovelware! You just don’t remember them because they were quickly forgotten about.
Also can you name like 10 shovelware indies since there seem to be so many of them.
There's like a liminal space quality to a lot of these old games. The atmosphere allows your mind to fill in the blanks and your imagination to run wild. What isn't said, is more impactful than what is. Even though its more modern, I think Dark Souls 1 captures that feeling too.
Also, "got my willy going silly.'😂
This.
Ocarina of Time’s overworld is small, and it is sparse. But Hyrule Field still _feels_ large because of how empty it is. It may take less time to travel from one side to the other than in the BotW/TotK Hyrule Field, but it _feels_ just as large if not larger, _because_ your brain has to fill bits in.
Yeah zoomer, everything is liminal, what a cool buzzword
@@j.2512 okay I tried to leave this be but I keep seeing this same sentiment so I’m gonna take it out on you.
OP is entirely justified in their use of liminal space here. Liminal simply means “between”, but it carries connotations of being precariously balanced. OP is referring specifically to liminal spaces, as in areas that hit the uncanny valley - just normal enough to be recognisable but with something unsettlingly wrong about them, that’s often (but not always) hard to pinpoint or summarise. This is where the “precariously balanced” connotation comes in, as there’s a sweet spot for maximum unsettling-ness in the uncanny valley - go more realistic or more unusual and you evoke less instinctual revulsion/fear.
Blocky polygonal graphics like the PlayStation or N64 styles do often bump up against the uncanny valley. They’re juuuuust on the far-enough-from-normal-to-be-cartoony-or-cute side of the uncanny valley. A classic example of this is the Ben Drowned creepypasta, where a sprite used in an N64 game that was intentionally bumping into the uncanny valley by being unusually detailed is used as part of proof of a particular copy of the game being haunted.
On a more metatextual level, low-poly art styles often intentionally resemble pop-up books, heavily associated with early childhood for most people; by taking something resembling this early developmental milestone and making it intentionally unsettling, a sense of fear is achieved. This is the same concept as what made Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared or Five Nights At Freddy’s successful, by imitating children’s television or playground-arcade-restaurants, respectively.
“Liminal spaces” are usually when a place that should be filled with people, and is also often transitional (e.g. a hallway), is emptier and _far_ larger than one would expect. Low-poly games also tend to embody this by having large empty spaces that are pointless to interact with; they can evoke a sense of agoraphobia with their scale, and indeed in low-poly horror games often do.
My only regret in finding this channel is that there arent more videos! Ive watched all of them over the past few days and bro hasnt missed once. Editing style is hilarious topics are interesting music bops and theres so much passion in these video. I cant believe you arent at least 1m subs my boy i hella hope you blow up. This channel is gonna become a comfy place for me and i cant wait to see what bangers youre cookin up
this style of editing is, to say the least, HEAVILY inspired from “NakeyJakey” style of editing, if you like it then you should check out the guy who inspired it in the first place ;)
The old aestitics simplicity gives your mind room to interpret an think about what you are looking at and textures like the PS1 has the lack of any anti-aliasing and low color-bit count gives textures this real grit to them.
Putting yourself in those pixel art shots is a whole aesthetic in itself. Playing these games as a kid I always saw the game screen as like a window to a world where that's what reality looks like; people are made of pixels and have framerates, and all the motions and magic are just what physics is. Seeing a regular dude in that world, with all our rules alongside theirs just kinda blows my mind in a way I can't describe. I never really saw them as places I could go, and now I want it. Intent achieved, well done sir.
Also, I appreciate the planning and retakes required to make those shots while keeping the script flowing. Altogether great work done well for a good cause.
Always a good day when a new IP video drops
I have to say this is easily my favourite channel on UA-cam. Every video feels like a chill chat with a good friend. Time just flies.
Keep producing great content!
As an elder millenial who is practically a fossil now it warms my heart to see someone younger raving about low res background graphics in 90s games, and set to the masterpiece that is the Pilotwings 64 soundtrack. Devs back in the day had to work so much harder with what they had which drove creativity and meant games didn't all look the same.
If you haven"t already, check out the backgrounds in 1080 Snowboarding and Final Fantasy 8, the pared back graphics in F Zero X, and the water effects in Wave Race 64.
Man no one else does greenscreen homely videos like you do. The vibe is so nice and cozy, I always have a smile on my face when I see one of your videos drop in my subscription box. I didn't really care about fashion all that much in the past but after your videos on it, I gave making my own drip a go and I instantly got a massive confidence boost so thanks. Keep it up, and ill be anticipating your next fashion video. But I'll be real you could make a video about compasses or some shit and I would watch it, the genuine care and vibe of your videos gets me watching no matter the topic. Sorry for the long comment, but you deserve the praise, keep it up man :)
And also!!! Pixel art is amazing. Am playing Minish Cap for the first time until the end after being captured by it when I was a child, and holy shit I feel like am on another universe. The perspective of the backgrounds and characters changing as you get smaller are so enchanting to me. The colors too, so pretty.
Bro I cannot express how much I enjoy watching your videos, you have somehow made content that appeals almost exclusively to the part of me that played Golden Sun on the Advance for hours, watched Super Mario Bros Z and listened to 90s anime openings of shows that I'd never watched
And sure this specific video is ABOUT older graphics but quite literally every video youve made gives me a nostalgia that I cant find anywhere else, keep this stuff up man youre too good XD
the SMILE on my face when you brought up spyro 😭❤️ great video as always 🫶🏻
You should definitely do a video on video game soundtracks from this era as well. Nostalgia hits so hard and it's great to hear some of these tracks years later
Sharpedo Bluff from pokemon Mystery Dungeons Explores IS my house. Hearing the Treasure Town theme is my childhood bedroom. Both these things make me want to cry because I'm 25 and not 8 anymore.
Imagine a timeline where Pokemon ledgends Arceus looked like Ōkami. We were robbed.
Edit: You earned a subscription just for shouting out Gravity Rush, Quality taste.
Dude, the demake of Bloodborne looks so cool! Old graphics, even though they looked that way due to hardware limitations, the artists at work were able to create magic with it all and I wish more games would go back to it. I would kill for another game with OoT graphics.
Kh1 has a special place in my heart because of that aesthetic. Even though some of the controls fucking blow those damn graphics just makes the game feel so cozy and just a fockin vibe. Another banger by IP 🙏🏼🙏🏼🔥
I always loved pixel art. The way they manage to capture so much detail with so many restrictions is extremely impressive. I love how much it inspires the imagination. Freedom Planet and Freedom Planet 2 are some of my favorite examples of pixel art. It was extremely impressive to me. I really wish Pokemon kept its pixel art aesthetic, its a shame they removed the remaining mini pixel art in Scarlet and Violet.
Side Note: Something that was always cool to me, is when a pixel art game uses low poly 3D. It utilizes the aesthetic, to suck you into the world, and the 3D to elevate the scale and the power of something. Its such a beautiful way to use the medium.
The fact that he inserts himself in the scenes that he shows is a detail that give so much character and shows just how detail oriented this guy is ,i have the upmost respect for the kind of content you create .
Oh the intro alone tugged at my nostalgic heart strings 🥹 new graphics are gorgeous and it’s amazing how far technology has come, but the old graphics just scratch an itch that newer ones can’t.
Dude you released this literally not even an hour after I finished watching your Atmosphere in Zelda video. I am blessed
Im glad I'm caught up on all your recent videos already, get to watch this as soon as I want!
The thing about the older games was sure they look like that but the graphics actually let more room for imagination and imagination is one of the key elements of playing just remember playing with toys as a kid the older games are just perfect art.
Recording your audio on a 2001 logitech headset mic to match the theme of the video was a brilliant creative choice.
The green screen utilization has improved so much. Thanks for another fun video
Man sad, man see internet pitstop uploaded a 1 hour long video, man happy. 9:46
I remember when I used to play the PS1 with my older sister, games like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, etc. While I will agree that nostalgia plays a part, there is just something about those graphics that makes them feel different. Maybe it's truly something about the fact that they came out in an era where 3D was THE innovation and that latches on to my mind, those games would make me say "Wow! Just look at that!" now modern games after years of churning out a bunch of realistic games make me go "Eh, very pretty." Modern realistic games are not bad, but they are not capable of scratching an itch in my mind.
I Never realized Mystic Styles blends with Mortal Kombat so well.
Right bro! I was thinking like what beats would go well with it and I kinda thought we’ll Mortal Kombats whole vibe is being bloody, gruesome, and dark and that’s kinda a similar vibe to 3 six mafias first album and boom it was perfect!
You really got me again when standing outside linkshouse. We all love your content never change, never stop.
I remember watching the pre-rendered cutscenes and looking at the artwork for the original Final Fantasy 7 thinking one day games will be able to look like that in real time, now not only do games look many many times better than that but a game looking like that old artwork is an aesthetic choice, a welcome one. and if the devs want it can even look like the drawn artwork. It's amazing how far the tech has come.
I think nintendo only nailed the vibe of dead hand again in Tears of the Kingdom, those out of nowhere hands with eye coming at you and the atmosphere changing all of a sudden. They being so hard to kill, the sound. It gave me a creep the first time I saw it and still does even after I learned how to deal with them.
Now I gotta go pour another one out for Toriyama. RIP legend.
Octopath series does this so good and the new eyuden chronicles looks great too
My grandma just passed away love watching your videos dude. Reminds me of easier times
The music choices for your videos Pitstop is fantastic, you never fail. I think you're spot on about everything stylistically speaking (except for the cel-shaded Spider-Man aesthetic, but to each their own). I think this was a great way of making content that strikes to the the heart of what a lot of us gamers feel about this current era of visuals that we might have a hard time putting into words. Kudos!
I get where you're coming from with the Alan Wake 2 example, but that game actually does have a lot going on with its art direction, it's not just the graphical fidelity that won it that award. It does some of the most interesting stuff with mixing up the mediums of video games with other ones like tv or novels that I've seen, and the dark place sections are cool and both look and mechanically function like weird dreams or nightmares
I know out of context I looks like just another generic, realistic game but it actually does have an interesting art direction in my opinion
YES SIRR RIGHT WHEN I GET OFF OF WORK *pulls up a chair cracks open a cold one*
See i do like pixel art and modern indie games that use that style, however its kinda weird that it became an aesthetic at all really, those games never looked like that during our childhoods because we played them on those old crt TVs, it smoothed out the pixels and had this warm glow and the scan lines, i wish more indie games tried looking like that, how these old games actually looked like and were intended to look like at the time, and not like you're playing on an emulator
Agreed. I actually like the modern pixel art that mimics the CRT scanline and glow feel. They look much better and are a lot more smoothed out. I think the other kind of pixel art looks really cheap most of the time. Eastward is one example of it being done really well.
The way you interact with the green screen "environment" is so fucking money dude. It feels like your genuinely inside the sets you use and its dope. 21:00 is a perfect example and I don't see many other creators utilize the space like this. Made it feel like we're all kickin it watching space do crazy shit. Its cool!
My first video of yours was the one about modern gaming's obsession with graphics. Looks like we've come full circle! Thanks for all the videos and vibes!
That Jet Set Radio Dance Break was siiiiiiiick 🔥
men see internet Pitstop drop. men happy
You actually never miss so glad I subbed
This is the first video I’ve seen from you and from the way you present yourself and how your video was edited, you’ve created such a vibe. It felt more like a conversation that I would have with my friends late at night then a essay-type video! Just AWESOME
Thank you! That’s a big goal with my scripts and content instead of a video essay more of a hang out with a friend who has a bunch of stuff to talk about
Okay, you CANNOT hit me with Zeal and the Another World theme from Cross at the same time like that. my emotions cannot take it, it is Super Effective nostalgia damage and GODDAMMIT Pitstop, I'm crying now!
in all seriousness, I'm a big fan of retro game aesthetics. Maybe it has something to do with being a video game addict since 1989 (no, you're never gonna outgrow it), but really good 16-bit style pixel art or really creative low-poly graphics in a modern title are the key to my soul.
That landscape overlooking the city in Hyper Light Drifter literally made me stop and say "I want to make pixel art." Changed my fucking life.
you also thought "this is probably easier than actually learning the real stuff and can get likes for less effort" which is true, nowadays pixelation is just a blender script and hipsters go bananas for something that isn't even hand crafted
@@j.2512 you managed to self report, congrats.
bro wore a green scarf to a green screen shoot
One of the things I love the most about these older graphics is especially how much more *readable* everything is, because the artists and programmers had to make more with less, due to the crushing hardware contraints.
Halo 2 reads better than Halo Infinite.
Smash Melee reads better than Ultimate.
Super Metroid reads better than Dread.
Hell, I'm playing Jedi Survivor at the moment and despite all the highly detailed photogrammetry assets of the mindblowing environments.. it just.. lack so much instant visual clarity that helps the particular medium of videogames.
All ths to say, modern devs have a lot to learn from older games when it comes to a healthy amount of restraints mixed with great art direction.
I grew up in the US but spent my summer vacations from school in Guadalajara, MX in the 90s to early 00s. Thank you for introducing me to Victor Estrella's artwork. It hits that nostalgia part of my brain and soul in such a way that just... I can't describe but is just fantastic.
Man I really need to get myself back to Mexico as soon as possible. Such a beautiful country that deserves more love and respect than it gets usually.
Edit - By the way, you are one of my favorite UA-cam videogame essayists. Love the way you relate the topic to your own life experiences. Also love how you never come across like your opinion is superior or that your taste is in any way better than anyone else's. Keep up the fantastic work dude.