Shocker

[Meleoffs]

the only game I'd remotely compare graphics-wise is The Secret World, which you can't even completely compare either, because the style is just... different (naturally, it's set in the 'real world' while ARR is... well.. final fantasy)

I don't care if this game isn't as good as a current handheld game (though I call ** on that one)
this game will still look pretty 10 years from now simply because the STYLE they chose looks pretty.

you remind me of the people that don't play old FF games because they are waiting for a HD remake. ugh.

FFXI, while having an extremely dated graphics engine, still looks nice today because of the style they used which is identical to the one they used in this game.

[Yucie]

snip

TSW is actually pretty god-damn hideous. Also, the combat in that game absolutely blows chunks.

[Teraluna]

TSW is actually pretty god-damn hideous. Also, the combat in that game absolutely blows chunks.

SW melee combat was likened to a bunch of string puppets having a fight. I played a healer -- blood/fist. After reading that post in the game I couldn't get it out of my head. Gave up after a while.

[jdnyc]

OMG that combat...I was bored just watching it.

[Zantetsuken]

So just out of curiosity i looked up some videos of what the original game was like.

HOLY CRAP, the cutscenes were 10 times better and the graphics look 3 times better in the previous game.

BUT... the combat looks HORRIBLE.

Here is just an example of what i refer to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWcI0CPaLNE

As someone who played 1.0 from Alpha through the final server shutdown, I'll say this:

The cutscenes in 1.0 had more 'heart' to them. The pacing was slower, they were more carefully crafted, and they were meant to evoke emotion rather than impress with flash and drama.

1.0 was a bit of a dreamy place... things were slower, crafting was tedious and intricate, Mobs had interesting personalities and behaviors, gear was simply and realistically designed, but it had ample room to grow, textures and models were detailed, if somewhat bland..., the world zones where huge, but repetitive. Combat was slower but we had more skills and spells to work with, you couldn't jump. and the engine was pretty bad. But overall the game felt more.. realistic and tangible (especially if you played it in 3D )

ARR gave us a vibrant and far more varied world, faster combat, flashier moves, faster leveling, much more content, wild armor and weapon designs, jumping, running, explosive vfx, Limit Breaks, greater and greater (perceived) power for our characters.

But something is lost and something gained in every change...

You could say that in the transition, we traded realistic for fantastic. The devs didn't have to jump into the deep end of fantastic in ARR, they could have easily retained the realistic approach while fixing the problems of copy-paste world, engine, etc. The realistic/fantastic path is a direction/style thing, not tied directly to game mechanics. Personally, I think the realism is the better way to go. It has a much longer lifespan and is a better foundation to build from - You'll find that fantastic becomes ridiculous the further you push it.

You can always start off slow and realistic and ramp up from there, but if you're baseline is fantastic... well, it will be interesting how the devs handle it.

[Caselia]

1.23 combat was actually fun if you played it.
And yes the textures for 1.0 are much higher as well as character models are 10x better, but ARR has better level design. Even so, 1.0 had much better maps imo, ARR maps feel cramped, cluttered, still, lifeless, and horribly out of place for a lot of areas compared to 1.0 which was vast and felt immersible. Not to mention the soundtracks that went along with the map design fit perfectly and played in a loop unlike ARR.

[Althea]

One of the things I think I missed most about 1.0 was the animations - more specifically, the animations in each cut scene. Like now, when your character walks up you do like a 100% full speed power walk then just immediately stop. So many corners cut in that aspect.

Plus the graphics where a lot "cleaner." The HDR bloom they had was fantastic; as well as the higher resolution textures.

But that's literally all I miss. The combat was so ... terrible. And the UI. Rofl.

[Velox]

ITT some people who have no idea how graphics work in in dynamic worlds versus static worlds, and why MMOs will ALWAYS be one step behind single-player games when it comes to visual polish.

ITT other people who do and can see just how stunning the world is given the handicap that it's an MMO.

[hua]

This one was pretty good I think. @ 10min 20sec notice how an item is given and received. Best part of the cs starts around 5min 15sec.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqV84_rKfxU
2.0 Cutscene animation speed looks like it's moving at 1.5 to 2.0 times the normal speed.

[BlazeChronic]

This thread needs more of this.

edit - 100th post ftw