9. Graphics Don't Make A Game (And They Never Did)
Want a game that's a nice n' shiny graphical showcase with nothing under the hood? Go play The Order: 1886 or something like Beyond: Two Souls. Obviously that's making a point by strawmanning the opposing argument, but the point still stands; think back to the favourite games of your childhood - did you give a hoot about the graphics? Of course not. Things have always looked a bit more rounded and performed better on PC hardware (that's just inevitable at this stage), but - and this really shouldn't need to be pointed out - it's the gameplay of any title that makes it shine. The indie scene
continues to prove that you don't need multi-million dollar budgets to bring your creation to life, and I'm sure anyone who's played something like Undertale will agree there're more character and memorability in that game than across a good 100 titles with budgets ten times its size. Like the ethos behind Final Fantasy VII's reduced aesthetic for the sake of delivering the most expansive experience possible at the time, Bethesda have obviously shot for the biggest world they could, before then optimising the graphics to suit. Gameplay and all its interconnected stat-crunched systems come first, with the stylised colourful look they've gone for simply powering everything else.