Despite many modern games, especially those of a triple𝔉-A scale, leaning more towards a photorealistic style, one of the greatest capabilities of games is how they can bring s❀o many art styles to life. From the hand-drawn style of Hollow Knight to the Ukiyo-e painterly look of Okami, games have a heritage in art.
In the 90s, many games took up using pre-rendered backgrounds to create vividly detailed worlds without needing to render them in real time. Many modern games drifted away from this due to increases in computing power, but many new games and plenty of older games show that it's a style that has plenty of life in it.
10 Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Oddworld is by all means, an odd series of games with a certain surrealism in its world that makes it so appealing. You play as Abe, running for your freedom for your factory, and recruit plenty of fellow workers along the way. It's gruelingly difficult but immensely engrossing.
When you're not hiding in corners or assuming control of enemies, you'll probably spend your time admiring the backgrounds. As a sidescroller, the backgrounds frame everything you're doing, and each one of them is rendered with beautiful detail.
9 Disco𝓀 Elysium
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Disco Elysium, rather ironic real-life drama aside, is an incredible game. It wears its themes proudly and isn't afraid to make fun of every choice you make along the way. It's received critical acclaim for its writing and gameplay, though its art is also something to admire.
One of the rarer modern games to use pre-rendered backgrounds, it does so uniquely. Rather than creating hyper-real, very detailed backgrounds, it instead uses them to paint its isometric perspective in a way 3D environments wouldn't. It gives the whole game this feeling as though it were a painting in motion.
8 🐻 PS1 Final Fantasy
Not one but three games make up this entry. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy games (in their original releases, at least) have always been praised for their art style, and the PS1 entries of Final Fantasy had great praise in that regard as well, primarily for their pre-rendered back🍸grou🌱nds.
Though they suffer greatly when not 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:viewed through a CRT as intended, the pure art of the backgrounds is something to marvel at. There's an incredible variety throughout the game, from the grimy backgrounds of Midgar to the coastal paradise of Costa del Sol.
7 Baten Ka𒊎itos
One of the lesser-known creations of Monolith Soft, the Baten Kaitos duology revolved around the use of a magic called Magnus. This was used to build decks for combat and hold items that could be relevant in later scenarios. It's an incredibly unique game that is finally getting a re-release.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:One of the rare JRPGs on the Gamecube, Baten Kaitos has an incredibly unique art style. It uses pre-rendered backgrounds to incredible effect, not just to make detailed backgrounds but also to frequently change art style. One area might have a wispy painting effect, while another will look entirely like c꧙laymation.
6 Gamecube Resident Evil 1 🏅 ꦦ
The original three 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Resident Evil games all take advantage of pre-rendered backgrounds to great effect. They all feel tight and restrict💯ive, the locked camera forcing🤡 you into dangerous scenarios but also making you see the backgrounds exactly how they want to.
Like many older games, these are harder to appreciate as much as in the original release, though the Gamecube remake of Resident Evil 1 holds up magnificently. The background looks as crisp as ever with more detailed characters ꦛthat still fit the environment perfectly. It showca🌟ses how these older games can be brought forward while retaining their original look.
5 Fantasian
As an exclusive of Apple Arcade, the number of people that have 🔯been able to access Fantasian is somewhat limited, though plenty have raved about its art. From Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Final Fantasy, Fantasian was seen as an evolution of many earlier Final Fantasy games.
In this regard, art was a big aspect. Like many Final Fantasy games that used pre-rendered backgrounds, Fantasian used 3D-scanned dioramas. So while the game's backgrounds aren't strictly pre-rendered, they were designed to be both an homage and successor of the style.
4 G🎃rim Fandango
Frequently cited as one of the greatest games of all time and one of the most wonderful examples of pre-rendered art, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Grim Fandango was one of the final adventure games made by LucasArts. It follows Manꦆny C🧔alavera on his journey through a Día de Muertos-inspired afterlife.
A unique approach used by Grim Fandango was actually creating every environment in 3D a💦nd simply pre-rendering it at a different angle to create them. It gives a wonderful depth to the world, allowing them to play around with perspective in beautiful ways that still hold up in the modern remaster.
3 The Legend Of Dra💛g▨oon
Though it initially received 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:somewhat mixed reviews, The Legend of Dragoon has gotten more of a cult following in later years. Nowadays, it's seen as an underrated gem of the PS1 era and one that has both unique gameplay and incredible art.
While most criticism was aimed at its gameplay, the art has always been praised. Much of the game's cutscenes are CG, and its characters are 3D, though just about every background is pre-rendered. All of these assets flow together beautifully, with Legend of Dragoon having some of the finest pre-rendered backgrounds of the period.
2 ꦐ P🥀illars Of Eternity
Another of the few modern games that use pre-rendered backgrounds, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pillars of Eternity comes from Obsidian Entertainment. Inspired heavily by isometric RPGs like the original Fallout, Pillars of Eternity is a ꦛreal-time ♑RPG focused on player choice.
It makes excellent use of pre-rendered backgrounds, using more modern methods to enhance t𝄹he art. This includes 3D assets for some foliage and dynamic lighting effects that grant it a look that was impossible for earlier games.
1 Myst
Myst is a unique game, pioneering an art style and a genre all in one. Coupled with many technical limitations for the time, Myst used pre-rendered b🔴ackgrounds to the best of its ability to create a world that was deeply immersive while simultaneously creating a puzzle-based adventure game like few others.
Taking place across various Ages, Myst lets you solve its puzzles and unravel the mysteries of its world at your own pace. Every area is decorated with meticulous pre-rendered background, a necessity for the game due to its observation focus. It's an incredible work, both mechanically and artistically.