It is. And it strikes me as evidence we've lost the plot and a measure has ceased to be a good measure upon being a target.
It used to be that more computational power was desirable because it would allow for developers to more fully realize creative visions that weren't previously possible.
Now, it seems that the goal is simply visual fidelity and asset complexity... and the rest of the experience is not only secondary, but compromised in pursuit of the former.
Thinking back on recent games that felt like something new and painstakingly crafted... they're almost all 2D (or look like it), lean on excellent art/music (and even haptics!) direction, have a well-crafted core gameplay loop or set of systems, and have relatively low actual system requirements (which in turn means they are exceptionally smooth without any AI tricks).
Off the top of my head few years: Hades, Balatro, Animal Well, Cruelty Squad[0], Spelunky, Pizza Tower, Papers Please, etc. Most of these could just as easily have been made a decade ago.
That's not to say we haven't had many games that are gorgeous and fun. But while the latter is necessary and sufficient, the former is neither.
It's just icing: it doesn't matter if the cake tastes like crap.
[0] a mission statement if there ever was one for how much fun something can be while not just being ugly but being actively antagonistic to the senses and any notion of good taste.
It used to be that more computational power was desirable because it would allow for developers to more fully realize creative visions that weren't previously possible.
Now, it seems that the goal is simply visual fidelity and asset complexity... and the rest of the experience is not only secondary, but compromised in pursuit of the former.
Thinking back on recent games that felt like something new and painstakingly crafted... they're almost all 2D (or look like it), lean on excellent art/music (and even haptics!) direction, have a well-crafted core gameplay loop or set of systems, and have relatively low actual system requirements (which in turn means they are exceptionally smooth without any AI tricks).
Off the top of my head few years: Hades, Balatro, Animal Well, Cruelty Squad[0], Spelunky, Pizza Tower, Papers Please, etc. Most of these could just as easily have been made a decade ago.
That's not to say we haven't had many games that are gorgeous and fun. But while the latter is necessary and sufficient, the former is neither.
It's just icing: it doesn't matter if the cake tastes like crap.
[0] a mission statement if there ever was one for how much fun something can be while not just being ugly but being actively antagonistic to the senses and any notion of good taste.