Graphics Showcase PC Games

[ramjb]

Hi all,

So I treated myself to a near top-of-the-line PC this Christmas, replacing the rinky-dink piece of junk rig that I used to have (2GB GT 660Ti lol).

Unfortunately, now that I can crank my games' graphical settings to max, all I feel is profound disappointment. The graphics aren't that great and barely improved over low. It's really taken away all the enjoyment I felt from gaming, and ironically getting a new PC might cause me to quit gaming altogether.

Before I used to feel grateful that I could even run the game and excited just to be able to participate in the gaming fraternity - a true gamer, pushing the envelope of technology. But now, when I look at how lackluster today's ultra graphics are, it's like I've realized that games are toys for children and that if I want to experience real graphics I need to go out and do real things in real life (travel instead of Skyrim, join the army reserve instead of Call of Duty, etc.). Plus the 100fps I now get is really distracting and gives a fake Hobbit like sheen to everything, instead of the cinematic 15-20fps I was experiencing before. The only game I can still tolerate is WoW, where the player interaction and community makes it feel real.

I'd like to give gaming one more chance before I give up on it entirely. I need a game that can impress me graphically, so I can rid this horrible feeling of buyer's remorse. Can anyone recommend any graphically impressive games?

These are the games I've already played. All graphical disappointments on my new PC.

- Star Wars Battlefront 2
- Battlefield 1
- The Witcher 3
- Call of Duty WWII
- Destiny 2
- Grand Theft Auto 5
- The Division
- Assassins Creed Unity and Origins
- Fallout 4
- Skyrim Special Edition
- Black Desert
- War Thunder
- Dragon Age Inquisition
- Deus Ex Mankind Divided

I don't know, could it be The Uncanny Valley effect that is putting me off games? I notice that I'm picking up on all the minor graphical flaws (e.g. low texture explosions, characters not emoting) now that my PC can display everything in next-gen, super-HD.

[Zephyr Storm]

Unfortunately, if you play games mainly for graphics, you’ll almost always come out disappointed. Graphics are only a part of what can make a game great. You can have the most realistic looking game in the world but if it is boring to play or just can’t hold your interest, then those graphics don’t really mean shit at the end of the day. It’s one thing to want to max out all the eye candy in game, but it’s something else entirely when that becomes your main focus on whether you enjoy a game or not.

Also, consoles are creeping ever closer to having parity with gaming PCs. Not necessarily from a graphics power standpoint, but from the fact that consoles are now reaching 4K levels of detail and developers aren’t doing as much to make the PC versions look way better. It’s easier for them to take the same game and just port it to PC and make minor improvements and call it a day. The main thing PCs still have going for them is higher FPS, but not everyone thinks that’s necessary in the grand scheme of things.

And this is all coming from someone that owns an Xbox One S, Xbox One X, and top of the line gaming PC.

[Tech614]

The biggest graphical upgrades you can make are not in the "low to high" settings.

It's in performance, can you run a game at very high framerates on a 144hz monitor?
It's in resolution, is said 144hz monitor 4k?
It's in HDR, does said monitor support it?

If you upgraded your pc and still are playing on some shit 1080p 60 hz screen of course you're not going to see that big of a difference. Only a few games out there have drastic scaling where Low->Ultra makes a major difference. The majority of games will look far better on low in 4k HDR then they would on ultra in 1080p.

[Zephyr Storm]

The biggest graphical upgrades you can make are not in the "low to high" settings.

It's in performance, can you run a game at very high framerates on a 144hz monitor?
It's in resolution, is said 144hz monitor 4k?
It's in HDR, does said monitor support it?

If you upgraded your pc and still are playing on some shit 1080p 60 hz screen of course you're not going to see that big of a difference. Only a few games out there have drastic scaling where Low->Ultra makes a major difference. The majority of games will look far better on low in 4k HDR then they would on ultra in 1080p.

This too.

The biggest improvements right now come from higher resolutions, higher frame rates, and HDR.

Just cranking the settings up to max at 1080p doesn’t do as much as it use to.

[Usagi Senshi]

I play WoW with two 560ti cards at 10fps/4k! I'm living the dream!

Seriously though, always tweak and try various settings ate different resolutions.

I tried DSR with FFXIV two years ago with a shitty 1080p monitor I had laying around and was still impressed with the detail bump:

1080p


4k

[Video Games]

I play WoW with two 560ti cards at 10fps/4k! I'm living the dream!

Really meowks you thonk, donut it?