The graphics, the graphics.

After years I have come back to GW2 and have to say the graphics have not stood the test of time very well have they?I have enjoyed the game in the past but I'm not sure if I can get past the awful visuals to play again. Funny, I always remembered the graphics in GW2 to be the bees-knees. Oh how we progress without realising the extent.

Upgrade or change your graphics card. Use Game Booster.

@Aridon.8362 said:Upgrade or change your graphics card. Use Game Booster.

I was talking about the game not my hardware. :)Not very much further I can go with i9 and RTX 380. It's running on ultra @100fps.

Oh wait. It's only 38% downloaded. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Maybe in the base game areas but the recent graphics don't look dated at all in my opinion.

I like the art style and I think the graphics look fine. It's not the most realistic graphics can possibly be, but I'm actually glad of that because those are the ones which tend to look dated extremely quickly. I remember when everyone was going on about how great N64 games looked, now even with re-makes you have to accept that the graphics are a product of the time it was made and will look absurdly blocky by modern standards. But there's pixel art games from the early 90's which still look as good today as when they were released.

@Joote.4081 said:Oh wait. It's only 38% downloaded. Maybe that has something to do with it.

I'm not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me if that affects it. The game prioritises the stuff you absolutely need to play and downloads that first, so it might be downloading the low-end versions first and leaving the optional extras until later.

Art work is top notch in this game. Whatever faults there might be otherwise this game hands down has the best artwork of any MMO i have played. And I'd argue its for this reason that the graphics look fresh even today. Many developers mistakenly believe that technical graphics options are what makes the game look get but in reality its always the artwork that makes the game look "good".

Character art in particular is phenomenal. To include the animations. Its the main reason I play this game despite the numerous balance issues with OP and Meta builds in PVE trivializing the game.

Use ReShade if you find the graphics that bad. But i don't think they are. They're not "realistic" like most of today's ones are trying to be, but the artstyle is very consistent and that's what's most important. There's some downright beautiful scenery in this game that i still awe at.

Central Tyria sometimes looks a bit "not as detailed" as some HoT or PoF areas, but not by much.On the hightest settings though, the game still looks really good!

@Solanum.6983 said:Maybe in the base game areas but the recent graphics don't look dated at all in my opinion.

Yes, seeing as I am starting out with a new character. Maybe they haven't updated the starting areas since release. I will have to push on and see if things get better. At the moment it looks awful with really meh textures and the look of Vaseline on the screen splodge.84% downloaded. The game has grown.

I guess it doesn't help playing on a 32" widescreen monitor. It's going to be stretched out a bit. I think the last time I played it was on something like a 20" @1080p

I prefer the core look to the later look - it's less flashy. But, no they haven't and prob never will, updated the older maps' graphics

For some reason the graphics in this game can have a pixelated look to them, and i am not running on low or anything. I have turned off depth blur as well. Not sure what the issue is.

@vicky.9751 said:For some reason the graphics in this game can have a pixelated look to them, and i am not running on low or anything. I have turned off depth blur as well. Not sure what the issue is.I suspect the issue is that the screen you have is using pixels to show the graphics.

The main problem is that the game lacks a sharpening filter, so some of the textures can look quite soupy. The solution is to use a shader enhancer, although I wish they'd just add a sharpening filter directly to the game.

You're never going to get high resolution textures in an MMO, the data set is already nearly 50GB.

The core maps haven't changed since 2012 and for 8 year old content I think they look good. Newer maps have higher quality textures and more detailed models. For example, go to any Path of Fire and onwards map and look at the night sky, then compare that with the night sky of any core map. It's... day and night in terms of quality.

Other games revamp their earlier map graphics, Anet chose not to due to the art style. Guild Wars 2 has a painted art style look and although changing old map details/graphics would be good for some players, others wouldn't like it.

The graphics are fine, even on lower settings. This might come as a shock, but while we're in an age where everything's expected to look super pretty, realistic, or both, it's not necessary. And having seen the likes of Aion, Blade and Soul, and BDO, I can say that most games trying to look pretty are often overcompensating for having little if any substance behind them.

I logged on a few of my level 80 and the graphics are fine in the newer maps. A bit pixelated and soupy as mentioned here, but acceptable. The charm of GW2 is in the game itself, it has you wanting to keep on playing. Also you sort of get use to the graphics the more you play.Would be a splendid thing though is they did touch up the graphics and add better AA and sharpening. Maybe a thing for a future patch.

I am running an i9 and 3080 too and the graphics look great to me. Sure, the base game graphics don't look as good and certainly show their age; but they are still good. I think the newer maps look great. I am using a 27 inch 1440p monitor btw.

Guild Wars 2 has quite a number of faults. Bad graphics is not one of them. I have no idea what you're talking about dude.

@Donutdude.9582 said:Guild Wars 2 has quite a number of faults. Bad graphics is not one of them. I have no idea what you're talking about dude.

I also play a lot of ESO and from playing ESO and then booting up GW2 says all am talking about. No ned to explain myself.

@Joote.4081 said:

@Donutdude.9582 said:Guild Wars 2 has quite a number of faults. Bad graphics is

not

one of them. I have no idea what you're talking about dude.

I play elder scrolls online too and gw2 has nicer looking areas for sure. I am not a fan of the loud/flashy gw2 character armours though! No sir.

@Redfeather.6401 said:

@Joote.4081 said:

@Donutdude.9582 said:Guild Wars 2 has quite a number of faults. Bad graphics is

not

one of them. I have no idea what you're talking about dude.

Now this is down to if you like realistic or cartoon-ish graphics. Everyone has their own preference. I'm for the more realistic. One thing that we do agree on is the flashy luminous colour nonsense that always seems to creep into MMO's. Also I personally hate pet's in MMO's. You find yourself in a boss fight and it's more like a pet scrap.

@Joote.4081 said:

@Redfeather.6401 said:

@Joote.4081 said:

@"Donutdude.9582" said:Guild Wars 2 has quite a number of faults. Bad graphics is

not

one of them. I have no idea what you're talking about dude.

Funny, the only thing I find beautiful in ESO is its lighting. Its models and especially its animations are, well, I wouldn't even say that I personally dislike them (which is also true); to me they look extremely dated and/or cheap.

@"Hashar.6082" said:Funny, the only thing I find beautiful in ESO is its lighting. Its models and especially its animations are, well, I wouldn't even say that I personally dislike them (which is also true); to me they look extremely dated and/or cheap.

I describe the animations as "recovering from surgery".Imagine how someone swings their sword after recovering from surgery. That's sword in eso.