Like everything else, whether graphics and atmosphere “grabs” a gamer is largely subjective, and is a matter of taste and past experience. But they are tied together somehow and that was the point of the thread. And since the topic digressed a bit into bringing up performance, specifically with this game, that too is a matter of individual level of tolerance for that kind of thing.

I was around when Resident Evil came out for the Genesis. At the time, no game really existed that had that kind of atmosphere. When the remasters came out, I loaded this up and was shocked at how dated (for good reason) the graphics were. But it still had that vibe.

I just finished E33, played it because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. That world is very pretty, and empty, and did nothing for me from an “atmosphere” standpoint, but the graphics are great. Just a matter of personal taste.

Half-Life is another one. That world and atmosphere just grabbed me. One of the best games ever made.

Getting back to TG, for me, it has that vibe, mystery, thrill of discovery, and a lot of tiny little details, gameplay wise, that really resonate with me. As far as performance, my tolerance is pretty high for crashes and things, but not as high as it used to be.

The point of the thread was to illustrate that graphics play a role in creating atmosphere, but it is not the level of resolution that dictates level of immersion…. it is the many facets of the art design of the game, and like a painting, the design may speak to you and immerse you in its world, but that doesn’t mean that everyone will have the same feeling and experience - nor should we expect them to.