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I supposed I am getting older and that's the reason but I recently tried playing Horizon Zero Dawn LEGO and Cyberpunk and... the lightning was too much. I can't focus on what matters on the screen (can hardly find the hot spots), to the point where I'd tried to lower the quality settings to have less lightning elements and flatter textures. I noticed for those games that I really need high FPS (>60) otherwise I can't focus well enough.

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It's not just you. There's a real problem right now with the push towards graphical fidelity (specifically "realism") coming at cost to readability -- most of which is informed by careful choices in the game's art (lighting, level design, style, etc.)

The main example I can think of is the "yellow paint" discourse w.r.t to games like Resident Evil 4 remake Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth. Freya Holmer has a really great thread on the latter: https://x.com/FreyaHolmer/status/1756276112462627119

To be clear, I don't think the push towards realism is at odds with having a stylish and readable game. But the more dimensions you're dealing with (greater complexity in lighting models, materials etc.) the more difficult it gets to tie everything together into something cohesive.

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