Pushing the limits of technology is how technology improves. Not all games need to do this, but I don’t see it as a bad thing that some do.
Pushing the limits of technology also hasn’t been a healthy thing to do all the time. If the cost of these big, expansive, detailed games is swaths of mandatory overtime for the developers only to be laid off when the project is done, it is not worth it.
I’m having way more fun with the solo and microteam indie titles. Cultic is immersive not because of the graphic fidelity, but because of the fluid gameplay. Turbo Overkill’s story is carried by the voice acting, not because I can see the pores on the characters faces, and Dusk is the first game in years that immersed me so much, I was leaning in the chair to dodge enemy shoots.
As with anything pushing technical limits, there’s always risk. But what you’re describing isnt purely an issue of pushing realism in gaming, it’s an issue of pushing for profits above all else. These exact practices happen in less realistic game development as well.
Anyway, as stated, I don’t think all games should try to push the graphical envelope. Most games I play don’t attempt this. But I’m glad games like TLOU2 exist and appreciate the devs behind it.
