The whole “downgrade” hubbub, though, isn’t just inaccurate, it’s also obnoxious and toxic. It creates often unwarranted negativity that affects the perception of a game in a way that most of the times isn’t justified. A lot of the games that received accusations of “downgrades” – and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is just the latest example of many – look absolutely beautiful, but the perception of that beauty has been altered in the minds of many by the allegation that there has been a downgrade, and that gamers somehow received a sub-par product. This simply couldn’t be further from the truth.
It’s quite common to hear lines like “it looks great, but the E3 201X trailer looked better.” That “but” is the common result of all the recent focus on hunting for downgrades. It reduces people’s appreciation and enjoyment of a game, regardless of its actual quality, because they feel they’ve been somehow “tricked,” despite the fact that the product they purchased (if they bought it at all) looks awesome in its own right.
Even not considering the fact that the focus on graphics is often excessive, and whether a game is fun or not risks to be neglected, a title’s visuals should be judged on what they are, not on what some trailer broadcasted years ago showcased.
Does the game look great or not? Binary response: yes or no. You choose.
If it looks great, who cares if there has been a trailer that arguably looked a little better?
We should focus on here and now, and judge a product on its own quality, and on what is actually running on our screen. I can pretty much guarantee that this kind of attitude will help you enjoy games better, and retrieve that warm sense of wonder that many have lost due to the “downgrade” media and social media bombardment.
