Is everyone being too harsh about Valorant’s graphics?

Alongside the excitement surrounding Riot Games’ announcement of Valorant, came a negative reaction to the visual appearance of the gameplay. It has been suggested that the graphics look outdated and cartoon-like, leaving some gamers disappointed and even less interested in playing.

However, there are a couple of reasons why this response to the teaser footage is kind of unwarranted. Firstly, let’s remember that the gameplay we’ve seen is all from the title’s alpha stage. The focus here is on testing core mechanics and map layouts. It is not uncommon for a game’s graphics to be significantly enhanced between alpha testing and release.

Secondly, as many fans have pointed out, it isn’t necessary for every game to look ultra-realistic. At the end of the day it is just that – a game. There is something fun about the art style in Valorant, and whilst some areas, such as the effects of certain special abilities definitely need work, criticism towards the overall design has been harsh.

Another bonus of having slightly less demanding graphics, is that we should reap the rewards in terms of performance. As a game which is set to put a lot of emphasis on competition going forward, this could be a real help.

So I guess what I’m saying is, don’t let the haters get you down. There is nothing to worry about, and the people at Riot know what they are doing. It will be interesting to see how different Valorant looks as we move through beta testing and towards release.

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