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Why the same engine can produce different games
A game engine supplies systems and tools for tasks such as rendering, building levels and scripting interactions. It does not decide whether a game should look realistic, cel-shaded or inked, nor whether movement should feel methodical or fast. Developers choose those goals, then adapt their tools and content to achieve them.
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For example, Avalanche Software said it moved from a proprietary engine to Unreal Engine for Hogwarts Legacy partly because of its editor, open-world and rendering tools. The studio also cited plugins and source-code access as ways to support game-specific systems and optimization (Avalanche Software’s account). Housemarque used Unreal Engine for Returnal, but also used Blueprints for rapid prototyping and its own Kaamos visual-effects technology as a UE4 plugin (Housemarque’s account). Those examples show an engine serving as a base, with studio workflows and technology shaping the result.
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Art direction gives a game its visual identity
Art direction is more than visual fidelity. It includes palette, contrast, shapes, silhouettes, atmosphere and readability: the choices that make a world feel coherent and help players interpret what they see.
Hi-Fi RUSH: stylization by design
Tango Gameworks established Hi-Fi RUSH’s cel-shaded, clean visual direction early. Game Director John Johanas said the team used three guide words: “Colorful,” “Sharp,” and “Clean.” The studio adapted modern lighting techniques to support that deliberately stylized, 2D-like look rather than treating advanced lighting as an end in itself (Tango Gameworks’ account).
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Borderlands 4: preserving an inked look
Gearbox describes the challenge of keeping the Borderlands inked style while working with newer rendering options. Its account says features such as Lumen could involve trade-offs; material and lighting tools gave the team ways to control palette and tone (Gearbox’s account). More sophisticated rendering does not automatically make a game look better for its intended style. Sometimes the distinctive look depends on limiting or carefully tuning what the renderer can do.
Gears 5: distinct places within a realistic world
The Coalition’s art director Aryan Hanbeck described aiming to give each biome in Gears 5 a distinct visual signature. That identity had to work alongside the content density of larger spaces: the number of objects that make an environment feel lived in affects the performance budget (The Coalition’s account).
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Gameplay priorities shape feel and presentation
How a game feels comes from its rules, controls, encounter design and repeated tuning—not from the engine name alone. Gameplay priorities also influence how levels are arranged and which visual information must remain easy to read.
Returnal: arcade action in a larger production
Housemarque said that moving into AAA production did not mean abandoning its arcade design roots. Business Developer and Marketing Director Mikael Haveri said gameplay remained “a nuanced core pillar” at the center of the studio’s work. Art Director Ville Kallio, identified in the interview as “Louden,” said the game’s visuals and worldbuilding grew from its story and concepts, using subtext and meaning to guide the art direction (Housemarque’s account).
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Ghostrunner: movement must be fast and precise
For One More Level, the central priority in Ghostrunner was to keep the player moving. Narrative Designer and Writer Jan Gąsior described the need to balance freedom in encounters with readable levels, while giving players routes and options. The team observed player behavior and spent extensive time tuning movement to make it both smooth and precise (One More Level’s account). That kind of fine-tuning is a production choice: the engine can enable movement systems, but developers have to shape how they respond.
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Hogwarts Legacy: exploration through connected goals
Different gameplay goals produce different kinds of worlds. Avalanche Lead Designer Kelly Murphy described Hogwarts Legacy as moving beyond linear levels by giving players overlapping goals and connecting their motivations through systems. One example is increasing inventory capacity by completing trials that call for cultivated or purchased items and particular spells (Avalanche Software’s account). That structure encourages exploration and preparation in a way that differs from a game built around tightly staged combat encounters.
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Performance targets affect what makes it into the frame
Visual detail has a cost. A studio has to decide how to spend its available performance budget among effects, object density, image quality and responsiveness. Those decisions can affect the appearance of a game, but the trade-offs depend on its design and targets.
Tango Gameworks said it prioritized a solid 60 FPS for Hi-Fi RUSH because it is a rhythm-action game, with Game Director John Johanas stating that “a solid 60 FPS takes priority over graphics” (Tango Gameworks’ account). That is a production priority for this particular game, not a universal rule for every title.
The Coalition likewise described controlling effects and object density while targeting 60 FPS for Gears 5. Larger open spaces created a balancing act between performance and environmental density (The Coalition’s account). A sparse space may therefore reflect deliberate budgeting as well as an artistic choice; dense detail is not free, and adding it is not always the best way to serve play or mood.
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Instead of ranking games on a single scale of “better graphics,” compare the decisions that give each one its character:
- Art direction: Is the look realistic, cel-shaded, inked or otherwise stylized? How do palette, contrast and silhouettes support atmosphere and readability?
- Gameplay pillar: Is the core experience arcade skill, high-speed movement, exploration, or something else?
- World structure: Does the game use linear encounters, open-world traversal, procedural variation, or spaces built around combat and mobility?
- Production approach: How does the studio use engine tools, plugins, modifications or custom technology, and how does it iterate?
- Performance trade-offs: How are frame-rate goals balanced against effects, object density, resolution and other visual features?
These are lenses for understanding developer choices, not a controlled test of which engine or studio is best. The cited examples are studio accounts, many published by Unreal Engine, and they explain particular production decisions rather than providing neutral, cross-game performance benchmarks. Platform, version and patch differences can also change a game’s current performance; development interviews describe choices made during production, not present-day benchmark results.
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