The 2D art on PSX/N64 was superior to the 16–bit era. But yeah, tech requirements for good looking 3D is higher because the demands for detail are significantly higher (Example: the Chrono Trigger sprites look more pleasant than GE007, but the models for GE007 characters were much more detailed)… in other words, a nice looking 2D requires much less detail than a 3D model to look pleasing. Also, as brought up by Curl (really everything I’m saying has been brought up above), digital 3D art was still in its infancy while digital 2D art was advanced by this point… and to go deeper into the FF7 example, the 3D art was blocky and rudimentary, but the 2D art in that game was a massive jump over the 16-bit norms.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
