HFW was made by one of the best studios from Sony in terms of tech (if not the best), hundreds of talented people and using an amazing engine. I expect one of the best looking open world games yet to beat some average linear experinces.
But even then, its lighting, texture work, models etc. are beaten by many linear games we have today. Which was my point.
Some people here go "lol, this AA game from Bloober beat the shit out of HFW in terms of texture detail". And I think: "no shit". Apples and oranges.
I'm not saying those games dont look great.
Another example of what I mean: someone posts a screenshot of those planks on that MGS Delta bridge, using UE 5, looking ultra detailed, and say "Cyberpunk textures dont come close to this". Again: no shit. Apples and oranges.
People dont take into account different priorities, budgets, why some engine was used, studio talent etc.
"Why UE 5 wasnt used for this game? It looks so much better". Maybe cause that studio were already used to that proprietary engine, so they had better workflow with it. Or maybe cause making an open world game with UE 5 would be too much work cause the engine isnt very optimized for it yet and they didnt have the budget or time to make it work? (Wukong last area performed and looked worse than other areas, for example).
Seeing some ultra detailed, small AA game using UE 5 being praised and people comparing it to HFW, for example, is what rustles my jimmies. Plain ignorance.