Digital Foundry: Alan Wake 2 Remedy interview

We still praising this? It's such a bad experience on ps5... terrible resolution, fsr2 break up, grainy ssr not actually reflecting much aside from grain... no rt whatsoever, bad performance and 0 rt.
Remedy just dropped the ball on console versions. It's just a pc version with low settings which is not what console game should be.
I actually think there are ton of ps4 and ps5 games looking better than this. There is nothing making the game special on consoles. There is no RT, no other next gen exclusive effects, image quality is poop and even worse in motion... most of what you see on the screen could've been baked since the game is not utilizing some of this stuff being real time anyway.

Yes, pc version might look super clean on a good hardware. sure.... but for the sheer fact that they just dropped console versions as if it was a game with low budget pc settings is shameful while we have other games doing 1440p upscaled to 4k without much artifacting, rt and 60fps all at once
 
Production values through the roof, I agree, but the presentation is flawed. It shimmers in pretty much every area you're in, at least in consoles. No reflections whatsoever in mirrors, way too dark in most places... it's good, not great.
 
Angry Harrison Ford GIF
 
rofif said:
We still praising this? It's such a bad experience on ps5... terrible resolution, fsr2 break up, grainy ssr not actually reflecting much aside from grain... no rt whatsoever, bad performance and 0 rt.
Remedy just dropped the ball on console versions. It's just a pc version with low settings which is not what console game should be.
I actually think there are ton of ps4 and ps5 games looking better than this. There is nothing making the game special on consoles. There is no RT, no other next gen exclusive effects, image quality is poop and even worse in motion... most of what you see on the screen could've been baked since the game is not utilizing some of this stuff being real time anyway.

Yes, pc version might look super clean on a good hardware. sure.... but for the sheer fact that they just dropped console versions as if it was a game with low budget pc settings is shameful while we have other games doing 1440p upscaled to 4k without much artifacting, rt and 60fps all at once
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What pathetic, petty and tiny piece of shit, lol.

You're a joke dude, nobody can take you seriously and you make every effort to look like a clown.
 
K' Dash said:
What pathetic, petty and tiny piece of shit, lol.

You're a joke dude, nobody can take you seriously and you make every effort to look like a clown.
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Why would that be? Nothing I've said is wrong. It's all factual.
I finished the game on ps5.. it is pretty much agreed that console versions are miserable.
 
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K' Dash said:
What pathetic, petty and tiny piece of shit, lol.

You're a joke dude, nobody can take you seriously and you make every effort to look like a clown.
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Chill brother. I haven't played console AW2, he has, have you? If so, then post proof he's wrong and attack what he's saying with facts.

Otherwise you're just being an asshole because you don't like his opinion, which is backed with truth.

AW2 in high end PCs is a looker for sure, but there clearly seems like it could have a much bigger effort on console. RT, reflections , resolution, etc.

And yes forspoken is a turd but let's not make it seem like someone liking it is a reason to crucify them.

One of my favorite games is Babylons Fall which everyone hated. Doesn't mean the game was perfect in my eyes or a reason to dismiss valid statements in other subjects.
 
It's a great RT showcase on PC, and average game on consoles with very bad IQ. It's a great game / case for PCMR warriors and surely enough DF love it.
 
Also,
www.neogaf.com

Digital Foundry: Inside Alan Wake 2: How Remedy Delivered A Visual Masterpiece

2023 was a brilliant year for advancements in video game graphics - and up there amongst the most astonishing achievements was Remedy's Alan Wake 2. In this extended interview with the Remedy tech team, Alex Battaglia gets the opportunity to ask the developers literally anything and everything...
www.neogaf.com www.neogaf.com


Staring Episode 2 GIF by The Office
 
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I concur with the above posters that the console version is not that impressive. I recently finished it on Series X and I wasn't that impressed with the graphics. The graininess and fizzliness is ugly. I think Resident Evil 4 Remake and Dead Space Remake look better on Series X.
 
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rofif said:
Which I can say the same about Forspoken.
fair enough...
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You can very well say that.

Forspoken hasn't even been nominated in a single award, even on Playstation exclusive sources .. but it can always be your personal GoTY :pie_sfwth:
 
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Good thing there's a transcript.
I can understand their accents, or poorly recorded audio, but not both at the same time.
 
rofif said:
Why would that be? Nothing I've said is wrong. It's all factual.
I finished the game on ps5.. it is pretty much agreed that console versions are miserable.
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I haven't played it but miserable sounds fairly hyperbolic.
 
MikeM said:
I haven't played it but miserable sounds fairly hyperbolic.
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yeah it's a bit hyperbolic... I gotta learn to tone it down :P
But for sure, I can say I expected more from remedy that's not hyperbole... I don't hate every game!
 
It's not a great looking game on consoles. Way too much shimmering and aliasing, and very dark.

Artistically, it's fantastic. But image wise, nope!
 
It runs pretty much the same as a 2080 on the PS5 and a 2080 Ti on the XSX. Which is performing better then most console versions out there, so I don't buy the argument the console versions are not optimized.
 
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rofif said:
yeah it's a bit hyperbolic... I gotta learn to tone it down :p
But for sure, I can say I expected more from remedy that's not hyperbole... I don't hate every game!
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Fuck that.

I said Turds of the Fallen was a 1/10 and donkey shit. I mean it.

Anyone who likes it, great for you, but we clearly wouldn't have a similar filter to what we deem a good souls like or game in general.

If you think AW2 is a turd sandwich let it rip. I was between it and AC6 for GOTY personally and went with AC6 in the end. Neither is objectively as good of a game IMO as Zelda TOTK which I think is the best game we got in 2023, but it wasn't my GOTY.
 
Arsic said:
Fuck that.

I said Turds of the Fallen was a 1/10 and donkey shit. I mean it.

Anyone who likes it, great for you, but we clearly wouldn't have a similar filter to what we deem a good souls like or game in general.

If you think AW2 is a turd sandwich let it rip. I was between it and AC6 for GOTY personally and went with AC6 in the end. Neither is objectively as good of a game IMO as Zelda TOTK which I think is the best game we got in 2023, but it wasn't my GOTY.
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Thanks for the good word. Feels like all I do is fight for my opinion sometimes. Maybe my delivery is lacking at times :P
Man AC6 is incredible.
I gotta get switch and paly these zelda games. Will wait for switch 2 I guess.
 
I'd love to play this game but I can't stand that shimmering bullshit anymore. So I'll pass until, if ever, they fix it.
 
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rofif said:
Thanks for the good word. Feels like all I do is fight for my opinion sometimes. Maybe my delivery is lacking at times :p
Man AC6 is incredible.
I gotta get switch and paly these zelda games. Will wait for switch 2 I guess.
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Shit one of my favorite games of 2023 is Wanted Dead. GAF and everyone hates it pretty much. For me it isn't worth fighting for my opinion on it or a Babylons Fall because they are "bad games", but fuck me if I didn't have dozens of hours of fun compared to a Baldurs Gate 3 which bored me shitless.

More on topic to AW2 I would love to see Remedy go in and get some patches into it for console but it sold like hot shit so they've likely got their DLC then bailing out fast.
 
Arsic said:
Shit one of my favorite games of 2023 is Wanted Dead. GAF and everyone hates it pretty much. For me it isn't worth fighting for my opinion on it or a Babylons Fall because they are "bad games", but fuck me if I didn't have dozens of hours of fun compared to a Baldurs Gate 3 which bored me shitless.

More on topic to AW2 I would love to see Remedy go in and get some patches into it for console but it sold like hot shit so they've likely got their DLC then bailing out fast.
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Wanted Dead!!! I wanted to grab that actually. Same with Babylons Fall but I completely forgot about it. (edit: I remember, I skipped it because gaas)
You know what my fav game of the year is, so we are on the same page haha
 
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Game looks simply incredible on PC. From footage the console versions on quality mode are decent right? FSR is FSR but this game is fucking heavy, it's pushing some stunning tech. People need to temper expectations, it's gonna have a lower internal resolution on PS5/XSX spec hardware

Windom Earle said:
DF still kissing this game's ass for no reason
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They're probably kissing it's arse because its one of the best looking games ever made. Just a hunch.
 
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Nice interview.

I can't get behind this game though. Well at least not technically. It's a piss poor port on consoles. And unfortunately for me, I can't dissociate my experience playing other games on consoles to give games a pass for having a poor port when because they are using some sort of stellar tech.

At the end of the day, I am playing a game, not the tech, if the tech or its implementation takes away from my gaming experience, then that's a problem. On consoles, the image noise is so bad, that it's just a constant distraction.

Fortunately, I haven't purchased it yet, got a chance to play about 3hrs of it at a friend's place. Or maybe that was 2hrs of it. Will buy it when the PS5 version has seen some decent patches, or maybe when I get a PS5pro.
 
Zathalus said:
It runs pretty much the same as a 2080 on the PS5 and a 2080 Ti on the XSX. Which is performing better then most console versions out there, so I don't buy the argument the console versions are not optimized.
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But why it's so heavy on consoles? it's not doing anything special.
There is no rt, it renders at something around 1080p, quality mode drops to constant 27-30fps in forests...
I realize their internal SSR acts like software rt but it's doing a terrible job. It's just grain and reflections are missing.

The way it looks, It realyl should be higher resolution and image quality. For the graphics they achieved, the cost seems very high.
it's not a bad looking game of course. It looks fine but it does make me feel like I am playing a next gen game, downgraded to last gen console. Like if you played hogwarts legacy or something on ps4 today
 
rofif said:
But why it's so heavy on consoles? it's not doing anything special.
There is no rt, it renders at something around 1080p, quality mode drops to constant 27-30fps in forests...
I realize their internal SSR acts like software rt but it's doing a terrible job. It's just grain and reflections are missing.

The way it looks, It realyl should be higher resolution and image quality. For the graphics they achieved, the cost seems very high.
it's not a bad looking game of course. It looks fine but it does make me feel like I am playing a next gen game, downgraded to last gen console. Like if you played hogwarts legacy or something on ps4 today
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Their default software rt specular GI is heavy as well.
 
While has some technical great stuff, also has a lot of bad physics - you can go above some stuff, but others you can't and the map doesn't help that much

But the game is great, so ok
 
Mister Wolf said:
Their default software rt specular GI is heavy as well.
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exactly. The way they go about it is overengineered. It's just brute force. good for high end pc but not for consoles.
There are other games on consoles that took different approaches... or metro exodus. that thing is full RT and 60fps. No grainy hell here.
If alan wake2 is so static (time of day does not change in-level) why not bake it all in like demons souls or dead island 2 and have it running at higher res and fps?
Or make it more of a mixed solution like forbidden west. That whole game is using 16 bakes for different times of day if I remember correctly.
or look at tlou part1. full baked game, 4k, 40fps, looks miles beter than alan wake 2 on the same ps5.

edit: Uncharted 4 and tlou2 have fantastic flashlights too with great local gi applied to flashlight. since AW2 is flashlight heavy game
edit2: I think they just made a "at a core pc game" and just low settings ported it to console. Like crysis. I bet they would not release it on consoles if they could
 
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I always get the feeling that df thinks that programmable compute has reached its limits and the only way forward is barely programmable ray tracing apis.
 
rofif said:
exactly. The way they go about it is overengineered. It's just brute force. good for high end pc but not for consoles.
There are other games on consoles that took different approaches... or metro exodus. that thing is full RT and 60fps. No grainy hell here.
If alan wake2 is so static (time of day does not change in-level) why not bake it all in like demons souls or dead island 2 and have it running at higher res and fps?
Or make it more of a mixed solution like forbidden west. That whole game is using 16 bakes for different times of day if I remember correctly.
or look at tlou part1. full baked game, 4k, 40fps, looks miles beter than alan wake 2 on the same ps5.
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Because they didn't wana compromise the goat PC version obv
 
Senua said:
Sam Lake PCMR for life

the-creator-of-max-payne-sam-lake-in-2000-v0-57dctao6a28c1.png
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Dude I was there. 3dmarks (remedy involved, usage of max payne engine), my first voodoo, max payne 1 on release and max payne 2. best pc games ever.
I still replay them every now and then. I hooked up crt 3 years back and replayed both. Max Payne 2 holds up great.

edit: lol found 2020 pics... my setup was so barren back then :P
wmkEEyT.jpg

dBpYzKT.jpg
 
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rofif said:
Dude I was there. 3dmarks (remedy involved, usage of max payne engine), my first voodoo, max payne 1 on release and max payne 2. best pc games ever.
I still replay them every now and then. I hooked up crt 3 years back and replayed both. Max Payne 2 holds up great.

edit: lol found 2020 pics... my setup was so barren back then :p
wmkEEyT.jpg

dBpYzKT.jpg
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That's awesome man I'd wish I kept my damn CRT

Remedy games have always looked awesome on PC. Max Payne was okay on PS2, better on Xbox. They prioritise PC over consoles which is rare nowadays!

Windom Earle said:
Good example that polished turds do exist.
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TLoU2 remastered doesn't exist proper until the 19th bro!
 
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