- Lighting? Other games are at least as good.
- Character models? Sure, Senua is about as good as it gets. But "nothing even close"?
Nonsense.
- Environment? No. Other games have it beat.
- Consistency? It's about as consistent as other top games.
I own and play the game. Its accolodaes are it's close to, or at, the top. But it isn't so far ahead of everything that "nothing comes close" is accurate. Based on you continuing to say "I haven't played those", I would advise to check it out if one is to have this convo proper. All of the games I've highlighted I own.
Depends on where you rank the OG UE5 PS5 demo compared to the DS, Callisto, TLOU, HFW and AW2.
Hellblade does lighting, environment and characters better than any other game out there. some games do come close like alan wake 2, callisto and tlou1 in cutscenes but this game is in a league of its own thanks to nanite, lumen and other UE5 features that were present in the UE5 PS5 demo but missing in every single game released since.
If you are one of those who believe the matrix demo and ue5 demo havent been topped then you believe TLOU1, Callisto, AW2 havent gotten there yet. This game gets us there and then some.
Nanite lets them push more high quality assets than ever before. It is mind boggling how detailed and varied some of these rock textures are. And they dont feel painted on like they do in TLOU and other last gen games. they feel individually modeled.
The lighting is as photorealistic and cg quality as we have seen in a game before. other games like AW2, HFW and callisto have their moments but during very specific lighting scenarios and not as often. this game feels next gen 99% of the time, and legit cg/photorealistic from time to time which is completely missing from those other games.
The water effects both for ocean waves and small streams are ahead of sony's best which is expected considering hfw and tlou were held back by the ps4 hardware. i have chronicled water gifs of both games if you are interested.
And finally, character models. There are times this bitch looks real. TLOU1 and Callisto were the queen and king of character models but they have been topped. Her facial animations are too exaggerated at times so she doesnt look great while talking but any other time, im hard pressed to find flaws and am constantly having to tell my brain that im watching a game instead of a tv show.
Id highly suggest you boot up tlou1, horizon and the other games you mentioned. even if you played them recently, it will become apparent as you switch between these games thanks to lumen, nanite, and the sheer cg quality wizardry on display here by Ninja Theory's artists.
Sony studios maybe more talented but they all tied themselves to last gen hardware or 60 fps modes, we shall see what they come up with at e3, but now the gauntlet has been thrown and Ninja Theory holds the crown. Hopefully this is the kick up the bum most other studios needed.