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[SlimySnake]

it is, just look how the blacked level is crushed during night. And it has this weird bluish and extreme reddish orange tint which is unnatural. You are losing a lot of details because of it. If you prefer it that way, nothing wrong with that I suppose. All these reshade mods are absolute doodoo though, they do nothing but ruin the image and strain the user's eyes.

agreed, but hes also right about the game having a very boring vanilla look.

Here is what the game looks like maxed out. Good looking but also kinda bland in comparison to cyberpunk and spiderman 2 both of which use a lot of color correction to make their game's graphics pop a bit more.

 

[RavionUHD]

it is, just look how the blacked level is crushed during night. And it has this weird bluish and extreme reddish orange tint which is unnatural. You are losing a lot of details because of it. If you prefer it that way, nothing wrong with that I suppose. All these reshade mods are absolute doodoo though, they do nothing but ruin the image and strain the user's eyes.

If you mean the third pic, thats because a car was behind me with its lights on.
But otherwise yeah i do prefer strong colours, vanilla colour is just very bland.

 

[Balducci30]

Like I said I can only assume they are just talking about visuals rather than pure graphics which is why Mrio also deserves to be on the list. That said if you cant see how far it is from what we were doing in the 360 generation you are simply blind.

It’s not that far tho during gameplay. I definitely believe you could get a version of Hifi Rush to run on that generation of hardware if you turn a few knobs here and there without losing the majority of the look.

It could certainly run on ps4/xbox one - don’t get me wrong it looks really cool but I’m not seeing how it’s so impressive that you’d legitimately consider it more impressive than Alan Wake 2. I get the “visuals” idea - but even in that context, is visuals just a great art style? Anything can be that - you could put a mobile game in there. DF is a technical analysis site. It has to at least have both elements of technical advancement and art.

I loved Elden rings art style, I think it’s the best looking game I’ve ever played on an artistic level. But I’d never give it best graphics, or visuals - it’s not pushing any boundaries visually.

 

[blue velvet]

agreed, but hes also right about the game having a very boring vanilla look.

Here is what the game looks like maxed out. Good looking but also kinda bland in comparison to cyberpunk and spiderman 2 both of which use a lot of color correction to make their game's graphics pop a bit more.

Not quite sure why sure why you are comparing it to Cyberpunk with its neon color grading, they are not artistically the same at all. The vanilla Mafia Definitive edition perfectly encapsulate that gritty 1930's gangster film feel and looks. The game is not meant to have overbearing colors.

 

[ChiefDada]

Explains a lot when you see the substandard quality of SM2 cinematics.

 

[SlimySnake]

Not quite sure why sure why you are comparing it to Cyberpunk with its neon color grading, they are not artistically the same at all. The vanilla Mafia Definitive edition perfectly encapsulate that gritty 1930's gangster film feel and looks. The game is not meant to have overbearing colors.

I understand that. Just saying that it looks boring so I can see why someone would want to color it up a bit.

 

[SlimySnake]

Explains a lot when you see the substandard quality of SM2 cinematics.

i have no idea wtf hes trying to say here. did they cut stuff? did sony say they werent happy with the quality of the game? im so confused.

 

[Balducci30]

Explains a lot when you see the substandard quality of SM2 cinematics.

Interesting cus I thought the latter half of the game actually looked markedly better than the first half

 

[ChiefDada]

Interesting cus I thought the latter half of the game actually looked markedly better than the first half

I agree 100% but I don't think the game is necessarily worked on in parallel to the linear story line. So cinematics towards the end could have been worked on in the beginning.

Or maybe I am misinterpreting him. Like Slimy mentioned, he is very unclear here and I've heard him talk a few times in interviews he isn't the best communicator.

 

[SlimySnake]

I agree 100% but I don't think the game is necessarily worked on in parallel to the linear story line. So cinematics towards the end could have been worked on in the beginning.

Or maybe I am misinterpreting him. Like Slimy mentioned, he is very unclear here and I've heard him talk a few times in interviews he isn't the best communicator.

If you look at the cinematic department, they have a separate one from the main studio. The cinematics ended up costing them $25 million alone but they didn’t start really working on it until fiscal year 2021 I’m assuming after ratchet shipped.

 

[ChiefDada]

If you look at the cinematic department, they have a separate one from the main studio. The cinematics ended up costing them $25 million alone but they didn’t start really working on it until fiscal year 2021 I’m assuming after ratchet shipped.

Wow I had not seen this slide before. I would love to compare the budgets and timing with Rift Apart and Miles Morales because it is obvious to me something went horribly wrong in the workflow pipeline for SM2 cinematics .

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Explains a lot when you see the substandard quality of SM2 cinematics.

I thought it was to make it easier to port












J/K

 

[setoman]

If this is a pre-alpha build then the graphics are pretty decent. Gta 6 leaked footage showed worse graphics if I remember correctly.

People are getting this confused, the GTA 6 leak weren't an actual vertical slice. It was simply early development with proxy assets. As some of the leaks in this latest breach is. The difference is that some of it isn't early development with proxy asset. Some of it is vertical slice with close to intended visuals. This looks like a cut of vertical slice meant for E3 like presentation. So no, there's no going to be some huge leap between this and what gets released in 2026.

Just think about games you seen on E3, imagine if the playable build leaked 6 months before it gets shown.
This playable build is supposedly from November 2023. Most demos shown at the big showcases are from builds that are around 6 months old.
So this aligns with what we could have seen in PS's new showcase. A specific media cut would have to be made. It would have its assets swapped with gosh level assets (high res textures, more vfx thrown in, highest fidelity of the character also swapped in with lighting, reflections and shadows cranked up to 11). This can be down in seconds and then with a-lil more very time consuming added polish and sparkles on top, its ready for its E3 shoot!

Then its downgraded later as we all know.

 

[Balducci30]

People are getting this confused, the GTA 6 leak weren't an actual vertical slice. It was simply early development with proxy assets. As some of the leaks in this latest breach is. The difference is that some of it isn't early development with proxy asset. Some of it is vertical slice with close to intended visuals. This looks like a cut of vertical slice meant for E3 like presentation. So no, there's no going to be some huge leap between this and what gets released in 2026.

Just think about games you seen on E3, imagine if the playable build leaked 6 months before it gets shown.
This playable build is supposedly from November 2023. Most demos shown at the big showcases are from builds that are around 6 months old.
So this aligns with what we could have seen in PS's new showcase. A specific media cut would have to be made. It would have its assets swapped with gosh level assets (high res textures, more vfx thrown in, highest fidelity of the character also swapped in with lighting, reflections and shadows cranked up to 11). This can be down in seconds and then with a-lil more very time consuming added polish and sparkles on top, its ready for its E3 shoot!

Then it’s downgraded later as we all know.

If it was a ready for release vertical slice you’d have a point - but the vertical slices in there are clearly unfinished.

 

[SlimySnake]

People are getting this confused, the GTA 6 leak weren't an actual vertical slice. It was simply early development with proxy assets. As some of the leaks in this latest breach is. The difference is that some of it isn't early development with proxy asset. Some of it is vertical slice with close to intended visuals. This looks like a cut of vertical slice meant for E3 like presentation. So no, there's no going to be some huge leap between this and what gets released in 2026.

Just think about games you seen on E3, imagine if the playable build leaked 6 months before it gets shown.
This playable build is supposedly from November 2023. Most demos shown at the big showcases are from builds that are around 6 months old.
So this aligns with what we could have seen in PS's new showcase. A specific media cut would have to be made. It would have its assets swapped with gosh level assets (high res textures, more vfx thrown in, highest fidelity of the character also swapped in with lighting, reflections and shadows cranked up to 11). This can be down in seconds and then with a-lil more very time consuming added polish and sparkles on top, its ready for its E3 shoot!

Then its downgraded later as we all know.

The footage is from 6/12/2022. The actual file was uploaded to some website, I downloaded it and the date created tag says 6/12/2022. Basically a years worth of work since they started dev in summer 2021. So at the point this video was created, there were basically 4 years of development to go.

I dont expect the game to look like the leaked footage. What we have so far looks very unfinished and far worse than spiderman 2. it looks worse than any ps4 game ive seen. which means its as early in development as the gta6 leaks which also looked like they were running on the gta5 engine.

what we do know is that they are targeting hellblade 2 level of fidelity and have set some pretty ambitious goals for animations, simulations and visual fidelity. i think the 60 fps default mode is going to prevent them from getting there but this is a 2026 release, they are not going to release a game that barely looks passable for a ps4 game in 2026. at worst, it will look like ratchet rift apart.

 

[DanielG165]

^Having more overhead to work with in the PS5 Pro dev kits will likely help in achieving a lot of this also, as well as the seemingly more narrow and “linear” design for Wolverine versus SM2. Though, we’ll certainly see in time.

 

[DanielG165]

Rockstar’s animations and details are second to known. I can’t imagine these types of scenarios in GTA 6.

 

[geary]

 

[GymWolf]

Imagine bend with ND team size and budget...

Pc version looks pristine.

 

[Team Andromeda]

I can't wait to see id next game.

Doom Enteral with raytracing is still the best example of raytracing in a console game (for me) and also the game looks so good on the current gen consoles.

 

[alloush]

People are getting this confused, the GTA 6 leak weren't an actual vertical slice. It was simply early development with proxy assets. As some of the leaks in this latest breach is. The difference is that some of it isn't early development with proxy asset. Some of it is vertical slice with close to intended visuals. This looks like a cut of vertical slice meant for E3 like presentation. So no, there's no going to be some huge leap between this and what gets released in 2026.

Just think about games you seen on E3, imagine if the playable build leaked 6 months before it gets shown.
This playable build is supposedly from November 2023. Most demos shown at the big showcases are from builds that are around 6 months old.
So this aligns with what we could have seen in PS's new showcase. A specific media cut would have to be made. It would have its assets swapped with gosh level assets (high res textures, more vfx thrown in, highest fidelity of the character also swapped in with lighting, reflections and shadows cranked up to 11). This can be down in seconds and then with a-lil more very time consuming added polish and sparkles on top, its ready for its E3 shoot!

Then its downgraded later as we all know.

I think this is a year old build as Slimy mentioned. It does look unfinished and it seems it is at the same stage in development as the GTA6 leaked build was, and if so then that is very impressive considering how there are some elements in those leaks that looked really good.

Also their leaked slides that show how they are targeting Hellblade 2 level of visuals has me excited and optimistic honestly. And considering the game is almost for sure aint gonna be open world ala Spidey 2 and you have a recipe for success in terms of visuals. But hey, you could be right at the end, if there’s a lesson I learned this gen is to always expect to be disappointed!

 

[SlimySnake]

Imagine bend with ND team size and budget...

Pc version looks pristine.

lol I like how you said pristine and then added a screenshot showing artifacts completely destroying the fur on that deer.

 

[SlimySnake]

But hey, you could be right at the end, if there’s a lesson I learned this gen is to always expect to be disappointed!

Hey, Avatar delivered! yes, maybe not the 2021 reveal, but it wasnt downgraded from this year's E3 like most here assumed.

Imagine bend with ND team size and budget...

The bend who made this game is gone. They were a 100 person studio and the director of Days Gone said that 90 people have left the studio. the Bend today is not the Bend that made syphon filter, uncharted golden shower, and days gone.

I can't wait to see id next game.

Doom Enteral with raytracing is still the best example of raytracing in a console game (for me) and also the game looks so good on the current gen consoles.

Recent Twitter rumors suggested that they are working on a mandolorian game.

and yes, that ray tracing implementation is nuts considering its a 60 fps game.

 

[Hunnybun]

The bend who made this game is gone. They were a 100 person studio and the director of Days Gone said that 90 people have left the studio. the Bend today is not the Bend that made syphon filter, uncharted golden shower, and days gone.

That was a great release.

 

[Represent.]

Imagine bend with ND team size and budget...

Pc version looks pristine.

was solid until that PS3 looking deer lol

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

Man, a Horizon 3 with a less cartoony art design, a slightly darker tone, would look fucking incredible. I wonder if GG has the balls to make it less cartoony

 

[ChiefDada]

My favorite PS Cinematic trailer with the perfect mixture of art and tech. No doubt we can at least reach close enough to where it's highly debatable. Let the base PS5 run at dynamic 1080p-1440p 30 and let the Pro get 1440p upscaled to 4k with additional vfx.

Man, a Horizon 3 with a less cartoony art design, a slightly darker tone, would look fucking incredible. I wonder if GG has the balls to make it less cartoony

100% agree.

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

 

[mansoor1980]

which game is that?

 

[SlimySnake]

Matrix demo has the best graphics ive ever seen. Someone made another chase scene with it, and holy shit does it look amazing.

Doesnt look like its realtime but all assets are from the matrix demo or UE5 marketplace. Crazy.

 

[mansoor1980]

Matrix demo has the best graphics ive ever seen. Someone made another chase scene with it, and holy shit does it look amazing.

Doesnt look like its realtime but all assets are from the matrix demo or UE5 marketplace. Crazy.

there is bridge LOD pop in at 50 sec , might be real time

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

I replayed Shadows Fall this year and it STILL looks great.

 

[bender]

Imagine bend with ND team size and budget...

Pc version looks pristine.

 

[GymWolf]

lol I like how you said pristine and then added a screenshot showing artifacts completely destroying the fur on that deer.

Those are not my pics so i have no idea what settings are being used and the fur is just not really good in the game to begin with.

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

which game is that?

A.I. image depicting a future Killzone title..

 

[alloush]

“He stated that at one point, the team thought that it would not be able to meet the expected quality standards, which resulted in a heated discussion with Sony's producers. Clarifying that by "heated" he was referring more to a sense of frustration than an argumentative discussion, Intihar added that the interaction with Sony led to an emotional outburst from him.”

Insomniac Devs Had 'Heated' Meeting With Sony During Spider-Man 2 Development

While Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2023, Insomniac Games reveals that the journey was rife with challenges.

gamerant.com

Seems like Sony themselves weren’t too happy with the standards the game had set. Don’t blame them!

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

 

[RavionUHD]

Some Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty with Path Tracing in Ultrawide (with DLDSR and DLSS).

 

[Represent.]

Replaying this masterpiece again before TLOU II remake.

Still appreciating the fuck out of these choke out animations. Best. In. Class

In game, zoomed in. The thing that impresses me most is actually the level of detail on the guys hand.

 

[Vick]

Not quite sure why sure why you are comparing it to Cyberpunk with its neon color grading, they are not artistically the same at all. The vanilla Mafia Definitive edition perfectly encapsulate that gritty 1930's gangster film feel and looks. The game is not meant to have overbearing colors.

Exactly. Game aesthetics were perfect.

Imagine bend with ND team size and budget...

Pc version looks pristine.

It's an absolute showstopper still on PS5 as well.

What a game.

 

[RavionUHD]

Cyberpunk mit Path Tracing and Ray Reconstruction is just a complete different experience compared to Raytracing.

And yeah Days Gone still looks great.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Cyberpunk mit Path Tracing and Ray Reconstruction is just a complete different experience compared to Raytracing.

[IqMG width="1236px"]

And yeah Days Gone still looks great.

Is Cyberpunk supposed to look that dark? I know path tracing gets rid of light leakage and occludes more light but there's less detail than there should be in those images ...it seems that way anyway

 

[hlm666]

there is bridge LOD pop in at 50 sec , might be real time

it's not realtime, the reflections are a dead give away. It's been rendered off line with the path tracer.

 

[RavionUHD]

Is Cyberpunk supposed to look that dark? I know path tracing gets rid of light leakage and occludes more light but there's less detail than there should be in those images ...it seems that way anyway

Yes thats the case, with path tracing there is no artificall light, so it remains dark.
Just have a look at Digital Foundrys Video:

 

[Alex11]

What do you mean? I cant tell if you are angry at DF for giving it third place or angry that it shouldnt count since it was already given first place a few years ago?

I dont know why Cyberpunk is included in this. its DLC. The city is largely the same. The new area is barely any different let alone comparable to full fledged games. If we are to include Cyberpunk, then we should include Horizon burning shores, callisto protocol, GOW Ragnorak and other games that had DLCs released this year. Especially considering they picked fucking Super Mario Odyssey and Hifi Rush over these games.

Having a new lighting engine like Path Tracing is like putting lipstick on a pig. The game still has those last gen assets, last gen animations, and all the other flaws that Matrix has since fixed. had they remade the whole game like RE4, Demon Souls, and SoTC then id understand. Updating the lighting to path tracing simply shouldnt be enough to warrant anything more than an honorable mention when so many games this year went and did far more things graphically from scratch. Might as well include Witcher 3's RT patch in the top 3. I think it released this year as well.

If Nixxes manages to add RTGI to Horizon FW next year on PC, should they include it in the top 3? Eh.

Not mad at all, on the contrary, I'm chill and I`m expecting that all the talks from the experts and fans to be contradictory, I guess the worst I could be is irritated or bored of these conclusions.

Last gen assets, you have that in both Avatar and AW2. In Avatar, there are those clouds when you're up, they look 2 generations behind Horizon, some poor geometrical detail on rocks that were posted here, the effects of explosions the same. In AW2 there are tons of which I showed here just a few of them. And both games have poor textures here and there like CP.

But I really don't like to point out the negatives in a game, I really fucking hate it, and I can really find tons in a game if it really is needed. The thing is, you can really find so many flaws that can make a gorgeous game look average, I guess you should look how comparable are the highs of each game, and they say in that DF video, that CP has the best lighting in a video game so far that leads to doing things that both Avatar and AW2 can't.
This to me logically sound like CP has the best highs, so yeah, whatever.

But I really don't want to continue this discussion, don't want to be called names or a fanboy of CP, because I'm really not.

 

[rofif]

Yes thats the case, with path tracing there is no artificall light, so it remains dark.
Just have a look at Digital Foundrys Video:

Overdrive is just way too dark.
Raster lacks proper shadowing/fallback techniques
Psycho is kinda ok in some scenes but still can look a bit flat
OD is straight up too dark. Lacks good 2-3 bounces. They are sitting under a bridge. Close to a bright opening. Something I also observed while playing. It gets to super black shadows way too soon

 

[SlimySnake]

Is Cyberpunk supposed to look that dark? I know path tracing gets rid of light leakage and occludes more light but there's less detail than there should be in those images ...it seems that way anyway

Because there is little to no bounce lighting. I saw the same exact thing in the metro exodus original release. Light almost acts like its a shadow. A straight fucking line instead of actual bounce lighting. probably because they only have two path traced rays bouncing around and they dont have enough coverage to illuminate everything in real time. its why baked lighting is still superior because the process of baking takes days to render and is far more accurate. in five years, they will have a new version of path tracing with 10 rays and DF will include it in their top ten again despite the fact the gameplay models, textures and assets are from 2015.

 

[rofif]

Because there is little to no bounce lighting. I saw the same exact thing in the metro exodus original release. Light almost acts like its a shadow. A straight fucking line instead of actual bounce lighting. probably because they only have two path traced rays bouncing around and they dont have enough coverage to illuminate everything in real time. its why baked lighting is still superior because the process of baking takes days to render and is far more accurate. in five years, they will have a new version of path tracing with 10 rays and DF will include it in their top ten again despite the fact the gameplay models, textures and assets are from 2015.

yeah. Was it done better in that RT version of Metro? I don't remember it being this dark.
anyway - this is why very good baked on raster can still look better (in static comparison of course)

 

[SlimySnake]

Not mad at all, on the contrary, I'm chill and I`m expecting that all the talks from the experts and fans to be contradictory, I guess the worst I could be is irritated or bored of these conclusions.

Last gen assets, you have that in both Avatar and AW2. In Avatar, there are those clouds when you're up, they look 2 generations behind Horizon, some poor geometrical detail on rocks that were posted here, the effects of explosions the same. In AW2 there are tons of which I showed here just a few of them. And both games have poor textures here and there like CP.

But I really don't like to point out the negatives in a game, I really fucking hate it, and I can really find tons in a game if it really is needed. The thing is, you can really find so many flaws that can make a gorgeous game look average, I guess you should look how comparable are the highs of each game, and they say in that DF video, that CP has the best lighting in a video game so far that leads to doing things that both Avatar and AW2 can't.
This to me logically sound like CP has the best highs, so yeah, whatever.

But I really don't want to continue this discussion, don't want to be called names or a fanboy of CP, because I'm really not.

Some elements in Avatar and AW2 are last gen sure. But overall the asset quality and lighting is next gen. That makes like 90% of the image. Whereas the textures, models and other assets that populate the game world in cyberpunk are everywhere on the screen and some realistic lighting wont hide them like how foliage hides the rock textures in Avatar simply because of how dense it is.

That said, the second area in Avatar is largely open fields with some rocky mountains and thats where those rock textures do stand out. still, the last area is all forests so when the game looks next gen 90% of the time, i am not going to complain.

 

[CGNoire]

Overdrive is just way too dark.
Raster lacks proper shadowing/fallback techniques
Psycho is kinda ok in some scenes but still can look a bit flat
OD is straight up too dark. Lacks good 2-3 bounces. They are sitting under a bridge. Close to a bright opening. Something I also observed while playing. It gets to super black shadows way too soon

Cant you crank up the bounces in Pc?