Support NeoGAF

[IDWhite]

The last showing of outlaws was downright hilarious and although on paper shadows has nextgen features, the overall presentation left most people pretty cold, it really doesn't look a generation ahead of valhalla unless you have the lowest standards, the characters and specially ncps are still not even close to the level of hfw, a 3 years old crossgen game...
Shadows should fucking destroy horizon dude...in all aspects, but alas...

And their animation work for both games seems to be stuck to 10 years ago, you watch footage of tsushima combat and footage of yasuke combat and it's night and day, and i'm far from a tsushima fanboy, quite the opposite.

I think avatar looks vastly better than both, but like you said, it's kinda of a shit game

The last gameplay of Outlaws was on a desert location which is not the best way to show visual muscle. Maybe you don't like the look the game has on that particular location but the RTGI, RT reflections, volumetrics effects, particles... All are there.

As for AC Shadows: I don't want to be rude, but what i've seen is that people don't know what they're seeing. There are many details that make clear differences and people have not even mentioned them. We can agree that maybe is not the biggest jump in visual fidelity ever seen on the franchise. But the differences from Valhalla to this game are huge in some aspects. To name only one, the vegetation density with 3D models on AC shadows are way beyond the previous games.

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

I think the problem is that nearly all of sonys best studios have released ps5 games this gen, and they have disappointed. San Diego just released their 4th baseball game on PS5 and it still looks like a souped up ps3 game. they did update some faces but they still dont look as good as Madden of Fifa faces, but at least they look ps4 quality now.

Then you have ND who made a PS5 only game in TLOU1, but forgot to add anything next gen in it, doing a copy pasta of TLOU2. Callisto came out months later and completely outshined it despite still using UE4 tech and being cross gen.

SSM could've done the same thing. Create a truly outstanding next gen version like Callisto, but nope, they did a copy pasta on the ps5 increasing the resolution and fps and calling it a day. they had 8x more gpu power and wasted it on pixels and frames.

PD is running GT7 at 100 fps at native 4k. why? just cut that down and use the gpu for ingame ray tracing or other graphics effects. better rain, car models, lighting, anything.

GG, Bluepoint and to a lesser extent insomniac had done slightly better, but they have been outclassed since they last released their games, and they have no games on the horizon. i dont know if we should really wait until 2026-2028 to see what they have in store. we have to judge them based on what they've released and despite a decent start to the gen, they have lagged behind.

Covid + Cross Gen + GaaS focus + VR = disappointing to some so far from Sony. Personally I thought Rift Apart, Returnal and Spider-Man 2 then Ragnarok, Horizon 2 and GT7 were all stunning looking games despite the latter three games being cross gen. It would be super interesting to see how those three games would have looked if they had been PS5 only but I don't think it would have been a mind boggling, nigh and day difference tbh. Diminishing returns if not in hardware certainly in the budgets they're willing to spend on games which only sell 8-10 million each at the full $70 price point before being bargain binned to hit 15-20 million unit numbers.

Ironically the one first party who could fund massive visual leaps are Nintendo considering their top 10 exclusive games have generated in the region of $12 billion combined this gen alone lol.

 

[SlimySnake]

The last gameplay of Outlaws was on a desert location which is not the best way to show visual muscle. Maybe you don't like the look the game has on that particular location but the RTGI, RT reflections, volumetrics effects, particles... All are there.

As for AC Shadows: I don't want to be rude, but what i've seen is that people don't know what they're seeing. There are many details that make clear differences and people have not even mentioned them. We can agree that maybe is not the biggest jump in visual fidelity ever seen on the franchise. But the differences from Valhalla to this game are huge in some aspects. To name only one, the vegetation density with 3D models on AC shadows are way beyond the previous games.

the UE5 desert demo looks absolutely phenomenal. Rocks in hellblade 2 are amazing too. I am not exactly sure why Massive struggles with rocks. That desert area looks extremely underwhelming. But the base level within that demo looked really detailed so its just related to outdoor desert areas looking rather underwhelming.

They are using mesh shaders in Avatar on consoles, but i guess their system isnt as sophisticated as nanite. Either that or the cost of rendering RTGI, Reflections and Shadows is too high and their budget went into that instead of better geometry. i do think that the game will look stunning when people finally see it running on their tvs.

AC Shadows really impressed me. Especially the vistas video. The waterfalls, and the density of the jungle is very impressive considering the massive draw distance.

 

[SlimySnake]

Covid + Cross Gen + GaaS focus + VR = disappointing to some so far from Sony. Personally I thought Rift Apart, Returnal and Spider-Man 2 then Ragnarok, Horizon 2 and GT7 were all stunning looking games despite the latter three games being cross gen. It would be super interesting to see how those three games would have looked if they had been PS5 only but I don't think it would have been a mind boggling, nigh and day difference tbh. Diminishing returns if not in hardware certainly in the budgets they're willing to spend on games which only sell 8-10 million each at the full $70 price point before being bargain binned to hit 15-20 million unit numbers.

Ironically the one first party who could fund massive visual leaps are Nintendo considering their top 10 exclusive games have generated in the region of $12 billion combined this gen alone lol.

Assuming Sony studios like SSM,ND and GG are just as talented as Ninja Theory, i do think it wouldve been a night and day difference. hellblade 2 is just leagues ahead of anything else out there. Just like Marvel's 1943.

Diminishing returns is definitely a thing, but there are a lot of things they could do to avoid that diminishing returns feeling.

1) they could go with a photorealistic art style like Matrix awakens did
2) they could focus on physics and interactivity and push destruction in ways we simply havent seen before
3) use the ssd to deliver on cerny's vision. ratchet and spiderman 2 do this to an extent, but fail elsewhere.

its not all about the gpu which yes, only got a 8-10x boost, but the cpu got a 8x leap as well and ssds are now 100x faster. We even got ray tracing this gen which is insane. if devs really wanted to, they could get around that feeling of diminishing returns by focusing on things we havent seen before. The hardware is there.

 

[SlimySnake]

The Konami baseball game got another gameplay video.

Ive made some comparisons with MLB the show 24 to showcase just how massive the upgrade is. The lighting in MLB the show just feels like it has no bounce and just gets absorbed by the field and players. The konami game seems to be using some hero lighting on all players. Player models are obviously more detailed and MLB the show 24 actually finally improved their character faces this year after 7 years. Still a generation behind. Animations are underwhelming in both games but fielding animations are way better in the konami game.

But the biggest upgrade is the lighting. The field is just illuminated so much more in the konami game.

Pitching Camera view:

Cutscenes:

Hitting Camera view:

 

[Portugeezer]

The Konami baseball game got another gameplay video.

Ive made some comparisons with MLB the show 24 to showcase just how massive the upgrade is. The lighting in MLB the show just feels like it has no bounce and just gets absorbed by the field and players. The konami game seems to be using some hero lighting on all players. Player models are obviously more detailed and MLB the show 24 actually finally improved their character faces this year after 7 years. Still a generation behind. Animations are underwhelming in both games but fielding animations are way better in the konami game.

But the biggest upgrade is the lighting. The field is just illuminated so much more in the konami game.

Pitching Camera view:

Cutscenes:

Hitting Camera view:

Just skimming the thread, that first gif is crazy.

I thought the first gif was a real world comparison and the one below was the game

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

Assuming Sony studios like SSM,ND and GG are just as talented as Ninja Theory, i do think it wouldve been a night and day difference. hellblade 2 is just leagues ahead of anything else out there. Just like Marvel's 1943.

Diminishing returns is definitely a thing, but there are a lot of things they could do to avoid that diminishing returns feeling.

1) they could go with a photorealistic art style like Matrix awakens did
2) they could focus on physics and interactivity and push destruction in ways we simply havent seen before
3) use the ssd to deliver on cerny's vision. ratchet and spiderman 2 do this to an extent, but fail elsewhere.

its not all about the gpu which yes, only got a 8-10x boost, but the cpu got a 8x leap as well and ssds are now 100x faster. We even got ray tracing this gen which is insane. if devs really wanted to, they could get around that feeling of diminishing returns by focusing on things we havent seen before. The hardware is there.

I’m one of the few that played through and actually enjoyed Hellblade II for what it was online but just like The Order it looks so absolutely ridiculous because of it’s very narrow scope and short run time. To expect a God of War or Horizon to look as good as Hellblade II is asking too much imo as their scope is at least 10x greater. I think it will be PS6 before we get true open World games with the visual fidelity of Hellblade II.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Earlier this gen they said that they believe in generations, and that they are committed to continue making the games that have made the brand great. The thing is that seeing this 4 years we can say that they are more in line with the opposite direction.

Now first party teams are working to support 2 different platforms, Ps5 and PC, 3 if we take into account Ps4. But also some of them are working on multiple projects with a heavy focus on GaaS. We know how this approach works in the best Sony studio, Naugthy Dog, and i don't think I'll be the only one with issues.

The investment has to be distributed and they can't be focused on one hardware and one IP/game. So the results are that by trying to do too much at once they are underperfomance on the cadence of releases and the quality or technical complexity.

Ive been saying this for a long time now but Sony royally screwed over PS5 owners (console/non pc owners). They havn't delivered fuck all next gen games and have literally lied about a few damn things this gen. "Generations", Lou part 1 and Spiderman 2 lied by way of false hype, GT7 being next gen only. You coupd even argue that the SSD was a lie.

But it goes deeper to how they've cganges their business model with GaaS and PC development. Theyve shifted so much away from hardcore console type games we've come to expect from them.

That's why when peopls say that the layoffs, studios closing, and other industry problems need to be remedied by publishers focusing less on graphics because "they're already better than what we need" that does not compute with me at all! Sony has "cashed in" all gen long by not innovating on graphics yet somehow Sony still enjoys this reputation that theyre the top dogs?! Why are gamers so slow to see how they're operating? Jim Ryan and Herman Hulst can kiss my ass as well...smart business men but sucks for people who wanted Sony to operate like they did during PS3/PS4 eras. Great for PC gamers too obviously which is why we're not seeing pushback from gamers and the game urinalysts.

 

[IDWhite]

Ive been saying this for a long time now but Sony royally screwed over PS5 owners (console/non pc owners). They havn't delivered fuck all next gen games and have literally lied about a few damn things this gen. "Generations", Lou part 1 and Spiderman 2 lied by way of false hype, GT7 being next gen only. You coupd even argue that the SSD was a lie.

But it goes deeper to how they've cganges their business model with GaaS and PC development. Theyve shifted so much away from hardcore console type games we've come to expect from them.

That's why when peopls say that the layoffs, studios closing, and other industry problems need to be remedied by publishers focusing less on graphics because "they're already better than what we need" that does not compute with me at all! Sony has "cashed in" all gen long by not innovating on graphics yet somehow Sony still enjoys this reputation that theyre the top dogs?! Why are gamers so slow to see how they're operating? Jim Ryan and Herman Hulst can kiss my ass as well...smart business men but sucks for people who wanted Sony to operate like they did during PS3/PS4 eras. Great for PC gamers too obviously which is why we're not seeing pushback from gamers and the game urinalysts.

Most people don't care and even don't know about what Sony is doing with the PS brand, they only want to buy the new PS console because they are loyal customers. Others, who know what Sony does, constantly find excuses to defend the brand in whatever they do. The reasons for this are fanaticism, lack of knowledge or/and ignorance.

Then a small group that criticizes some Sony decisions are heavily attacked or classified as trolls by those other groups.

Of course Sony is doing things very well, such as hardware design and software support for devs. But there are many other things they do that are questionable at the very least, some of which do not benefit the quality of their games and ultimately the users at all.

 

[vivftp]

Most people don't care and even don't know about what Sony is doing with the PS brand, they only want to buy the new PS console because they are loyal customers. Others, who know what Sony does, constantly find excuses to defend the brand in whatever they do. The reasons for this are fanaticism, lack of knowledge or/and ignorance.

Then a small group that criticizes some Sony decisions are heavily attacked or classified as trolls by those other groups.

Of course Sony is doing things very well, such as hardware design and software support for devs. But there are many other things they do that are questionable at the very least, some of which do not benefit the quality of their games and ultimately the users at all.

I can taste the bitterness here and in the post you quoted. It's amusing

 

[SlimySnake]

I’m one of the few that played through and actually enjoyed Hellblade II for what it was online but just like The Order it looks so absolutely ridiculous because of it’s very narrow scope and short run time. To expect a God of War or Horizon to look as good as Hellblade II is asking too much imo as their scope is at least 10x greater. I think it will be PS6 before we get true open World games with the visual fidelity of Hellblade II.

But do you really believe that the delta between Order and Horizon/TLOU/RDR2/GoT/GoW is that big? Order definitely has that CG look, but i think by the end of the gen, Horizon,RDR2,TLOU2 were all placed above The Order in most rankings. Hell, even Batman Arkham City was chosen by many as best graphics that year and is still revered to this day.

Nanite and the streaming enhancements in UE5, in PS5 hardware especially should help devs retain that near field level of detail quality even in open world games. yes, there will always be a drop in quality but the scope will make up for it. I have played the Matrix demo and my god it looks better than 99% of the linear games out there despite being open world.

I think Sony devs are talented enough to get close to this level of fidelity even in their open world games. They know which shortcuts to take (draw distance in GoT and Horizon for one) to retain that near field level of detail. They just need to actually get to work on next gen only games, and drop the fascination with 60 fps and native 4k.

By the time we get Horizon 3, we might already have a PS6 anyway so you might be right, but I think with a 8x more powerful GPU, the talented Sony devs can easily give us some stunning looking games on par with Avatar, Alan Wake 2, Callisto, and Star Wars Jedi Survivor even if they cant reach the highs of Hellblade 2 due to its closed off design. And most of those games used up a lot of the GPU on expensive ray traced effects. If Sony follows the bluepoint route, they might be able to push level of detail even more at the cost of a small downgrade in lighting accuracy.

I have faith in these devs. I just think they fucked up by focusing on cross gen games and had nothing lined up for the middle part of this gen. I do think they will end the gen strong, but that doesnt mean im happy about being fed crumbs from 2021-2025.

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

But do you really believe that the delta between Order and Horizon/TLOU/RDR2/GoT/GoW is that big? Order definitely has that CG look, but i think by the end of the gen, Horizon,RDR2,TLOU2 were all placed above The Order in most rankings. Hell, even Batman Arkham City was chosen by many as best graphics that year and is still revered to this day.

Nanite and the streaming enhancements in UE5, in PS5 hardware especially should help devs retain that near field level of detail quality even in open world games. yes, there will always be a drop in quality but the scope will make up for it. I have played the Matrix demo and my god it looks better than 99% of the linear games out there despite being open world.

I think Sony devs are talented enough to get close to this level of fidelity even in their open world games. They know which shortcuts to take (draw distance in GoT and Horizon for one) to retain that near field level of detail. They just need to actually get to work on next gen only games, and drop the fascination with 60 fps and native 4k.

By the time we get Horizon 3, we might already have a PS6 anyway so you might be right, but I think with a 8x more powerful GPU, the talented Sony devs can easily give us some stunning looking games on par with Avatar, Alan Wake 2, Callisto, and Star Wars Jedi Survivor even if they cant reach the highs of Hellblade 2 due to its closed off design. And most of those games used up a lot of the GPU on expensive ray traced effects. If Sony follows the bluepoint route, they might be able to push level of detail even more at the cost of a small downgrade in lighting accuracy.

I have faith in these devs. I just think they fucked up by focusing on cross gen games and had nothing lined up for the middle part of this gen. I do think they will end the gen strong, but that doesnt mean im happy about being fed crumbs from 2021-2025.

I just think such a tightly focused 5-6 hour game like The Order or Hellblade 2 enables artists to pour far, far more detail into environments, objects and when it comes to selling humans - animations because they can spend 50x more time on all of the above. Once you open that up to a full World you lose that micro detail. Those two games also run letterboxed (which opens up more compute to spend) and also both targeted 30fps.

Don’t get me wrong as boring a game as I think Horizon 2 is I think it’s absolutely ridiculous looking and their facial animation is outside of Hellblade 2 industry leading. I don’t think they were held back all that much by having to make a PS4+Pro version. Especially when you consider everyone wants 60fps modes which means they blow a lot of the extra CPU+GPU power on hitting a 16ms target.

Horizon 2 would certainly look better as a PS5 exclusive no doubt but I don’t think it would be as large of a visual difference as we would expect. They done a really nice job using a lot of PS5’s power with either more pixels or more frames whatever you prefer. I’m sure they were using more complex geometry and more dense cities if you compared them directly aswell.

Horizon 3 on PS6 is going to look crazy but it will probably be held back by the PS5 version lol.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Nah it almost all looks great. I ignore that nonsense.

It's variable, but so are most good looking games. Even Uncharted 4, say, looked surprisingly rough in some areas, and practically CG in others.

Yup. Its literally only 2 areas in Ratchet that dont look absolutely amazing due to their size tanking lods. Every linear area looks great and is consistent as all getout. Even 1 of those two open areas looks great half the time.

Spiderman 2's lack of fidelity is so unacceptable though, given the natural expectations everyone had for it and Insomniacs own set expectations. Truly bizarre turm of events especially it getting a pass from gamers and media alike so im not so surprised. Im more shocked at Sonys own standards this gen in general. Last of Us Part 1 remake shouldve been the most bonkers, next gen looking game ever made.

This is why im not counting on their big dog studios to blow my mind when they finally do get around to releasing something...not from a technical level anyway...theres been a change within Sony and all the reasons have been discussed already ..in short they've spread themselves so thin and their priorities are profit over pushing gaming forward.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

If you look at their GaaS vs Single Player investments, their single player investments actually went down from 2019 to 2023. It's no surprise that we are in a dry spell with virtually nothing on the horizon aside from astrobot. As games became more expensive, they cut down on spending. Thats probably why Death Stranding 2 wasnt greenlit right away and why Sony San Diego wasnt given more resources to make substantial improvements every year. Instead of they were forced to make Xbox and Switch versions.

Things are only going to get worse. Their investment in single player games would be roughly the same as it was in 2019 despite the fact that costs have risen substantially since. I think most sony studios only have money allocated for one game. My guess is we get 1-2 games max till the end of the gen. nothing special.
2025 - Death Stranding
2026 - GoT 2
2026 - Wolverine
2027 - ND new IP
2027 - SSM new IP
Cross gen PS6 games
2028 - Horizon 3
2028 - Bend's GaaS game
2028 - Bluepoint's new IP

This is the most depressing post of all time

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

And to think Metal Gear Solid 2 was running at 60 fps on PS2 and looked 2 gens ahead of MGS 1. I still remember seeing that reveal trailer for the first time, couldn't believe that was ingame.
Now we have AA(A) games on PS5 that can't hold a steady 60 fps at around 720p. And somehow jaggies are back in this generation, who would've thought...

LOLOLOL, I remember when early PS2 games had tons of aliasing because devs didn’t know how to implement AA.

 

[SlimySnake]

Horizon 2 would certainly look better as a PS5 exclusive no doubt but I don’t think it would be as large of a visual difference as we would expect. They done a really nice job using a lot of PS5’s power with either more pixels or more frames whatever you prefer. I’m sure they were using more complex geometry and more dense cities if you compared them directly aswell.

Horizon 3 on PS6 is going to look crazy but it will probably be held back by the PS5 version lol.

this is what Fable looks like. i think horizon 3 will look on par with this if not better.

 

[Jesb]

this is what Fable looks like. i think horizon 3 will look on par with this if not better.

Fokle.

 

[GymWolf]

The last gameplay of Outlaws was on a desert location which is not the best way to show visual muscle. Maybe you don't like the look the game has on that particular location but the RTGI, RT reflections, volumetrics effects, particles... All are there.

As for AC Shadows: I don't want to be rude, but what i've seen is that people don't know what they're seeing. There are many details that make clear differences and people have not even mentioned them. We can agree that maybe is not the biggest jump in visual fidelity ever seen on the franchise. But the differences from Valhalla to this game are huge in some aspects. To name only one, the vegetation density with 3D models on AC shadows are way beyond the previous games.

Last showing of outlaws was trolled by the entire forum becausei t showed amateur hour animations and effects like terrible explosions (also extremely undetailed textures).

For shadows, i think people know what they are seeing just fine, the game has some improvements and some things are still painfully last gen so the impact wasn't the best, agree to disagree i guess.

Fable and death stranding 2 (with no downgrade) kinda destroy both if we remain in the realm of future open worlds games, and those are 2025 games, not that far away.

 

[Schmendrick]

this is what Fable looks like.

Nope, that´s what PR material of a game that does not yet have a definitive release date looks like.

 

[Schachtier]

The last time I felt something looking next gen was Witcher 3. Because of the wind, the world felt alive. I think that is what we need: A feel more than a look. Texturequality is fine to shine. But the next step has to feel right. And all I see for a few years is the same of the same but in a nice dress.

 

[M1987]

this is what Fable looks like. i think horizon 3 will look on par with this if not better.

It will look way better than that

 

[PeteBull]

Do space marines fight without helmets? Looks dangerous.

Very likely their pov on the helmets might be somewhat similar to Vinnies, from Married with children.

 

[Masterofchapter]

this is what Fable looks like. i think horizon 3 will look on par with this if not better.

Fable don't have huge machines to worry about

 

[Xtib81]

AC Shadows really impressed me. Especially the vistas video. The waterfalls, and the density of the jungle is very impressive considering the massive draw distance.

It's quite inconsistent. The waterfall footage looks amazing Indeed, yet they still have LOD issues (Isn't virtual geometry supposed to fix that?), subpar facial animations (again !!) or NPCs' feet clipping with the ground for example. All in all, it doesn't look that much better than previous AC games and it is certainly disappointing for Ubi's flagship.

 

[kikkis]

It's quite inconsistent. The waterfall footage looks amazing Indeed, yet they still have LOD issues (Isn't virtual geometry supposed to fix that?), subpar facial animations (again !!) or NPCs' feet clipping with the ground for example. All in all, it doesn't look that much better than previous AC games and it is certainly disappointing for Ubi's flagship.

Virtual geometry is more of optimization to reduce cpu burden. Seamless lod requires offline decimation based on algorithms from nanite for instance.

 

[Masterofchapter]

It's quite inconsistent. The waterfall footage looks amazing Indeed, yet they still have LOD issues (Isn't virtual geometry supposed to fix that?), subpar facial animations (again !!) or NPCs' feet clipping with the ground for example. All in all, it doesn't look that much better than previous AC games and it is certainly disappointing for Ubi's flagship.

Lol this doesn't look better than Valhalla what are you smoking

 

[SlimySnake]

It's quite inconsistent. The waterfall footage looks amazing Indeed, yet they still have LOD issues (Isn't virtual geometry supposed to fix that?), subpar facial animations (again !!) or NPCs' feet clipping with the ground for example. All in all, it doesn't look that much better than previous AC games and it is certainly disappointing for Ubi's flagship.

I dont know whats going on with the virtualized geometry and mesh shader implementations in Star Wars, AC Shadows and even FF7-Rebirth. I guess growing pains maybe. its their first time using these features.

Nanite is just amazing though. hellblade 2 has these insane sweeping shots during level transitions and my goodness no pop-in or obvious LOD transitions whatsoever.

 

[Hunnybun]

Weird how underrated AC Shadows is in this thread. Looks pretty fucking glorious to me. That forest environment the demo starts with just looks wonderful. Proper next gen stuff.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Weird how underrated AC Shadows is in this thread. Looks pretty fucking glorious to me. That forest environment the demo starts with just looks wonderful. Proper next gen stuff.

Yeah but i can also see why people aren't impressed too ..certain aspects dont look great even though lighting and geometry are improved

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Lol this doesn't look better than Valhalla what are you smoking

Based off this video?? This looks wayy better than Valhalla! But its not gameplay so i doubt it will look quite this good

 

[Masterofchapter]

Based off this video?? This looks wayy better than Valhalla! But its not gameplay so i doubt it will look quite this good

Ubisoft don't have good track record with gameplay videos they look worse than actual gameplay look at avatar footage don't do justice

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Ubisoft don't have good track record with gameplay videos they look worse than actual gameplay look at avatar footage don't do justice

I mean its usually the opposite of what you said and that applies to most every dev

 

[March Climber]

The Konami baseball game got another gameplay video.

Hitting Camera view:

This is very close. SlimySnake would aiming for hyper-realism instead of just realism help fully bring this game to it's graphical plateau?

 

[SlimySnake]

Lol this doesn't look better than Valhalla what are you smoking

He said it doesnt look THAT much better than previous AC titles. Clearly he thinks its looks better.

 

[Xtib81]

Lol this doesn't look better than Valhalla what are you smoking

Key word is THAT much better. Of course it looks better but that's to be expected 4 years later, with no cross gen and a revamped engine. Yet, when you look at the gameplay video, you immediately recognize the engine's flaws.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Key word is THAT much better. Of course it looks better but that's to be expected 4 years later, with no cross gen and a revamped engine. Yet, when you look at the gameplay video, you immediately recognize the engine's flaws.

Aint that just the pattern this generation ...games going from cross gen to next gen only development should look A LOT better but they don't and I dont buy that its just diminishing returns at work. Its the effort/lack of willingness to upgrade engines that's the issue.

Im going to be very curious to see how Black Myth Wukong turns out on the consoles considering its being made by fresh talent, Chinese (funded?) studio...if they manage the visuals we've seen on these consoles at 60 (or even 40 fps) that will prove there is an issue with Western devs!

 

[SlimySnake]

Aint that just the pattern this generation ...games going from cross gen to next gen only development should look A LOT better but they don't and I dont buy that its just diminishing returns at work. Its the effort/lack of willingness to upgrade engines that's the issue.

Im going to be very curious to see how Black Myth Wukong turns out on the consoles considering its being made by fresh talent, Chinese (funded?) studio...if they manage the visuals we've seen on these consoles at 60 (or even 40 fps) that will prove there is an issue with Western devs!

It will be interesting to compare AC Shadows to Avatar when it comes out. Im seeing the upgrades but i agree, its not the generational leap i was expecting or the one i got when i played Avatar. That said, the density in the forest areas in shadows is off the charts so im willing to wait and see how it looks on my PC. the last gen look might just be the art style they've chosen. some color saturation here and there, and a few fog effects and they might look far more photorealistic.

Right now it looks roughly on par with Death stranding 2 during gameplay. Impressive but not the massive generational leap we want. Black Myth is not an open world game, so not sure if it will be a good comparison point. I think Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Tsushima 2 will be interesting to compare because Sucker Punch really went all in on cinematography and near field detail with lots of fog masking the distance to gain performance. I think GoT2 might look closer to Fable than AC Shadows because of that.

If GoT2 looks on par with DS2 and AC Shadows then im afraid we will just have to settle for GTA6, TLOU3, Fable and Horizon 3 to really blow us away because only the best of the best might be able to get the most out of these systems. at least when it comes to open world games. western or eastern doesnt matter. it might just be a time and budget issue.

 

[GymWolf]

Roughly on par with ds2, lmao

 

[Masterofchapter]

Roughly on par with ds2, lmao

Dude death stranding 2 characters looks good because it's not in-game mostly pre render cut scenes

 

[GymWolf]

Dude death stranding 2 characters looks good because it's not in-game mostly pre render cut scenes

The game looked kinda impressive even outside of the characters in those brief moments of gameplay, not the most impressive shit ever, but certintly more impactful than shadows.

But i'm gonna say in defence of shadows, that at least it's not a barren open world like ds2 (if ds2 is gonna be similar to ds1).

I think that i'm gonna reserve a final judgement on shadows and outlaws for the release day, yt really doesn't do any favour when it comes to micro-details.

 

[Musilla]

 

[Carmen Winstead]

The last time I felt something looking next gen was Witcher 3. Because of the wind, the world felt alive. I think that is what we need: A feel more than a look. Texturequality is fine to shine. But the next step has to feel right. And all I see for a few years is the same of the same but in a nice dress.

For me and many others it has been RDR2.
Still outshines 95% of everything that has been released since then and it has almost been 6 years + it was on last gen.
Looks even better than the new AssCreed some guys are hyping up here.

 

[SimTourist]

Diminishing returns tho, 2006 graphics vs 2024, yeah it's better but not by that much for almost 20 years of progress.

 

[GymWolf]

For me and many others it has been RDR2.
Still outshines 95% of everything that has been released since then and it has almost been 6 years + it was on last gen.
Looks even better than the new AssCreed some guys are hyping up here.

The game show its years in some things (minor characters, faces, overall texturization in the outdoors) but yeah maxed out on pc under the right light, in the right location, i think it could be comparable to shadows best pics, and it should not be the case at all, it's a 6 year and one gen of difference, i don't care if it's rockstar, infamous 3 looked clearly a gen better than ps3 gta5, and sucker punch is nowhere near as big as ubisoft.

I still think that hfw smash shadow in some aspects,, and again, it should not be the case.

 

[Emet_bp]

Diminishing returns tho, 2006 graphics vs 2024, yeah it's better but not by that much for almost 20 years of progress.

They seem to make kind of futureproof tracks like their car models. Thing is hecause of that they have to reduce some detail that is easily seen like foliage, trees etc. because resources are eaten by those other, not so obvious details. Strange decision.
But take a look at many details outside the track. It's mindblowing.
Even bolts/screws on power wires, on railway tracks and buldings are 3D modelled.
I think that new tracks are mostly ready for the PS6 era Gran Turismo. They will just update textures, add more grass and change trees and other foliage models to complex 3D versions (some are already very good models, but most of them are still simple).

 

[Masterofchapter]

The game looked kinda impressive even outside of the characters in those brief moments of gameplay, not the most impressive shit ever, but certintly more impactful than shadows.

But i'm gonna say in defence of shadows, that at least it's not a barren open world like ds2 (if ds2 is gonna be similar to ds1).

I think that i'm gonna reserve a final judgement on shadows and outlaws for the release day, yt really doesn't do any favour when it comes to micro-details.

The foliage in Assassin's creed shadows look way better than death stranding 2 so does water, and mountains, tell me again where does death stranding look better

 

[GymWolf]

The foliage in Assassin's creed shadows look way better than death stranding 2 so does water, and mountains, tell me again where does death stranding look better

I remember being generally more impressed by the small bits of gameplay over what i saw of shadows, it has been a while since i watched the ds2 trailer so i barely remember what locations they showed, i don't remember much vegetation or water except that scene where the water destroy something in its passage and looked pretty good.
Maybe i missed a trailer where they show these superior details you talk about, do you have a link? i only remember gameplay focused inside the city, both yasuke action and the stealth chick.

Also, do you have a good source for 4k screens of both games? i swear i can't find 4k material for a decent comparison to save my life.

this is the only decent screen of a close up of an outdoor location that i found i can't find shit for ds2.

I'm gonna try shadows with the ubisoft plus month thing so if i missed a trailer where he looks better than the reveal i can only be happy, i hardly root for the sniffing fart simulator part 2, believe me

 

[GymWolf]

Yeah ok i'm rewatching the gameplay bits of ds2 trailer and there is like 2% of vegetation on sight (that is dead or dying), and from far off or during fast movements, no zoomed in slow panning on an actual vegetation rich location so i don't know how do you even say that shadows vegetation looks better, and the mountains, at least most of them look pretty detailed, not ue5 hb2 level of detail, but clearly a step up compared to most games, i really don't remember seeing anything better in the footage of shadows that i saw.

(and those are bad quality pics)
The part with the water look good to great but i know that the ac have good water tech in general, but did we even seen a zoom of water interaction in shadows yet? i really feel like i'm missing a trailer here...

The gameplay bits of ds2 are mostly inside locations that are very different from shadows (a base, a desert, a fallen modern city,, it's hard to make a comparison on materials, it just look more impressive to me overall.

In here we were making comparisons between hb2 and ds2 not that long ago, i see no one maing comparisons between shadows and hb2.

 

[Playboi Carti]

Can't get over how this game looks so ass. How many more AC's these guys gonna have to pump out until we get an AC with proper visuals?

 

[GymWolf]

Can't get over how this game looks so ass. How many more AC's these guys gonna have to pump out until we get an AC with proper visuals?

I think there are better screens, but yeah this one is a whole lot of unimpressive nothing for a nextgen only title.