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[ResetEraVetVIP]

And this is the worst part.

HB2 is well received, both by the press and even more so - which is the only thing that matters - by gamers. On Steam it has very positive user reviews.

The old "it has no gameplay" rhetoric is just pure bollocks: it's a different kind of game, like many we had in the past (Journey, to name one that is universally acclaimed) and it's the best looking ever, period.

And I enjoyed playing it more than many other "full of gameplay" titles.

Exactly!!!!!!

 

[DanielG165]

And this is the worst part.

HB2 is well received, both by the press and even more so - which is the only thing that matters - by gamers. On Steam it has very positive user reviews.

The old "it has no gameplay" rhetoric is just pure bollocks: it's a different kind of game, like many we had in the past (Journey, to name one that is universally acclaimed) and it's the best looking ever, period.

And I enjoyed playing it more than many other "full of gameplay" titles.

All of this. I definitely remember actually playing Hellblade 2, rather than watching cutscenes with my controller in-hand the whole time lol.

 

[metareferential]

Not that I want to defend the game further; on the subject of using other metrics to award the best graphics of the year, HB2 was also cheaper at launch than many other games on the list. And it basically had no technical issues. And on one ever expected it to be a 50+ combat heavy rpg or anything like that - and they surely didn't market it this way.

Thinking about this and The Order 1886 I really wish Ms would just fully remake the first Gears (again) on UE5, gameplay untouched. It would be glorious. HB2 had some Gears vibes in the lava/fire sections of the game.

 

[GymWolf]

Terrible year for sony if the only first parties they have are sushi2 and fedex 2.

 

[Luipadre]

Im 25 hours into outlaws, but i could take a screenshot every minute. Game is just gorgeous and so consistent visually except the cutscenes. This is a very rare example when the actual game looks better than the ingame cutscenes, really weird. HDR is ace too

 

[SlimySnake]

Terrible year for sony if the only first parties they have are sushi2 and fedex 2.

still better than this year when they had a ps3 looking game in astro bot, an insult to ps3 games in rise of ronin, and helldivers 2.

and the year before that they had spiderman 2. the year before that they had zero next gen games. (TLOU1 does not count becuase its using TLOU2 tech)

so, 2025 is a big upgrade over the last three years.

 

[Flabagast]

Im 25 hours into outlaws, but i could take a screenshot every minute. Game is just gorgeous and so consistent visually except the cutscenes. This is a very rare example when the actual game looks better than the ingame cutscenes, really weird. HDR is ace too

Which platform ?

 

[Gonzito]

Im 25 hours into outlaws, but i could take a screenshot every minute. Game is just gorgeous and so consistent visually except the cutscenes. This is a very rare example when the actual game looks better than the ingame cutscenes, really weird. HDR is ace too

I just hate the facial animations

 

[GymWolf]

still better than this year when they had a ps3 looking game in astro bot, an insult to ps3 games in rise of ronin, and helldivers 2.

and the year before that they had spiderman 2. the year before that they had zero next gen games. (TLOU1 does not count becuase its using TLOU2 tech)

so, 2025 is a big upgrade over the last three years.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that you are gonna like these games way more than me if the prequels are anything to go by.

Out of all the sony teams, these 2 are the one i care less for so yeah, not much of an upgrade for me personally.

 

[Luipadre]

Which platform ?

PS5 Pro

 

[Luipadre]

I just hate the facial animations

Yeah its AA level. I dont understand what happened there when the rest is this good

 

[GymWolf]

Lol they must have fixed outlaws because when i played it was uneven as fuck, with some really ugly lows (maxed out on pc).

 

[SlimySnake]

Im 25 hours into outlaws, but i could take a screenshot every minute. Game is just gorgeous and so consistent visually except the cutscenes. This is a very rare example when the actual game looks better than the ingame cutscenes, really weird. HDR is ace too

Yep. Their ingame character mode of Kay looks better than her cutscene model. it makes no sense. Massive needs to invest in a dedicated cinematic team and bring over people from other studios. First Avatar which had first person cutscenes and now this. You cant be making games based on movies and then phone in the movie part.

That said, it is a stunning game through and through. Every planet has its strengths. You'd think the desert planet looks like shit because of the rocks and all of a sudden you get to tattoine and it is the best graphics in the game. Same goes for Toshara which has a pretty underwhelming look city, but you go out in the open world with windy foliage and gorgeous vistas and its like a completely different game. The forest planet which looked like shit in previews looked insane on PC though i was using ray reconstruction to fix the water reflections that were a big issue on Avatar as well. It's one of those games like Callisto that dont show up well on youtube or even gifs at times because there is so much detail in the distance that isnt being rendered. Especially foliage of which is there is so much in that forest level.

Then there are the indoor areas which rival most linear games like callisto, sh2 and hellblade 2 which stunning reflections and asset quality. They just need to fix the rocks and image quality issues on consoles.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that you are gonna like these games way more than me if the prequels are anything to go by.

Out of all the sony teams, these 2 are the one i care less for so yeah, not much of an upgrade for me personally.

thats correct. i loved both games.

 

[Luipadre]

Yep. Their ingame character mode of Kay looks better than her cutscene model. it makes no sense. Massive needs to invest in a dedicated cinematic team and bring over people from other studios. First Avatar which had first person cutscenes and now this. You cant be making games based on movies and then phone in the movie part.

That said, it is a stunning game through and through. Every planet has its strengths. You'd think the desert planet looks like shit because of the rocks and all of a sudden you get to tattoine and it is the best graphics in the game. Same goes for Toshara which has a pretty underwhelming look city, but you go out in the open world with windy foliage and gorgeous vistas and its like a completely different game. The forest planet which looked like shit in previews looked insane on PC though i was using ray reconstruction to fix the water reflections that were a big issue on Avatar as well. It's one of those games like Callisto that dont show up well on youtube or even gifs at times because there is so much detail in the distance that isnt being rendered. Especially foliage of which is there is so much in that forest level.

Then there are the indoor areas which rival most linear games like callisto, sh2 and hellblade 2 which stunning reflections and asset quality. They just need to fix the rocks and image quality issues on consoles.

thats correct. i loved both games.

There are 0 issues in 40 fps quality mode with FSR. Super clean and stable image without any graphical issues

 

[SlimySnake]

Lol they must have fixed outlaws because when i played it was uneven as fuck, with some really ugly lows (maxed out on pc).

its lows are really low. but its the game ive giffed the most. even black myth i only created around 40 gifs, this one i got up to 50 before i was like this isnt healthy and stopped recording.

I just hate the facial animations

what facial animations lol.

 

[GymWolf]

its lows are really low. but its the game ive giffed the most. even black myth i only created around 40 gifs, this one i got up to 50 before i was like this isnt healthy and stopped recording.

what facial animations lol.

You know how much i care about games being even, you can't look almost cg in one part and then ps4 launch level the moment after, and in motion their animations\digital acting ruin everything because the fuckers invented motion matching but can't be bothered to fucking use it.

When it looks good it looks GOOD but i would still give the edge to avatar, if we are just talking about ubisoft stuff.

 

[SlimySnake]

There are 0 issues in 40 fps quality mode with FSR. Super clean and stable image without any graphical issues

probably because its higher internal res on the Pro because of the extra 45% GPU power. IIRC, On the base machine, it was like 1080p and dropped below that. FSR works fine at higher resolutions which is why Avatar still looks great on base consoles even at 40 fps. outlaws is more expensive because of the larger draw distance. Even on PC, i had to settle for 30 fps where as i was easily able to run Avatar at 60 fps and mostly max settings.

They had mesh shaders working on foliage in Avatar which probably got them extra performance. Outlaws has a lot more urban areas and far larger draw distance, and i think they need to implement a nanite style system for everything in the game.

 

[rofif]

Dude I hate start wars but you are kinda making me want to play outlaws...

 

[SlimySnake]

Dude I hate start wars but you are kinda making me want to play outlaws...

Play it on your 3080 at 30 fps. Max out everything except for path tracing. leave that off. Do not buy this on PS5 or i will have you banned again.

It's not a good game, but its a great graphics showpiece so worth the $25 you can buy it for on cdkeys or GMG.

they did fix a bunch of issues with the combat being boring and instant stealth fail sections, but i dont know if what they did will make the combat fun. It's serviceable, but it needed to be much more deeper. Dont expect Dragons Dogma 2, Dragon Age Veilguard or Forspoken combat, and just enjoy it for what it is, a fairly basic third person shooter.

 

[rofif]

Play it on your 3080 at 30 fps. Max out everything except for path tracing. leave that off. Do not buy this on PS5 or i will have you banned again.

It's not a good game, but its a great graphics showpiece so worth the $25 you can buy it for on cdkeys or GMG.

they did fix a bunch of issues with the combat being boring and instant stealth fail sections, but i dont know if what they did will make the combat fun. It's serviceable, but it needed to be much more deeper. Dont expect Dragons Dogma 2, Dragon Age Veilguard or Forspoken combat, and just enjoy it for what it is, a fairly basic third person shooter.

Maybe they will patch it more on ps5?
I really hate ubisoft launcher games maybe in the future for a bit cheaper

 

[GymWolf]

The only thing they fixed with the combat was letting you bring 2 hands weapons on ladders and shit, if the rest of the combat is the same i would say it's serviceable at best, just use the explosive gun so at least you can have some funny ragdoll stuff.

 

[GymWolf]

Yo slimy, i also think that stalker 2 looks better than d2 this year, but maybe you didn't played it.

 

[Luipadre]

Play it on your 3080 at 30 fps. Max out everything except for path tracing. leave that off. Do not buy this on PS5 or i will have you banned again.

It's not a good game, but its a great graphics showpiece so worth the $25 you can buy it for on cdkeys or GMG.

they did fix a bunch of issues with the combat being boring and instant stealth fail sections, but i dont know if what they did will make the combat fun. It's serviceable, but it needed to be much more deeper. Dont expect Dragons Dogma 2, Dragon Age Veilguard or Forspoken combat, and just enjoy it for what it is, a fairly basic third person shooter.

He has a Pro. It looks stunning on the pro at locked 40 as i said. Crisp af image with stunning HDR and 0 performance issues.

 

[Luipadre]

The only thing they fixed with the combat was letting you bring 2 hands weapons on ladders and shit, if the rest of the combat is the same i would say it's serviceable at best, just use the explosive gun so at least you can have some funny ragdoll stuff.

Wrong. They made headshots matter, you also get a satisfying headshot sound and much better enemy reactions to fire. Tbh im really liking the firefights in the game, landing headshots after headshots feels rewarding and satisfying

 

[GymWolf]

Wrong. They made headshots matter, you also get a satisfying headshot sound and much better enemy reactions to fire. Tbh im really liking the firefights in the game, landing headshots after headshots feels rewarding and satisfying

Do you have any video of these changes?

 

[Luipadre]

Do you have any video of these changes?

No, but im playing it right now. Im sure you can find plenty on youtube. Also it was in the patch notes

 

[Luipadre]

Do you have any video of these changes?

 

[GymWolf]

Of course they improved the gunplay after i completed it

But tbf, i would still use the explosive bullets for the exagerated ragdoll

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

Yep. Their ingame character mode of Kay looks better than her cutscene model. it makes no sense. Massive needs to invest in a dedicated cinematic team and bring over people from other studios. First Avatar which had first person cutscenes and now this. You cant be making games based on movies and then phone in the movie part.

That said, it is a stunning game through and through. Every planet has its strengths. You'd think the desert planet looks like shit because of the rocks and all of a sudden you get to tattoine and it is the best graphics in the game. Same goes for Toshara which has a pretty underwhelming look city, but you go out in the open world with windy foliage and gorgeous vistas and its like a completely different game. The forest planet which looked like shit in previews looked insane on PC though i was using ray reconstruction to fix the water reflections that were a big issue on Avatar as well. It's one of those games like Callisto that dont show up well on youtube or even gifs at times because there is so much detail in the distance that isnt being rendered. Especially foliage of which is there is so much in that forest level.

Then there are the indoor areas which rival most linear games like callisto, sh2 and hellblade 2 which stunning reflections and asset quality. They just need to fix the rocks and image quality issues on consoles.

thats correct. i loved both games.

The game is very impressive visually especially when you consider the size of the playable space when compared to the likes of HB2, Callisto and Robocop.

I'm playing it on the Pro after the latest patch. Does it have RTGI on console?

He has a Pro. It looks stunning on the pro at locked 40 as i said. Crisp af image with stunning HDR and 0 performance issues.

I was playing it at 40 until I read it's very difficult to notice the differences in it's 60fps mode while using FSR3. 40fps is undoubtably much better than 30fps but man when you switch to 60fps from 40fps it's an impressive leap.

 

[Luipadre]

The game is very impressive visually especially when you consider the size of the playable space when compared to the likes of HB2, Callisto and Robocop.

I'm playing it on the Pro after the latest patch. Does it have RTGI on console?


I was playing it at 40 until I read it's very difficult to notice the differences in it's 60fps mode while using FSR3.

Its not. 60 fps mode has softer image quality, worse LOD, worse RTGI and worse RTAO and shadow distance. Also drops quiet frequently from 60. Quality 40 is the superior mode

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

Its not. 60 fps mode has softer image quality, worse LOD, worse RTGI and worse RTAO and shadow distance. Also drops quiet frequently from 60. Quality 40 is the superior mode

Hmm. Good to know thanks. I'm still fairly early on in the snow World so I guess I haven't hit more performance heavy scenes. I'll go back to 40fps!

 

[Msamy]

still better than this year when they had a ps3 looking game in astro bot, an insult to ps3 games in rise of ronin, and helldivers 2.

and the year before that they had spiderman 2. the year before that they had zero next gen games. (TLOU1 does not count becuase its using TLOU2 tech)

so, 2025 is a big upgrade over the last three years.

Don't insult astro bot, as per digital Foundry cunts it's one of best looking games this year , I really don't know what drugs they take but pretty sure some good stuff

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

Don't insult astro bot, as per digital Foundry cunts it's one of best looking games this year , I really don't know what drugs they take but pretty sure some good stuff

Astrobot is a very nice looking game with a lot of cool physics systems but of course it shouldn't even be top 10 in terms of best lookers of 2024. They just do it for a bit of variety in art styles and genres imo.

 

[metareferential]

You have to give Astrobot credit for its pristine quality: there's a lot going on at once, everything is really polished and it never drops a frame. And there are even some cool tech features like fluid simulation, physics and visual effects.

It's like a next-gen Mario title. Nothing ground-breaking, but it sure looks really good overall. I play on a 120" screen with a laser projector, and it's quite the sight.

 

[SlimySnake]

You have to give Astrobot credit for its pristine quality: there's a lot going on at once, everything is really polished and it never drops a frame. And there are even some cool tech features like fluid simulation, physics and visual effects.

It's like a next-gen Mario title. Nothing ground-breaking, but it sure looks really good overall. I play on a 120" screen with a laser projector, and it's quite the sight.

yes, you can give it credit.

But including it in a top ten list is moronic.

 

[SlimySnake]

Still no improvements to the stealth i see. It's crazy to me that they purposefully made the game a stealth game, but decided to skimp on any stealth mechanics. Your pet can only distract one guard but you dont have enough tools to take out two guards at the same time silently.

 

[SlimySnake]

Yo slimy, i also think that stalker 2 looks better than d2 this year, but maybe you didn't played it.

i played for 20 minutes until i realized i cant do euro trash. sorry. Deleted immediately.

looked decent at night time, but i understand it looks better during the day. the one bunker i went into had ps4 quality graphics. didnt see anything nanite caliber.

 

[metareferential]

yes, you can give it credit.

But including it in a top ten list is moronic.

Fair enough. The really strange mention for me though is Penny's Big Breakaway: even Astrobot annihilates it.

And I don't get why they don't take budget into consideration.

 

[GymWolf]

Still no improvements to the stealth i see. It's crazy to me that they purposefully made the game a stealth game, but decided to skimp on any stealth mechanics. Your pet can only distract one guard but you dont have enough tools to take out two guards at the same time silently.

Dude i told you how to do that months ago...

The stealth was shit for other reasons.

 

[Buggy Loop]

. Do not buy this on PS5 or i will have you banned again.

But he’ll do the opposite

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

I know Alex has a full time job outside of his work in DF, my hunch is he might work in VFX and specialise in lighting or something along those lines, there's no other explanation for someone being this obsessed with something.

He's obsessed with RT/PT lighting because it's the only part of current games that high end PC GPU's absolutely smash consoles to bits at. Res/fps on the Series X / PS5 Pro are in a solid place versus PC especially with the price of current and future GPU's...

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

i played for 20 minutes until i realized i cant do euro trash. sorry. Deleted immediately.

looked decent at night time, but i understand it looks better during the day. the one bunker i went into had ps4 quality graphics. didnt see anything nanite caliber.

"Euro trash" really dude?

 

[Msamy]

He's obsessed with RT/PT lighting because it's the only part of current games that high end PC GPU's absolutely smash consoles to bits at. Res/fps on the Series X / PS5 Pro are in a solid place versus PC especially with the price of current and future GPU's...

To be fair PT / RT have huge impact in any game graphics quality but pair them with law quality models and assists to easily get 60fps or good performance hugely downgrade the final look of any game

 

[metareferential]

To be fair PT / RT have huge impact in any game graphics quality but pair them with law quality models and assists to easily get 60fps or good performance hugely downgrade the final look of any game

There's an argument to be made though that full path tracing elevates anything, even low quality assets.

Just look at something like Quake 2 RTX. Or the new Doom RTX mod. They look better than many triple AAA shit games coming out these days.

 

[RavionUHD]

I really loved Stalker 2, in my opinion definitly a top three regarding graphics for 2024, due to the really high quality assets, textures and good lightning quality.
With some mods (Reshade) and ini configurations which improves the LoD and removes filmgrain and chromatic abberation it looks gorgeous.

Today I also replayed Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition which you can compare to Stalker 2 due to the setting.
And I was surprised how huge the difference is. While the general lightning quality is good due to Raytracing in Metro, the asset and texture quality is far far behind Stalker 2, definitly a generational shift.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Edit: i spoke too soon. they selected indy over Hellblade 2 as their graphics over the year. im done lmao.

These idiots just put indiana fucking jones over Silent Hill 2, Black Myth, and Star Wars outlaws.

Why? Because its 60 fps. I am sorry but if it looks like a early gen ps4 game, who gives a shit if it runs at 60 fps. All the series x footage they used looks like garbage. Path traced version looks better, but john was like oh its very well optimized. Umm, no its not. it is literally not selectable on anything below the 3 4000 series GPUs. a total of maybe six people can play that mode. And thats ok, but dont say its well optimized.

I see a lot of this sentiment everywhere. In the bethesda should switch to UE5 thread, people are like they should switch to this engine. Have you all lost your mind?? It looks a generation behind starfield which uses way better lighting and asset quality in its interiors. It also ran at 60 fps indoors once they unlocked the framerate so its not like its that poorly optimized. hell, i ran it maxed out at 60 fps on day one with only some drops to 50 fps in big cities.

There are no RT reflections or shadows on consoles. But hey its 60 fps so lets give it our 2nd best looking game of the year. Just a few weeks ago i pointed out that Alex would give anything his goty as long as it has path tracing like when he put a ps3 game in their top 3. well, he's at it again.

It's SHAMEFUL that DF didn't put Hellblade 2 as their number 1 best game for graphics. Say what you will about the game itself but graphically it shits all over anything else especially on PC. Isn't DF supposed to specialize in all things "graphics" in videogames?

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Yeah, John including Penny’s Big Breakaway in that video was ridiculous. The game was fun for a few hours but graphically it looked like a Dreamcast game.

To be fair that wasn't Johns list of best graphics but rather "fav games of 24" so he's well within his rights for him to choose anything. That Penny game is really fun with a deep curve for skilled players so I get it.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

I really loved Stalker 2, in my opinion definitly a top three regarding graphics for 2024, due to the really high quality assets, textures and good lightning quality.
With some mods (Reshade) and ini configurations which improves the LoD and removes filmgrain and chromatic abberation it looks gorgeous.

Today I also replayed Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition which you can compare to Stalker 2 due to the setting.
And I was surprised how huge the difference is. While the general lightning quality is good due to Raytracing in Metro, the asset and texture quality is far far behind Stalker 2, definitly a generational shift.

Stalker 2 environments look great. Love the art style and colors of the game. Only thing that looks ps4 quality seems to be caves and underground areas.

 

[No BBC=Anger]

"Euro trash" really dude?

At least Europe has castles, some are really old and castles are cool.

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

It's SHAMEFUL that DF didn't put Hellblade 2 as their number 1 best game for graphics. Say what you will about the game itself but graphically it shits all over anything else especially on PC. Isn't DF supposed to specialize in all things "graphics" in videogames?

Exactly.