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[TxKnight7]

This is going to be interesting!
Both studios have delivered some of the best-looking games. I remember playing Heavenly Sword on the PS3, and it was very impressive. I was amazed by everything happening on the screen. was it like 1000 enemies on screen? Then I saw Uncharted 1 for the first time on a French TV channel, not understanding a word! But I was amazed, the game looked fantastic at that time, the water was really nice looking and beautiful! and the Animation during gameplay, I completed the game more than 5 times and got the platinum trophy, it was incredibly hard on "Crushing" difficulty! Then, I remember playing Enslaved Odyssey to the West and thinking to myself, Wow, these two studios might have delivered the best looking third-person games of their time.

Then came Uncharted 4, Hellblade 1, The Last of Us 2, and Hellblade 2. I completed them all, and then I asked myself: How can these developers be compared to each other in terms of technology/graphics? How can a small studio like Ninja Theory be compared to the large team at Naughty Dog?

Let’s take a look at 2016/2017, where Uncharted 4, Lost Legacy, and Hellblade were among the most impressive games on consoles.

What did DF say about Uncharted 4 in 2016?

" the final game comes very close to matching the quality of the original E3 2014 teaser ".

Hellblade 1 did won some awards for best real-time graphics and more.
a low budget project of only $10 million and from 20 people!

DF:
"Built on a relatively low budget
hellblade senua's sacrifice still manages to rank among the heavyweights in this generation best looking games"

Then came The Last of Us 2. Although it didn’t win the "Best Graphics" on DF's 2020 list against Cyberpunk and others, the game still looked incredible, the environment, everything, especially the Animations. I can say it was the best-looking game on consoles in 2020, while Cyberpunk was the best on PC.

It was confirmed by John from DF that there were graphical downgrades in TLOU2, but the game still looked amazing.

Finally, there’s Hellblade 2! Yes, this is the best-looking game I’ve seen in this generation. Was its quality downgraded? Well..It turned out the first trailer was CGI or pre-rendered like the first TLOU2 teaser trailer. What was interesting was what John from DF said about the final game.

Now, I’m really looking forward to seeing Naughty Dog’s next game and Ninja Theory's "Project Mara" or whatever their next game is.

 

[Bartski]

 

[kaizenkko]

I don't think the pedigree and overall quality of these studios in even comparable. lol

 

[Judge Magister]

Hellblade is comparable to The Order 1886 not Uncharted.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Like comparing a Big Mac to filet mignon. Having said that, I think Ninja Theory is cool, they just aren't even in the same universe as Naughty Dog.

 

[GymWolf]

I onestly could not care less about ninja theory output.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Huh? Naughty Dog is light years ahead of Ninja Theory.

 

[Portugeezer]

Big Phil wanted NT to be Xbox's ND, but instead they remind me of media molecule.

 

[TBiddy]

Not sure where you're heading with this. One team has established themselves as one of the best in the industry and the other is a niche team.

 

[Vick]

Only reason David is currently ahead is due to UE5 usage in extremely confined spaces/limited game systems/AR.
Facial animations in Heavenly Sword aside, the studios output ended up being a literal generation apart on PS3 with Uncharted 3 vs Enslaved, and same goes for TLOU Part II vs Hellblade in the PS4 generation.

 

[geary]

The most bizarre comparisons and is not even weekend.

 

[Toots]

Naughty dog and ninja theory,
K.I.S.S.I.N.G

 

[Begleiter]

This comparison can only be made because Ninja Theory are the worst modern action game developer and don't care about how well their titles perform - Heavenly Sword's final battle might as well have been a slideshow. They would rightly have gone out of business if Microsoft hadn't picked them.

 

[Markio128]

I doubt ND’s next game will look much better than TLOU2 on the face of it, but I’m sure they’ll build on the incredible, visceral feel of the action. That’s what I’m most excited about, over the visuals.

 

[Lokaum D+]

"Both studios have delivered some of the best-looking games"

You lost me here, Hellblade is barely a game

 

[HeWhoWalks]

I doubt ND’s next game will look much better than TLOU2 on the face of it

Um, why?

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

I played and beat Hellblade 2 on PC and yes it's visuals are staggering. The level where you are wandering through the caves was genuinely jaw-dropping. NOTHING compares to it visually. The game itself was fine and by the end I ended up liking it quite a bit. There's no way it compares to Last of Us or Uncharted though gameplay wise.

 

[Sintoid]

Naughty Theory

 

[GeoramA]

When Naughty Dog makes a shitty "game" where you're walking in a straight line 90% of the time, then you can ask this question.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

The level where you are wandering through the caves was genuinely jaw-dropping. NOTHING compares to it visually.

Good looking game for sure, but there are games that easily compete with the best visuals from it.

 

[Represent.]

Only R* competes with ND - And thats only becaue they have endless budget.

pound for pound ND are the best devs on earth.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Only R* competes with ND - And thats only becaue they have endless budget.

pound for pound ND are the best devs on earth.

I mostly agree here. In regard to polish, Nintendo’s devs, R*, and Naughty Dog are in a league on their own.

 

[tommib]

One of them is not like the other.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Ninja Theory’s gameplay is shit, no comparison.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Ninja Theory’s tech capabilities (particularly how they handle motion capture) is certainly up there with the Dogs. Issue is everything else. Gameplay/environmental interaction is sorely lacking and Hellblade II exposed this tenfold.

They just need to refine those two things and go from there!

 

[Fbh]

Not really comparable.
I don't particularly like ND, but on top of the amazing production values there's also usually a compelling game beyond just the presentation.
NT spent 5 year making a 7 hours long glorified walking simulator.

 

[nowhat]

Ninja Theory’s tech capabilities (particularly how they handle motion capture) is certainly up there with the Dogs

Motion capture is one thing. Making the animations morph smoothly between captures is another, and I think ND is currently quite unparalleled in that regard. Yes, they didn't come up with "motion matching" (it was Ubisoft, or devs there, out of all companies), but the implementation is just superb. First time playing TLOU 2 I had my first "wow" moment while moving crouched and looting stuff with one hand behind the back. Compare this to something like RDR 2 - yes, the animations themselves are fine, but the fact Arthur has to pace around an object a few times to get the actual animation going becomes infuriating very quickly.

 

[Markio128]

Um, why?

I don’t think it’s feasible for their new game to look that much better than the updated version of TLOU2 on a PS5. Unless of course they go down the 30fps route, but I don’t think anybody really wants that nowadays.

It’ll still look awesome though, as have all their games.

 

[Generic]

Like comparing a Big Mac to filet mignon. Having said that, I think Ninja Theory is cool, they just aren't even in the same universe as Naughty Dog.

But big macs are better than filet mignon.

 

[Pedro Motta]

Add some real gameplay to Hellblade 2 and watch it fall apart.

 

[Loomy]

The scale and variety in gameplay/presentation that Naughty Dog makes at the visual fidelity they do is what sets them part. That Madagascar chase scene in Uncharted 4, for example. I could pull half a dozen examples from that game alone to show why ND is in a completely different class from Ninja Theory.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

I don’t think it’s feasible for their new game to look that much better than the updated version of TLOU2 on a PS5. Unless of course they go down the 30fps route, but I don’t think anybody really wants that nowadays.

It’ll still look awesome though, as have all their games.

Why would it not be feasible? There are already games that look better.

This is Naughty Dog. It will look considerably better.

nowhat

%

 

[HogIsland]

Naughty Dog stomps all over Ninja Theory.

 

[rm082e]

I've played Heavenly Sword, DMC: Devil May Cry, Enslaved, and a tiny bit of that first Senua game. Of those, Heavenly Sword is the only one I finished, and that's only because it's super short and the PS3 didn't have many good games available in it's first couple of years.

The only thing good I can say about any of those is that some of them looked nice. All of them were some degree of boring to play, had lame duck stories and dialogue, and were forgettable to me. I'm not trying to be mean, but honestly, they're one of those studios where I don't understand how they were able to make enough money to survive.

These days, how good a single-player game looks is one of the least interesting elements to me because the technology has gotten to a point where most games look good enough to be enjoyable. Even the B-Tier stuff these days looks really good. So the value of a single-player game is in the gameplay loop, the quality of the dialogue and voice acting, and the story/plot. Ninja theory has always fallen flat on all of these for me, while ND is basically at the very top of the mountain. I don't even think of these two studios as being in the same league.

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Hellblade is comparable to The Order 1886 not Uncharted.

The graphics of Hellblade 2 and the gameplay of Hellblade 1 is comparable to The Order. Even that comparison is generous imo.

 

[Kvally]

Like comparing a Big Mac to filet mignon. Having said that, I think Ninja Theory is cool, they just aren't even in the same universe as Naughty Dog.

I wouldn't say Naughty Dog is a Big Mac, but more like maybe Five Guys or In and Out. Ninja Theory is a filet or ribeye.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I wouldn't say Naughty Dog is a Big Mac, but more like maybe Five Guys or In and Out. Ninja Theory is a filet or ribeye.

 

[Calverz]

I onestly could not care less about ninja theory output.

 

[Kvally]

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

I played both Hellblade games. Especially the second one is a fucking joke "gameplay"-wise while The Last Of Us 2 fucking rips in terms of mechanics and level design. I'm not even a fan of Naughty Dog, specifically their stupid Hollywood trope-ass stories, but that game is undeniably great to play and a huge step up for them imo.

 

[Gojiira]

This is going to be interesting!
Both studios have delivered some of the best-looking games. I remember playing Heavenly Sword on the PS3, and it was very impressive. I was amazed by everything happening on the screen. was it like 1000 enemies on screen? Then I saw Uncharted 1 for the first time on a French TV channel, not understanding a word! But I was amazed, the game looked fantastic at that time, the water was really nice looking and beautiful! and the Animation during gameplay, I completed the game more than 5 times and got the platinum trophy, it was incredibly hard on "Crushing" difficulty! Then, I remember playing Enslaved Odyssey to the West and thinking to myself, Wow, these two studios might have delivered the best looking third-person games of their time.

Then came Uncharted 4, Hellblade 1, The Last of Us 2, and Hellblade 2. I completed them all, and then I asked myself: How can these developers be compared to each other in terms of technology/graphics? How can a small studio like Ninja Theory be compared to the large team at Naughty Dog?

Let’s take a look at 2016/2017, where Uncharted 4, Lost Legacy, and Hellblade were among the most impressive games on consoles.

What did DF say about Uncharted 4 in 2016?

" the final game comes very close to matching the quality of the original E3 2014 teaser ".

Hellblade 1 did won some awards for best real-time graphics and more.
a low budget project of only $10 million and from 20 people!

DF
"Built on a relatively low budget
hellblade senua's sacrifice still manages to rank among the heavyweights in this generation best looking games"

Then came The Last of Us 2. Although it didn’t win the "Best Graphics" on DF's 2020 list against Cyberpunk and others, the game still looked incredible, the environment, everything, especially the Animations. I can say it was the best-looking game on consoles in 2020, while Cyberpunk was the best on PC.

It was confirmed by John from DF that there were graphical downgrades in TLOU2, but the game still looked amazing.

Finally, there’s Hellblade 2! Yes, this is the best-looking game I’ve seen in this generation. Was its quality downgraded? Well..It turned out the first trailer was CGI or pre-rendered like the first TLOU2 teaser trailer. What was interesting was what John from DF said about the final game.

Now, I’m really looking forward to seeing Naughty Dog’s next game and Ninja Theory's "Project Mara" or whatever their next game is.

How do they compare? They don’t plain and simple. Naughty Dog makes industry leading games with actual gameplay, Ninja Theory makes glorified walking sims…
They aren’t comparable. Even from a writing/story standpoint, NT just cant make interesting or likeable characters, just look at the afterbirth that was DmC…
They make technically impressive visuals, I say technically because aesthetically they are fucking ugly.

 

[Little Chicken]

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Sad comparison

Now pull up the original Hellblade II trailer.

 

[Majormaxxx]

I don't think the pedigree and overall quality of these studios in even comparable. lol

Yes, one has a narcissistic self indulgent, studio head and the other one is ninja theiry

 

[Wolves hunt in packs]

Hellblade is comparable to The Order 1886 not Uncharted.

Not really imo, the order has gameplay in-between.

 

[Vick]

Now post Hellblade on Xbox One X against this on PS4 Pro:

 

[nial]

Big Phil wanted NT to be Xbox's ND, but instead they remind me of media molecule.

Huh, you managed to make an even worse comparison.

 

[Sorcerer]

Ninja theory sacrifices gameplay for graphics. You see through it right away. I think if they wanted to work strictly in a more visual novel genre they might find an audience there and kill it. Emphasize their strength instead of making gameplay a low rung on the ladder or pretending they actually care about that.

I bet Hellblade visual novels would have been well received by those into that kind of thing. All you are really doing is just moving the character to the next story point anyway, the fighting is rather meaningless.