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[Physiognomonics]

Replaying AC Odyssey / Origins convinced me that they have the best open-world engine overall.

Others engines are great in some areas, like Insomniac, Rockstar, Guerrilla, but overall the best engine is the AC engine.

Too bad their latest games quality are not up to Odyssey / Origins level.

 

[Smasher89]

So Horizon Forbidden west didnt push visuals? i think iots prob the best looking game overall, and i bet the next one is gonna be a decent leap due to being focused on hopefully only ps5 (and not 6 initially atleast).

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Awful physics, animations and interactions. Their worlds are a cardboard scenery that only look good in screenshots. When the game starts moving, the magic vanishes. Ubisoft is pushing nothing nowadays.

 

[simpatico]

I think we're in a new paradigm for graphics. We're still in the technological generation that Origins kicked off. Companies are finding out trying to bounce off the ceiling (UE5 ray tracing) isn't a very profitable endeavor.

 

[Zathalus]

If you mean a company that has games that come out regularly that push visuals, then it would be for me:

Remedy (Control, Alan Wake 2)
Sony (GoY looks excellent, so did SM2, DS2, R&C as well)
Ubisoft (Avatar, Shadows, Outlaws)
Microsoft (Indiana, Doom) - that's mostly due to id.

 

[bitbydeath]

I don't associate Ubisoft with good graphics.
Rockstar and Sony are the best visually.

 

[Arsic]

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Technology for the sake of it without the purpose is just aa waste of time. Yes, Snowdrop is capable, but artistically Ubi games doesn't do anything special and eve look kinda bland.

Even Sony/MS/Rockstar aside, Saber's SWARM engine wanna talk with you (especially since it's pulling off insane things on a modest and very capable frame budget).

 

[Trunx81]

I just started to play FarCry 6 and damn, it is a beautiful, soulless monster. Then you hit the first camp and play in 3rd person and can just think: "the fuck is this?"

 

[M.W.]

What???? I don't know what alternate dimension this thread is from, but right now there's literally nothing, not even on PC:that looks better graphically than Death Stranding 2 on the PS5 Pro.
Even on the base PS5 it's already impressive. And this is coming from someone who owns a high-end PC.

 

[The_Observer]

It seems so. IMO AC Shadows is the current king technical-wise in many ways

 

[Gaiff]

So Horizon Forbidden west didnt push visuals?

No. Next.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Sony used to be among those, but their offerings just aren't impressive anymore. GOY, DS2, and Spider-Man 2 get outdone by games that are years old.

- CDPR has released one game in the last 5 years and TW4 is still very far away.

- Rockstar releases one game every 8 years, so no.

- Crytek is MIA.

- DICE has foregone advanced visual features in BF6 to appeal to a broader spectrum of machines.

The only one other one I see with an argument is Remedy with Control in 2018 and Alan Wake 2 in 2023, and presumably another game coming up within the next 3 years.

Otherwise, Ubisoft has:

2025: Assassin's Creed Shadows
2024: Star Wars Outlaws
2023: Frontiers of Pandora

There's also a rumor of a Black Flag remaster/remake coming out in the first half of 2026.

So, are they the only big devs regularly releasing AAA games that push graphics forward? It doesn't change the fact that their games aren't good, but we have to give credit to their technical/graphics engineers and visual artists.

 

[Gaiff]

What's wrong with what I said? AC Shadows and Frontiers of Pandora are top tier when it comes to graphics.

I don't associate Ubisoft with good graphics.
Rockstar and Sony are the best visually.

Rockstar, sure, but they come out once every decade. Sony, no. Not since they have decided to make 60fps the baseline in their games.

 

[GudOlRub]

People shit on Ubisoft a lot, and in most cases rightfully so. But their in-house tech is usally pretty good. Also apparently pretty good to work with. I know that people like to point at Unity as a negative example, which was true at launch. But after the patches, it is still a very pretty game. And it's 11 years old...

Ubisoft's problem was never tech, on the contrary. Their problem since the mid 2010s has been how they design games despite said tech.

 

[DeathtoPigeons]

No. Next.

Haha, beautifully succinct answer.

 

[Gaiff]

Again, what's wrong? Their games look utterly amazing. Sure, they suck and have designs that haven't left the PS360 era, but this isn't what this thread is about.

 

[RaidenJTr7]

What???? I don't know what alternate dimension this thread is from, but right now there's literally nothing, not even on PC:that looks better graphically than Death Stranding 2 on the PS5 Pro.
Even on the base PS5 it's already impressive. And this is coming from someone who owns a high-end PC.

 

[bitbydeath]

What's wrong with what I said? AC Shadows and Frontiers of Pandora are top tier when it comes to graphics.

Rockstar, sure, but they come out once every decade. Sony, no. Not since they have decided to make 60fps the baseline in their games.

Ubisoft are tier 3 or 4 IMO.
Not even close to Sony and Rockstar.

 

[Arsic]

Again, what's wrong? Their games look utterly amazing. Sure, they suck and have designs that haven't left the PS360 era, but this isn't what this thread is about.

 

[Gaiff]

Ubisoft are tier 3 or 4 IMO.
Not even close to Sony and Rockstar.

Did you even look at AC Shadows or Frontiers of Pandora? They look better than anything Sony has ever put out, and Rockstar's current-gen offering hasn't come out yet. Sony's current games look like polished PS4 games.

 

[Arsic]

Did you even look at AC Shadows or Frontiers of Pandora? They look better than anything Sony has ever put out, and Rockstar's current-gen offering hasn't come out yet. Sony's current games look like polished PS4 games.

 

[Gaiff]

Oh, we doing this?

 

[Brakum]

I'll never know

 

[Hudo]

Ubisoft's problem was never tech, on the contrary. Their problem since the mid 2010s has been how they design games despite said tech.

Exactly.

 

[Msamy]

Sony wait for the end of this gen cycle to show what they can do with ps5 power, truly fuck them

 

[Lokaum D+]

What's wrong with what I said? AC Shadows and Frontiers of Pandora are top tier when it comes to graphics.

having good graphics is different from "pushing visuals" lest time ubsoft pushed something was with AC4 on their water simulation, since than they are pretty much playing safe, again their game looking great doesn't mean they are pushing something, at least imo.

the last "game" in the market that pushed visual was Senuas 2 for "corridors" like games and CP2077 for open world with their path tracing.

 

[Gaiff]

having good graphics is different from "pushing visuals" lest time ubsoft pushed something was with AC4 on their water simulation, since than they are pretty much playing safe, again their game looking great doesn't mean they are pushing something, at least imo.

the last "game" in the market that pushed visual was Senuas 2 for "corridors" like games and CP2077 for open world with their path tracing.

4 seasons with 2 cycles each and fully dynamic time of day with RTGI is a first as far as I'm aware. Those visuals weren't even possible on last-gen machines and no one else does this.

 

[Lokaum D+]

4 seasons with 2 cycles each and fully dynamic time of day with RTGI is a first as far as I'm aware. Those visuals weren't even possible on last-gen machines and no one else does this.

Forza Horizon 4 already did 4 sessons 2 cycles each and fully dynamic weather 6 years ago, it didnt had RTGI back than and It may not count for you since is an open world racing game, but all this is nothing new in gaming.

 

[bitbydeath]

4 seasons with 2 cycles each and fully dynamic time of day with RTGI is a first as far as I'm aware. Those visuals weren't even possible on last-gen machines and no one else does this.

Days Gone did it last gen.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Oh, we doing this?

That's why I always say post video because it just devolves into glamour shots. Sooner or later we will see Drake's house show up.

 

[Danny22]

Make games 30 fps again.

But realistically we should have a photorealistic filter running real time in a decade or so, making old games photoreal as well.

 

[Arsic]

Oh, we doing this?

 

[bitbydeath]

Did you even look at AC Shadows or Frontiers of Pandora? They look better than anything Sony has ever put out, and Rockstar's current-gen offering hasn't come out yet. Sony's current games look like polished PS4 games.

Nah, I'll give you "better than Borderlands" but the graphics aren't doing anything special post last-gen.

 

[Gaiff]

Days Gone did it last gen.

Days Gone has ray-traced global illumination?

 

[Lokaum D+]

Days Gone has ray-traced global illumination?

RTGI is pushing visuals since when ? Witcher 3 has RTGI now, every game has it.

 

[Arsic]

 

[Mister Wolf]

Days Gone has ray-traced global illumination?

Didn't the PS5 version and PC get SSRTGI?

Edit: It's just SSGI

 

[bitbydeath]

Days Gone has ray-traced global illumination?

It's a UE game so I doubt it used RT, GI yes, RT likely not.

 

[San Dan Glokta]

Gameplay>Graphics
/thread

 

[Gaiff]

RTGI os pushing visuals since when ?

Since this gen?

Witcher 3 has RTGI now, every game has it.

No, most games don't have it. None of Sony's games have it for one aside from GOY. For two, the quality of the lighting in AC Shadows along with the variation of seasons and time of day has never been done before.

TW3 update looks very good, but it's still rooted in last-gen tech. The micro geometry, foliage, and weather effects are nowhere near Shadows for instance. Compare the snow in both games or the vegetation and it's clear which one is a PS4-era game.

It's a UE game so I doubt it used RT, GI yes, RT likely not.

So then it doesn't do what AC Shadows does.

Didn't the PS5 version and PC get SSRTGI?

Edit: It's just SSGI

The shitty blue filter? It does nothing for the quality of the lighting. It's arguably even worse at times.

 

[Danjin44]

I recently replayed Dark Souls remastered and in honestly made me hate the visuals for Demons Souls "remake" even more…..in my personal opinion the "Remake" lost all the distinct visual style that I like in FROM games in order to make it more high tech and "pretty".

 

[Lokaum D+]

I recently replayed Dark Souls remastered and in honestly made me hate the visuals for Demons Souls "remake" even more…..in my personal opinion the "Remake" removed the yellow piss filter that I like in FROM games in order to make it more high tech and "pretty".

Fixed for you

 

[Synless]

No cherry picked glamour shots. Post video. Otherwise it just becomes an Uncharted 4 "Drakes House" situation.

The entirety of Uncharted 4 was glorious compared to any game out at that time. What are you on about?

Whether it was a house or otherwise, it was top level.

 

[Mister Wolf]

The entirety of Uncharted 4 was glorious compared to any game out at that time. What are you on about?

Whether it was a house or otherwise, it was top level.

And now it's 2025 and it just looks like a product of it's time. Standards improve.

 

[Lokaum D+]

And now it's 2025 and it just looks like a product of it's time. Standards improve.

Tell that to Nintendo and their fans

 

[EverydayBeast]

You can count on open world Ubisoft games

 

[PixelatedBeast]

I recently replayed Dark Souls remastered and in honestly made me hate the visuals for Demons Souls "remake" even more…..in my personal opinion the "Remake" lost all the distinct visual style that I like in FROM games in order to make it more high tech and "pretty".

Low res textures and a color piss filter was....distinct? You do realize it's pretty much the same game as the original?

 

[Gaiff]

Low res textures and a color piss filter was....distinct? You do realize it's pretty much the same game?

The style is definitely very different. Not getting into this again, but there have been significant design changes when it comes to the environments, armors, monsters, and characters, the color palette has been altered (even the classic filter doesn't restore it), and even subtle changes such as your footsteps not making noise in soul form in the original contribute to a different atmosphere in the remake.

I still enjoyed it, but the vibe is very different.

 

[calico]

The better most of the image gets, the more the flaws stand out. Every face screenshot in here is let down by the hair, except those which are hiding it by making it out of focus. The sky in the KCD2 video looks atrocious.

I think pushing the elements which are already good even higher is not helping anymore, and is often even hurting. They need to focus on closing the gap between the weakest and strongest elements, not widening the gap.