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NX Gamer Best Graphics of the Year 2023

Hogwarts gets a mention.🫨

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Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Good thing AW2 isn't that game ;)
Yeah, I never said it was either.
NX Gamer literally did that and thats the reason why he placed Spiderman 2 so high. he also mentions why it isnt on the first spot because its basically running on a last gen engine and feels like it belongs in the same generation as spiderman 1 at times.

AW2 is not confined to a very small empty room. The levels are large and interconnected and the interiors are no different from the interior sections in both cyberpunk and HFW while looking a generation ahead in terms of lighting, level of detail and asset quality.


AW2 has the cutscenes, the animations, the graphics and that next gen flair that helped it get to the top. Not every game needs gigantic boss fights or fast traversal to qualify, horizon FW didnt have either last year and still won every single graphics award.
Why do you assume I'm saying anything about Alan Wake 2?

I'm talking generally, i.e., when games are being compared in terms of their visual or technical prowess, all things should be taken into account.

Senua Senua - forgot to quote your response. ^
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
What does that even mean
which means it's not a real open world.
It's a well camouflaged corridor that looks like a bigger area.
+ AW got some hubs from which you go to those corridors.

Compare dark souls 3 to elden ring and I would still say ds3 is more open than alan wake2
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
With that mindset an open world game is just a large corridor too lol, they all have limits.
sure but we can draw a line somewher.
For example witcher 3 is not really an open world game but the areas are huge hubs.
While AW2 drops you in a forest with few connecting corridors. Feels more like standard level
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
which means it's not a real open world.
It's a well camouflaged corridor that looks like a bigger area.
+ AW got some hubs from which you go to those corridors.

Compare dark souls 3 to elden ring and I would still say ds3 is more open than alan wake2
No one ever made the argument that it's open-world. We're arguing that it's not just some tiny rooms. That'd like calling TLOU Part II a corridor shooter because it isn't open-world when we know that there are vast and expansive areas. You could make the argument for constrained and smaller environments for Quantum Break and Control to a lesser extent. Alan Wake 2 definitely isn't tiny in terms of scope and scale.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
which means it's not a real open world.
It's a well camouflaged corridor that looks like a bigger area.
+ AW got some hubs from which you go to those corridors.

Compare dark souls 3 to elden ring and I would still say ds3 is more open than alan wake2
Callisto is a corridor game. Dead Space too. FF16 is more open than AW2 and AW2 is more open than Callisto. What difference does it make? Game has huge levels that dont feel limited in anyway and thats the point. The latest level I played started me off at a town square with a cafe than had me explore a jungle area before taking me to a full amusement park and then a light house and a trailer park. no loading. All seamless and completely explorable unlike TLOU2 which locks you into areas as you go through them. That is the limitation of a linear game level with hidden loading corridors with ladders and planks ND used in both TLOU1 and TLOU2 to mask loading.

We dont get that here. You get one loading screen before you enter a new area and then you are free to explore. Same goes for FF16. They sell the scope of each level which is what matters most.
 

Senua

Member
sure but we can draw a line somewher.
For example witcher 3 is not really an open world game but the areas are huge hubs.
While AW2 drops you in a forest with few connecting corridors. Feels more like standard level
A corridor game is just another term for a linear one, and AW2 is not linear. I dno I think you're just over complicating shit for yaself bro
 

Fbh

Member
He starts off the video by saying he is looking at the overall picture. Setpieces, animations, production values, as well as graphics fidelity. I would personally never put Avatar behind FF16 but at least his reasoning is solid. FF16 and Spiderman do a lot more next gen stuff than just render some fancy world with lots of foliage. The games feel next gen in scope thanks to the massive setpieces, beautiful cutscenes and fantastic animation work. Same goes for Star Wars which easily looks worse than Avatar but those cutscenes he posted in the video look a generation ahead of what Massive produced in Avatar.

Hopefully star wars outlaws being third person and cinematic works in their favor. It has the setpieces, the cutscenes and the scale that Avatar simply failed to capture.

I guess I can see it to an extent but FFXVI didn't feel next gen to me, at all. It felt like a game that could have been done on Ps3 (obviously with much simpler graphics and more loading).
As I said the A tier cutscenes look amazing and there's some next gen transitions between cinematics and gameplay.

But other that I don't know.
The levels are fairly simple, mostly empty with nothing much going on aside from small groups of small enemies roaming around (at half framerate too if they are far away, even in the 30fps mode).
The dungeons are small and linear with occasional "squeezing through" sequences.
You never go to any cities, only small towns with fairly limited NPC's, most of them don't even walk around. At times they actually do that very Ps3 era thing where it's like "the whole town came together to fight"...and it's like 8 NPC's.

The boss fights are cool and, as mentioned, have cool transitions between cinematic and gameplay. But other than that it's nothing we haven't seen, other than having better graphics I don't think they were doing anything mindblowing compared to, say, God of War 3 or Bayonetta from almost 15 years ago.
 

Xtib81

Member
This ranking doesn't make much sense if we're talking about the console versions.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I feel like Hogwarts looks last gen, I don't see what is impressive about it. I agree about Alan Wake 2, tho (as a graphical king)
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I feel like Hogwarts looks last gen, I don't see what is impressive about it. I agree about Alan Wake 2, tho (as a graphical king)
I mean, hogwarts is also on ps4 so it obviously is a last gen game but really really really polished up for next gen consoles.
This game is so good looking, good performing and just polished. FF16 obviously looks way better at time but also way lower at times.
If it was my choice, I would pick ff16 since I was playing like like a mouthbreather for parts of the game lol. it looked stunning.

shots
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And for ff16. It's so weird. Parts of it looks like legit offline cgi... the soft light is incredible. And other parts look so flat like if it was a different engine. But still. holy hell
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Not to mention how much better both of these games look with hdr.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I feel like Hogwarts looks last gen, I don't see what is impressive about it. I agree about Alan Wake 2, tho (as a graphical king)
The level of detail indoor in the Hogwarts castle is pretty amazing. Outdoors is last gen as fuck though you do get to fly at pretty fast speeds. That said, i wouldnt include it in my top ten.

That screenshot looks atrocious though lol
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
The level of detail indoor in the Hogwarts castle is pretty amazing. Outdoors is last gen as fuck though you do get to fly at pretty fast speeds. That said, i wouldnt include it in my top ten.


That screenshot looks atrocious though lol
hmmm I can see why you say that. It's a bit low geometry. I loved the overcast vibe. That's for sure where it is next gen when there is no grass to hide the lod.
What about that one + some indoors since we area talking about that
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I guess I can see it to an extent but FFXVI didn't feel next gen to me, at all. It felt like a game that could have been done on Ps3 (obviously with much simpler graphics and more loading).
As I said the A tier cutscenes look amazing and there's some next gen transitions between cinematics and gameplay.

The boss fights are cool and, as mentioned, have cool transitions between cinematic and gameplay. But other than that it's nothing we haven't seen, other than having better graphics I don't think they were doing anything mindblowing compared to, say, God of War 3 or Bayonetta from almost 15 years ago.
I think thats precisely why it is up there in the top 10. Because its doing PS3 era stuff just at a larger scale and with fancier graphics without any kind of loading or masking of loading we saw in the PS4 GOW games.

Honestly, these kind of big GOW3 style games have completely been MIA from last gen as devs push higher fidelity but they came at a cost. In TLOU2 and GOW you had those ridiculous squeezing sections. In Horizon, you had severe pop-in as soon as you start flying. FF16 goes back to that bombastic setpiece era and does it with some of the best looking cutscenes and setpieces we've seen this gen.

I do agree that the rest of the game is very uneven and those areas probably shouldve just been cut. I just think the highs of that game are higher than most games last year, but at times it does look like a PS3 game.
 
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Reactions: Fbh

BigLee74

Member
I don’t see it on Alan Wake 2. I’m playing it on my Xbox, and it often looks as rough as a badgers arse (performance mode, granted). Haven’t seen shimmering like it since I painted my nails for a laugh!
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
hmmm I can see why you say that. It's a bit low geometry. I loved the overcast vibe. That's for sure where it is next gen when there is no grass to hide the lod.
What about that one + some indoors since we area talking about that
YbJRtpb.jpg


ReQDfqg.jpg

Y8ACNkD.jpg

aGcyiBt.jpg
I think the outdoor lighting hurts it the most. The draw distance of grass, trees and the horizon is actually very impressive on PC max settings. Not up there with Avatar but definitely higher than HFW. But the lighting is just so UE4 its almost UE3 quality. Just compare the lighting in Avatar, FF16 and HFW to Hogwarts and you will see the last gen drab look.

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Indoors is slightly better thanks to an incredible amount of detail with books, portraits and other objects littered in every room. But you can see in your own screenshots that all of that extra detail is just being wasted due to the poor light bounce and AO. They all kind of blend in whereas in Alan Wake 2, the interiors just help ground everything and yet make it all stand out.

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yamaci17

Member
im playing alan wake 2 rn and im between path traced aw2 and cyberpunk phantom liberty for me

so if im to do top 8
1/2 alan wake 2 / phantom liberty
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3 resident evil 4 (this is personal, I just love the style of capcom engine a lot)
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4 jedi survivor
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5 starfield
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6 hogwarts legacy
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7 dead space remake (ehh)
8 atomic heart (no photo mode)


didnt play others


honorary mentions

zelda totk
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witcher 3 rtx patch
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(notes on the discussions: I don't agree with aw2 being considered as a corridor game. its maps are rather huge. and geometry detail is insane. watery area alone has probably more geometry than the entire map of Velen in Witcher 3 probably)

idk about hogwarts over cyberpunk. hogwarts is pretty UE4 %90 of the time. it has its moments but does not even come close to cyberpunk or jedi survivor. hell, jedi survivor at least uses Ray traced GI and that adds a lot to its immersion in its open world. hogwarts legacy is open world slog. jedi survivor open world actually has a lot of side activities, puzzles and actual game mechanics rather than fillers. so not only it has better graphics, it also has better immersiveness.

aside from that, decent list. cant comment on avatar and horizon. didn't play them as I've told before. spiderman 2 looks decentish. but idk if i'd put it over cyberpunk personally
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Entering Pandora properly in Avatar is probably one of the most impressive things I have seen this gen so far. I have my issues the game itself, but in terms of tech, it is incredible.


Apologies for the 720p only, streamable butchered it.



 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Final Fantasy 16 is a beautiful game and has the most jaw dropping set pieces I've experienced from start to finish. It's a 50-60 hour game with a shit ton of characters and locales, so they did an excellent job getting it out with about 4 years of dev.
 
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If I only speak to games I've played, in my own house on my own hardware, my list would probably have some similar choices.

For me, I was too impressed with Spiderman 2, particularly the cut scenes, and Hogwarts, though I felt Resident Evil 4 Remake and Dead Space Remake, which looked beautiful in my opinion, could be argued for.
(I'm not sure if DS Remake qualifies for 2023, can't remember).

However, I will concede that the footage I've seen for both Alan Wake 2 and Avatar look very impressive, particularly Alan Wake which looked like something genuinely top tier and cut above anything else out there.

But, I don't own it, so I didn't rate it.

Broadly speaking, I think the list in the video is pretty fair.
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I’ve not played but any gameplay that I check from avatar that is not the opening, looks like crap. Flat rocks sides, flat lighting…. It looks poor aside from tons of vegetation
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Spiderman 2 is to high on the list, yeah good game but not amazingly graphically. deserves to be on the list but about 5th
 

T-0800

Member
How does Star Wars Jedi Survivor make the list? I'm playing it now on PS5 (almost finished) and it is a very unpolished game. Sometimes it looks really nice but even then it never looks so good I would place in a top 10 list. It is very visually inconsistent and has too many technical issues. Great game though despite all that.
 
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