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[nycgamer4ever]

i started yesterday and i have to say videos don tdo it justice..game looks incredible and feels incredible. the animations, the grpahics...i am in for a treat i think.

I really don't understand the praise for the graphics of Zelda. It's got shimmering everywhere and absolutely no AA. Technically it looks terrible on my tv. On the handheld it's better but still not great. Art direction is a different story though. It's looks great.

Could be because I've been switching between that and Horizon Zero Dawn.

My first next gen experience would have to be the Rift with Touch.

 

[lvl99 Pixel]

I really don't understand the praise for the graphics of Zelda. It's got shimmering everywhere and absolutely no AA. Technically it looks terrible on my tv. On the handheld it's better but still not great. Art direction is a different story though. It's looks great.

Could be because I've been switching between that and Horizon Zero Dawn.

My first next gen experience would have to be the Rift with Touch.

it was rough going from games like Horizon and UC4, or on PC with games like doom on max settings, then going to Zelda. Wind Waker didnt have the same problem because it was heavily stylized and was visually very consistent.

 

[Pinky]

I agree, OP. Zelda is pure magic and the things you can do in the game are incredible! It's like a massive playground of wonder.

 

[Melkezadek]

Can we please try to avoid commentary on why you think a game isn't good.

Please, feel free to try to unpick/explain the feeling in the OP better, and part of that might be critiquing things, but let's avoid straight up telling everyone why you think a game is bad in general.

Third please.

I have to say how much I appreciate your desire to keep this thread from turning into a "I disagree with your choice of game" even if their opinion aligns with yours. The immaturity in these kind of threads turn me off from ever posting in them. Honestly, it's nice to see.

As for the OP, I've been trying to think of an answer for about a half hour now. Not really sure what I consider "next gen" other than "I am now thoroughly enjoying a game that I couldn't play on an older system".

I think my answer, if we aren't specifically talking about this gen, would be Soul Reaver. I remember thinking how awesome it was being able to shift between the spectral and material realm in order to solve puzzles or find secrets. It was the first time I felt the world around wasn't just a static box to get from point A to B. Geometry warped and bended in real time and I don't remember any game before that did that.

Was the first time I audibly said "Whoah"

 

[Business]

Personally I loved Breath of the Wild, just before that I had played The Last Guardian which I also loved, but these days the lines of 'generation' are so blurred I don't get the old feeling of going 32bit from Super Nintendo anymore. The closest thing has to be when I got Vive and tried The Lab.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

I really don't understand the praise for the graphics of Zelda. It's got shimmering everywhere and absolutely no AA. Technically it looks terrible on my tv. On the handheld it's better but still not great. Art direction is a different story though. It's looks great.

Could be because I've been switching between that and Horizon Zero Dawn.

The people praising it are those who care about art design way more than graphics. I.e. Nintendo fans as it's been a long time since Nintendo has had hardware to put out technically impressive graphics, but they excel at art design (if their designs fit your tastes anyway).

 

[jroc74]

Infamous Second Son.

It was a disappointment, but it was the first time that I was genuinely wowed with this generation.

I agree with this too. I havent played many games this gen but this is a good pick.

 

[Cartho]

Ovlivion on PC. Max settings, walking out of that cave was mind blowing.

 

[Floody]

64 player BF4 for me too, one of my first PS4 games and was blown away just how much better everything was to the 360 version. Shame the game was buggy as it did take a lot of the amazement away and I eventually settled with 40 players, but when it worked it was incredible.

My first ever would be MGS2 tanker section, still impressive to this day.

 

[kunonabi]

I'd say the first experience was super Mario 64. Total gamechanger and nothing on the psx or Saturn quite had that effect on me.

Next gen was sonic adventure. It was the first time that I thought 3d games could actually look appealing.

The next gen after that was all about dead rising and Wii sports.

As far as last gen goes I guess MGSV but even that feels like a stretch.

Nothing on the switch yet. Arms might have a shot otherwise I don't think anything in the current lineup is going to really be that big next gen moment.

 

[LightInfa]

AC Unity: all problems aside (and I was lucky enough playing on Xbone that I never really encountered any serious glitches) was absolutely astounding - from the detail of Arno's outfits to the scale and scope of the city.

Other big moment was honestly Dragon Age Inquisition when I realized how detailed the textures of the materials in the crafting system were.

 

[Rodin]

I really don't understand the praise for the graphics of Zelda. It's got shimmering everywhere and absolutely no AA. Technically it looks terrible on my tv. On the handheld it's better but still not great. Art direction is a different story though. It's looks great.

Could be because I've been switching between that and Horizon Zero Dawn.

My first next gen experience would have to be the Rift with Touch.

Yeah because having that lighting, shaders, polygonal interactive grass in that amount that reacts to wind/characters/fire/etc, all those animations for every character/monster/animal, the hair tech for the horses etc on top of the physics engine used in an open world with that scale that runs on a fucking tablet or a console with 2008 hardware inside is totally not impressive

 

[Derkon]

Witcher 3 for me.

 

[KLoWn]

Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and World of Warcraft are the ones that come to mind.

 

[Kremzeek]

Is it weird that I played this on WiiU and got the same sensation?

Me too. I had a blast playing it on the Wii U.
It's a shame the console didn't get more huge complex games like this.

But for me, playing Horizon Zero Dawn has been my first true OMG-I-can't-believe-I'm-playing-this next gen experience.
I took so many photos in that game it was ridiculous.

 

[Zakalwe]

As for the OP, I've been trying to think of an answer for about a half hour now. Not really sure what I consider "next gen" other than "I am now thoroughly enjoying a game that I couldn't play on an older system".

I think my answer, if we aren't specifically talking about this gen, would be Soul Reaver. I remember thinking how awesome it was being able to shift between the spectral and material realm in order to solve puzzles or find secrets. It was the first time I felt the world around wasn't just a static box to get from point A to B. Geometry warped and bended in real time and I don't remember any game before that did that.

Was the first time I audibly said "Whoah"

Good post, Soul Reaver stands out in my memory for sure (I can still feel the disappointment at that abrupt ending....), and perhaps I felt the feeling I'm describing then too. I certainly remember it feeling fresh enough at the time that it could have done this.

Anything new could do it. Innovative mechanics, a new way of constructing old ideas, even something as incremental as slightly better graphics. It's not something we could tie down specifically.

 

[Onivulk]

I guess final fantasy 15. I haven't even played it and don't plan to but it sure looks good.

 

[kswiston]

I really liked Breath of the Wild, and thought that the scale and sense of exploration was amazing. However, I played it on hardware that was only moderately more powerful than what I had a decade ago (Wii U). From what I read, the Switch version is the same thing with moderately improved iq and framerate.

Pretty hard to get the next gen feel out of that. BotW felt more like this gen's Xenoblade Chronicles. It pushed my Wii U harder than I would have guessed possible, but other platforms have been capable of more for years.

I have had a mid-range gaming PC for about 8 years, so I haven't really had that next gen feeling since the 360. It just feels like things got iteratively better over time.

 

[killatopak]

On much more powerful hardware.

Maybe you don't remember devs boasting how they managed to make interiors without loading screens (Witcher 3, Batman) thanks to current gen consoles, Nintendo managed that on a game born on ~PS360 level of hardware. But that's certainly not impressive, nor are those physics in an open world game.


Totally, that's why no game on last gen or even current gen consoles even tried to do what Zelda does.

Now i'm expecting a list of open world games that heavily rely on physics interactions for traversing, interaction and gameplay possibilities in general since Zelda isn't doing anything new.

Red Faction does physics better and that's a ps2 game.

 

[Kurdel]

Maybe you're just more easily amazed than other people.

Or maybe you only recently started looking at games in a larger context of generational shifts, and fell on Zelda.

If your mind wasn't blown by Mario 64 or GTA 3, you probably weren't playing enough games to realize how massive the leap was.

 

[gatti-man]

Horizon zero dawn took everything I liked about BOTW and turned it up to 11. Horizon is my game of the generation for sure.

 

[m00h]

GTA 3 felt like next gen for me.
Also World of Warcraft did.
Need for Speed Underground Rivals on the PSP was also a next gen experience. So I'm confident BotW could also become one, if I get my Switch.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

-Ninja Gaiden (NES)'s cutscenes were like seeing a movie in a game at the time. It felt like really high production values for the time and was pretty crazy as a kid.

-Booting up my SNES with Yoshi's Island for the first time and seeing the 2d/3d island rotate around

-Seeing Virtua Fighter(can't remember if it was 1 or 2) for the first time on a giant TV at my neighbours and thinking it was the single most amazing thing I had ever seen in my entire life. It was so visually stunning and realistic at the time. There was nothing like it around

-Going to a prayer thing at some family friends place and the older kids were playing Mario 64 after it and they were fighting bowser spinning him around in 3D.... and seeing mario fly off. It was so much to take in. It's hard to explain that sense of awe to people who never experienced it.

Half-Life 1/Half life 2- both for just elevating what games had to be. They were so far ahead of anything on their release in terms of gameplay design.

-Splinter Cell.... walking through those flappy plastic things and seeing it realistically bend. It seems like nothing now but it was insane back at the time when Splinter Cell was one of the best looking games of the year period.

-Doom 3 mainly for it's lighting and blowing me away with how realistic it looked at the time

-F.E.A.R's A.I was something crazy at the time and it made me relinquish Halo as the top Shooter A.I at the time.

-Rainbow Six Vegas opening scene where I thought it was CGI and realized it was gameplay when I accidentally moved the joystick

-Playing Fight Night Round 3 at Best Buy and having people walk by think it was a real boxing match

I haven't felt anything significant this gen that feels like a crazy next gen experience, but I guess XBOX Snap was a cool next gen feature.... and kinect to launch games......... I'm just getting old I guess

 

[MTC100]

Playing BotW feels like my first real next gen experience. What was your own? Reply to Thread

Mine was Persona 5!

Spoiler

On my PS3, lol

 

[causan]

Witcher 3 maxed out with my 1080ti + GSync IPS 144hz Monitor. Fucking amazing.

Spoiler

I swear this is not a brag post

 

[Zakalwe]

It just feels like things got iteratively better over time.

Well, they did/do.

Things like VR are a more obvious jump, but then we've had iterations of VR for decades now, so it's still incremental.

It's just that sometimes for me a particular feeling is struck. Some games like Odin Sphere Leifthrasir give me a huge burst of nostalgia. The way that game was presented brought with arcade style designs brought back so many great memories of playing machines back in the 90s.

That's an easier feeling to explain as the game in question takes so many obvious cues from 90s arcade game design standards, but it's a similar response to the one I'm discussing in the OP. You could have spent your entire life at the head of the technological curve, and seen jumps in visual/technical fidelity many times, but Horizon might be the first time you really felt it.

Or maybe you only recently started looking at games in a larger context of generational shifts, and fell on Zelda.

If your mind wasn't blown by Mario 64 or GTA 3, you probably weren't playing enough games to realize how massive the leap was.

I've been an avid gamer since I was 5 years old and my Uncle gave me his old ZX Specturm, and now I'm in my thirties. I gravitate to enthusiast communities like neogaf because of my interest. I was even a gaming journalist to the point I was attending showcase events and receiving review copies (And considered making it my career, too), so no, I don't think this is the case at all.

No, this is a more intangible thing that has nothing to do with my inability to see the bigger picture, or my lack of understanding.

I also think you're making this weirdly personal? I'm not taking offence at all but your approach in telling me how I feel is wrong is definitely not cool.

 

[ThomasAnderson]

I purchased my PS4 alongside a new TV so for me, it was oddly Killzone: Shadow Fall.

I hear you man. Put a ton of time into KZ MP. That satisfying chirp when you get a kill 😊

Witcher 3
64 man BF4 on PS4/XB1
BOTW
Watchdogs 1
Heavy Rain
Shenmue

 

[kswiston]

I think the jump that sticks out in my mind the most was seeing an import Dreamcast running on a big (rear projection) TV in early 1999. House of the Dead 2 looked like an arcade game in your house in a way that the PS1/Saturn never really pulled off.

Of course, we were getting much more impressive stuff 2-3 of years later, but that first move away from archaic ps1/n64 3D seemed huge.

 

[TwistedFreeze]

For me, this gen, that would be playing Batman: Arkham Knight on the PS4, Breath of the Wild on the Wii U, and Sm4sh on the 3DS. For the former, it just felt so unreal to see a game look that good while still being open world and lacking loading times. For BOTW, it was just amazing to see how much you can do, like if there's something you're thinking of doing, there's a good chance you can actually do it. With Sm4sh, it was just insane to play something like Smash on a handheld, especially considering what I played with when I was growing up with my GameBoy Color

 

[Elandyll]

I disagree.

I've been very underwhelmed by Horizon. The world is beautiful but soulless. The inventory is clunky and the need to craft items and switch weapons far more intrusive than the degradation in Zelda. I do like Aloy as a character though and I think the second installment could be excellent.

To the OP’s original point, I don’t feel like Zelda is next gen. If anything, it wonderfully recalls my love of game’s like Morrowind and early WoW. It’s joined the very upper echelons of game that define a period in my life, so I can remember exactly where I was when I played the game; titles like Half Life 2, Bioshock, OoT etc.

You disagree with his opinion of what made him feel he was seeing something next gen?


Ok...

 

[Zakalwe]

You disagree with his opinion of what made him feel he was seeing something next gen?


Ok...

It was unavoidable, but we've had some great posts ITT so I can handle it.

 

[ch4fx_]

My very first "holy shit!!" moment in gaming was while playing Gears of War last gen. It was early on in the game & Marcus/Dom are walking through a court yard when suddenly the camera pans out & shows an overhead view of the area.. I was BLOWN AWAY. Literally didn't think it could get any better (lol).

Most recently -- Bloodborne, GTA V, & Horizon Zero Dawn come to mind. All mind blowing in their own ways.

 

[Caelus]

BotW feels unreal, it's hard to believe it's the same developers who made TWW, TP and SS... BotW just feels so much more energetic, lively, fast-paced, customizable and open, all while running on a freaking tablet. Feels more like a 3D Link Between Worlds more than an Ocarina sequel.

Despite not having access to additional hardware power, it still holds its own among current-gen powerhouse games. Horizon is fucking gorgeous, but I have become so smitten with Zelda that I wish I could get this semester over with just to keep playing.

What really makes it feel 'next-gen' though was seeing my 7 year old brother play it and having a sense of true wonder.

 

[Tain]

When it comes to brief individual instances, for me it was probably the simple act of opening a safe in Budget Cuts. That was extremely, extremely powerful.

 

[JoeInky]

I've never had a "next gen experience"

I was too young to really notice the shift from 2D to 3D as a big deal, and too apathetic after that to notice or care about anything else.

 

[KillGore]

Horizon for me

 

[Formosa]

BotW is a great game, but it's miles away from the real next gen.

 

[kswiston]

Well, they did/do.

Things like VR are a more obvious jump, but then we've had iterations of VR for decades now, so it's still incremental.

It's just that sometimes for me a particular feeling is struck. Some games like Odin Sphere Leifthrasir give me a huge burst of nostalgia. The way that game was presented brought with arcade style designs brought back so many great memories of playing machines back in the 90s.

That's an easier feeling to explain as the game in question takes so many obvious cues from 90s arcade game design standards, but it's a similar response to the one I'm discussing in the OP. You could have spent your entire life at the head of the technological curve, and seen jumps in visual/technical fidelity many times, but Horizon might be the first time you really felt it.

I used to feel the generational jump as a console only (or console mostly) gamer. I guess it's mostly been this last transition. Last gen stuff never really stopped being impressive to me with the extra bells and whistles on PC, and I don't think that we got a major revolution in design approach this time around. I am counting crossgen games as last gen, unless there were two radically different games with the same title. MGS5 is essentially all there on the PS3 from what I have gathered. The PC coat of paint is more impressive, but it's the same game.

I jumped on the PS4 bandwagon this past winter. FFXV and Uncharted 4 look great, but I haven't felt the same "next gen" feeling I had playing FFX and MGS2 back in 2001.

 

[cakely]

Handing over the controls to Shadow of Mordor to a friend via Remote Play.

Booting up Oculus Rift for the first time and just looking around that first simple "living room".

 

[borghe]

If we are talking ALL generations..

8-bit.. umm.. Hang-On for the Master System. It felt like I was playing the arcade (yeah, I know.. but it was impressive)

16-bit - a cross between Altered Beast, Super Mario World, and Ys Books I & II. Altered Beast on Genesis was shit, but was SO FAR beyond 8-bit it was insane. Mario World was IMHO the most impressive game ever released at that point, and the anime cutscenes of Ys on TG-CD made me feel like the future was now.

32-bit - ESPN Extreme Games and Battle Arena Toshinden. The forward momentum intensity of ESPN was immense, and BAT was instantly better than every fighter I had previously played.

64-bit . Mario 64. End of story. Playing it the first time at TRU prior to launch is a high water mark in gaming history.

128-bit - Sonic Adventure and NFL2K for DC, GTA3 for PS2

7th gen - COD2 on 360. It actually took a long time for this gen to impress me again.. but COD2 was incredible.

 

[Jonneh3003]

Bloodborne and Zelda for me, I don't feel many games have a "next gen" vibe to them. Lots of refinements but few reinventions.

 

[Slythe]

Playing Halo coming off of the N64 was definitely a moment.

Also, Gears of War was the first time I really felt the graphical leap into the 7th gen.

MGSV was my first "next-gen" experience of the current gen. Perfected stealth gameplay with a robust meta-game.

 

[Guardians]

Agreed! The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a Masterpiece Everything else just felt like it was the same with just better graphics and effects, nothing incredible like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Switch.

 

[Jonneh3003]

BotW is a great game, but it's miles away from the real next gen.

I have a few questions:
1. How?
2. "Real next gen"?

 

[Winthorpe]

It was unavoidable, but we've had some great posts ITT so I can handle it.

I don't know why you're so sensitive to my original comment.

I wasn't rude about Horizon. I simply don't think it does anything new and has flaws which hinder it from being close to next generational. If a game has cumbersome mechanics, it's difficult to get fully invested. That said, I suggested that the second installment might make the sort of leap we're looking for.

Unless next gen simply means technically impressive in which case, fine, Horizon it is.

I know trolls are annoying, but there's no need to act like head of the local parish council.

 

[Zakalwe]

I used to feel the generational jump as a console only (or console mostly) gamer. I guess it's mostly been this last transition. Last gen stuff never really stopped being impressive to me with the extra bells and whistles on PC, and I don't think that we got a major revolution in design approach this time around. I am counting crossgen games as last gen, unless there were two radically different games with the same title. MGS5 is essentially all there on the PS3 from what I have gathered. The PC coat of paint is more impressive, but it's the same game.

I jumpes on the PS4 bandwagon this past winter. FFXV and Uncharted 4 look great, but I haven't felt the same "next gen" feeling I had playing FFX and MGS2 back in 2001.

It's completely understandable, especially for enthusiasts who've undoubtedly been around for long enough that the newness of next gen releases becomes slightly dulled.

I'd imagine it you showed the Switch to a Grandparent who hadn't taken notice of video games for a few decades they would be quite amazed at the tech and get a similar feeling to the one I describe.

If we could separate ourselves from the equation, I'm sure there are many moments like this over the years that would justify the response. As this has been our hobby for a while, I think we're definitely a little numb to it these things.

BotW is a great game, but it's miles away from the real next gen.

We're not talking about relative technical comparisons here, and even then I think we'd have ample room for debate.

 

[rakkadakka]

The tram intro in Half life 1

Was such a game changer for me coming from earlier FPS's.

Feels almost quaint now but going in, seeing the world alive with things other than monsters to shoot for the first 15 minutes felt magical to me.

 

[Zakalwe]

I don't know why you're so sensitive to my original comment.

I wasn't rude about Horizon. I simply don't think it does anything new and has flaws which hinder it from being close to next generational. If a game has cumbersome mechanics, it's difficult to get fully invested. That said, I suggested that the second installment might make the sort of leap we're looking for.

Unless next gen simply means technically impressive in which case, fine, Horizon it is.

I know trolls are annoying, but there's no need to act like head of the local parish council.

whoareyoutalkingto.gif

I simply asked you to try to stay on topic as your posts were veering off slightly, that's all.

 

[Rodin]

I have a few questions:
1. How?
2. "Real next gen"?

Real games with real graphics for real gamers breh.

 

[MaximusPayne]

P.T. , it was gorgeous.

But since it's gone forever, I would have to say my first for this gen was Arkham Knight, honestly.