The main problem with 2018 trailer is that their engine is clearly not capable of producing these kind of results in real time. Of course they knew it but still decided to roll with it.
- Traffic density in the first shot of the city from the train
Crowds
Scared crowds
- Detail of each and every character (look at V's hand when he reloads his tech rifle)
Random ripperdoc
V's hand
- Micro detail of things like newspapers (which in final game you can't even read), the fucking ramen soup (which in final game is a flat texture), all the clutter in trauma team shot
Yeah, you'll find lower detailed stuff in the game, just like how you'll also find higher fidelity stuff.
Of course they'll pick the best stuff to put on a showcase trailer. Thing is, high quality models
are in the game, just not everywhere.
- Smooth as butter character animations
Not a good point to compare. Trailer uses crafted cutscenes at the best angles, perfect to hide imperfections like many games with cutscenes do.
Game is all in first person, its easy to spot animation transitions which is when you'll see issues.
That said, I still think it's the best looking game right now and it's my most played game in my adult life. But that trailer... that trailer is bullshit.
You're still mixing photography with graphics.
The reason you think that trailer looks better isn't because they're supposedly 'lying' about it being rendered in the engine, its because those are carefully crafted shots, with light and angles just in the correct places for maximum visual impact and naturally only using the higher quality assets selection. Point is, that is
not CGI, its exactly what they said it is, a in-engine footage and a target render for the game.
Look, i don't like defending corporations, and even this game for me is a 4/5, not a masterpiece just a great game from an underappreciated genre in the medium.
However i'll call bullshit when i see it. The only things you can hold CDPR accountable for being deceptive about is the buggy state of the released game (though i can't exactly say you couldn't see it coming given the delays and their history), and the state of the games on last gen consoles.
Thats it.
Any other 'criticism' regarding their 'lies' i see on the internet sound like angry mob rhetoric, and despite asking for proofs that are supposedly obvious, most that came up was this "in-engine" trailer, which they said very clearly wasn't gameplay footage and was just for showcasing the engine, and which visuals even hold up to the final game when put under scrutiny, as i'm demonstrating, despite it didn't even needing to.