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[JP]

The Annual Leadbetters? The Annual Digis? I think I'm going with the Annual Linnemans!!

Interesting to see them doing this and it's good to see some lower budget games featuring too. I don't want to give more info because, you know, watch the video.

The List

Spoiler

1) Horizon: Zero Dawn - Guerrilla Games (PlayStation 4)
2) Assassin's Creed Origins - Ubisoft Montreal (PlayStation 4, Xbox One & Windows)
3) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo EPD (Wii U & Switch)
4) Claybook - Second Order (Windows. PlayStation 4 & Xbox One in development)
5) Gravity Rush 2 - Project Siren/Studio Japan (PlayStation 4)
6) The Surge - Deck 13 Interactive (PlayStation 4, Windows & Xbox One)
7) Nex Machina - Housemarque (PlayStation 4 & Windows)

Digital Foundry's Best Gaming Tech of 2017 (YouTube)

Sorry, was trying to add links to the list but it wouldn't spoiler the names.

Official Game Sites
Official Site - Number 1
Official Site - Number 2
Official Site - Number 3
Official Site - Number 4
Official Site - Number 5
Official Site - Number 6
Official Site - Number 7

 

[Sosokrates]

Was about to make a thread about this lol.

Great video. We really do have amazing graphics these, it hard to believe how good they are sometimes. Especially if you were gaming in the 90's or earlier.

 

[Senua]

Remember when PC games used to top these lists? RIP

 

[nowhat]

#4 looks really interesting and as a proud peasant this is the first time I've heard of it. Will definitely take a look once it is ported to consoles.

 

[JP]

#4 looks really interesting and as a proud peasant this is the first time I've heard of it. Will definitely take a look once it is ported to consoles.

I was pleased to learn that it's also on it's way to consoles, I remember seeing it ages ago and it looked so interesting to me.

 

[Sosokrates]

Remember when PC games used to top these lists? RIP

Yeah in general PC graphics are not superior to console anymore.

 

[Senua]

Yeah in general PC graphics are not superior to console anymore.

It's more just down to IQ and FPS now.

 

[JP]

Yeah in general PC graphics are not superior to console anymore.

This is how I feel now.

In some areas PC graphics are still ahead but I do think as an overall package I do find the graphics in the better console games to be far more impressive to me, particularly when you consider the hardware that are being used.

Obviously PC games will more often than not be well ahead in terms of CPU intensive areas.

 

[Danjin44]

So glad to see Gravity Rush 2 in there. The game is absolutly gorgeous!!!

 

[Insane Metal]

Horizon absolutely deserved it. I have a vanilla PS4 and it's absolutely mind blowing how good the game looks. It's also one of the best games I've ever played. Guerrilla redeemed themselves with me after the fiasco I always thought KZ was (the whole franchise was always 'meh' IMO).

 

[qa_engineer]

Didn't even need to watch the video and guessed all but one of the games on the list. Been saying since before it launched, HZD is the best looking game on any platform at the moment.

PC will always have better image quality, more bells and whistles, and 10000 fps but its hard to beat a game purpose built for single platform (with two skus), by one of the best studios in the industry. Good job, Guerilla Games. You all deserve all the praise in the world for such an awesome game.

 

[TheLaughingStock]

Didn't even need to watch the video and guessed all but one of the games on the list. Been saying since before it launched, HZD is the best looking game on any platform at the moment.

PC will always have better image quality, more bells and whistles, and 10000 fps but its hard to beat a game purpose built for single platform (with two skus), by one of the best studios in the industry. Good job, Guerilla Games. You all deserve all the praise in the world for such an awesome game.

It's all about talent among artists and the techies. Some of the best in the business develop exclusively for Sony & Nintendo. And you can't really match what they bring to the table in terms of their skills outside of poaching them so they can be on your team.

 

[Carlius]

lol i was actually agreeing until he mentioned and i saw how the foliage doesnt react to you in horizon. then it just became another game with decent grpahics. Man, such a small detail can just derail the whole thing.

 

[SMOK3Y]

lol i was actually agreeing until he mentioned and i saw how the foliage doesnt react to you in horizon. then it just became another game with decent grpahics. Man, such a small detail can just derail the whole thing.

Certain grass does certain don't not a problem imo

 

[nowhat]

Certain grass does certain don't not a problem imo

Yeah, and the foliage still reacts to the weather (which can be quite spectacular) and trees/rocks get destroyed by the machines.

When the Pro patch was released for Witcher 3 I revisited the game, and noticed that Geralt clips through basically all vegetation. After a "huh, didn't remember that" I cannot say it affected my experience in any way.

 

[jufonuk]

Yeah in general PC graphics are not superior to console anymore.

If you are talking about money spent vs the quality then I would say yeah consoles have got the lead on the better looking games for the price.

How much would it cost system wise to get BoTW to run on PC versus the cost of a switch ? (I’m not talking 4K) but rather like for like ?
I’m probably out of the game but what would the cost be ?

Well that was my outlook for most of the early 2000’s I really haven’t played pc games in ages due to the money factor involved and I always seem to get a system with a messed up driver or graphics card and I spend more time configuring the system and game.

Ok free mods are great so there is that

 

[JimmyRustler]

How much would it cost system wise to get BoTW to run on PC versus the cost of a switch ? (I'm not talking 4K) but rather like for like ?
I'm probably out of the game but what would the cost be ?

Too much. On top of not having significantly better looking games any more (aside from framerate and a few small details perhaps), Bitcoin miners are ruining PC gaming. Graphics cards are just insanely expensive these days. It's out of control.

I was thinking of upgrading my rig again next year but after seeing the prices I'll pass. Also, after seeing Horizon and ACO in 4k HDR I have to say that I won't look back at the better framerates from the PC. Having that graphics on the PC with probably only marginal better framerate would cost me a 700+ EUR gfx card. That's twice as much as the PS4 pro. No thanks.

 

[Nikokuno]

Too much. On top of not having significantly better looking games any more (aside from framerate and a few small details perhaps), Bitcoin miners are ruining PC gaming. Graphics cards are just insanely expensive these days. It's out of control.

I was thinking of upgrading my rig again next year but after seeing the prices I'll pass. Also, after seeing Horizon and ACO in 4k HDR I have to say that I won't look back at the better framerates from the PC. Having that graphics on the PC with probably only marginal better framerate would cost me a 700+ EUR gfx card. That's twice as much as the PS4 pro. No thanks.

4K console gaming is 500€/$ for now (PS4 PRO is not really a 4K console), but resolution can't beat IQ/flexibily/FPS of PC gaming. Also PC gaming don't have to worry about gen compatibility and games are mostly cheaper on PC too.

I agree, GPU getting more and more expensive...

 

[eso76]

Oh Claybook ! Always wanted to try it.

But release date is still tba on consoles

 

[JP]

4K console gaming is 500€/$ for now (PS4 PRO is not really a 4K console), but resolution can't beat IQ/flexibily/FPS of PC gaming.

I'm always interested in learning what people's definitions of a "real 4K console" are. Both play games at 4K but it's only a tiny fraction of the games in their catalogue that they play at 4K.

I've never really been convinced by the whole "real 4K console" as it doesn't seem to be anything more than a marketing term with no clear definitions, it just doesn't seem to mean anything in the current generation.

Having said that, as a definable term, surely they either both are or they both aren't. Either way, it seems to make it a pretty meaningless marketing term for anybody who has an understanding of the technology inside the two enhanced consoles.

 

[Caio]

Didn't even need to watch the video and guessed all but one of the games on the list. Been saying since before it launched, HZD is the best looking game on any platform at the moment.

PC will always have better image quality, more bells and whistles, and 10000 fps but its hard to beat a game purpose built for single platform (with two skus), by one of the best studios in the industry. Good job, Guerilla Games. You all deserve all the praise in the world for such an awesome game.

This, no further words.

 

[Grinchy]

I can't wait to check out Horizon. I'm kinda surprised I haven't already, but it must have come at a time when I had enough. Now I'm just gonna wait for the complete version to be $30.

 

[Alebrije]

Horizont looks great on PS4, the best winter ambient on a game and best night scenes. Played the base game on PS4 and waiting to get a PRO to play the final version once all DLCs are done. maybe by end 2018.

 

[nowhat]

Horizont looks great on PS4, the best winter ambient on a game and best night scenes. Played the base game on PS4 and waiting to get a PRO to play the final version once all DLCs are done. maybe by end 2018.

According to Guerrilla, there will be no more DLC, just Frozen Wilds.

 

[Alebrije]

According to Guerrilla, there will be no more DLC, just Frozen Wilds.

Wow. So HZD 2 is what they will be working next years......

 

[JP]

Wow. So HZD 2 is what they will be working next years......

To be honest, they way they've been working on the game they probably haven't finished their work on patches to improve the game. I'm sort of hoping that they go back and work on the water again as well as the interaction of vegetation that does nothing at the moment.

Also, it would be nice to get the new snow effects working in the larger world.

They may not be able to do any of that but I'm hoping there are more improvements to come.

 

[nowhat]

Wow. So HZD 2 is what they will be working next years......

That seems likely and I'm all for it. While HZD is in my top 3 this year, it's far from perfect (no game is). Personally I wish that they at least up the RPG (while the player can choose how Aloy reacts to a particular situation there's very little branching in the story, and what little there is is quite inconsequential) and fix the human AI (there's no denying it, they are boring as enemies - although it is fun in a sadistic way to completely booby-trap a bandit camp, kill one to get things in motion and watch the bandits run to their demise). And a lot of smaller issues, but pointless to list them here, I trust Guerrilla to improve the game for the sequel. The foundation is very solid so far.

 

[Alebrije]

That seems likely and I'm all for it. While HZD is in my top 3 this year, it's far from perfect (no game is). Personally I wish that they at least up the RPG (while the player can choose how Aloy reacts to a particular situation there's very little branching in the story, and what little there is is quite inconsequential) and fix the human AI (there's no denying it, they are boring as enemies - although it is fun in a sadistic way to completely booby-trap a bandit camp, kill one to get things in motion and watch the bandits run to their demise). And a lot of smaller issues, but pointless to list them here, I trust Guerrilla to improve the game for the sequel. The foundation is very solid so far.

Yep they need to work on that also decide what kind of franchise HZD will be, more RPG oriented or more Action Adventure like Tomb Rider.

Hope they go the RPG path.

 

[Sosokrates]

While H:ZD has beautiful visuals, solid combat and a curious main story its lack of gameplay diversity is why Its unlikely I'll pick it up.

While I do love good stories, if the main game feels like a chore just to progress the story its the biggest sin a game can do.

Does H:ZD's queast mainly revolve around destroying, trapping,taking those energy cells,and controlling the robot dinos or is there more to do? For example in fallout 4 you have a side quest where you find out about an abandons familys nuke shelter, in uncharted 4 you have to use your cars winch, or infiltrate a party auction and steal a jewl, or in gta5 hiest setups etc

Im talking about variarty.

 

[nowhat]

Does H:ZD's queast mainly revolve around destroying, trapping,taking those energy cells,and controlling the robot dinos or is there more to do? For example in fallout 4 you have a side quest where you find out about an abandons familys nuke shelter, in uncharted 4 you have to use your cars winch, or infiltrate a party auction and steal a jewl, or in gta5 hiest setups etc

Im talking about variarty.

Suddenly your username makes total sense I'd say the gameplay/quests are much more varied than in UC4 (insofar it can be said UC4 has quests at all), but when it comes to the side content you a) most likely will use your Focus at one point or another (think Witcher senses) and b) will see some combat too, be it against machines or humans. Then there are the Cauldrons ("dungeons", as an analogy) which can be just stunning (Cauldron Rho, how I love thee). While going through those you can pick up bits of lore and stories of the old world - it's not mandatory, but personally I found it very interesting, they are very well written. And while usually I don't care for collectibles, there's a particular set that is just amazing. Only 12 to collect, and they tell a very touching story.

But the basic gameplay loop consists of getting ready for an encounter (making sure you are enough well equipped), setting up your encounter (laying traps/tripwires and figuring out where you want the fight to occur), going through the encounter (perhaps luring your enemy/enemies to a particular location and hoping they don't take another route/you don't get flanked by some enemies alerted by the noise - and generally trying to stay alive) and looting your prey. Rinse and repeat. If that doesn't appeal to you I don't think the game will, despite anything else.

 

[Sosokrates]

Suddenly your username makes total sense I'd say the gameplay/quests are much more varied than in UC4 (insofar it can be said UC4 has quests at all), but when it comes to the side content you a) most likely will use your Focus at one point or another (think Witcher senses) and b) will see some combat too, be it against machines or humans. Then there are the Cauldrons ("dungeons", as an analogy) which can be just stunning (Cauldron Rho, how I love thee). While going through those you can pick up bits of lore and stories of the old world - it's not mandatory, but personally I found it very interesting, they are very well written. And while usually I don't care for collectibles, there's a particular set that is just amazing. Only 12 to collect, and they tell a very touching story.

But the basic gameplay loop consists of getting ready for an encounter (making sure you are enough well equipped), setting up your encounter (laying traps/tripwires and figuring out where you want the fight to occur), going through the encounter (perhaps luring your enemy/enemies to a particular location and hoping they don't take another route/you don't get flanked by some enemies alerted by the noise - and generally trying to stay alive) and looting your prey. Rinse and repeat. If that doesn't appeal to you I don't think the game will, despite anything else.

Thank for the reply , while the dungeons sound interesting if the bulk of the game is killing a handful of different robot varieties again and again and again and again and agaun amd again and again and again and sgsin and again and whisn angbnbbbn.........

 

[SMOK3Y]

To be honest, they way they've been working on the game they probably haven't finished their work on patches to improve the game. I'm sort of hoping that they go back and work on the water again as well as the interaction of vegetation that does nothing at the moment.

Also, it would be nice to get the new snow effects working in the larger world.

They may not be able to do any of that but I'm hoping there are more improvements to come.

Water is better than it was originally

 

[JP]

Water is better than it was originally

Yeah, they did start off with water that didn't interact at all with Aloy and although it does interact subtly now, it doesn't really match up with the quality of the majority of the game.

I think when games do look really good, inconsistencies like this tend to stand out a lot more.

 

[Gitaroo]

Yeah, they did start off with water that didn't interact at all with Aloy and although it does interact subtly now, it doesn't really match up with the quality of the majority of the game.

I think when games do look really good, inconsistencies like this tend to stand out a lot more.

It should at least have Mario Odyssey level of 3D wave interection imo consider ps4 is significantly more powerful and mario is running at 60fps even. Water is definitely a let down. Also vegetation interection, if red dead 1 can do it.

 

[Inviusx]

I haven't really seen much about The Surge but this list got me interested.

Is it worth checking out?

 

[DirgeExtinction]

It should at least have Mario Odyssey level of 3D wave interection imo consider ps4 is significantly more powerful and mario is running at 60fps even. Water is definitely a let down. Also vegetation interection, if red dead 1 can do it.

It's all about resources. Neither of those two games are that intensive.

 

[SaberEdge]

Remember when PC games used to top these lists? RIP

This is not a best graphics list. If it was most of these games wouldn't be on the list.

 

[Lort]

This is not a best graphics list. If it was most of these games wouldn't be on the list.

If it was a best graphics list it would still be a list of console games some with pc versions.. with pc versions having the same graphics with higher frame rates so long as u have a 1070 or above.

 

[Theognosis]

Gorgeous environmental elements with zero or limited interactivity are merely eye candies. Add 30 fps to the equation and it gets worse.

 

[Soulblighter31]

If it was a best graphics list it would still be a list of console games some with pc versions.. with pc versions having the same graphics with higher frame rates so long as u have a 1070 or above.

yes, the same graphics, only slightly better framerate, of course needing the 5000$ computer, that you have to endlessly tinker with and edit ini files in order for games to even run and upgrade 3 times per day for an aditional thousand dollars.

http://i.imgur.com/0CPHkDD.jpg?1

 

[SaberEdge]

If it was a best graphics list it would still be a list of console games some with pc versions.. with pc versions having the same graphics with higher frame rates so long as u have a 1070 or above.

That isn't really true though now is it. PC versions don't have "the same graphics" only "with higher framerates". That is simply and demonstrably false.

PC versions routinely have things like better shadow quality, better ambient occlusion, higher resolution textures, better draw distance, higher quality LOD, improved texture filtering, better anti-aliasing, higher precision effects, and even graphical effects or features that are entirely missing in the console versions. Such improvements can take what is a good or great looking game and turn it into a "holy shit that's amazing" kind of game. I've seen it many times.

Even just one of those elements, like shadow quality, can make a big difference to the perceived quality of a game's visuals. For example, one of the reasons I prefer Horizon's visuals over those of Uncharted 4 or The Lost Legacy is that Horizon has nicely filtered, smooth shadows, while the Uncharted games have flickering, lower quality shadows. If they had improved the shadow quality in the Pro versions of Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy I'm nearly certain I would find them to look better than Horizon, but as it stands I find Horizon to be the better looking game.

 

[DryvBy]

That isn't really true though now is it. PC versions don't have "the same graphics" only "with higher framerates". That is simply and demonstrably false.

PC versions routinely have things like better shadow quality, better ambient occlusion, higher resolution textures, better draw distance, higher quality LOD, improved texture filtering, better anti-aliasing, higher precision effects, and even graphical effects or features that are entirely missing in the console versions. Such improvements can take what is a good or great looking game and turn it into a "holy shit that's amazing" kind of game. I've seen it many times.

Even just one of those elements, like shadow quality, can make a big difference to the perceived quality of a game's visuals. For example, one of the reasons I prefer Horizon's visuals over those of Uncharted 4 or The Lost Legacy is that Horizon has nicely filtered, smooth shadows, while the Uncharted games have flickering, lower quality shadows. If they had improved the shadow quality in the Pro versions of Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy I'm nearly certain I would find them to look better than Horizon, but as it stands I find Horizon to be the better looking game.

The problem for PC gaming is that way back when, PC gaming was especially superior in quality in terms of graphics and gameplay. Today, the PC market doesn't have a lot of exclusives (like they used to) that are hitting the high notes on high end PCs. My biggest regret was buying a 1080 when they came out. When I even had a 670, I was really impressed with it. But there's not enough PC exclusive games out there now to justify my PC anymore (all in my opinion, of course). When I check Steam every day, it's 99% indie stuff that's not pushing hardware. Those days seem to be done.

 

[MDSLKTR]

Remember when PC games used to top these lists? RIP

I don't find horizon even on the level of Witcher 3 ultra 4k +60fps. AC origins must be something to behold when it's tech is unleashed

 

[murdochmystery]

yes, the same graphics, only slightly better framerate, of course needing the 5000$ computer, that you have to endlessly tinker with and edit ini files in order for games to even run and upgrade 3 times per day for an aditional thousand dollars.

http://i.imgur.com/0CPHkDD.jpg?1

You talk like editing ini files is the norm. It's not. I have a top-end PC and play a lot of games. Everything runs fine as soon as it is installed.

Same graphics? What does that mean? It's objectively true that PC games have better graphics. Better textures, better effects etc.

And $5000? I have a 1080ti and a decent processor and i think i could buy/build the same PC today for $1500. $2000 with my monitor.

Get the PC hate out of here. It's overdone and boring.

 

[BuddyTheBestPuppy]

After buying Ps4 pro and being a PC gamer it makes a huge difference. Downsampling is unbelievable.

It sucks that not all games support it on Ps4 pro :/

 

[SaberEdge]

The problem for PC gaming is that way back when, PC gaming was especially superior in quality in terms of graphics and gameplay. Today, the PC market doesn't have a lot of exclusives (like they used to) that are hitting the high notes on high end PCs. My biggest regret was buying a 1080 when they came out. When I even had a 670, I was really impressed with it. But there's not enough PC exclusive games out there now to justify my PC anymore (all in my opinion, of course). When I check Steam every day, it's 99% indie stuff that's not pushing hardware. Those days seem to be done.

The PC still gets a lot of exclusives. What has changed is that there are fewer high end PC exclusives. On the flip side though, we now get basically all the 3rd party games, which didn't use to be the case.

It used to seem that there was an entire world of games the consoles got that the PC missed out on. Now, aside from a handful of first party Sony and Nintendo exclusives, the PC gets nearly everything else. Essentially all the multiplatform games, the Xbox/Microsoft exclusives, the PS4 console exclusives (think Hellblade, Nier Automata, Nioh, etc), and all the PC exclusives. In my opinion, no other platform has the overall library that the PC does. And that's before factoring in the vast number of older games thanks to backwards compatibility.

I've never cared about whether a game is exclusive or not. I get no thrill from knowing a game on the platform I own can't be played by gamers on other platforms. Every last PC game could be made available for other platforms and I wouldn't care. I only care about being able to play those games on the PC, where I get the features and benefits that I want.