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[nOoblet16]

Thr GI in Quantum Break, technically the most advanced seen in a released game...as of yet.

I really wish the material destruction/deformation from The Force Awakens had been used in more (and getter) games.

Rainbow Six Siege.
You can't destroy literally everything as in the reveal trailer but that's more due to gameplay balance than engine/hardware limitation. The stuff that you can destroy gets affected in a nice procedural manner.

 

[Blackthorn]

The wind in witcher 3 ?!! don't know if it count as visual effect but the wind in that game is one of the best of all time

What I find impressive about the wind in the Witcher 3 is how it applies to distant LODs of foliage as well, so it doesn't look like there's the usual cut off point you get in open world games beyond which weather effects don't apply. Looks incredible when you're on top of a hill in a storm.

Speaking of storms, what comes to mind for me is the ocean in Black Flag. I know water simulation isn't unique to that game, but to have so many large scale objects interacting on such violently dynamic waves, and then having the AI working on those objects as well, is still one of the most chaotic and awesome experiences I've had in games.

 

[MarioHead3]

There's that thing that No Man's Sky does where objects far in the distance sort of "fizzle" in. I don't know of any other game that does that.

 

[HTupolev]

Lightning in Nintendo games like Super Mario 3D world and Mario Kart 8.

Tons of LDR bloom?

There's that thing that No Man's Sky does where objects far in the distance sort of "fizzle" in. I don't know of any other game that does that.

LOD pop-in?

 

[Dunkley]

There's that thing that No Man's Sky does where objects far in the distance sort of "fizzle" in. I don't know of any other game that does that.

Pretty sure however a ton of other games do that too, I know at least GTA4 does that, which was really evident around launch of the PC Port where the game ran so abysmal a lot of times it would pop in objects late making the effect really easily visible.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

Rainbow Six Siege.
You can't destroy literally everything as in the reveal trailer but that's more due to gameplay balance than engine/hardware limitation. The stuff that you can destroy gets affected in a nice procedural manner.

I love Siege but that's not really the same thing. The Force Awakens featured stuff like denting, bending, and flexing material, not just destroying walls and windows and whatnot.

 

[ZerOmegaG]

El Shaddai. Absolutely gorgeous game.

 

[Tortahegeszto]

There's that thing that No Man's Sky does where objects far in the distance sort of "fizzle" in. I don't know of any other game that does that.

You mean dithering? It's in a lot of titles for transitioning LOD.
I'm certain it's in Witcher 3 as well for example.

I'd like to contribute with the effect in Bioshock where you not only get drops of water on the "camera", but it's flowing when you're under a water stream and look up. It's not in many games nor it is very realistic, but it just stood out for me when I first played it.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Yoshi's Woolly World

 

[DirgeExtinction]

I'm sure it's not the *only* game that has done this, but I really liked Mafia 3's rain effect. I'm not 100% certain this is what it's actually doing, but it looks like the rain in the game has a screen space reflection cast on it - meaning individual raindrops appear to catch the light and color of the scene and distort any dynamic lights around them.

I can't find a great example of a video high res enough to show it off, but I'll keep looking.

I could've sworn I read about Driveclub doing something like that. I may be wrong, though.

 

[Trumpets]

Whatever the hell kind of shaders are being used in Space Giraffe.

 

[Peterthumpa]

The storms in Gears of War 4 are pretty unique as far as I'm aware.

 

[Kaji AF16]

Does Outcast´s voxel engine count?

 

[nkarafo]

Anyone had any luck finding an example of the snow particles casting shadows in Silent Hill Shattered Memories? I still can't find a single screenshot or gif.

 

[potatohead]

Raindrops as physical objects in Driveclub.

Nothing to do with being physical whatever that means.

It's a shader

 

[SapientWolf]

Nothing to do with being physical whatever that means.

It's a shader

They're clearly particles with some type of collision handling.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

I love Siege but that's not really the same thing. The Force Awakens featured stuff like denting, bending, and flexing material, not just destroying walls and windows and whatnot.

The Force Unleashed you mean? Or am I really missing something?

 

[EhoaVash]

the rain on screen thing in mario 3d world was really cool in motion

 

[Ra1den]

Rain isn't unique, but I love how MGS2 has raindrops that fall on your screen, not many games do that, even today.

That's not even the best part about MGS2's rain. The best part is that it actually looks like rain, which almost nobody seems to get right. The droplets swirl around with the wind and form little rivulets.

Even most generally good looking games tend to just have rain that looks like falling toothpicks across the screen.

As far as I know, MGS2's rain has still not been surpassed to this day. Unbelievable.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

The Force Unleashed you mean? Or am I really missing something?

Oh, doy, yes, haha.

 

[potatohead]

They're clearly particles with some type of collision handling.

No it's a shader

That's the job of a shader to look like something else more consistent

If you notice even these so called "particles" don't exist when you're viewing the car from the outside views that should help you understand why you're wrong.

See the mgs2 or galaxy shots also? Those flat surface water effects are also shaders

Getting on my soap box a bit but this is why it's super frustrating to discuss graphics because most people don't even know what they are looking at. Not enough experience or just to young to be able to have seen graphics tech change

Plus when you actually don't know something for certain don't say you know is it something it truly isn't

 

[komojo]

Being a shader and doing particle simulation are not two mutually exclusive things. If you look closely at the gif, you can see the particles reacting to the motion of the car as well as the windshield wipers. It is definitely doing at least 2D particle simulation.