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[Mossybrew]

I never played the expansion area, and the complete game was only like eight bucks, so in advance of the upcoming sequel I started a new playthrough. It is still a fun and gorgeous game. It kinda struck me how incremental graphical improvements have been over the last five years. You can point to top of class games like Last of us 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy for their improved facial modeling and animations, but really the difference is not that huge. In terms of the game environment, its something that could have been released last week and people would love it. Gameplay feels as tight and modern as anything else released in the last two years.

Anyway I guess I have no larger point to make other than, this game really holds up five years later.

 

[HTK]

Here I am debating to start my first playthrough of Horizon Zero Dawn since Warzone is in such shambles.

Glad the game still feels/looks great, now if i can get myself to jump in.

 

[lh032]

GIve it another year or two and we will see real next gen games.

 

[SlimySnake]

thats because next gen was supposed to start 2 years ago and the CPU, SSD and I/O were supposed to usher in a new era of AI simulation and physics. None of that happened because devs and publishers have phoned in the last two years and this next year is bound to be the same.

P.S Also, Horizon is one of the games of the gen. Of course it will be up there with other last gen titles. It is still probably a top 10 title this gen.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I feel like I'm the only one who is realistic in expectations on what next gen or next level things are.

We're seeing VRS, VRR, new rendering techniques, DLSS, fast storage standard on high end consoles, new tools, efficiency HW baked into the SOC's, and so much more.

This translates to less constrained level design, faster loading assets previously only seen in CG offline rendering, immediacy of asset loading meaning less and less texture streaming, density of environments, I could go on.

I guess from a point of view seeing graphics since the 80's and where we are now I will reiterate once again that we are in the middle of the biggest renaissance since the advent of consumer 3d graphics driven by PS1 era consoles.

To give an example, how does Teardown not get as much attention for what it's doing in real time? It's taxing on my 3090 with specs surrounding it that destroy the current generation of consoles. Next gen is maybe not the term we should so liberally.

 

[remember_spinal]

New game at least looks a lot better

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Don't get the point of this thread at all.

You must also be new to gaming because of course nothing would have improved over the last 5 years on old gen hardware as old gen development matured you were only ever going to see incremental upgrades.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

I feel like I'm the only one who is realistic in expectations on what next gen or next level things are.

We're seeing VRS, VRR, new rendering techniques, DLSS, fast storage standard on high end consoles, new tools, efficiency HW baked into the SOC's, and so much more.

This translates to less constrained level design, faster loading assets previously only seen in CG offline rendering, immediacy of asset loading meaning less and less texture streaming, density of environments, I could go on.

I guess from a point of view seeing graphics since the 80's and where we are now I will reiterate once again that we are in the middle of the biggest renaissance since the advent of consumer 3d graphics driven by PS1 era consoles.

To give an example, how does Teardown not get as much attention for what it's doing in real time? It's taxing on my 3090 with specs surrounding it that destroy the current generation of consoles. Next gen is maybe not the term we should so liberally.

You're telling me hardware essentially designed by developers for developers will not usher in new approaches or even genre's in game design?
Especially in terms of super fast streaming of game assets? There were numerous developers who spoke of how much of a constraint slow asset loading was on old gen hardware as compared to next gen. The consequence of that being loading screens.
You completely remove the need to factor in loading screens every few minutes and you fundamentally change the way games are being made.
I'm sure someone more technically knowledgeable on this matter can add to it.

 

[Mossybrew]

Don't get the point of this thread at all.

You must also be new to gaming because of course nothing would have improved over the last 5 years on old gen hardware as old gen development matured you were only ever going to see incremental upgrades.

Yes sorry there is no grand point to this thread, ignore it and move on. Just a minor anecdote about my feelings after playing five years removed. Maybe its technically obvious but Im just describing a gut reaction, five years seems like forever ago in my personal life, but in gaming not much has changed.

 

[Stuart360]

Well games over the last 5 years have been targeting the same hardware, and the Horizon devs are great at graphics in their games.
I own the game on PC, and i was a little dissapointed at its graphics after the years of hype, but it def is a damn good looking open world game, and a good game to boot, completed it twice.

 

[Punished Miku]

New game at least looks a lot better

The bottom pic looks almost identical to part 1.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I'm currently playing Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart and feel that Future Tools of Destruction is a better game. That Lombax done regresses.
The PS360 era of consoles was the last Wow I had for Tech toys.
Though I did Wow during some of the PSVR stuff. Astrobot mainly.

 

[Tschumi]

Horizon Zero Dawn was actually the second game built with its engine, Killzone: Shadowfall was the first, and Shadowfall is another game that's often referenced when previous gen comparisons are made (such as the halo infinite reveal debacle)

It's simply a case of diminishing returns.

 

[remember_spinal]

The bottom pic looks almost identical to part 1.

 

[Pejo]

New game at least looks a lot better

Why do these two screenshots look like they're of different characters? Weird.

Anyways, regarding OP, imagine if 4k TVs hadn't come out. This gen is pretty much categorized by 4k. If we didn't have that, I doubt we'd notice much if anything.

 

[T0minator]

Especially on PS5 this game holds up really well. I'm looking forward to Forbidden West showing a considerable improvement

 

[Rickyiez]

Well you can say FEAR could have been released today and it would still shits on other FPS

 

[ReBurn]

I agree with you. I kinda feel like last generation didn't really bring much new to the table and was just a continuation with better graphics. Battle royale and roguelike rose up. People like them and they're great. But pretty much everything else stayed the same as it was during the PS360 era. All of the big narrative driven games were great stories and good experiences but they didn't really break any new ground. It was just basic iteration on the formulas created the generation before.

 

[Excess]

Been playing it on PC. Looks like a current gen game, in my opinion.

 

[remember_spinal]

Especially on PS5 this game holds up really well. I'm looking forward to Forbidden West showing a considerable improvement

It does look good, Foribdden west looks even better. Which is why i don’t understand the thread

 

[fatmarco]

Is Frozen Wilds worth playing? I still need to finish the last few missions of the main game too.

 

[eyesabitdull]

NeoGaf should just allow blogging for users in their own profile amongst themselves and followers.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Is Frozen Wilds worth playing? I still need to finish the last few missions of the main game too.

not really

 

[K' Dash]

Well you can say FEAR could have been released today and it would still shits on other FPS

my man knows what hes talking about.



I'm still waiting for a game to replicate that gunplay, absolutely delicious.

 

[buenoblue]

Play it on PS4 pro jet engine and tell me games haven't changed.

 

[buenoblue]

Why do these two screenshots look like they're of different characters? Weird.

Anyways, regarding OP, imagine if 4k TVs hadn't come out. This gen is pretty much categorized by 4k. If we didn't have that, I doubt we'd notice much if anything.

Yeah I look the same in every photo. Strange/s

 

[drotahorror]

Horizon Zero Dawn was actually the second game built with its engine, Killzone: Shadowfall was the first, and Shadowfall is another game that's often referenced when previous gen comparisons are made (such as the halo infinite reveal debacle)

It's simply a case of diminishing returns.

Until Dawn was the 2nd game to use it.

 

[Tschumi]

Until Dawn was the 2nd game to use it.

didn't know that cheers

 

[Hinedorf]

Thought about double dipping on Horizon as it's one of the few games I even completed all the DLC but going to hold off. I had always thought Horizon was one of the best looking PS4 games ever, I'd imagine it holds up just fine on PC

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I agree with you OP.

I think it's because iteration is so slow in games today. AAA games take 4 years to make, which means when a revolutionary game comes out (Breath of the Wild), developers need to finish whatever game they're currently working on, and then begin their inspired game which is ~4 years away.

So the AAA industry really only leapfrogs itself every 6 or so years on average.

 

[Dream-Knife]

I feel like all of these type of games were overshadowed by BOTW, and nothing has had quite the impact since.

 

[ByWatterson]

Think it's more accurate to say that Horizon Zero Dawn is still a looker.

 

[Ebidramon]

I mean, if you compare how Lara Croft looks in first Tomb Raider game for PS1, and how she looks in the Shadow of he Tomb Raider, both versions look 99.9% identical.

 

[Hobbygaming]

The bottom pic looks almost identical to part 1.

Here's a better comparison

 

[T0minator]

It does look good, Foribdden west looks even better. Which is why i don’t understand the thread

Well the OP is highlighting the fact that Horizon Zero Dawn still looks great after all these year...considering all the advancements we've gotten since it's initial release Horizon: ZD still impresses.

It's all boils down to the art style, it's got an impressive art direction as well as technically impressive

 

[DenchDeckard]

New game at least looks a lot better

This from the same game right just different lighting or time of day?

 

[remember_spinal]

This from the same game right just different lighting or time of day?

Sure.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Sure.

yeah, it was a shit joke but this looks like when gears 1 went to gears of war 2. It’s clearly a cross gen game And those games were on the same system just saw improvements to the engine etc.

Horizon 1 was an incredibly detailed game so it’s similar to the god of war ragnarok jump to me. It’s just slightly higher quality assets and improvements to the engine As you would expect.

PS5 Versions will still be awesome because they will run at a high fps while looking great.

 

[RPS37]

People need to stop complaining about the type of posts people make on here.

 

[T0minator]

This from the same game right just different lighting or time of day?

Yup, that's correct!

Jokes aside, she's got a completely different face lol not just slightly higher quality assets. It's going to be a nice jump in quality.

 

[ZywyPL]

x86 is "to blame" - the devs don't have to figure out some crazy, alien architectures anymore, they can pretty much max out the hardware right oit of the gates, hence why launch titles like TO1886, inFanous:SS or KZSF still look amazing despite being almost decade old already.

Currently we're at the cross-gen period, but once next-gen-only games start rolling out they won't look much worse than late-gen titles 6-7 years from now, the devs will dive into all the power and features at their disposal right away and then there will be not much more room meft for optimization/improvement.

Take UE5 as the best example - it's a real genetational leap in visuals, but runs at a mete 1080p at 20-30FPS, and this is just as goog as this generation will get.

 

[GymWolf]

That's because horizon still looks impressive today, not many games have as much detailed characters\enemies.

 

[GymWolf]

Is Frozen Wilds worth playing? I still need to finish the last few missions of the main game too.

Absolutely, great new weapons and enemies, far better digital acting and more interesting side quests (both story and reward).

Also the plot is smaller and more personal\human if that is something that you like.

 

[DeepSpace5D]

Is Frozen Wilds worth playing? I still need to finish the last few missions of the main game too.

If you enjoyed the main game, Frozen Wilds is an easy recommend.

It’s got a great main story focusing on the Banuk tribe who are the warriors that live in the snowy biome.

New machines are there that are the toughest in the game, especially the Daemonic Fireclaws, that is an epic fight that makes the Thunderjaw feel tame now.

New collectibles to pick up, new weapons, new armors, new wildlife.

It also has the most impressive looking Cauldron in the game during the main story branch. I was honestly stopping to take screenshots because it looked so nuts on my QN90A.

I just finished it up yesterday and enjoyed it alot.

 

[phil_t98]

I bought this in the sale the other day and looking forward to strting it, heard a lot of good things about it

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Here's a better comparison

While bottom clearly looks better, it's still more of an incremental improvement. Diminishing returns are real.

 

[Hobbygaming]

While bottom clearly looks better, it's still more of an incremental improvement. Diminishing returns are real.

Crossgen

 

[Fools idol]

my man knows what hes talking about.



I'm still waiting for a game to replicate that gunplay, absolutely delicious.

I played max payne 1-3 recently and it kind of scratched that itch for the slow mo shootybang bang shizzle.

It's not first person obviously but still had a blast.

 

[k_trout]

5 years? I'm still waiting for a game better than system shock 2 lol

 

[JohnnyFootball]

my man knows what hes talking about.



I'm still waiting for a game to replicate that gunplay, absolutely delicious.

Play Doom and Doom Eternal. Best shooting mechanics EVER.