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Horizon Burning Shores: Will Guerrilla Games First PS5-Only Title Be the Best Current Gen Showcase To Date?

When Horizon Forbidden Shore Releases...


  • Total voters
    217
  • Poll closed .

blastprocessor

The Amiga Brotherhood
Does the trailer look that much different to the base game? There might be some refinements here and there but l didn’t see that from what they’ve shown so far. Not exactly a trailer that screams day 1 either.
 
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midnightAI

Member
Its actually the old engines holding graphics back. Corporate greed, cross gen and old engines…
What Is It Reaction GIF by Nebraska Humane Society


(Well made) Engines are made to be scalable.

Is UE5 holding graphics back because it can also run on XBox One, PS4, Switch, mobile?
 

midnightAI

Member
Does the trailer look that much different to the base game? There might be some refinements here and there but l didn’t see that from what they’ve shown so far. Not exactly a trailer that screams day 1 either.
Well if that flight through the clouds is real then yeh, significant advancements to flight at least. Also, that's part of the problem having what I consider to be one of the best looking games of all time, it makes it harder to improve upon and maybe many of the advancements aren't graphical. (And we have only seen flight, so ground objects/clutter from a distance, but draw distance seems improved)
 

yurinka

Member
Nah, I think it's only a DLC. So will be basically more content for the same game, so will continue using a crossgen engine with crossgen tech, so in terms of visuals and tech will be basically the same than HFW.

I highly doubt that in terms of tech horsepower would feature something more special than let's say Ratchet. I think the only reason they made it next gen only is to push players to migrate to PS5 and to save some development time.

But considering that I think still will look great as HFW did.
 
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platina

Member
I see a noticeably improvement in image quality. The image looks smoother more pleasing to the eyes yet gives the illusion of being higher res? Maybe an improvement to their aa solution as the ps5 version in resolution mode looked great but had this over sharpened detailed look to it. Seems like they improved the shaders too, has less of that cross gen look to it. Also noticed improvements in:

Motion blur
Animations look smoother
Lighting/the way it interacts with the environment
Depth of field


9d1dfa9f-4df1-4892-8ghima.jpeg

937676eb-da0b-41c0-98xcuj.jpeg

14c90e46-d4ac-432d-971fie.jpeg

2d31635d-38ff-45a0-a7qei3.jpeg

9f38dd5d-c580-4f06-9qje0h.jpeg


For comparison the last picture is base game ps5 version.
 
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Dutchy

Member
I feel like I should be all over this franchise. Loved Killzone and interviewed bunch of people from guerrilla. Even lived near their studio for a while. Definitely my country's big pride when it comes to gaming. But the first game left me confused as the first couple of hours felt very pointless and boring to me. Like I was forced to use every single game mechanic in a very ubisoft-tutorial style way. I eventually stopped playing and never looked back.

Bummer too because all these video's look amazing. Would you people say the second game is easier to get into?

also here's a cool pic I snagged from one of the meeting rooms.

RmSNRS3.png
 

CamHostage

Member
There will be a lot of CPU intensive destruction in the environment, which is likely where the biggest difference will be between the console generation. PS4's jaguar wouldn't be able to drive this environment.

Maybe? For sure that big Metal Devil tromping through that density of generated vegetation (assuming it walks) is a lot to keep track of.

However, most of the environmental destruction will likely be pre-rigged physics animation the way most Horizon destruction is done, not complex "physics" as we might think of. I don't expect a total overhaul of the physics sysyem for DLC (unless it was already on the Decima feature docket,) and physics is not something touched on in the interview about the project.
 
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tmlDan

Member
I feel like I should be all over this franchise. Loved Killzone and interviewed bunch of people from guerrilla. Even lived near their studio for a while. Definitely my country's big pride when it comes to gaming. But the first game left me confused as the first couple of hours felt very pointless and boring to me. Like I was forced to use every single game mechanic in a very ubisoft-tutorial style way. I eventually stopped playing and never looked back.

Bummer too because all these video's look amazing. Would you people say the second game is easier to get into?

also here's a cool pic I snagged from one of the meeting rooms.

RmSNRS3.png
Definitely not easy to get into, it gets super fun but you really have to grind away at it to get many hours in before you're having a ton fun versus it feeling like Zero Dawn for a lot of it.

It's my main complaint with the game, it really puts people off who don't have the time to care and get invested, when it's peak is 20-30 hours or more in then you know its a bit slow (gameplay wise)
 
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midnightAI

Member
Is UE5 an old engine?
Is Decima?

And technically, yes, UE5 is an old engine, do you think they remade everything from UE4? I bet there's even bits of UE3 in there. But my point with UE5 though was that cross gen does not or rather should not present any obstacles in regards to development of next gen games, graphically at least, game design may suffer however as you still need the same game to run on both, so you cant have something on PS5 that then wont run at all on PS4 such as the giant mech in the trailer with loads of physics etc. one reason its PS5 only (but even then you can usually scale things back for the lesser hardware, guess they thought it was too much hassle this time or not possible), but that's a limitation of the hardware not the engine its running on. Well made game engines are just improved and added to over time, they take years to make just a working version so very rarely are they scrapped and made again, instead they are improved and added to (and sometimes features removed to streamline them, that's rare though for back compatibility reasons so devs can easily convert their project to the latest version hopefully requiring no code changes at all)
 
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Humdinger

Member
... But the first game left me confused as the first couple of hours felt very pointless and boring to me. Like I was forced to use every single game mechanic in a very ubisoft-tutorial style way. I eventually stopped playing and never looked back.

Bummer too because all these video's look amazing. Would you people say the second game is easier to get into?

Not really. It has a very slow start, just like the first. Personally, I didn't mind the slow start in the first game, because introduced the characters, laid the groundwork for the story, and introduced you to the world. The slow start bothered me in the second game, though. Although it provides a basic tutorial, none of the other things I just mentioned happen in the second game, so it just seems unnecessarily drawn out. Also, the protagonist you're playing (Aloy) is now a cranky, asocial hero, as opposed to the fairly sympathetic outcast in the first game, so she's less pleasant to be around.
 

Nydius

Member
I went from playing FW on PS4 Pro to PS5 and the differences were significant. I can’t imagine the DLC will be another leap forward and will simply be a very minor iteration on the already fabulous PS5 version of the game.
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
It would be a shame to remove their 60fps mode (and CBR method) as currently that mode is pretty good on PS5. At launch it was terrible but they brought plenty of noticeable improvements along the way.
Tbf I played it at 40fps and it felt buttery smooth no matter what was on screen so just give me all the graphical bells and whistles at 40 and cut shit to keep the 60fps crew happy as well but for me personally I will always take graphics over framerate unless it's done horribly like "next gen" Witcher3
 
It literally isn't a next gen game though.
I’m playing it on PS5 with lightning fast load times, an amazing crontroller, great frame rate and excellent visuals. Kicks almost every other game made exclusively for next gen into touch.

Burning Shores will take things to the next level. The scale of the battles will likely be incredible.
 

RaySoft

Member
What's the definition of a "cross-gen engine"?
An engine that's designed around two or more platforms where it's becoming a "jack of all trades" but a master of none.
This DLC will probably just have som setpieces that could run on PS4, but now they don't have to worry about frames.
Or even worse; They now don't have to optimize for PS4.
 

CamHostage

Member
An engine that's designed around two or more platforms where it's becoming a "jack of all trades" but a master of none.

If that's how you understand game technology and you hardline for only PS5/XBSXS exclusives being proper next-gen, I hate to tell you this but....

Those fancy UE5 demos run on the same engine that let's you play Fortnite on your phone. That amazing Avatar game (should it actually look as good as the trailer) runs on the same engine as the Mario Rabbids RPG on Switch.

Games have been trained to salivate over a "brand new engine" being properly next-gen, (and often that has been how that works out, particularlyin the past when tech was not as incremental/modular,) but the engine is just the thing developers put their work into.
 
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I’m playing it on PS5 with lightning fast load times, an amazing crontroller, great frame rate and excellent visuals. Kicks almost every other game made exclusively for next gen into touch.

Burning Shores will take things to the next level. The scale of the battles will likely be incredible.
Doesn't make it a next gen game. It also launched on PS4. I also disagree about the graphics but that's besides the point, if it releases on PS4 it's not a next gen game period.
 

ChiefDada

Gold Member
An engine that's designed around two or more platforms where it's becoming a "jack of all trades" but a master of none.
This DLC will probably just have som setpieces that could run on PS4, but now they don't have to worry about frames.
Or even worse; They now don't have to optimize for PS4.

That's not how engine evolution/iteration works. It's not a "jack of all trades" situation if they're developing for a PS5 only project. Any PS5 specific tools/libraries they incorporate into the engine can be used as they see fit. There's no reason to use PS4 tools if they have better, more performant ones that takes advantage of PS5 hardware. Developers have been updating their engine from the time they received dev kits.

Doesn't make it a next gen game. It also launched on PS4. I also disagree about the graphics but that's besides the point, if it releases on PS4 it's not a next gen game period.

Again, what is your definition of a current gen game? HFW PS5 has hero lighting on player character at all times, PS4 hardware can't afford this. The intro cutscene is running in real time, jump cutting from one area of the map to the next. PS4 version is playing a video clip. One person says it's a last gen game, another says it's current gen and they're both right imo. That's why it's best to stick to the apt label of "cross-gen", as it straddles both generations; or alternatively "current-gen only" (even then, very subjective as different games will push tech further than others).
 
Again, what is your definition of a current gen game? HFW PS5 has hero lighting on player character at all times, PS4 hardware can't afford this. The intro cutscene is running in real time, jump cutting from one area of the map to the next. PS4 version is playing a video clip. One person says it's a last gen game, another says it's current gen and they're both right imo. That's why it's best to stick to the apt label of "cross-gen", as it straddles both generations; or alternatively "current-gen only" (even then, very subjective as different games will push tech further than others).
Yeah you're right about cross gen. Not next gen however since it released on PS4. It doesn't even look noticeably any different for both platforms anyway.
 
If the PS4 version held the next gen version back, then you could say the same of the Performance mode on PS5.

Personally 60fps it’s the way to play this game, but if they only had to optimise for 30fps they could probably push things even further, no?
 

midnightAI

Member
Yeah you're right about cross gen. Not next gen however since it released on PS4. It doesn't even look noticeably any different for both platforms anyway.
It doesn't look noticeably different because it is still essentially the same game, same as how Cyberpunk runs on base PS4 and on ultra PC's. But like Cyberpunk, if you look closer they are quite different...
1080p Vs 4k
Better/much more stable framerate
Much faster loading
Much better LOD
Higher draw distance
Better volumetrics
Better/increased particle effects
Better lighting and shadows
Better textures
Higher detailed character models
Cinematic lighting on Aloy
Better water effects
Higher foliage and ground clutter density
Etc.

It's basically low settings versus ultra settings.

I'll repeat... Engines are made to be scalable, graphically cross gen is not an issue and holds nothing back. There may be instances that prevent certain game design features on PS4 but that will be few and far between (such as game design around the SSD like R&C, but take away that feature and it could run on PS4 just like Spider Man, same engine afterall) even then there are usually workarounds/changes that you can do to make it run but then it boils down to is it worth it.

In regards to H:FW cross gen didn't hold anything back, on PS5 version still looks like a next gen game (arguably the best looking PS5 game) because it is one. The most impressive thing about Decima isn't even the PS5 version of FW, it's the fact it can run the PS4 version at all.
 
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It doesn't look noticeably different because it is still essentially the same game, same as how Cyberpunk runs on base PS4 and on ultra PC's. But like Cyberpunk, if you look closer they are quite different...
1080p Vs 4k
Better/much more stable framerate
Much faster loading
Much better LOD
Higher draw distance
Better volumetrics
Better/increased particle effects
Better lighting and shadows
Better textures
Higher detailed character models
Cinematic lighting on Aloy
Better water effects
Higher foliage and ground clutter density
Etc.

It's basically low settings versus ultra settings.

I'll repeat... Engines are made to be scalable, graphically cross gen is not an issue and holds nothing back. There may be instances that prevent certain game design features on PS4 but that will be few and far between (such as game design around the SSD like R&C, but take away that feature and it could run on PS4 just like Spider Man, same engine afterall) even then there are usually workarounds/changes that you can do to make it run but then it boils down to is it worth it.

In regards to H:FW cross gen didn't hold anything back, on PS5 version still looks like a next gen game (arguably the best looking PS5 game) because it is one. The most impressive thing about Decima isn't even the PS5 version of FW, it's the fact it can run the PS4 version at all.
That's the thing, the average gamer isn't going to analyze the graphics frame by frame under a microscope. If it doesn't look noticeably better from a glance then the graphical difference is trivial and not worth bringing up.
 
People should be worried about it being a good game.

Track record for the series is not good on that front. Graphics will be good enough.
 

midnightAI

Member
That's the thing, the average gamer isn't going to analyze the graphics frame by frame under a microscope. If it doesn't look noticeably better from a glance then the graphical difference is trivial and not worth bringing up.
So in your opinion what defines a next gen game then? And why is H:FW not a next gen game other than you can also play it on PS4 (because, frankly, that's irrelevant)?
 
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midnightAI

Member
If the game can only be played on PS5. Simple, no ifs ands or buts.
Ok, cool, so in that case (in your opinion) graphical quality, what engine it runs on, what the whole quality of the game is, what features the game has is irrelevant?

Just wondering, because in my opinion a next gen game is a game that can run on the PS5 (and was designed to run on the PS5, not as an afterthought) but cannot run on the PS4 without compromises. (so basically, every recent cross gen game is next gen if the PS5 version is more advanced than the PS4 (pro) version, generally this usually means the PS5 version as the target and then downporting to the PS4 making cutbacks)
 
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