Sable!! Not out yet, but love the look of this one. To echo others, yeah 2D and cellshading ages very nicely.
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Graphic-wise, what games this gen do you think will hold up in the next gen?
- Thread starter Jeffrey Guang
- Start date
Only some. For instance, I just played Deus Ex Mankind Divided, and that game looks like absolute ASS. Other games, like Horizon, BOTW, Odyssey, Sunset Overdrive, etc. (aka games with good AESTHETICS) will hold up forever.
Then you have a bunch of awesome indies that will stand the test of time, too
Then you have a bunch of awesome indies that will stand the test of time, too
Honestly I think most games from this generation will age fine. We're at a point where graphical jumps just aren't as extreme anymore. Games like Fallout 4 already look a little rough, but there are plenty of games like inFAMOUS Second Son and Bloodborne that came out early in the generation which still look excellent.
i find horizon to be much better looking than the metro footage
We have arrived at a point where graphics will never look too ugly(unlike most ps1 games for example), but definitively will look dated.
-Horizon(and other realistic and semi realistic games in general): i already don't like the look of the skin and face in Sony first party games(but also other realistic and semi realistic games), they all look a bad mid point between stylized and realistic or a failed attempt to realism, in any case realistic and semi realistic games always look dated when developers start pushing newer hardwares.
Those games will look dated more or less(probably less) like games like Uncharted 3 look dated now
-LOZ:BOTW: those ugly texture you can see not so far will never stop looking ugly, Wind Waker with its more stylized and vibrant artstyle will age better despite being technically worse than BOTW
Horizon Zero Dawn reached a point where I think that it will always be consider a nice looking game.
Its very consistent and stylized.
Since Much118 just posted them in another thread, behold:
This will never not look good.
Wipeout Omega Collection will also hold up till eternity.
I don't think Uncharted and God Of War will hold up as well as these.
Parts of God Of War will hold up, but the game is not as consistently good looking as Horizon for example. Same is true for Uncharted.
Timelessness of visuals depends mostly on the artstyle. Consistency is key.
The more a game is trying to imitate realism the harder it becomes to consistently reach a certain level of realism.
I heavily disagree with bothOnce Nintendo release a Switch capable of running Breath of the Wild at 1080p or above it will be up there with Wind Waker as 'ageless'.
It looks phenomenal on PC at 4k and up there with anything on PS4 or XB1 imo.
-Horizon(and other realistic and semi realistic games in general): i already don't like the look of the skin and face in Sony first party games(but also other realistic and semi realistic games), they all look a bad mid point between stylized and realistic or a failed attempt to realism, in any case realistic and semi realistic games always look dated when developers start pushing newer hardwares.
Those games will look dated more or less(probably less) like games like Uncharted 3 look dated now
-LOZ:BOTW: those ugly texture you can see not so far will never stop looking ugly, Wind Waker with its more stylized and vibrant artstyle will age better despite being technically worse than BOTW
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Games like Journey, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy, God of War, Detroit: Become Human, Wipeout Omega Collection, Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding, Spider-Man and The Last of Us: Part 2
-LOZ:BOTW: those ugly texture you can see not so far will never stop looking ugly, Wind Waker with its more stylized and vibrant artstyle will age better despite being technically worse than BOTW
They stylistically messed up the HD remaster though. The original had a timeless, coherent celshaded look, the HD version added tons of unsightly bloom, softer shading and those fuzzy clouds that don't match the art style either.
This thread reminds me of how much better graphics look in my memory. Like I can recall being blown away by PS2 games, but when I look back at graphical powerhouses of the day (e.g. MGS2, FFX), the characters look like creepy porcelain marionettes. Games like Horizon, GoW and Uncharted look insane to me now, but I'm sure they'll look like plastic dolls when I look back in 10 years. I'm sure they'll be playable, but they will show their age.
As others have said, I think 2D or heavily stylised games like Cuphead, BotW or Inside will hold up quite well though (in the way Yoshi's Island still looks pretty good today).
As others have said, I think 2D or heavily stylised games like Cuphead, BotW or Inside will hold up quite well though (in the way Yoshi's Island still looks pretty good today).
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Most games will hold up just fine as long as they have PC versions. Why do I say this? Because there are certain post-processing fetishes that can be removed on PC either officially or with mods. The 7th gen one was bloom used to excess. The current one is chromatic aberration. Now don't get me wrong. Mild chromatic aberration does have its place in certain contexts. I'm not saying it needs to be stripped away. But some games are incredibly ugly to look at even now, and they're gonna look even uglier. Similarly, games with use TAA with sharpening are gonna look even more awful in a few years. Mankind Divided on consoles is an ugly, ugly game. Fortunately, you can remove that on PC.
Also, screen space reflections are gonna date really badly. They have so many shortcomings.
Also, screen space reflections are gonna date really badly. They have so many shortcomings.
Horizon Zero Dawn. It's the only game I've played this gen where I've felt it as from a future generation.
Also a lot of 2D games of course and more artistic indie stuff, like Inside.
Also a lot of 2D games of course and more artistic indie stuff, like Inside.
It's kind of funny that you post a gif that suffers from the exact issue that Mr. Poolman was talking about :P
Yeah true, but it's also funny because HZD also looks better than most games still being announced lol
Clipping is prevalent in most games to be honest, and talking about hair clipping is probably the least annoying aspect of clipping. Weapon clipping or body parts clipping is arguably the worst type of clipping.
To be fair, its not really something that's particularly noticeable in gameplay, and on whole looks decent in cutscenes. In fact overall the hair is well done.
I can't see Horizons visuals, character models, lighting, shaders, foliage density, sense of scale etc looking aged any time soon. In fact, I'm confident Horizon will look better than many next gen games.
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God of War has a couple issues like wonky or low res lighting in places or inconsistent water rendering, but overall I can't really imagine how imaginative and beautiful art design like this could ever be considered not great looking:
And dat in-game Kratos character model...
And dat in-game Kratos character model...
I think you all are going to be blindsided by how much better lighting increases in the next gen, its going to make games like Horizon and GoW look very flat by comparison. It will age them quickly, just like per object motion blur and PRB have done a great job making modern game feel like huge leaps over older ones.
I think the resolution bump to 1080p will mean that this gen will hold up better than last gen. Even PS2/Gamecube games that are up-scaled still look great.
Only a purely artistic merit, I only think stylised games will hold up such as Ori, Cuphead, Hollow Knight, Overwatch, Nex Machina, Journey, Zelda BotW, Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, MK8D, Kingdom Hearts 3, Ratchet and Clank, Sunset Overdrive, Fortnite, The Witness, Inside, Sea of Theives, Sable, Tunic, Dragon Ball FighterZ, which will all still look great 10+ years from now.
I think one of the few exceptions will be games that use photgrammetry like Star Wars Battlefront.
Only a purely artistic merit, I only think stylised games will hold up such as Ori, Cuphead, Hollow Knight, Overwatch, Nex Machina, Journey, Zelda BotW, Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, MK8D, Kingdom Hearts 3, Ratchet and Clank, Sunset Overdrive, Fortnite, The Witness, Inside, Sea of Theives, Sable, Tunic, Dragon Ball FighterZ, which will all still look great 10+ years from now.
I think one of the few exceptions will be games that use photgrammetry like Star Wars Battlefront.
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I feel like games are starting to actually reach a point where I don't really think they are going to age.
The only way that we can look back on Horizon/Uncharted/FFXV/Tomb Raider/Last of Us II and see it the same way we see 360/PS3 or earlier gen games
is if gaming enters a territory where it's nigh indistinguishable from reality
Game engines have gotten to the point where the goldmine is in the lighting, not so much the geometry or textures. So things are able to look amazing without super high res textures or really detailed models. A few really good shaders can give more physical detail than even the highest resolution texture
When we get to the point where real-time global illumination, high quality shadows, and other physical effects are no longer too expensive to run on consoles, then we've only got a few more leaps left imo
The only way that we can look back on Horizon/Uncharted/FFXV/Tomb Raider/Last of Us II and see it the same way we see 360/PS3 or earlier gen games
is if gaming enters a territory where it's nigh indistinguishable from reality
Game engines have gotten to the point where the goldmine is in the lighting, not so much the geometry or textures. So things are able to look amazing without super high res textures or really detailed models. A few really good shaders can give more physical detail than even the highest resolution texture
When we get to the point where real-time global illumination, high quality shadows, and other physical effects are no longer too expensive to run on consoles, then we've only got a few more leaps left imo
Once Nintendo release a Switch capable of running Breath of the Wild at 1080p or above it will be up there with Wind Waker as 'ageless'.
It looks phenomenal on PC at 4k and up there with anything on PS4 or XB1 imo.
It looks ok. The Nintendo atmosphere and style carries it. Any average PS4 game looks better. TESO for example, a fairly average looking game on PS4, is leagues beyond that.
My post wasn't meant as a jab at Horizon ZD, just found that particular gif funny given the context.
I think that TESOs graphics overall look fine, but a major gripe I have with TESO is the extremely limited draw distance for a modern game. Which is really disappointing especially when TES:IV and TES:V both offer magnificent vistas and have huge draw distances for landmasses.
If Horizon Zero Dawn gets a ps5 forward compatability patch or whatever and makes it 4k 60fps, I imagine the game will hold up pretty well.
To be fair, its not really something that's particularly noticeable in gameplay, and on whole looks decent in cutscenes. In fact overall the hair is well done.
I can't see Horizons visuals, character models, lighting, shaders, foliage density, sense of scale etc looking aged any time soon. In fact, I'm confident Horizon will look better than many next gen games.
Both those gifs looks insane. Jesus.
Usually they age pretty badly.
Maybe you're right about one gen but what about 10-15 years from now?
-LOZ:BOTW: those ugly texture you can see not so far will never stop looking ugly, Wind Waker with its more stylized and vibrant artstyle will age better despite being technically worse than BOTW
I find Wind Waker HD more pleasing visually than BOTW. The bad image quality ruined the art style imo.
And all realistic 3D games will age. We are still very far from photorealistic graphics.
No they dont. God of War 3 and Killzone 2 still look fantastic.
15 years is too long. Almost every game will age badly.
Resident Evil 4 on Gamecube and Silent Hill 2 on PS2 (going by stuff people have posted elsewhere) will still look great.We have arrived at a point where graphics will never look too ugly(unlike most ps1 games for example), but definitively will look dated.
I heavily disagree with both
-Horizon(and other realistic and semi realistic games in general): i already don't like the look of the skin and face in Sony first party games(but also other realistic and semi realistic games), they all look a bad mid point between stylized and realistic or a failed attempt to realism, in any case realistic and semi realistic games always look dated when developers start pushing newer hardwares.
Those games will look dated more or less(probably less) like games like Uncharted 3 look dated now
-LOZ:BOTW: those ugly texture you can see not so far will never stop looking ugly, Wind Waker with its more stylized and vibrant artstyle will age better despite being technically worse than BOTW
Some years back I fired up Dead or Alive 3 on Xbox and was stunned at how good it looked.
Plus I don't think the Wind Waker shot you posted is the GC version. Looks like the remake/remaster going by the resolution (the game looks amazing even on GC just saying).
Not to deny your point. Cartoon heavily stylized games age better but not not to the degree your are implying. Certainly we have reached a point where realistic well done graphics will age very well.
Honestly, I think every good looking game this generation will hold up just fine next gen. Even realistic looking games.
;)