General Gaming Best Gaming Graphics of 2020, Best Games of 2020, and Best PC Games of 2020 (Digital Foundry) and Best Graphics/Technology of 2020 (NX Gamer)

[Mercury33]

You can’t see where the console is going?? Have you played Spider-Man or Demon Souls? The loading times are cartridge-esque. The graphics evolutions will ALWAYS be slow going from here on out. But it’s certainly noticeable in Demon Souls. And after that UE demo that gives you a further glimpse into what’s coming down the road in that department. Then you’ve got Astro giving you a glimpse of maybe the next level of Immersion. That remains to be seen whether it’s a fun gimmick or a true next step for controllers. 
 

Just because you personally dont have butterflies or whatever you were looking for from this gen doesn’t mean it didn’t take clear jumps, deliver a solid launch lineup and give you a glimpse of what’s to come. Come on now. 

[SaysWho?]

13 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

You can’t see where the console is going?? Have you played Spider-Man or Demon Souls? The loading times are cartridge-esque. The graphics evolutions will ALWAYS be slow going from here on out. But it’s certainly noticeable in Demon Souls. And after that UE demo that gives you a further glimpse into what’s coming down the road in that department. Then you’ve got Astro giving you a glimpse of maybe the next level of Immersion. That remains to be seen whether it’s a fun gimmick or a true next step for controllers. 
 

Just because you personally dont have butterflies or whatever you were looking for from this gen doesn’t mean it didn’t take clear jumps, deliver a solid launch lineup and give you a glimpse of what’s to come. Come on now. 

 

I imagine it's the same for Xbox based on what my friends rave about (same thing I do with the SSD ), but with suspend/resume and the SSD, I get into games QUICKER than the cartridge days. 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, Mercury33 said:

You can’t see where the console is going?? Have you played Spider-Man or Demon Souls? The loading times are cartridge-esque. The graphics evolutions will ALWAYS be slow going from here on out. But it’s certainly noticeable in Demon Souls. And after that UE demo that gives you a further glimpse into what’s coming down the road in that department. Then you’ve got Astro giving you a glimpse of maybe the next level of Immersion. That remains to be seen whether it’s a fun gimmick or a true next step for controllers. 
 

Just because you personally dont have butterflies or whatever you were looking for from this gen doesn’t mean it didn’t take clear jumps, deliver a solid launch lineup and give you a glimpse of what’s to come. Come on now. 

Shorter menu loading times are the least interesting thing about these consoles to me.

There's a lot of promise to the SSDs outside of that, just not many material examples.  As for the UE5 demo, it never felt like the industry as a whole was waiting on UE4 to tap into the PS4/XBO's hardware like this.  Devs can't even fiddle around with UE5 yet.  We don't know how it runs on PC/Series X.  We don't know how it scales to open world stuff.  Answers should be coming soon at least.  It would be a huge step if it delivers as promised.

Spider-man MM and the remaster just makes me question what the future will be with RT this gen.  RT should be a big graphical evolution - I wouldn't consider it insignificant or a slow advance.  But if we're essentially looking at ~1600p60 reconstructed for a last gen remaster with just RT reflections, it raises more questions about what honest-to-goodness current gen games will target with RT.  Or how many straight up won't, because of the performance hit.

 

And of course, no next-generation upscaling algorithm at launch.  Shouldn't Sony have been on the forefront of that after the PS4 Pro?  Wasn't Microsoft experimenting with it?  Why is AMD still not showing their tech yet?  So your guess is good as mine what eventually materializes and if it's all that good.  It's a complete unknown outside of being promised eventually.

Astro is the big exception to all this.  I'm glad it's proving the controller is legit.

[Mercury33]

Menu load times is what you got out of that? Have you actually played any of these games or used either of the consoles?

 

Outside of maybe Ryse, nothing at launch last gen was a mind blowing graphical jump. It took a couple years(and UR4) before we saw the bigger jumps. This gen will be about speed and performance over graphical fidelity, although that will certainly come with time. Both of those things are featured in launch games. So again. Just because you personally didn’t get excited, doesn’t mean the console launches didn’t meat expectations for a new generation. 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, Mercury33 said:

Menu load times is what you got out of that? Have you actually played any of these games or used either of the consoles? 

Nope.  Neither has convinced me they’re worth the money yet at this point.  I don’t care that much for the cross-gen performance gains, which this far is their bread and butter.  As for hands on... Covid.

 

1 hour ago, Mercury33 said:

Outside of maybe Ryse, nothing at launch last gen was a mind blowing graphical jump.

 

Nothing too much at launch outside of Ryse and Killzone Shadowfall.  The difference was even more in the announced-for-later games showcasing the potential.  Games like Final Fantasy XV, Quantum Break, Mad Max, Uncharted 4, Arkham Knight, etc.  Even stuff that ended up being bullshotty fake gameplay like Watch Dogs, Witcher 3 and Deep Down.  There was more effort spent convincing us these consoles were a real generational step up.  
 

1 hour ago, Mercury33 said:

This gen will be about speed and performance over graphical fidelity, although that will certainly come with time. Both of those things are featured in launch games. So again. Just because you personally didn’t get excited, doesn’t mean the console launches didn’t meat expectations for a new generation. 

 

There’s absolutely no reason why these consoles couldn’t be as much about fidelity as they are performance gains.  At launch or otherwise.  It sells them short if not.  New generations have never been about one or the other, but both / and.  And I don't think the hardware itself is an exception this time.  So yes, I believe there’s been shortcomings in communicating that.  Both in the messaging and in the games shown.  As an aside, NDAs for gameplay footage dropped later than ever before a console launch.  Even the cross-gen comparisons were taboo to show for the longest time.

 

The silver lining is that there's a lot more unknowns about these console's capabilities than the last gen close after launch.  That's both a positive and negative.

[skillzdadirecta]

[HardAct]

I never misunderstood Microsofts standing with the Series S. I fell they were very upfront at the beginning. A 1440p target all digital machine with the Series x being the next gen console. I didn't like the idea of developers having to make games for such different graphical power, but there wasnt any misunderstanding, and dont see how there could've been. 

[Xbob42]

To be fair, if you've had a decent gaming PC, the loading stuff won't be much more than "God, finally, now stop putting critical info in loading screens." That and we can also now expect decent transition animations when we do encounter loads now. Dark Souls 2 and 3 on PC load faster than Demon's Souls on PS5, but the transition makes loading in Demon's Souls much more enjoyable and less like "whoops we didn't plan on you loading that quickly."

 

While the loading times are nice, the real question mark is how soon we'll start seeing games designed without the shackles of the HDD being a baseline expectation. I just want every game to drop HDD support immediately. From MMOs like WoW and FFXIV (FFXIV could truly go open world if they so desired without the PS4 holding it back, and even if not, encounter design could get positively wild if they could do classic FF battles like flying through different environments) to even shit like Destiny 2, where I bet the game would be much more enjoyable if instead of load screens, even fast ones, you hopped in your ship and physically flew up and out of the atmosphere, into space, and onto whatever your target destination was, with no actual loss of continuity. And that's STILL just baseline low hanging fruit, games could theoretically radically alter their very core design for entirely new experiences. 

[SaysWho?]

8 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

Nope.  

 

And here lies the problem as to why your complaints make no sense.  

 

 

  

8 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

Nothing too much at launch outside of Ryse and Killzone Shadowfall.  The difference was even more in the announced-for-later games showcasing the potential.  Games like Final Fantasy XV, Quantum Break, Mad Max, Uncharted 4, Arkham Knight, etc.  Even stuff that ended up being bullshotty fake gameplay like Watch Dogs, Witcher 3 and Deep Down.  There was more effort spent convincing us these consoles were a real generational step up.  

 

Kind of a weird comparison given that Watch Dogs was hammered for not showing real gameplay and something that looked way better than it actually ended up being, followed by, "Can the next-gen consoles actually handle this?"

 

FFXV didn't really show anything? It was a PS3-gen game that was delayed for PS4 and its trailer at E3 2013 was CG. Uncharted 4 didn't show anything involving characters/environment until E3 2014, well after launch. We knew as much about it as we do God of War at this point, and once again, UC4 went from, "Look at this 60fps trailer, it's awesome," to the 30fps gameplay demonstration at PSX that year, and people said it must have downgraded graphically because his chin looked different or some weird shit. 

 

I'm just saying: I don't remember, "Look at the potential!" from early last gen. I remember a lot of people talking about how the consoles weren't a true leap as 360/PS3 were, how they launched with the strength of a modest PC, that the trailers being shown weren't what the consoles were capable of, etc.

 

On the other hand, the tech on these consoles was so impressive that the refrain was, "This is all gonna be so expensive!" yet both consoles launched to good price points.

[BloodyHell]

On 1/1/2021 at 1:14 PM, stepee said:

 

This is getting tomcatesque yo.

Nawww... you guys just want to believe nonsense. PC has supported multiple hardware configuration for decades. Devs are still supporting cards from 8+ years ago.

[Mercury33]

Ok I stopped reading or taking anything @crispy4000 says from here on out after “no I haven’t played or seen these games in person”. Lol then how are you even commenting on this? You literally have idea what you’re talking about.
 

And the argument just keeps shifting. First the games don’t have as big a jump. Then the backwards comparability upscaling was better. Now the old launches were better because then had better TRAILERS for

future games?? LOL. Just off the top of my head Rachet and Hellblade showed off some pretty next gen shit. 
 

Side note, has anyone in here never been inside a car before? I need some advice on which one rides the best 🙄 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, SaysWho? said:

I'm just saying: I don't remember, "Look at the potential!" from early last gen. I remember a lot of people talking about how the consoles weren't a true leap as 360/PS3 were, how they launched with the strength of a modest PC, that the trailers being shown weren't what the consoles were capable of, etc.

 

On the other hand, the tech on these consoles was so impressive that the refrain was, "This is all gonna be so expensive!" yet both consoles launched to good price points.

There was a ton of target trailers.  People were over the moons how amazing Witcher 3, Deep Down, FFXV and Watch Dogs looked until we found out they would be downgraded or were target renders.  Some of the some of the skepticism came from the specs.  More specifically Sony and MS not giving Epic what they were asking for with UE5.  Still, you had games being shown that were demonstrating the power of these machines pretty decisively from launch without hubris.

 

Its the opposite to what’s happening now.  There’s very few target gameplay trailers or tech demos trying to fool anyone what is gameplay.  Instead, we get cinematics for projects that are (later) confirmed to be cross-gen.  I’d rather not be bullshitted, but this feels like the opposite.  There hasn’t been much ambition to take charge and show us that next-gen vision these consoles enable.  That presentation Cerny gave about designing Jak II with the constraints of console loading and being set free by the SSD is almost laughable now.  Because of how many devs are designing games like that now?  Not anything that will be cross-gen, which is almost everything.

[SaysWho?]

20 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

There was a ton of target trailers.  People were over the moons how amazing Witcher 3, Deep Down, FFXV and Watch Dogs looked until we found out they would be downgraded or were target renders.  Some of the some of the skepticism came from the specs.  More specifically Sony and MS not giving Epic what they were asking for with UE5.  Still, you had games being shown that were demonstrating the power of these machines pretty decisively from launch without hubris.

 

Its the opposite to what’s happening now.  There’s very few target gameplay trailers or tech demos trying to fool anyone what is gameplay.  Instead, we get cinematics for projects that are (later) confirmed to be cross-gen.  I’d rather not be bullshitted, but this feels like the opposite.  There hasn’t been much ambition to take charge and show us that next-gen vision these consoles enable.  That presentation Cerny gave about designing Jak II with the constraints of console loading and being set free by the SSD is almost laughable now.  Because of how many devs are designing games like that now?  Not anything that will be cross-gen, which is almost everything.

 

I don't understand what trailers have to do with your original point about rushed launches and cross-gen?

 

When Watch Dogs was shown at the PS4 announcement event, I don't think it looked anything like E3 2012, so again, much of the talk was around if the machines could even handle it. And many of those trailers -- UC4, FFXV -- were cinematic. UC4, you saw nothing graphically until E3 2014, and that wasn't even gameplay. It's kind of weird to talk about trailers nowadays being all cinematic considering how many gameplay trailers we've seen, and yet games like Deep Down was revealed via a cinematic trailer. And UC4. And Arkham Knight. You're remembering the past completely wrong.

 

Cross-gen games load quickly. I'm hopping into Miles Morales easy, and Valhalla is noticeably superior to the PS4/XBO versions. I feel like you think what he's saying is laughable because you haven't played anything on next-gen, but he's on-point.

 

 

No piece of tech these days can be released and be at the cutting edge of everything. Things gets better all the time. Despite that, we have the most significant difference in loading since the days of 2D prior to the CD. 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, Mercury33 said:

Ok I stopped reading or taking anything @crispy4000 says from here on out after “no I haven’t played or seen these games in person”. Lol then how are you even commenting on this? You literally have idea what you’re talking about.
 

Side note, has anyone in here never been inside a car before? I need some advice on which one rides the best 🙄

 

Gamersyde's 4K encodes, Digital Foundry, etc.  It's not like you need to 'drive' the games to have a good idea how they look anymore.  Much better than it used to be.
 

1 hour ago, Mercury33 said:

And the argument just keeps shifting. First the games don’t have as big a jump. Then the backwards comparability upscaling was better. Now the old launches were better because then had better TRAILERS for

future games?? LOL. Just off the top of my head Rachet and Hellblade showed off some pretty next gen shit. 🙄 

 

I'm losing you in the reductiveness here.  Have I commented on "backwards compatibility upscaling?"  What's that even mean?

 

Ratchet is one of the exceptions, at least in how it shows the speed of streaming in assets.  Hellblade's trailer was closer to the types of presentations we saw last gen, just no pretension of showing what gameplay would look like (compared to say, Witcher 3's bullshot presentation).

[Duderino]

The mid cycle Pro and OneX were partially possible due to the performance per dollar gains going from 28 nm to 16 nm. The Series X and PS5 are at 7 nm now.  There is no guarantee that the next leap will come within a similar timeframe to the pro/x or provide the same value proposition for the console makers.

 

With soo many gamers embracing the mid-cycle console upgrades this gen, it’s a fair assumption that both Sony/ms will want to pursue it again.  While it could happen, the conditions still need to be just right.  IMO, it’s not a foregone conclusion that we’ll get mid-cycle refreshes.  Even if we do, they may not resemble the same leap we saw with the pro/x.

[AbsolutSurgen]

8 hours ago, HardAct said:

I never misunderstood Microsofts standing with the Series S. I fell they were very upfront at the beginning. A 1440p target all digital machine with the Series x being the next gen console. I didn't like the idea of developers having to make games for such different graphical power, but there wasnt any misunderstanding, and dont see how there could've been. 

That's not what they promised - they are marketing "Next-gen performance in the smallest Xbox ever"

Ses is also not delivering 1440p -- not anywhere close.

[crispy4000]

47 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

I don't understand what trailers have to do with your original point about rushed launches and cross-gen?

 

When Watch Dogs was shown at the PS4 announcement event, I don't think it looked anything like E3 2012, so again, much of the talk was around if the machines could even handle it. And many of those trailers -- UC4, FFXV -- were cinematic. UC4, you saw nothing graphically until E3 2014, and that wasn't even gameplay. It's kind of weird to talk about trailers nowadays being all cinematic considering how many gameplay trailers we've seen, and yet games like Deep Down was revealed via a cinematic trailer. And UC4. And Arkham Knight. You're remembering the past completely wrong.

 

Watch these trailers at the cued up times.

 

 

 

There was absolutely an attempt to pass off the above as gameplay.  It only came to light later these were target renders trying to imitate what the gameplay would look like.  It was deceptive, and it's good we're past that.  But they did succeed at getting us excited about the future of what devs thought they could do on these machines.  I'd say some games later in the gen got there, or at least very close to it.

 

I don't believe the PS5/XSX hardware itself was rushed.  Rather, I think the majority of the industry wasn't ready to give us their vision of what next-gen would mean, or could be.  Cross-gen has never been as large of a focus as now, and I believe it's partly because of that.

 

 

47 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

Cross-gen games load quickly. I'm hopping into Miles Morales easy, and Valhalla is noticeably superior to the PS4/XBO versions. I feel like you think what he's saying is laughable because you haven't played anything on next-gen, but he's on-point.

No piece of tech these days can be released and be at the cutting edge of everything. Things gets better all the time. Despite that, we have the most significant difference in loading since the days of 2D prior to the CD. 

 

Like Xbob brought up, I've had an SSD in my PC for quite a while now.  So I've enjoyed that half step to the PS5/XSX's loading improvements.  So I get why faster loading is better.  But it's not anything I'll say 'finally' to.

[SaysWho?]

8 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Watch these trailers at the cued up times.

 

 

 

There was absolutely an attempt to pass off the above as gameplay.  It only came to light later these were target renders trying to imitate what the gameplay would look like.  It was deceptive, and it's good we're past that.  But they did succeed at getting us excited about the future of what devs thought they could do on these machines.  I'd say some games later in the gen got there, or at least very close to it.

 

I don't believe the hardware itself was rushed.  I think the majority of the industry wasn't ready to give us their vision of what next-gen would mean or could be.  Cross-gen has never been as large of a focus as now, and I think it's because of that.

 

This still doesn't really have anything to do with your point about next-gen and cross-gen. Why exactly are we remembering with fondness "attempt to pass off as gameplay?"

 

You've narrowed down the games because you initially brought up games that showed nothing until months or a year into last gen, lol. Much of what you're showing consists of trailers that later showed gameplay after initial trailers (and in FFXV's case, over half a decade later), which is no different than now. Some games showed gameplay, some didn't. 

 

Maybe we should be applauding not getting bullshots and noticeably downgraded graphics in the final product instead of holding that up as why the "hype" (which, again, was for consoles that nobody thought were cutting edge at the time that we're going into revisionist history pretending that people thought they were). Because your version of last gen isn't what actually happened. It was all suspicions about the trailers and the consoles being seen as not cutting edge.

 

8 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

Like Xbob brought up, I've had an SSD in my PC for quite a while now. So I've enjoyed that half step to the PS5/SeriesX's loading improvements. So I get why faster loading is better. But it's not anything I'll say "fucking finally" to.

 

People who had PCs weren't going "fucking finally" to PS4 or XBO, so I don't see your point?

 

This is a totally different point than you're making now because there wasn't a loading improvement for the PS4/XBO, yet you're holding it up to this weird standard because they gave you fake trailers.

[SaysWho?]

tbh, I don't think you actually thought through what you're saying, which is why I feel like we're going all over the place right now. If the argument is, "I already had a SSD on PC," then that stifles your whole argument because you can make a way bigger argument for that last gen with how people with PCs were reacting to the new consoles.

[crispy4000]

29 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

This still doesn't really have anything to do with your point about next-gen and cross-gen. Why exactly are we remembering with fondness "attempt to pass off as gameplay?"

 

 

Really, we shouldn't.  It is a bit more inspiring than "here's a cinematic trailer target render of something we'll later announce as cross-gen."  As deciving as the prior gen's promo material was, there was more of an attempt to show us what devs were working towards.  I still don't like it, to be clear.  It shouldn't be applauded.  We agree on that.

 

Devs are just walking on eggshells now.  I think the tech is probably underbaked at this point, as everyone's trying to figure out what they can do with RT, the SSDs, etc.  So cinematic trailers without any pretension of gameplay are safe.  Just not that indicative of what is next-gen, IMO.

 

29 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

People who had PCs weren't going "fucking finally" to PS4 or XBO, so I don't see your point?

 

This is a totally different point than you're making now because there wasn't a loading improvement for the PS4/XBO, yet you're holding it up to this weird standard because they gave you fake trailers.

 

I'm saying that faster loading times aren't that big of a deal to me.  It's the least exciting thing about the new consoles for me.  I'd be perfectly fine if loading times didn't get any faster than my PC's SSD.  You can take that or leave it.

 

What else the faster drives can be used to enable excites me much more.  Even if it's a bit too theoretical at this point.

[crispy4000]

26 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

tbh, I don't think you actually thought through what you're saying, which is why I feel like we're going all over the place right now. If the argument is, "I already had a SSD on PC," then that stifles your whole argument because you can make a way bigger argument for that last gen with how people with PCs were reacting to the new consoles.

 

You said that these consoles had the biggest improvement in loading since the 2D era.  That's a bad statement not only because of the N64 and Nintendo handhelds with 3D cartridge games, but because SSDs were also a jump on PC.  These consoles are just the next step in an evolution.  A dramatic one, sure, I'll give you that.  But the next step of what SSDs on PC started.

[SaysWho?]

2 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

You said that these consoles had the biggest improvement in loading since the 2D era.  That's a bad statement not only because of the N64 and Nintendo handhelds with 3D cartridge games, but because SSDs were also a jump on PC.  These consoles are just the next step in an evolution.  A dramatic one, sure, I'll give you that.  But the next step of what SSDs on PC started.

 

It's a true statement, not a bad statement. N64/Nintendo handhelds don't really change anything. What exactly were you seeing on the PS4/XBO back in the day that was more than "the next step in an evolution?" What were you seeing that you couldn't see on PC, which was a hugely more debated point in 2013/2014 than now? 

 

Because again, if the argument is, "But PC," then your argument falls apart because that point was belabored at the beginning of last gen. "If you're gaming on PC, these consoles aren't really cutting edge." And that was annoying even then lol.

  

11 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Really, we shouldn't.  It is a bit more inspiring than "here's a cinematic trailer target render of something we'll later announce as cross-gen."  As deciving as the prior gen's promo material was, there was more of an attempt to show us what devs were working towards.  I still don't like it, to be clear.  It shouldn't be applauded.  We agree on that.

 

Devs are just walking on eggshells now.  I think the tech is probably underbaked at this point, as everyone's trying to figure out what they can do with RT, the SSDs, etc.  So cinematic trailers without any pretension of gameplay are safe.  Just not that indicative of what is next-gen, IMO.

 

 

I'm saying that faster loading times aren't that big of a deal to me.  It's the least exciting thing about the new consoles for me.  I'd be perfectly fine if loading times didn't get any faster than my PC's SSD.  You can take that or leave it.

 

You literally can say the same thing for cinematic trailers last gen, so I'm still not sure what you're saying? You were hyped by deceptive promos that you clearly don't think were good for gamers or honest, so the only difference is that I guess you weren't playing on PC then? Because you're just straight-up incorrect that all trailers are nothing but cinematic nowadays. 

[Duderino]

There has been less attempts at passing off target renders as gameplay, but also fewer demonstrations, even if smoke and mirrors, of what next gen enables devs to accomplish.

 

Think the truth is somewhere in the middle.  (Though it would probably be a different story without insomniac)

 

Cross gen may be impacting next gen ambitions to an extent, but the other half of it is necessary engine retooling to better leverage the new hardware.

[AbsolutSurgen]

What about the cobranded Cyberpunk ads with the "Xbox" graphic at the end that are now clearly showing PC footage.  Do those count?

[crispy4000]

16 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

It's a true statement, not a bad statement. N64/Nintendo handhelds don't really change anything. What exactly were you seeing on the PS4/XBO back in the day that was more than "the next step in an evolution?" What were you seeing that you couldn't see on PC, which was a hugely more belabored point in 2013/2014 than now? 

PC SSDs got us closer to the dream of getting back to the fast loading times in older games (and most Nintendo handhelds).  The PS5/XBX took us the rest of the way.  It's as simple as that.  Mileage will vary on how exciting each of those steps are to you personally.  That's the way I see it.  

[crispy4000]

11 minutes ago, Duderino said:

There has been less attempts at passing off target renders as gameplay, but also fewer demonstrations of what next gen enables devs to accomplish.

 

Think the truth is somewhere in the middle.  (Though it would probably be a different story without insomniac)

 

Cross gen may be impacting next gen ambitions to an extent, but the other half of it is necessary engine retooling to better leverage the new hardware.

 

That's a nice summary of my thoughts in here.  Thanks.
 

14 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

You literally can say the same thing for cinematic trailers last gen, so I'm still not sure what you're saying? You were hyped by deceptive promos that you clearly don't think were good for gamers or honest, so the only difference is that I guess you weren't playing on PC then? Because you're just straight-up incorrect that all trailers are nothing but cinematic nowadays. 

 

Read the first sentence of Duderino's post above.

[SaysWho?]

6 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

PC SSDs got us closer to the dream of getting back to the fast loading times in older console games.  The PS5/XBX took us the rest of the way.  It's as simple as that.  That's the way I see it.

 

But it's not because I keep asking you what was so impressive in 2013 if "But PC" is your response to strides in gaming now. "But PC" was absolutely the refrain in 2013/2014 when talking about next-gen consoles.

[Duderino]

13 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

What about the cobranded Cyberpunk ads with the "Xbox" graphic at the end that are now clearly showing PC footage.  Do those count?

Think that speaks more to CD Project Red’s practices and the potential cross-gen caveats of not building to the specs of the weaker platforms.

[AbsolutSurgen]

1 minute ago, Duderino said:

Think that speaks more to CD Project Red and the potential cross-gen caveats of not building to the specs of the weaker platforms.

One would think that if it was being co-marketing with Xbox, that it would at least show remotely comparable footage of what it would look like on at least one of the Xbox consoles.  I am assuming that Microsoft had to approve the ad, and they had access to the game through the certification process.

[crispy4000]

9 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

But it's not because I keep asking you what was so impressive in 2013 if "But PC" is your response to strides in gaming now. "But PC" was absolutely the refrain in 2013/2014 when talking about next-gen consoles.

 

Two different topics here you're trying to merge together.  I'm not going there.  I've already said loading times matter very little to me personally.

 

Just to mention it, loading speed advancements aren't as crucial from a convenance angle as rest mode features have been to me.  Maybe if I was forced to sit through loading times every time I fired up a PS4 game I'd feel differently.  I kind of miss it on the PC, but the SSD has made up for that to some degree.

[SaysWho?]

2 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Two different topics here you're trying to merge together.  I'm not going there.  I've already said loading times matter very little to me personally.

 

YOU WENT THERE AND BROUGHT IT UP.  

[Bloodporne]

I mean I notice when games look great but usually I'm not much of a 'wow graphics' guy and even I think Demon's Souls looks stunning quite often. The puddles, lighting and reflections (the way bloodstains and messages light up and reflect especially) continuously impress me. 

 

But overall the coolest shit so far for me has been the load times. It keeps me so engaged and psyched when you just warp straight into a level with no downtime in atmosphere and it doesn't feel like the system is simply 'hurrying' through a load screen. 

[SaysWho?]

1 minute ago, Bloodporne said:

I mean I notice when games look great but usually I'm not much of a 'wow graphics' guy and even I think Demon's Souls looks stunning quite often. The puddles, lighting and reflections (the way bloodstains and messages light up and reflect especially) continuously impress me. 

 

But overall the coolest shit so far for me has been the load times. It keeps me so engaged and psyched when you just warp straight into a level with no downtime in atmosphere and it doesn't feel like the system is simply 'hurrying' through a load screen. 

 

I was amazed from the get-go, especially when I compared it to Bloodborne's character creation screen and remembering how I thought, "Huh, looks different than I expected," when I saw it.

 

Not a knock on that game because it's up there as one of my favs of last gen; I'm just talking graphically. 

 

I'll echo what xbob said about being built for fast loads. I didn't have a PS5 yet, so I had to just kind of imagine what he meant when he said the load times in Demon's Souls were refreshing because they were built for fast load screens whereas the quick loading on PC was clearly made for games expecting load screens, which is why you always had hints on it.

 

I kind of understood it, but seeing the fog quickly get you from one world to another is atmospheric, a nice touch, and yes, clearly what the game was made to do instead of, "If a boss attacks you, press L2 to parry."

 

And again, not a knock on the game because I fucking love it and I'm sure I'll play it again this year, but I remember Bloodborne's load times initially and am doubly impressed.

 

[crispy4000]

10 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

YOU WENT THERE AND BROUGHT IT UP.  

 

As I've said multiple times now, reduced loading screen times aren't a big deal to me.  I'm much more excited about what other opportunities the next-gen SSD tech opens up elsewhere in game visuals and design.  We haven't seen enough developers show us that.  That's been my point from the beginning.

 

If loading times are a big deal to you, then we just have a difference of opinion.

[Bloodporne]

I also think Demon's Souls is a good showcase for the Gesamtkunstwerk improvements (to break out a snooty term). The amount of details that contribute to the overall atmosphere on a more subliminal level is incredible. Just look at the chandeliers in the Nexus, the way they actually give off smoke and slightly and slowly turn changing with it the lighting. Zoom in on a demon's face and it's leaking smoke from its nostrils, small reflections everywhere, everything looks really alive and to the point I feel like I can imagine what that texture feels like. If you zoom in on those archstones, they look fucking incredible.