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Horizon Forbidden West - Information Thread, update: Digital Foundry hands-on with PC version

SaysWho?

By SaysWho?
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imthesoldier

imthesoldier

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Quite honestly, looking at the footage just proves how good the PS4 version already is. It's certainly not the generational leap we have seen in the past, though for a cross-gen game, that was never going to happen anyway. Those artists, whether with smoke and mirrors, or just sheer talent have shown what can be possible with older hardware. 

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Dodger

Dodger

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Sounds like a fun enough time for me. The first was solid, but a little overrated. I liked it enough to get all the trophies 🏆. Also looks great so might as well put the PS5 to use. Probably won’t have it done by Elden Right release. But hey I wfh so I’ll just basically just not work Friday to play this.

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Horizon Forbidden West - Information Thread, update: reviews from OpenCritic posted
imthesoldier

imthesoldier

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14 hours ago, vaxick said:

 

 

 

 

Personally, the biggest difference I see is not even graphics related, but loading. 3 Secs vs. nearly 20 is a massive improvement (and 20 secs isn't even THAT bad all things considered). Even if HFW had zero graphical changes, but was only improved in loading, I still would be impressed. 

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TwinIon

TwinIon

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After putting in a few hours, I'm very much enjoying it. Bottom line so far is that it's HZD, but improved in nearly every way you'd want a sequel to be improved.

 

I have been getting a few minor graphical glitches, mostly during cut scenes, but other than that the game is absolutely gorgeous. The game is so detailed that it has an almost grainy look to it. So much so that I actually looked for a "film grain" setting.

 

I very much like the stash functionality, even if there isn't an in-game explanation for how it works. It makes exploration feel more rewarding because I never feel like I'm finding useless stuff, and I'm very glad to not really have to worry so much about inventory management.

 

The traversal is better, but it's still an area they could improve. I came to a ruin early on where it was very clear that I myself could easily get into, either by climbing through the broken window or climbing the relatively low wall blocking my way. Unfortunately, super-human climber Alloy was unable to make the climb because instead of a yellow bar, I was getting only red Xs on my focus. Now, it was fun to solve the puzzle to get into that area, but in general I still find it frustrating what I can and cannot climb on, and it makes me really wish for a AC/BOTW style climbing system. I really don't mind not being able to climb up every sheer cliff face, but I do wish I could climb up more man made structures that look easily scalable.

 

On the flip side, I'm really enjoying the new settlements and the increased attention to side characters. I care so much more about getting a side quest done for the timid cook that is wonderfully animated than I would about some other bland NPC that has no real character to them. Every interaction feels so much more alive and it makes exploring and talking to people much more rewarding.

 

Very excited to see how the game progresses from here.

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Mr.Vic20

Mr.Vic20

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Do love the game so far, but as @TwinIon pointed out the level of detail in the environments is so dense that the whole world seems to crawl with a film grain even with motion blur turned off. I can't use the graphic mode because the game's frame rate is not good in that mode. So grainy performance mode it is! 

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Xbob42

Xbob42

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While film grain does sound like a likely culprit, it could also be that weird dithering shit Sony has been using since I think the PSP era. You know, this kind of thing:

 

dithering0143jjs.png

 

Look specifically at the camel's mane or whatever you'd call it on a camel. All those weird dot artifacts. 

 

I think generally it's used for cheaper transparency which is why you'd notice it in Kratos' beard for example, but if they've added a ton of detail and are still using their... not so perfect checkerboarding, I could see that causing something similar, especially if they do have a film grain that doesn't interact well with it. 

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Mr.Vic20

Mr.Vic20

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19 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

While film grain does sound like a likely culprit, it could also be that weird dithering shit Sony has been using since I think the PSP era. You know, this kind of thing:

 

 

I think its a combination of poor alpha blending/compositing and the resolution simply not being able to keep up with the sheer density of the world on display here. Its a shame and I can already see how PS5 Pro will get a native 4K/60 patch and the eventually PC port will be sharper and smoother still. I look forward to seeing its final IQ in 2024. 

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stepee

stepee

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1 hour ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

Do love the game so far, but as @TwinIon pointed out the level of detail in the environments is so dense that the whole world seems to crawl with a film grain even with motion blur turned off. I can't use the graphic mode because the game's frame rate is not good in that mode. So grainy performance mode it is! 

 

I keep thinking I’ll go to quality mode and then realize it doesn’t solve the problem because when I pan the camera it’s just all a blur instead of grain, so it’s a step back in IQ.

 

Yeah, the density especially the foilage does not go well with the checkerboard solution here, causing a lot of grain, but at least it’s not a blurry mess, it’s passable. Compared to previously when I’d have to play a Sony exclusive like this on launch at 30fps, it’s a better compromise though. It’s still probably a top 5 anyway but it just has its own limitations that happen to be mostly hardware related.

 

Beyond that I think the biggest iq issue for me is there seems to be too much sharpening. They should implement a slider for that. Especially since that is with resolution mode too, and I don’t know why they are sharpening that mode in the first place. 

 

I’d interested in seeing how a 1800p (no checkerboard) 120hz 40fps version, which should be possible, would look and feel. 

 

Edit: I definitely don’t think it’s film grain, just the fact that it’s an extremely detailed and thus busy image with a lot of tiny moving objects and their TAA solution isn’t the best, too much sharpening, and the weird way that checkerboard resolves the res - I did think whoever that they should actually ADD a film grain option because it could actually look better to the eye potentially, sort of covering it up 

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