Horizon Forbidden West looks insane, but it’s easier to appreciate the improvements when they’re presented side-by-side with Horizon Zero Dawn. This excellent visual comparison digs into some of the key changes in the sequel, like facial animations, water, and overall geometry density. The difference is enormous – and the original 2017 title was no slouch at all.
The video does point out that there’s no raytracing in this build, so it’ll be interesting if developer Guerrilla Games is able to add that in prior to release, or if it’s happy with what it’s got for now. It also notes that, due to the compressed nature of the source video, it’s unclear what resolution the release is running at on PS5 – although 4K is expected, of course.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 95
I'm guessing they aren't using HZD PC otherwise this would be a completely different video 🤷
The character models look so much better. Less uncanny valley. Although Aloy looks younger rather than older.
And I do hope they add ray tracing.
Aloys put on a few pounds over lock down by the look of it
Digital Foundry pointed out that glow around Aloy, and now I can't unsee it.
@EverydayRobot She did, and I approve.
Man, not only do the models look better, but they move more realistically. No more Ken and Barbie conversations. Getting hyped!
They've obviously improved a LOT in terms of environmental design (even though HZD's environments are still some of the best out there). I hope the PS5 version gets ray tracing, missed opportunity with this gorgeous world.
I don't see why some say Aloy looks younger, though! In any case, I don't think it's been a long while since Frozen Wilds events. I love the new models, Erend looks so much better now!
So hyped for this game, cannot wait.
It looks like she found a maccy d's in the forbidden west and put on some timber.
@RBMango I've seen a lot of chatter about this — it's on its way to becoming puddlegate, I think — but personally I actually like it.
The game's going for hyper-realism and I think it makes sense for Aloy to be "lit" like she's in a YouTube video or something. Not only does it look good, but I think it helps with readability and makes her stand out from the dense scenery.
Not sure what DF said about this, but I like it. 🤷♀️
@Sam-Bridges
Personally, ray tracing, apart from reflections, always makes scenes look worse to me. Sure it’s more realistic, but usually nowhere near as dramatic.
**Spoiler**
It’s been a while since I played the first game so this might not be possible... but has it been confirmed that it’s the same Aloy from the first game? Or could it be a different clone from another Zero Dawn facility? Why build one can you can have two twice the price.
@get2sammyb The way I heard it, DF sounded more like they were observing it rather than criticizing it. I get why it's there for visibility purposes, but I hope they tone it down in the final game.
@get2sammyb I haven't watched DF video on the subject but it did distract me a bit during the demo, especially when Aloy was running through brightly lit and shadowy areas of the forest the lighting on her stayed almost the same. I understand why it's done and it doesn't look bad ! My personal preference would be to tone it down just a tad qo that Aloy maybe sits a bit more in the world but I definitely understand the need to make her very clear and I'd be okay if they didn't change anything.
That water improvement is insane.
Also I'm glad they stepped up on the facial animations and body movement during cutscenes. They were a little too stiff in the first game.
Also, I REALLY hope there's a 60 fps mode. It would be a damn shame to have this action-heavy goodness locked at 30 fps. Lord knows the PS5 can handle it with the RTX turned off and the resolution scaled down a bit.
@Tecinthebrain Why would they?? The footage of Forbidden West isn't on PC so that would make no sense. It's a comparison between last gen and current gen consoles.
@EverydayRobot @Richnj What a strange observation to highlight. I think a part of me noticed but it left my conscious completely unaltered by it, as I had no reaction. -shrugs-
No raytracing is interesting, but I think not including it could lead to a massive visual jump when (if?) they make Horizon 3 just for PS5 and they go all out (including adding the flying mechanic to add on to this one expanding on exploration via the ocean). Imagining an Uncharted 1 to 2 style jump in my head here.
@get2sammyb I recall John saying the same thing about readability in the DF video. They seemed a little puzzled but ultimately fine with it.
@Jayofmaya I think if it was just during the video I may not have noticed, but having a side by side still gave a good chance to compare them.
A strange observation to highlight would be how left Aloy's face reminds me of Ryan Reynolds.
@munstre every game needs ray tracing and 60fps at least.
Looks more next gen that any game shown so for for any console
I rather take 60fps over raytracing. Ever since I got ps5 getting back to games that are capped at 30fps or doesn't have performance toggle is a chore for my eyes.
@RBMango I have noticed it during the state of play, her hair stands out especially. It's like the shadows doesn't apply on her or something and she is just pre-shaded on her own.
@Sam-Bridges she might not look younger, but she is thicc now that's for sure
I prefer Aloy to Lara Croft.
Aloy is fanciable, Lara is not.
I'm glad to see Guerilla to the criticism of the first games to heart. I cant wait to say this.
This actually showed me more how incredible Horizon: Zero Dawn was than how incredible Forbidden West will be. Not saying it’s a bad thing but damn was Horizon: Zero Dawn great!
Di...did sony chibi aloy?
from young woman to little boy i guess
@get2sammyb the video needs an awful music warning
@fR_eeBritney it’s supposed to be set 6 months after the first game but it is definitely the same Aloy and not another. The fact she is still called Aloy is enough to confirm that as it was the name given by the Nora. The chance of there being another clone with the same name is pretty slim. Also Erind and Sylens are characters from the first game and seem to feature quite heavily in this one. Nice idea though, perhaps she could bump into herself elsewhere...
@Loftimus dude you made me spit my beer
At least Aloy doesn’t look like she’s holding in a fart anymore!
@Toypop It will most certainly be $70, there is no reason for it not to be. Yes I am disappointed (in general) with their desire for cross generation support. It limits the potential; but that doesn't mean the game won't still be amazing. The first one was, with all of the PS4 limitations.
I dont care its all about the story and what they managed to do with the ending of the first one
It looks great, I'm super hyped, and I'm really blown away by the effort that's gone into this but I have to say it...
Aloy has a weird shaped head.
Removed - unconstructive; user is banned
@Toypop I'd honestly take this approach to the one from the PS4 and PS3 era, I yad absolutely no interest in a ps4 until Bloodborne and then the next interesting exclusive for me was Uncharted, I waited 2018 to get one. I've had a PS5 day one and played 4-5 exclusives on it and loved every minute of it. And we're still getting Ratchet and Clank, Kena and Horizon later this year, that's insane to me.
Plus, HZD came out in 2017, the sequel probably started right away, they probably didn't know what the PS5 would look like.
Weird.. even though the environments look more detailed, maybe it's the lighting but the old one looks less cartoony and more solid. I like the older-age look of the model over the new one as well. I'm not really impressed. Esp considering this is footage from a PS5.
What's with the shoulder-frill that popped in too? That's not a LOD issue, the camera was right beside her and her frill.
Would rather see a HZD vs HFW comparison on the PS4. Have we seen ANYTHING of the PS4 version of HFW yet? We kinda already know next gen is going to be better looking that last gen, what we don't know is how this game looks on PS4. 🤷♂️
I've watched the YT vid twice now on my 75" 4k tv and it blows away the first game that I played on my 52" 1080p TV. That doesn't really tell me anything about game comparisons tho now does it? That's kind of how this feels to me. 4k is better than 1080p, anyone surprised by this?
I thought Aloy put on adult weight. I thought this was maybe 6 years later, so she went from being a 16 year old, or maybe she was 18, to 24 or 25. It's the difference between being asked for ID when buying beer and not being asked. BTW here in the US it's 21, I know a lot of you have it better over there.
I pre-ordered the red PS5 controller yesterday b/c I really want to play this on PS5 since I spent a grand on a 4k tv. Now I need a PS5. 😒
It looks excellent and it looks like a lot of love and effort was put into making this game. Those complaining here are picky as hell (for some of the most redundant things ever), which is quite annoying frankly... thanks god you guys only constitute to the very minority. I mean just read what that user Toypop said and can help but to laugh at how absurd that comment sounds...
@Party_Cannon Surprised I had to read all the way down to your comment before finding someone else who liked the old model better.
Well, Aloy keeps getting uglier. Sounds like some of you won't be happy 'till she's 300lbs. chasing dirty kids around the trailer park in a beer stained wife-beater tanktop.
Still looking forward to the comeback of the unrealistically beautiful superhero girl in gaming.
Graphically it's a huge leap, but not a fan of what they've done to the character model.
Looks completely different facially and reminds me of the Peter Parker horrible face swap.
So she does have a fat face in the new one. Not sure I like that.
The new fat face doesn’t suit the rest of her body.
@Tecinthebrain why would they when forbidden west isn't on pc and hzd was only released last year
@Tecinthebrain Nah, man. The animations are sooooo much better in Forbidden West. I couldn't even finish the first game because the uncanny valley of the character models and animations got to me so badly.
Anyone else think Aloy is starting to resemble Kevin's brother Buzz from Home Alone?
Maybe she has had some botox injections 🤔
Why aloy face become fat all of a sudden? She spend her time doing a lot of platforming, running, killing enemy, swimming, and now in the sequels she's fat?
@Toypop PS4 had some of the best game I've played in a long while, good games, great games can be made on old hardware. I agree that the wait for ''true next gen experience'' like they've promised us feels long. Ratchet & Clank being the first real taste of what can be done on the new hardware. But at the same time the constraint of the past did not stand in the way of absolute gems.
@munstre @thefourfoldroot I’m admittedly ignorant in the tech department, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed ray tracing in Control Ultimate Ed. I tried the 60fps performance mode and ended up missing the reflections and lighting so I went back to graphics mode with the 30fps and RTX for the entire game.
So Forbidden West, probably releasing 1 year after the console launch will be 30fps, no RTX. I’m sure the load times will be quick on PS5, so at least there’s that. But it does seem hamstrung when Demon’s Souls, Miles Morales, Returnal, R&C ....all have 60fps, RTX, etc. I’m not complaining, I’ll still really enjoy the game certainly, but I’m wondering the PR optics of the technical compromises being done to keep a PS4 version viable. It’s possible God of War will be the same issue as they’re hinting it will be cross-gen also.
@Arugula I'm just grateful that it still obviously looks like Aloy. It's a pet peeve of mine when developers change how a character looks between games. Naughty Dog are pretty bad for that. The Ellie in most of the Part 2 flashbacks looks like a different person to the first game.
@fR_eeBritney I've never thought of that possibility but I'm 100% sure it's the same Aloy, she knows Erend for a start, though it could make for an interesting plot point.
As for how Aloy is lit, well she is the Sci-fi equivalent of an angel sent from heaven to defeat evil, maybe it's her halo. That's my head canon anyway.
@get2sammyb Yes, Considering her tribal like outfits, she may blend in too well to certain environments that could ultimately hinder gameplay. I am guessing this was the primary reason for that design choice.
@munstre Oh sure — to each his/her own, I’m not calling it ‘correct’ to prefer graphics or performance; sorry if I came across as judgmental or grandstanding as a graphic whore or something. I’m just relaying my experience. It seems some players are more sensitive to frame rate than others. Probably the same reason some people get nauseated with VR and some don’t.
As for this game not having a 60fps mode, you’re right in that it might be there at release, but I’m not sure why they would make a state of play and specifically declare the footage is gameplay on PS5 and then not show the game at its best. But like I say, I’m not a developer and didn’t know RTX was more difficult to implement than frame rate, etc.
And for Returnal, I thought I read there is a partial form of RTX present in some of the game’s lighting? Maybe I’m misremembering that but maybe it was in one of the developer diaries I was watching.
HFW will be fine; heck it will most likely be outstanding and look and run fabulously. Like I said, I’m just wondering if the public perception is going to take a hit if it doesn’t have current gen bells and whistles. And by virtue of the chatter in these articles it’s evidence that it is in the collective mindset of the gamers. Whether fair or not, cross gen games have a reputation of having to sacrifice somewhere to make the games run on old hardware, else they end up like Cyberpunk 2077.
Edit: “this game is easily one of the best looking things I've ever seen, up there with Ratchet, and nothing about it looks 'hamstrung' relative to current standards”. ...see — 30fps looks fine to you apparently as well 😜
Those chubby cheeks...
@Richnj haha but that's funny! I say, always go for weird first. But seriously, just the left side? xD
@munstre Oh yeah, gamers (myself included) like to complain and dissect things and then at the end of the day, we still pony up the dough and will buy, play (and enjoy) these games anyway.
It’s like someone further up in the comments said — sometimes watching videos like this that break down the technical aspects actually ruins the experience because we pick apart things we normally wouldn’t even have noticed while playing the game.
And Returnal does have ray tracing, according to Google. But I do think it’s not on all the time or is somehow limited according to situation. Which for me makes sense. It’s not needed during intense kinetic battles, and really is more impactful during the slower moments of exploration. But anyways, we can agree to disagree on its importance. And I do agree though that a brightly lit outdoor world like Horizon benefit less from it than a darker one with a lot of windows and artificial light sources.
BotW2? Nah... I'm more pumped for this
@Ward_ting yeah, maybe not then 🤪 but I am hoping for some twists and turns. The plot in the first game was incredible. The way they tried so hard to save a little bit of our history, only for it to be lost anyway was so tragic. All of our achievements as a species, forgotten. But the world that came after was also beautiful in its own way.
It's em different. Definitely different.
@RBMango same, I hope that gets toned down or removed, her remaining in an almost constant lit state is the only thing that bugged me with the presentation.
Be cool if for once straight men didn't body shame on sight.
I know she's not real, doesn't mean they aren't doing it to every person they see.
Crazy to me the number of posts that, instead of referencing how great the game looks (or doesn’t look), focus on Aloy’s looks. Some even seem genuinely upset about it. But this is my shocked face 😐
@EchoRange let’s not pretend as if non-straight people don’t also engage in this same behavior. Difference is they’re in the minority so they get a pass. It’s a double standard for sure. But all walks of life both benefit and are disadvantaged by double standards so it is what it is.
Anyway, I don’t wanna derail the thread with this conversation so I’ve said about all I’m gonna say about it.
@EchoRange
Doesn't mean they ARE, either.
I think the little wow moment for me was when they showed Erend's reaction when Aloy came to rescue her. NPCs didn't look anywhere near that good in the first game!
@Residentsteven I don't have problem with fat, but it's super weird seeing aloy that's skinny (and very athletic) in the first game suddenly going fat. It's like guerilla think the first aloy should be less attractive not to draw ire from some video game "journalist" or something (not pushsquare of course).
I don't get why people talk about cartoon graphics. Horizon 2 looks way more realistic HZD..
Also she has the same cheeks people. Don't be silly. She isn't 'fat'. What a ridiculous , body shaming, idea.
@Residentsteven I don't have problems with lara croft and jill since their game is a reboot/remake, but I have problem with aloy because horizon fw is a sequel, not a remake.
With lara croft my problems is not the model but the personality though, she's so whiny in the reboot, I like old confident lara in tomb raider 1-3 compared to the reboot lara.
@Toypop
They haven't 'backtracked on “generations”'. It's a false narrative.
Nobody ever said there won't be cross generation games.
@Residentsteven Tomb raider 1 on psone is my jam 😁
@munstre Ok, I might look that up, but your explanation suffices. The headlines in all the major outlets read “4K, 60fps, and ray tracing” but I remember there was some qualifier there. Still, impressive for the size of studio this early in the generation and likely a feat that could not be done on PS4.
TBH it looks worse to me. Sure, more texture, but she looks uglier
I think it looks awesome, can't wait to play it on ps5
Seems to have a bit of a Tracy Beaker look about her now.
@munstre Yes, dynamic 4K is what I think they call it. I’ve read opinions of graphics enthusiasts who feel the upscaling techniques are so good nowadays that it’s a waste of resources to render native 4K. We’ll see how the final build of Horizon tackles the visual fidelity. The game will likely be huge — with an open world that probably will be as big or bigger than Zero Dawn. And this video is such an incredibly small piece of what is likely to be a 40 hour game (or longer) that it’s impossible to draw large definitive conclusions, positive or negative. First impressions for me are good and it looks great so far. I’ll be playing the PS5 build, but time will tell what the end result will be, especially on PS4.
@RBMango After playing mostly 60fps — and even some 120fps — games early this generation, I cannot go back (to 30). Give me smooth, seamless gameplay over "true 4k" or ray tracing, any day...
How do you get fat when you're constantly running, climbing, fighting, and trying to find scarce resources in a post apocalyptic world?
@BRUTALSAM The game looked fantastic already so i have to disagree the game looks stunning runs great i love it.
@Toypop The game looks epic runs fantastic has new options gameplay wise what are you talking about?
@LJ_314 How is she is fat? She has a chubby face
Aloy's face is this year's puddlegate. No wonder some people have eating disorders.
Surprised they made aloy even uglier than the first game. Her face is fatter more whiter and has freckles. She been eating too much robot dinosaur meat...
Makes me wonder if a remaster of the first game is inbound. Like with spiderman.
Horizon Forbidden West looks leaps & bounds BETTER than HZD! Not only to the character models look more realistic & lifelike, the environments are ABSOLUTELY stunning especially considering this is NOT a full fledged PS5 game (It's a cross-gen game that still has to run on PS4)! I'm also in love with the traversal mechanics, the way aloy moves is way more fluid and her melee mechanic has improved drastically! I'm extremely excited for this game, everyone saying aloy put on weight and stuff I don't see it like that. I see the character as having BETTER facial animations for instance when you smile in real life what happens to your cheeks? The puff up. One thing I noticed in the trailer they seemed to focus on her facial expressions quite a bit. I genuinely hope we get to play the game sometime this year, although if not no worries as there's Soo many amazing games to keep me occupied 🙂✌️
@LJ_314 how does a thin woman get well on the way to being the incredible hulk in a zombie apocalypse 😋
Reminds me of that infamous quote from David benioff of game of thrones.
"Creatively it made sense to us because we wanted it to happen."
Obviously it's an awful excuse but I guess the people in charge, like Naughty Dog, do what they want.
I was really looking forward to this when the PS5 launched and even held off playing the original for fear of fatigue but it just looks so boring. Maybe, i'll give it a try eventually but probably not. The gameplay just looks very boring.
Maybe she been in lock down with the rest of us?🤣 still though I loved the game play and can’t wait to play this!!!
It's funny that about a year ago, some people would have been wow-ed by the graphical detail on offer here.
Now, because it isn't some 4k, 60fps, ray-tracing, uber shiny extravaganza, we get those same people claiming that it is rubbish?
Well, suck it up those same people, 'cos in order for the developers to actually make a profit, PS4 is going to be here for some time.
@Toypop I dont have a PS4 so why are you talking about it looking like a PS4 game. The game looks great better on PS5 runs great more options in gameplay.
@PhhhCough *chubby
@thefourfoldroot that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It's literally better lighting and reflections. You're just made the ps5 can't handle it.
@Beastinator456
Not sure what you’re talking about. Sounds like some fanboy rubbish that doesn’t even make sense in the context of the article. All I said was that, TO ME, ray tracing (which PS5 happens to be doing here) often looks less dramatic. I was thinking particularly of Judgement when I said it. Realistic, rather than stylised lighting and shadow, can often look more mundane (TO ME).
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