All Eyes on Aloy (Again), as Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered Comparison Does the Rounds

It’s worse. The fibres on her top have been smoothed out and they’ve also gotten rid of a lot of her skin blemishes. Lord knows why they’ve given her lipstick too. Skin tone’s more realistic though, less waxy.

It’s actually laughable how much it looks like that ‘improvement’ that went viral where they gave her makeup.

But is she still 3'8" tall like in Call of the Mountain? 🤣

I'll buy it due to the cheap upgrade price, but surely Sony must know that there's a plethora of first party games that are much more in need of a remaster than this one—a game that is not only already playable on PS5, but is even enhanced. I would think that a full priced remastered collection of any of the beloved series stranded on PS3 would generate more profit than this HZD remaster, of which the vast majority of its sales will undoubtedly be through the upgrade.

On the remaster the engine is clearly resolving the hair simulation with more transform points. As can be seen by the far more natural flowing motion over the shoulder. Along with the sheer volume of hair rendered and presumably simulated as a cluster with deformation applied more liberally.

Aloy’s eyes actually look far more present in the scene and in the model of her skull too, where they seem to be bouncing light in a far more correct manner around her face and thus eyes too of course.

There’s clearly an improvement from a technical standpoint (my living is based on polygons), just not sure on the lip colour but that could be a lighting related colour saturation.

Or it could just be that Aloy put some berries on her lips that day. I don’t mind either way.

Overall it’s nice to see these changes. From an artistic and technical standpoint.

Obviously it will cause online chatter, as the first rule of perusing the internet is the opposite to that of Fight Club.

Also whilst on the remaster ride or die train of a subject, may we begin remastering PS1-3 games due to not having backwards compatibility.

Just think all the newer audience have likely missed out on some wonderful experiences.

Many thanks and goodnight.

Love the upgrade price (especially since I got the definitive edition cheap) defo my favorite Sony franchise.

I’m not sure it’s emphatically better. Both look good but the new one looks more like a SnapChat filter.

There’s a noticeable difference but I have zero interest in replaying the Horizon series in a long time, Forbidden West kinda burned me out.

@TheElectroFunky great points and good to hear from a technical POV rather than just opinion. Some people on here just want to complain about everything.

Definitely doesn't have that "I spent way too long in the sun without sunscreen" look like she had in Forbidden West.

A fool and their money are soon parted.

Pointless upgrade but it’s only £10 so who really cares. The big problem with all of these remasters is the resources could be better used on new games.

Hopefully this means R34 content creators start making more Aloy pictures again.

@Fishnpeas lord knows I’d you can’t afford the $10 upgrade you have far bigger problems than video games.

@Boxmonkey Many! Many care! Especially the ones who say they don’t. 🤷🏾‍♂️ No offense to you, of course.

@nessisonett You're out of your mind if you think it looks worse.

@Pleasance it's best not to rattle his cage. This remaster looks a heck of a lot better than the original and its obviously not been rushed as a quick cash grab either. £10 for the upgrade has definitely made me a day one purchaser. It took me forever to get into the first game but once I started playing it I was hooked and felt a bit daft that I'd waited so long before playing it. Saying that I still need to play the 2nd outing too 🤣

Well, it was certainly a bad idea to put motion blur in the comparison. Why devs think it ever looks good, static or in motion, is beyond me.

I'll pay £50 for a bloodborne 60fps upgrade.

I'm excited to play it, maybe this time I'll avoid bows in favor of other stuff

Which ones which? Because one has more detail and one doesn't.

@Northern_munkey you will only rattle it once before being added to the ignore list like i have been 🤣. He doesnt like comments that go against his views.
On topic tho, certainly looks alot better than the origional.

What Horizon Zero Dawn would truly benefit from, is a glider, like the one in Forbidden West...

@Kidfunkadelic83 I am also on said ignore list for the crime of disagreement. Thought it was just me 😂.

In regard to the game, it's not one of my favourites but for a tenner you seem to get a good amount of upgrades over the original.

Anyone still being negative over a £10 upgrade is a sad, sad individual.

Pointless
Ps4 og? The game was patched for ps5?
So why isn't that one being the comparison, who have people forgot this.
Also the hair on the og looks more natural then the ps5.

I mean I like the new face but... something about it just doesn't quite fit the hairstyle compared to the original version. It's weird I don't know what it is.

@Bez87 Theres only the PS4 version of the game, the patch lets it run at a higher FPS on PS5 but it’s still just running the PS4 game, there’s no native PS5 version.

Upgrade with face, hair and lighting, but the clothes are looking worse in this shot.

The textures are actually worse on the remaster (look at the sleeves). Not only that, but the OG is only 7 years old, AND can be played on the PS5. This is a pointless waste of resources, i'll stick with the OG.

@Weebleman @Kidfunkadelic83 I think many are blocked. I believe they don’t like it if you have a differing view.

Crazy when people can’t deal with others having a difference of opinion.

The original face design was much better.

OG Aloy had softer, more feminine features (slight resemblance to Evangeline Lilly). New Aloy is more masculine, with a fuller face structure and darker/thicker eyebrows.

I spent most of my time watching giant machines kick my arse, so if I get the remaster I probably won't notice what she looks like

@AhmadSumadi Yep, a fool and his money are soon parted.

I already own the PS4/PS5 version, as well as the PC version which will still look better and run better than this "remaster"

@Fishnpeas So you bought the same game twice? A fool and his money...

@Pleasance dude is looking at a Twitter image and wondering why he can’t see the individual strands of hair

@MrPeanutbutterz nah, PC version was gifted

@Fishnpeas You have multiple formats for playing the same games? A fool and his money...

Wonder if they've used AI upscaling to do this looks a bit worse

I have it on PS4 and PC and I got bored after so long tried again on PC and the launch of that was a disaster it's still doesn't run right to this day or what it should be considering. It's not as bad as TLOUP1 launch but my god it should run far better

Honestly the PS4 version looks better to me. The PS5 version looks like it was made to pander to the toxic side of the internet who didn't liken that she wasn't in full makeup and heels.

Like I said I never finished the Frozen Wilds DLC, in fact barely started it, so for a tenner to pimp up to Forbidden West standard of visuals, is an appealing proposition.

@Pushsquarian you can’t see any of their comments. (Not sure if they can see mine as have never blocked anyone for having a different opinion)

For instance you are comment #43. If you had me blocked my comments would have #42 #44 with your one not there

There are some things I like about OG Aloy.

Old Aloy looks like she had a hard life which vibes with the story and setting.

New Aloy, which —sure— is way better from a technical perspective, looks like they are prepping for movie and tv deals. She looks like she’s got a hair and makeup support team. I find that weird and mildly off-putting but I guess you gotta look your best when fighting hordes of dino robots!

is it just me or does the PS4 version on the left looks a lot better ? more crisp, more detailed. the hair alone looks so much better.

Eh, tbh I couldn't care less about how they changed models, what I want to see is more technical changes.

Spidey Remastered changed the material pipeline, went from specular based to metal based or something like that, can't remeber the GDC talk, and how the light affected those materials along with RT tech. The result was a better looking game overall.

The left pic looks better. I am confused.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I'm on his ignore list because I don't agree with anything he says.

She's still a little chubby tbh.

@Kidfunkadelic83 lol damn. Seems buddy has half the community blocked. There’s a common denominator there…

People are basically saying no we don't want the upgrade you are working on anyway to bring to the PC. Don't see the problem at all it also looks so much better.

@Northern_munkey i disnt even realise i was until a few weeks ago. I could see people tagging him but none of his posts... Then it clicked lol.

I mean, it’s only 10 bucks, so I’m gonna buy it regardless, but it’s wild to me that so much judgment is being thrown at this game based on one screenshot that some guy posted on Twitter. Why don’t we wait until the game comes out before we decide whether it’s terrible or not?

I don’t know about the technical side of things but the way they’ve lit the remastered Aloy in this comparison is much, much more aesthetically pleasing.

Another game of spot the differences thanks to Sony.

@Kidfunkadelic83 🤣 that’s the same with me. I’m like “Why do I not see any posts from him but I see him tagged all the time?”

The ps5 is on the left, right?

@Kidfunkadelic83 this was the same way I figured it out also. Seems a bit silly to use a chat thread and seal yourself in an echo chamber where folks just agree with you. Discussion and differing opinions is the whole point of these things

@PsBoxSwitchOwner exactly my point above.

@AhmadSumadi @Weebleman @Kidfunkadelic83 he is a very sensitive person.

I'll take "Things I'll never notice while playing for $100" Alex.

@Fishnpeas Given that I paid exactly nothing for the digital PS4 version, I’m pretty okay with a $10 upgrade for this. Damn me for being a fool, I guess!

@Northern_munkey I asked why he thought the developer of Stellar Blade was a garbage human being. His response was to block me, of course.

On topic: Some friends were passing this around on a discord and were like “WTF THE PS4 VERSION LOOKS BETTER ROTFL” and I pointed out there had to be some motion stuff going on.

Glad I was right, we need to see some actual A-B comparison pics.

@dskatter no we don't.. I remember playing horizon on the ps5 not that long ago and the remaster looks infinitely better. A huge improvement and I wear glasses FFS because I'm old and my eyes just ain't what they used to be..

@ChrisDeku but reality is horizon didn't need a 4k native version

It used checker boarding and even digital foundary said when it released that you could never tell the difference really.

So with 60fps with checker boarding, it really is a cash grab.

@Northern_munkey I mean to demonstrate to the doubters! You and I are convinced, but this picture doesn’t help convince others.

@Bez87 Soooo…all the line re-recording and redone motion capture is also part of a cash grab? You think that’s the plan since they gave out hundreds of thousands of free digital copies of the original and a simple $10 upgrade fee can get those people this updated version?

We have very different definitions of “cash grab” apparently.

@dskatter bollocks to them..I'm fed up with the doubters and the fake outragers. If they don't like it it's their loss and our gain 👍

@Bez87 a cash grab would have been charging full retail price with no discounted upgrade option. This is the way all remasters should be.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner
Oh thanks for explaining that, I've only log in if I'm likely to leave a comment
I figure if I'm not logged in, could still see the whole shebang though, yes?
Can't say that feature is useful for myself particularly 😄

@nessisonett motion blur is turned off on the original

thing the original looks better

Meh. It looks better in a way. But then the cheek bones aren't as pronounced and the smile lines have completely gone away which do y'know help people look more like people. Plus something about the new image is too smooth, especially the clothes. But lighting-wise I like the remastered image. The glossy lips are silly but it is what it is. Regardless I doubt I could replay this despite absolutely loving it the first time around. I think the slog that was HFW kinda killed this series for me.

@Pushsquarian @Northern_munkey @MikeOrator @themightyant @Weebleman @AhmadSumadi @Kidfunkadelic83 I'm definitely curious who all has me blocked though. That would actually really bother me because I try really hard not to be too annoying.

@zupertramp I wouldn't worry at all as to who has you blocked. I've never found you to be annoying or insulting. This particular individual just won't accept anybody else's point of view which is ironic considering he preaches tolerance to everybody and then blocks them when you don't bow down and accept him as the utmost authority on everything. Silence is golden.