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[SlimySnake]

"Hellblade 2 is a game I believe and demonstrate, stands up to, and at times exceeds, many pre-rendered CGI"

in certain cutscenes and 1v1 fog covered combat scenarios, it definitely gives those cg vibes.

good to see nx gamer set aside console wars to give this game its due. I am not saying starfield and forza werent bipolar, but so were spiderman 2 and ff16 and he gave them the props they deserved for the things they did get right.

 

[ChiefDada]

Seriously, WTF. This is full fledged cinematic quality here.

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

Hellblade 2 lightning still a clear step down from CGI, we need path tracing from 5090 to get closer

I agree.

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

this happens with every game that pushes the bar in this thread.

Exactly, everytime, told you…

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

well i must say, she really doens't look on a league on its own in that first pic.

But tbf, i don't think the characters look on a league on its own with any light condition, they are the best in the market but not by a gigantic margin.

The locations are the real stars and really on a league on its own.

I agree, TLOU 2 cutscene models are crazy good.

 

[Represent.]

 

[Represent.]

This could pass as a real person.

Absolute insanity. Finally a game that matched the visceral nature of TLOU 2. This wont be touched until TLOU 3

best looking game ever made, point blank. lets give it its due credit.

 

[mrMUR_96]

I'm pretty sure hellblade 2 only has software lumen even on pc, I'd love to see hardware lumen or even path tracing somehow unlocked or modded into the pc version.

 

[Negotiator101]

I'm pretty sure hellblade 2 only has software lumen even on pc, I'd love to see hardware lumen or even path tracing somehow unlocked or modded into the pc version.

The results speak for themselves though game looks phenomenal as is.

 

[mrMUR_96]

The results speak for themselves though game looks phenomenal as is.

Oh absolutely, not trying to downplay how impressive it looks. Easily the best looking game currently, but I'm just imagining how it could look even better with hardware lumen or path tracing options.

 

[Represent.]

 

[GymWolf]

D

Devs still can't fucking render skin that is not face or arms, the armipit area always look the fucking same in every game.

Some sort of Elastic skin tech can't come soon enough.

(Not a knack to hb2, all games have the same shit looking skin in the same parts of the body)

 

[timothet]

D

Devs still can't fucking render skin that is not face or arms, the armipit area always look the fucking same in every game.

Some sort of Elastic skin tech can't come soon enough.

(Not a knack to hb2, all games have the same shit looking skin in the same parts of the body)

Good news for you, Epic is working on muscle/cloth deformation tech

 

[SlimySnake]

Oh absolutely, not trying to downplay how impressive it looks. Easily the best looking game currently, but I'm just imagining how it could look even better with hardware lumen or path tracing options.

I think it will look more accurate. Watch the Matrix comparisons Alex did in his PC video for the City sample demo. The overall visual makeup of the game was roughly identical between hardware and software lumen, but you get better AO and shadows. Some areas got a massive upgrade while others were virtually identical.

Matrix was a massive open world game though whereas this game is linear as fuck allowing devs to go in and manually adding shadows and light sources to mimmick the PT/hardware Lumen look. Check out how little PT adds to Alan Wake 2 because devs were able to bake in all the detail after referencing the PT lighting.

 

[GymWolf]

Good news for you, Epic is working on muscle/cloth deformation tech

I said elastic skin, but the look is also extremely off, it's like they forget to put details and just look like a smeared texture.

Good news nevertheless.

 

[timothet]

I said elastic skin, but the look is also extremely off, it's like they forget to put details and just look like a smeared texture.

Good news nevertheless.

I feel that in order to realistically deform skin you need to simulate underlying muscle structure. Otherwise the skin texture may end up looking right, but the way it deforms will still look wrong.

 

[mrMUR_96]

I think it will look more accurate. Watch the Matrix comparisons Alex did in his PC video for the City sample demo. The overall visual makeup of the game was roughly identical between hardware and software lumen, but you get better AO and shadows. Some areas got a massive upgrade while others were virtually identical.

Matrix was a massive open world game though whereas this game is linear as fuck allowing devs to go in and manually adding shadows and light sources to mimmick the PT/hardware Lumen look. Check out how little PT adds to Alan Wake 2 because devs were able to bake in all the detail after referencing the PT lighting.

Hardware lumen would allow ray traced reflections, DF noted that there was SSR artifacting, so that could be improved with hardware lumen. Would be cool to see an option for ray traced shadows too, VSM is already very impressive though.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

New Dragon Age screenshots.

I remember salivating over DA:I gameplay back in 2012 ...this game will be a looker

 

[Pharaoh 117]

I'm pretty sure hellblade 2 only has software lumen even on pc, I'd love to see hardware lumen or even path tracing somehow unlocked or modded into the pc version.

If I'm not mistaken some modders managed to turn hardware Lumen on but it bugs the lighting.

 

[Audiophile]

Gettin' ready for path-traced Astrobot!

lol

 

[ChiefDada]

The "bad" thing with Hellblade 2 is that cg trailers like this no longer impress me as much. Don't get me wrong, I still admire the beauty and developers will need to work at it, but this look is undoubtedly doable this gen.

Gettin' ready for path-traced Astrobot!

lol

You kid but I really would like to see them push the visuals with this. Of course not path tracing bit some nice rtgi can go a long way. Don't sleep on the possibility of Astrobot being a visual stunner as a platform game. Sony is trying to create their own Mario I think.

 

[Msamy]

The "bad" thing with Hellblade 2 is that cg trailers like this no longer impress me as much. Don't get me wrong, I still admire the beauty and developers will need to work at it, but this look is undoubtedly doable this gen.






You kid but I really would like to see them push the visuals with this. Of course not path tracing bit some nice rtgi can go a long way. Don't sleep on the possibility of Astrobot being a visual stunner as a platform game. Sony is trying to create their own Mario I think.

If astrobot gonna have rt lighting and reflection it will be visually stunner

 

[Lethal01]

The "bad" thing with Hellblade 2 is that cg trailers like this no longer impress me as much. Don't get me wrong, I still admire the beauty and developers will need to work at it, but this look is undoubtedly doable this gen.






You kid but I really would like to see them push the visuals with this. Of course not path tracing bit some nice rtgi can go a long way. Don't sleep on the possibility of Astrobot being a visual stunner as a platform game. Sony is trying to create their own Mario I think.

Maybe, if we are lucky we might come close to achieving this trailer's motion blur.

 

[Audiophile]

Astro Bot looks really fun and I know it's not the main draw, but given the simpler art style they had a chance to really push the visuals. Yet it looks minimal effort on that front.

 

[Represent.]

Japan is fucking dead to me when it comes to graphics.

Hell, games too at this point.

I am not sure what happened - they used to be world class. Now its just Kojima putting out quality visuals.

Even Capcom fell off, look at Monster Hunter.

 

[Msamy]

This looks amazing , the only game that take my attention in that showcas .

 

[Represent.]

Astro Bot looks really fun and I know it's not the main draw, but given the simpler art style they had a chance to really push the visuals. Yet it looks minimal effort on that front.

I think Kojima is literally the only studio based in Japan that cares about graphics anymore.

Capcom is second, but they are hit or miss.

 

[Audiophile]

I think Kojima is literally the only studio based in Japan that cares about graphics anymore.

Capcom is second, but they are hit or miss.

Ah, I didn't realise Astrobot was by a Japanese dev..

Figures then. Pretty much everything from there these days looks like it's gone through a cheese grater: aliasing, shimmering specular, temporal break up, poor textures/polygon counts, low precision DoF and smeared particles. Kind of the "remake of a PS2 game running on a PS4 Pro" look.

 

[adamsapple]

I think Kojima is literally the only studio based in Japan that cares about graphics anymore.

Capcom is second, but they are hit or miss.

I think Capcom are a hit way more often than miss. Their in-house tools are amazing.

 

[Msamy]

This looks good

 

[Pharaoh 117]

This looks good

Don't know if I'd say it looks good but it looks better than the trailer lead me to believe.

 

[RavionUHD]

Finished the Iki Island Expansion for Ghost of Tsushima on 4K Ultrawide, here some impressions.

 

[Masterofchapter]

Far cry 5 looks really good

 

[Celcius]

Finished the Iki Island Expansion for Ghost of Tsushima on 4K Ultrawide, here some impressions.

Game still looks absolutely incredible. Extremely impressive what they pulled off with originally PS4 hardware.

 

[SlimySnake]

Astro Bot looks really fun and I know it's not the main draw, but given the simpler art style they had a chance to really push the visuals. Yet it looks minimal effort on that front.

Yeah lazy devs. First game was native 4k 60 but it was a free game with a minimal budget.

This one had 4 years dev cycle and they kept it the same. Even if they had dropped to 1440p 60 fps they would’ve gotten 2x more gpu power to get visuals on par with next Gen games but clearly not a priority for these studios anymore.

Monster Hunter was the same. In fact Every game on that conference felt like graphics were an afterthought. Not sure why they are even making games for ps5. Go make stuff for ps2 or switch you bums.

 

[Balducci30]

The state of play was a graphical disappointment. I don’t know why Astrobot looks exactly the same as Playroom - which came out with the console? Thought they would’ve done RTGI or something with it…



But I’m playing Hellblade 2 right now. Although the game is pretty much trash - you really have to play it yourself to believe it. I feel like I’m about halfway through - it’s actually insane. I get more and more impressed with it the longer I play it. There are frequent moments (like 3 second stretches) in the real time cutscenes that look literally near-photorealistic. As close as anything I’ve seen really. I don’t know if it’s the post processing or what - when you enter into photomode during those times it seems like often it is only rendering a single character model sometimes a little more but barely anything else - it’s still crazy to see and interact with in real time.



The photomode is more fun than the game tbh. And I’m realizing the reason the environment and everything looks so good is that there are shadows that react to light on every little thing - move up close and it looks super low res - but the environments genuinely look at least a generation beyond anything else I’ve played. Maybe sans some very particular parts of Alan Wake 2 - but that’s not really close to this.

 

[GymWolf]

How fucking sad when astrothing is the highlight of a show...

Mh wild looked rough, capcom really forgot to upgrade their engine for new gen.

Until dawn remake looks laughable aswell.

 

[Schmendrick]

I think Capcom are a hit way more often than miss. Their in-house tools are amazing.

It seems they fogot their tools at home for Wilds.....

Seriously though, everything about this 2025 game looks downright ancient tech wise...what happened here.

 

[GymWolf]

Game still looks absolutely incredible. Extremely impressive what they pulled off with originally PS4 hardware.

Art design does the heavy lifting in that game.

 

[xxDeadlockxx]

Question for those in the know: How difficult or expensive is it to use or get the most out of MetaHuman? I see what was shown last night of Silent Hill 2 Remake and I don't understand it. But not just this game, the vast majority of games that use Unreal Engine 5.



Shouldn't it be easier to get better results? And I'm not saying that everything is like Hellblade 2, although I wish it were that way, but at least an intermediate point.

 

[Represent.]

Silent Hill 2 actually looks solid. Much better showing in 4K

 

[SlimySnake]

Question for those in the know: How difficult or expensive is it to use or get the most out of MetaHuman? I see what was shown last night of Silent Hill 2 Remake and I don't understand it. But not just this game, the vast majority of games that use Unreal Engine 5.



Shouldn't it be easier to get better results? And I'm not saying that everything is like Hellblade 2, although I wish it were that way, but at least an intermediate point.

Bloober is a D tier dev. Just be happy that the world looks somewhat ok.

 

[SlimySnake]

Just did probably the most cinematic combat sequence ive ever played in a video game. You fight maybe 20 enemies 1 on 1 but after every enemy take down you get other NPCs coming in for an assist or some other stupendously animated takedown. It is effectively a 10-15 minute setpiece that goes in and out of cutscenes without ever cutting. I dont like one shot takes in games anymore but this is why those one shot takes were created. It feels cohesive and for once cutscenes dont take you out of the gameplay experience. The fact that each of these takedowns is unique means they basically mocapped a long 10-15 minute battle and then stitched it together seamlessly with gameplay.

Yes, it helps that the game looks flawless during these combat sequences. It legit feels like you are playing a movie. I honestly dont think ive been this impressed by a realtime setpiece/cutscene since those TLOU2 chase scenes. It makes the 1v1 Abby vs Brute fight look like childs play. Took 4 years but TLOU2 has finally been topped in terms of cinematics and setpieces. This is fucking insane.

They do a couple more tracking shots and i dont think i will ever get over how awesome they look. I hate the walking gameplay and nearly quit the game last night after another hour long walking sequence but im glad i stuck around. This isnt just a new industry benchmark, it is cinematic excellence on a level rarely seen even in movies.

 

[IDWhite]

The Coalition is going to show what Xbox Series X can really do with UE5.

 

[Pharaoh 117]

Just did probably the most cinematic combat sequence ive ever played in a video game. You fight maybe 20 enemies 1 on 1 but after every enemy take down you get other NPCs coming in for an assist or some other stupendously animated takedown. It is effectively a 10-15 minute setpiece that goes in and out of cutscenes without ever cutting. I dont like one shot takes in games anymore but this is why those one shot takes were created. It feels cohesive and for once cutscenes dont take you out of the gameplay experience. The fact that each of these takedowns is unique means they basically mocapped a long 10-15 minute battle and then stitched it together seamlessly with gameplay.

Yes, it helps that the game looks flawless during these combat sequences. It legit feels like you are playing a movie. I honestly dont think ive been this impressed by a realtime setpiece/cutscene since those TLOU2 chase scenes. It makes the 1v1 Abby vs Brute fight look like childs play. Took 4 years but TLOU2 has finally been topped in terms of cinematics and setpieces. This is fucking insane.

They do a couple more tracking shots and i dont think i will ever get over how awesome they look. I hate the walking gameplay and nearly quit the game last night after another hour long walking sequence but im glad i stuck around. This isnt just a new industry benchmark, it is cinematic excellence on a level rarely seen even in movies.

Yeah man, loved that fight. That last stretch of the game is insane.

 

[mrMUR_96]

Just did probably the most cinematic combat sequence ive ever played in a video game. You fight maybe 20 enemies 1 on 1 but after every enemy take down you get other NPCs coming in for an assist or some other stupendously animated takedown. It is effectively a 10-15 minute setpiece that goes in and out of cutscenes without ever cutting. I dont like one shot takes in games anymore but this is why those one shot takes were created. It feels cohesive and for once cutscenes dont take you out of the gameplay experience. The fact that each of these takedowns is unique means they basically mocapped a long 10-15 minute battle and then stitched it together seamlessly with gameplay.

Yes, it helps that the game looks flawless during these combat sequences. It legit feels like you are playing a movie. I honestly dont think ive been this impressed by a realtime setpiece/cutscene since those TLOU2 chase scenes. It makes the 1v1 Abby vs Brute fight look like childs play. Took 4 years but TLOU2 has finally been topped in terms of cinematics and setpieces. This is fucking insane.

They do a couple more tracking shots and i dont think i will ever get over how awesome they look. I hate the walking gameplay and nearly quit the game last night after another hour long walking sequence but im glad i stuck around. This isnt just a new industry benchmark, it is cinematic excellence on a level rarely seen even in movies.

Oh man, I really hope this comes to PS5. I can't be bothered to upgrade my pc to play it and I'm definitely not buying an xbox for one game.

 

[Lethal01]

Just did probably the most cinematic combat sequence ive ever played in a video game. You fight maybe 20 enemies 1 on 1 but after every enemy take down you get other NPCs coming in for an assist or some other stupendously animated takedown. It is effectively a 10-15 minute setpiece that goes in and out of cutscenes without ever cutting. I dont like one shot takes in games anymore but this is why those one shot takes were created. It feels cohesive and for once cutscenes dont take you out of the gameplay experience. The fact that each of these takedowns is unique means they basically mocapped a long 10-15 minute battle and then stitched it together seamlessly with gameplay.

Yes, it helps that the game looks flawless during these combat sequences. It legit feels like you are playing a movie. I honestly dont think ive been this impressed by a realtime setpiece/cutscene since those TLOU2 chase scenes. It makes the 1v1 Abby vs Brute fight look like childs play. Took 4 years but TLOU2 has finally been topped in terms of cinematics and setpieces. This is fucking insane.

They do a couple more tracking shots and i dont think i will ever get over how awesome they look. I hate the walking gameplay and nearly quit the game last night after another hour long walking sequence but im glad i stuck around. This isnt just a new industry benchmark, it is cinematic excellence on a level rarely seen even in movies.

It might have been semi-impressive if the base combat wasn't so bland but I think we can move past being blown away by fancy finishing attack animations.

 

[GymWolf]

It might have been semi-impressive if the base combat wasn't so bland but I think we can move past being blown away by fancy finishing attack animations.

They made an entire combat system based on the worst aspects of the order and tlou2 boss fights.

The more i look at it, the more it look like a fake dance instead of a real combat, no matter how good the animations are.

A case of "so perfect that it looks fake".

 

[FoxMcChief]

I guess I expected better than this

 

[GymWolf]

I guess I expected better than this

Don't they have dieting pills in silent hills?