The Art Style and Graphics Discussion

[Tyaren]

The new God of War is getting rave previews across the board and Digital Foundry already put together a first tech analysis and is very impressed by what they are seeing:

The lighting, especially the volumetric lighting, looks amazing! O: This game might after all turn out to be the next graphics showcase for the PS4, kicking Uncharted 4 and Horizon Zero Dawn off the throne.

Here are some continuous gameplay clips:

Many say it is not unlike Soulsborne games or Nioh...

 

[UpSideDownGRUNT]

tbf journalists say that about literally anything that is an ARPG or is remotely challenging

 

[Tyaren]

tbf journalists say that about literally anything that is an ARPG or is remotely challenging

Well, I heard it in multiple of the preview videos and most of the time they actually explained in a bit of detail why they thought it feels similar. They didn't just throw that out without justifying it, and it sounded sensible. I never played a Soulsborne game or Nioh, so I am interested to maybe get a feeling of what exactly all the fuss is about.

Also, a cool gif:

 

[ShinobiGuy]

That sounds awesome. I’m 80 hours into Dark Souls 3 now and they are so incredibly well done. Difficult and unforgiving to the level of insanity, but they suck you in. I love the God of War series so this could be very interesting.

 

[Tyaren]

That sounds awesome. I’m 80 hours into Dark Souls 3 now and they are so incredibly well done. Difficult and unforgiving to the level of insanity, but they suck you in. I love the God of War series so this could be very interesting.

It apparently won't be as unforgiving/difficult as these games though.

Also, some more new screens:

 

[Tyaren]

Interview with Lead environmental artists of the new God of War:
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/god-of-war-ps4/?component=podcast

It's podcast number 6 and starts after about 10 minutes of them telling a Norse legend.
I think we will be in for a real treat. Apparently our journey will lead us to many of the 9 realms of Norse mythology (remember, this is a 30+ hours main story game after all) ...



...and they are all very different/distinct. They are not going for realism, but for a hyperrealistic look (which, again, does not mean super realistic!).
Their inspirations came from old drawings, paintings and 80s fantasy movies (like Krull, The Dark Crystal, The Neverending Story). They are doing a lot with colors, lighting, mist and they played and experimented with all of that for about 4 1/2 years to get everything right. Apparently they are doing something really cool and unique with Yggdrasil, the World Tree and how you are going to enter the different realms situated on it.

Here is some of the leaked concept art from some years ago to maybe get an early look:

 

[Tyaren]

The new God of War will play out in one single shot. There is no camera cut, gameplay and story parts will always blend seemingly into eachother. Here's more info about this massive and very demanding undertaking:

If you think about it, this really is crazy... There won't even be loading times and scenes like this, which have an almost pre-rendered quality, are 100% real-time in-game footage:

 

[Jadeinchains]

If you think about it, this really is crazy... There won't even be loading times and scenes like this, which have an almost pre-rendered quality, are 100% real-time in-game footage:

That sounds cool, Must have been difficult to pull off along with the no cuts thing, The game is looking amazing by the way from the look of this screenshot, I'm expecting an influx of screens from you once the game releases. The game having no loading screens reminds me of Haunting Ground, That was really impressive with it having no loading screens too. "oh Haunting Ground you will always be iconic"

 

[Tyaren]

That sounds cool, Must have been difficult to pull off along with the no cuts thing, The game is looking amazing by the way from the look of this screenshot, I'm expecting an influx of screens from you once the game releases. The game having no loading screens reminds me of Haunting Ground, That was really impressive with it having no loading screens too. "oh Haunting Ground you will always be iconic"

How many screens you will see from me will depend on there being a photo mode or not. So far there was no mention of there being one, but they are super tight-lipped and mysterious about the game in general.
It would be strange for a AAA Sony first party game to not have a photo mode, lol.

 

[Onryoki]

The new God of War will play out in one single shot. There is no camera cut, gameplay and story parts will always blend seemingly into eachother. Here's more info about this massive and very demanding undertaking:

If you think about it, this really is crazy... There won't even be loading times and scenes like this, which have an almost pre-rendered quality, are 100% real-time in-game footage:

This is really amazing, I think a lot of game developers could learn from God Of War *Cough* EA *Cough. Sims 4 has loading times for almost anything, it’s annoying. But the fact that this game has no loading times is really good, this game is definitely on my radar.

 

[Tyaren]

Already seen the beautiful CG TV spot?

 

[Jadeinchains]

Even though I might not be getting this game this trailer was really amazing looking. Really cool.

 

[Tyaren]

Even though I might not be getting this game

Spoiler

 

[Onryoki]

I’m still thinking of buying it but i’ll Probably buy it since It’s hard for me to not spend any money.

 

[Tyaren]

I’m still thinking of buying it but i’ll Probably buy it since It’s hard for me to not spend any money.

I have a really good feeling about this game, and I haven't been a fan of older God of War games at all. This in contrast is checking all the right boxes though.

- single player only
- a vast and varied game world (actually several worlds) to explore

- heaps of optional content
- a meaty main story of over 30 hours​

- a more personal story with genuine character development

- great setting and lore (Norse mytholgy)​

- fun but challenging combat with a lot of potential
- beautiful graphics
- an epic soundtrack
- lots of polish and care went into this game (4 1/2 years of development)

Not a single one of the previews that I watched or read in the last couple of days had something truly negative to say. Basically everyone was unanimously raving about this game.
I knew that the long radio silence and mystery surrounding this game either meant a flop or a big hit. Looks like Sony has another big hit on their hands, which they want to keep under wraps until the last second, to blow everyone away by surprise on release day.

 

[Tyaren]

Congratuations to Horizon Zero Dawn, the game got awarded for Best Technology at the GDC (Game Developers Conference)!

 

[ShinobiGuy]

How many screens you will see from me will depend on there being a photo mode or not. So far there was no mention of there being one, but they are super tight-lipped and mysterious about the game in general.
It would be strange for a AAA Sony first party game to not have a photo mode, lol.

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/go...de-but-not-until-cory-barlog-can-make-it-cool

The game doesn't come with a photo mode to start with it seems.

 

[Tyaren]

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/go...de-but-not-until-cory-barlog-can-make-it-cool

The game doesn't come with a photo mode to start with it seems.

Seriously, I think it is an oversight and a mistake to not offer a photo mode from release on. People sharing their photography of games has become a huge thing in the last couple of years and it has definitely been a reason for why games like Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn or Shadow of the Colossus got so much attention and such a broad reach all over the internet. I've seen so many people exclaim: "Damn, now you got me to buy this game!" after they visited the photography threads dedicated to those games in the big gaming forums. Even gameplay flops like The Order:1886 stayed relevant for a long time, mostly because of the amazing photos players shared of it. Now the same happens with FFXV on PC.

I too did my part to promote those games with my photography. I created and managed the official photography threads of many of those games on Neogaf and now Resetera, and developers like Team Ninja and Guerrilla Games have actually used my photography for promotion.
I am not sure if I will go back to God of War with the same vigor, when weeks or months later a photo mode is finally added.
That's such a shame, especially for such a beautiful game, setting new standards.

Regarding one quote in the article though:
"Sounds like Barlog might be a little inspired by games like Super Mario Odyssey—games with robust photo modes that make it impossible to resist sharing snaps."

Sorry, but, LOL. I don't think Cory Barlog is inspired by Super Mario Odyssey here, but rather by games like Arkham Knight, The Order: 1886, Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn or Shadow of the Colossus and their extensive, in-depth photo modes.

 

[DestructionBomb]

Speaking of games (not sure if it was talked about here but was curious) @Tyaren have you tried the PS4 Pro's Supersampling mode? if so, what are your thoughts? or anyone else that like to fill this one in.

Reason why I asked is that some games (having this on) seems to be hardly noticeable at all when improving the image quality of games with 2K resolution or lower (it does mention "some" games so I guess it's pretty obvious in that department, though would like a list of games that's made a major impact with it on). Some of the newer games for example feels like this isn't a necessity to turn on, but just eat ups game processing and longer load bufferings with a few frame drops here and there having it turned on.

Anyone with a PS4 pro tried this one where they felt it was a huge boost in image quality for lower resolutions under 2K?

 

[Tyaren]

Speaking of games (not sure if it was talked about here but was curious) @Tyaren have you tried the PS4 Pro's Supersampling mode? if so, what are your thoughts? or anyone else that like to fill this one in.

Reason why I asked is that some games (having this on) seems to be hardly noticeable at all when improving the image quality of games with 2K resolution or lower (it does mention "some" games so I guess it's pretty obvious in that department, though would like a list of games that's made a major impact with it on). Some of the newer games for example feels like this isn't a necessity to turn on, but just eat ups game processing and longer load bufferings with a few frame drops here and there having it turned on.

Anyone with a PS4 pro tried this one where they felt it was a huge boost in image quality for lower resolutions under 2K?

First of all, which games did you try out in supersampling mode? The vast majority of Pro patched games do actually already supersample by default. The supersampling mode was only added for the rare cases in which, for whatever reason, the developers did not enable supersampling for HD/1080p TVs.
Notable games that didn't supersample before supersampling mode was added are:

- The Last Guardian
- Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection
- Rocket League
- Metal Gear V: The Phantom Pain
- Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age
- Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
- Kingdom Hearts HD games
- Dishonored 2
- Outlast 2
- Everybody's Golf
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III

...and just a handful of others.
Only with these games the supersampling mode actually works. The majority of games, like Horizon or Uncharted 4 or Final Fantasy XV were already supersampling.

Now to the point how well it works:
From what I have seen, the forced supersampling solution is actually of an inferior quality to supersampling that is enabled by default in games.
The Last Guardian with forced supersampling does actually not look much better than it looks in 1080p. It actually looks clearer and crisper in 1080p. The same goes for Metal Gear V and Black Ops:

(Notice how the images on the right side in 1080p are all crisper?)

Jaggies are mostly gone in those games, but the image seems blurrier in general. Normally supersampling gives you not only good antialiasing, but textures are also crisper and better filtered. Not in these cases.
The reason why the forced supersampling gives us worse quality than supersampling enabled by default in games, is because most games are actually not true 4K on the PS4 Pro, but either of a lower resolution, like native 1440p or 1600p, or they use checkerboarding to get the resolution up to a full 4K image output. Games that have supersampling enabled by default usually take the native 1440p resolution image and directly scale that down to 1080p/HD. This leads to a clean and crisp image without many jaggies. If there is however no supersampling enabled by default the new supersampling mode tricks the PS4 Pro to believe a 4K TV is attached to it, so the 1440p is not just downsampled but first upscaled/blown up to full 4K and then downsampled back to 1080p. And this ruins the image quality.

So this new super sampling mode is actually a pretty poor solution on part of Sony and I can't really recommend it. This definitely was not what we actually asked for and we still have to hope for developers to enable supersampling on their own to get all benefits of proper supersampling: No jaggies and on top of that a clearer and crisper image.