I was a bit disappointed at the graphics when I first played it. I mean it was awesome but I thought UC3 was better and then I started progressing on the game and the areas got bigger and It was stunning. It was just that everything around you actually had a purpose. In all uncharted games, you can barely go anywhere; it was very linear and small. In TLOU you can explore almost every nook and cranny of the place, of every house, of every room. Just almost, not literally every place. The art direction is also fantastic. I think the part where Ellie and Joel encounters the giraffe and looks at them while they walk around the destroyed city was just beautiful. Very few games offer these kinds of moments in gaming. They also applied the best in-game lighting I've seen in a video game. Self-shadowing, light bouncing of things, colors affecting the lighting, every light source is actually a light source where it produces shadows of things, shadows aren't baked like in most games these days. The way the lighting changes as you transition from a dark place to sunny area, it's very realistic. I'm sure it's still arguable whether it's the best looking game this gen, but for me it is.
