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Otter on 18 September 2020
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PotentHerbs said:
Runa216 said:

I think, based on my observation of what they've been talking about all year concerning the PS4's backwards compatibility and general abilities, is that at absolute worse the two versions will be identical but the PS5 version will have longer draw distance and loading. 

I see that as an absolute win. Horizon Zero Dawn was already an outstanding-looking game with great art direction. I don't really think it's a big deal if the games are virtually identical on PS4 and PS5 but with better load times and performance on PS5. People have been programming games like that for ages. Again, I do not know what mystical special magical powers the PS5 has that makes a game like Horizon fundamentally altered. Ratchet & Clank? yeah, the world changing gimmick is awesome. Horizon? Well, unless they're doing a Link To the Past style world alteration thing, I just don't understand the concerns. Plenty of games are cross generational during these transitional times and I was a little disappointed that Sony said they would be cutting the two libraries and keeping them separate. This is better for everyone. On every front. 

I'd love to hear some dissenting arguments but like...people, seriously? This is a good thing. 

I suspect HFW will still be a great sequel because they can improve on many aspects from HZD. Side quests, platforming/climbing, improved human enemies, melee combat, different/new machines, refined RPG elements, building on lore, QoL improvements, etc. The PS5 version will have all of this plus the graphical upgrades, better framerates and instantaneous load times. It will review well, sell phenomenally, and be an absolute show stopper on the PS5. But the SSD + CPU won't truly be utilized to its fullest capabilities. 

If HFW was built from the ground up on the PS5, we could get flying mounts (Guerrilla said they had to scrap this feature because they couldn't stream assets fast enough), aerial battles, faster traversal, bigger and denser worlds with more interior buildings, more complex AI, large scale battles (think of the last mission in HZD but grander), real time geometric terraforming, etc. Things like flying and faster traversal could add to the variety of side missions in HFW (like racing on different mounts) while real time terraforming could add different gameplay loops, like the indication of GAIA like machines without use of HUD, it could open up exploration possibilities, or it could happen during the middle of an encounter. 

It should be assumed that the same game would be super ambitious and not be arriving as soon as Forbidden West is, likely years later. Beyond the actual capability of the hardware, man hours and brainpower is still required to figure out how to programme and execute this stuff, implement it into the engine etc. Such a title could be a 5+ year endevour regardless of the specs of the machine because humans still have to build said game and can't simply rely on the foundations they established in the past. True gameplay shifting change takes time. 

Last edited by Otter - on 18 September 2020