Don't get me wrong, it's not that there aren't games on PS4 and Xbone that look great, it's just that in previous generations there was always at least that one game that just left my jaw on the floor, be it Rogue Squadron II on the Gamecube, Gears of War on the 360, or Uncharted 2 on PS3.

Nothing quite approached that same level of "wow" for me in the current gen.

The UE5 demo kinda gave me that feeling, but that wasn't an actual game.

It's either the PS4 version or his material is bad and only his PS5 material is good. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCdr55c8sBg

That looks way better as in his video. 

But I already stated that I didn't realize this thread is only about visuals and not everything else which does play a role even in a reboot. 

Don't get me wrong, it's not that there aren't games on PS4 and Xbone that look great, it's just that in previous generations there was always at least that one game that just left my jaw on the floor, be it Rogue Squadron II on the Gamecube, Gears of War on the 360, or Uncharted 2 on PS3.

Nothing quite approached that same level of "wow" for me in the current gen.

The UE5 demo kinda gave me that feeling, but that wasn't an actual game.

Astrobot gave me that "wow" after already getting it from RE7 and Rez Infinite. PSVR had many jaw dropping games.

Flat games had plenty wow as well this gen, GT Sport night time in the rain on Tokyo with HDR is amazing, after DriveClub already had my jaw hitting the floor after the weather update. Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn, Detroit become human, Spiderman, God of War, RDR2 and Death Stranding all stand out to me as amazing graphics wise. Killzone Shadowfall was also an excellent launch title and the Order 1886 screenshot heaven.

Gears of War on the 360 was indeed also a wow factor, albeit influenced by being the first game I played on my brand new $4.5K 52" 1080p tv end 2006. Uncharted 2 has a smaller effect since I was already used to the tv and while the train level was great it was also kinda low res. I was more impressed with the water level in Uncharted 3.

This gen has delivered plenty jaw dropping moments, more than I can remember from the 360/ps3/wii/wiiU generation. They were there last gen as well, Alan wake's storm sequence, Ratchet and Clank, Windwaker HD, Beyond 2 souls, Halo 4.


Anyway, I've watched some 4K footage now on my 1080p ips screen (buffering buffering ugh) and it looks very good down sampled to 1080p, big difference with this gen. I can't wait to see the leap to PSVR 2.

on original PS4 will probably 900p or 800p at 30 fps. With a lot of graphic downgrade like low texture, low shadow, polygon density, low draw distance, low particle effect (i assume),  Because most cross gen are like comparing games running with ultra graphic setting on high end PC with normal setting on mainstream and mid tier PC.

Have you watch the comparison Video ?

(video)

Watch first on 4k and then continue our discussion. Also Digital foundry said the graphic on this games surpass even the CG animated movie  

The graphic jump is staggering even bigger then PS3 to PS4, it's not just resolution . So many happen on the screen. That's not even talk about AI , physics, instant level transition. That's crazy huge 

If I need to watch a video on 4k with my face pressed against the screen to begin to see the difference, then that’s my point; I need a ‘magnifying glass’. While you can immediately see the difference between PS2 and PS3 even if you watched a video on 240p in black and white half the room away. Moreover, I’d say that video is an unfair comparison because it’s not comparing the same kind of scenes; different environments and different times of day causing different lighting, meaning there’s too much ‘buts’ already in this video. It’s not like the PS4 can’t produce a yellowish dusk-like hue for example. Again I’m sure there’s a lot going on under the hood making things more efficient, but I only care (and ‘see’), and with me probably 90 percent of the people, about the end result. And it’s just very close together, the improvement is minimal, and I’m not really impressed. We would have the exact same conversation if we talked about the Horizon Forbidden West footage as well.

Note, I do have to say that I find this understandable and acceptable however, considering how far we’ve already gotten with videogame graphics. Graphical advancements are in the smallest details now, and they will be, until we invent the Holodeck.

I don't see the effect of diminishing return yet. We hear about it every new generations. But I always notice the leap from one gen to the other.

I like to use the grass strands example.
Gen 5: no strands, grass is only a pixelated/muddy texture.
Gen 6: patches of grass or bushes scattered here and there but mostly flat ground with grass texture.
Gen 7: Higher res textures with individual grass strands, but those are big and overgrown.
Gen 8: Smaller individual strands, more realistic for sure, but still bigger than they should. Effect still makes the games look more realistic.
Gen 9: proper sized individual strands, so A LOT more of them are used to cover the actual landscape. Making the games look much more realistic.

Now that's just using grass as an example. But this kind of increase in graphical fidelity is pretty much like that in most if not every aspects of the graphics.

Then you factor in the lighting that keeps on getting better gen over gen. The effect being that graphics are now very, very close to look as good as pre-rendered visuals. I can understand if people don't notice all the details that are improved, or aren't as impressed by them as some others (myself included) are. But there is no denying there's a leap between gen 8 and 9 visuals. The generational gap is clearly there. Sure it's all in the details, but that's always been this way. The details are simply getting smaller than when 3D graphics were still in their infancy. Those tiny details may not be much in isolation, but the screen is filled with those, so to my eyes there's one heck of an improvement over the 8th gen visuals.

It's a  matter of perception,while you do not see a lot of change others will see tons so what we are able to see can be very different.

Mine.