Yesterday, Sony unveiled the second installment of the Death Stranding franchise, subtitled 'On the Beach.' Amidst the expected quirkiness only Kojima can provide and a mysterious plotline that cannot yet be deciphered, I believe it's important to highlight that this game is on its way to set a new gaming benchmark in terms of graphical fidelity and overall care in approaching the visuals.
The following screenshots are from the trailer, and from what can be perceived, they are from gameplay sections and not cutscenes. It is very likely that these scenes were scripted, but they should showcase the graphical fidelity we can expect when traversing the mysterious world envisioned by Kojima.
Lighting and shadows: Most if not all objects in a scene feature ambient occlusion. Shadows behave realistically, however there's nothing that points to the usage of Ray Tracing. It's very likely that the game will feature the same baked lighting implementation from Horizon Forbidden West, with 12 bakes.
To showcase how good lighting in DS2 looks, we can actually compare it to a contemporary game that has been praised by some for its graphical chops. For the purposes of this comparison and to try and show the difference in material quality and fidelity, I found a screenshot that closely resembles the scene in composition:
[DS2]
[Starfield]
Motion Blur: The game appears to make ample use of per-object motion blur with varying settings depending on the distance from the camera.
Volumetric Fog and Clouds: The volumetric fog looks outstanding, and this particular scene seems to showcase an implementation very similar to the cloud system from Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores. Below, you can find a comparison with Alan Wake 2 running on an RTX 4090 at 4k.
[DS2]
[AW2]
When delving into the cutscenes, I would like to highlight a couple that vividly exemplify the exceptional composition and artistic choices present in the game. These scenes speak for themselves, showcasing not only the technical prowess but also the meticulous attention to detail and narrative impact. Both are compared with two modern games praised for their realistic depiction of human motion and emotion:
[DS2]
[HB2]
[DS2]
[HFW Burning Shores]
I don't believe I need to emphasize how impressive the textures are in DS2. The extensive utilization of photogrammetry, the meticulous attention to materials and their interaction with light and the environment—everything is carefully curated. What are your thoughts on what you've seen?
The following screenshots are from the trailer, and from what can be perceived, they are from gameplay sections and not cutscenes. It is very likely that these scenes were scripted, but they should showcase the graphical fidelity we can expect when traversing the mysterious world envisioned by Kojima.
Lighting and shadows: Most if not all objects in a scene feature ambient occlusion. Shadows behave realistically, however there's nothing that points to the usage of Ray Tracing. It's very likely that the game will feature the same baked lighting implementation from Horizon Forbidden West, with 12 bakes.
To showcase how good lighting in DS2 looks, we can actually compare it to a contemporary game that has been praised by some for its graphical chops. For the purposes of this comparison and to try and show the difference in material quality and fidelity, I found a screenshot that closely resembles the scene in composition:
[DS2]
[Starfield]
Motion Blur: The game appears to make ample use of per-object motion blur with varying settings depending on the distance from the camera.
Volumetric Fog and Clouds: The volumetric fog looks outstanding, and this particular scene seems to showcase an implementation very similar to the cloud system from Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores. Below, you can find a comparison with Alan Wake 2 running on an RTX 4090 at 4k.
[DS2]
[AW2]
When delving into the cutscenes, I would like to highlight a couple that vividly exemplify the exceptional composition and artistic choices present in the game. These scenes speak for themselves, showcasing not only the technical prowess but also the meticulous attention to detail and narrative impact. Both are compared with two modern games praised for their realistic depiction of human motion and emotion:
[DS2]
[HB2]
[DS2]
[HFW Burning Shores]
I don't believe I need to emphasize how impressive the textures are in DS2. The extensive utilization of photogrammetry, the meticulous attention to materials and their interaction with light and the environment—everything is carefully curated. What are your thoughts on what you've seen?
