DF: A Plague Tale: Requiem Graphics Review[OT]

[Deleted member 13]

A Plague Tale: Requiem is a beautiful tech showcase that pushes the consoles hard

Two years on from launch, games developed just for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series hardware are still a relative rarity, an eve…

www.eurogamer.net

If any game gets the first true next-gen title (since FS2020 was a flight simulator) - this game would be it. They have managed to take all of last gens tech and apply it (just like they did with FS2020) to a game that pushes the limits of graphics features available from last gen by combining ALL of the techniques.

The big hallmark for me is definitely the "nanite-like" terrain where they combined 3 techniques into one to show just as much detail as UE5 demo.

1) Displacement mapping
2) Normal mapping
3) Parallax occlusion mapping.

They already had an amazing lighting system and their PBR shaders look excellent. Along with great art direction and good talent on level design, these new AAA guys on the block are now up their with the best AAA studios.

This game will be hard to beat in terms of graphics until we start seeing UE5-like games.

 

[PropellerEar]

A Plague Tale: Requiem is a beautiful tech showcase that pushes the consoles hard

Two years on from launch, games developed just for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series hardware are still a relative rarity, an eve…

www.eurogamer.net

If any game gets the first true next-gen title (since FS2020 was a flight simulator) - this game would be it. They have managed to take all of last gens tech and apply it (just like they did with FS2020) to a game that pushes the limits of graphics features available from last gen by combining ALL of the techniques.

The big hallmark for me is definitely the "nanite-like" terrain where they combined 3 techniques into one to show just as much detail as UE5 demo.

1) Displacement mapping
2) Normal mapping
3) Parallax occlusion mapping.

They already had an amazing lighting system and their PBR shaders look excellent. Along with great art direction and good talent on level design, these new AAA guys on the block are now up their with the best AAA studios.

This game will be hard to beat in terms of graphics until we start seeing UE5-like games.

1st next gen game for Xbox fans?
Yay!

 

[peter42O]

Only two chapters in and Requiem looks amazing. One of the best looking games of this generation. Plays really good too despite only being at 30/40fps.

 

[mansoor1980]

these guys are not AAA yet

 

[PropellerEar]

these guys are not AAA yet

Quality starts to be there, but not game scope.

 

[Darth Vader]

A Plague Tale: Requiem is a beautiful tech showcase that pushes the consoles hard

Two years on from launch, games developed just for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series hardware are still a relative rarity, an eve…

www.eurogamer.net

If any game gets the first true next-gen title (since FS2020 was a flight simulator) - this game would be it. They have managed to take all of last gens tech and apply it (just like they did with FS2020) to a game that pushes the limits of graphics features available from last gen by combining ALL of the techniques.

The big hallmark for me is definitely the "nanite-like" terrain where they combined 3 techniques into one to show just as much detail as UE5 demo.

1) Displacement mapping
2) Normal mapping
3) Parallax occlusion mapping.

They already had an amazing lighting system and their PBR shaders look excellent. Along with great art direction and good talent on level design, these new AAA guys on the block are now up their with the best AAA studios.

This game will be hard to beat in terms of graphics until we start seeing UE5-like games.

Have you played R&C Rift Apart? Because that game is head and shoulders above anything I've played so far. Haven't played Requiem, may be better, but ignoring one of the most visually stunning games this gen so far is just... lol.

 

[Deleted member 13]

1st next gen game for Xbox fans?
Yay!

1st next gen game for all platforms. If we are counting just the last 2 years.

 

[Deleted member 13]

Have you played R&C Rift Apart? Because that game is head and shoulders above anything I've played so far. Haven't played Requiem, may be better, but ignoring one of the most visually stunning games this gen so far is just... lol.

I've played it before yes. It takes more than vibrant saturated colors to win over graphics tech for me. I understand how many like R&C because of it's artistic design - it looks very pretty. But it's clear that anyone excited over the UE5 demo showing off Nanite should get deja vu when playing Plague. It looks that detailed and photoreal.

 

[Deleted member 13]

these guys are not AAA yet

I consider them AAA because their implementation is right inline and competitive with the AAA games that have big budgets. Popularity isn't what I measure for labeling a game AAA.

 

[mansoor1980]

I consider them AAA because their implementation is right inline and competitive with the AAA games that have big budgets. Popularity isn't what I measure for labeling a game AAA.

i look at the budget of the game , low budget games can have exceptional tech , and obviously you favour the tech side of a game above anything else

 

[PropellerEar]

1st next gen game for all platforms. If we are counting just the last 2 years.

Wrong!

 

[ethomaz]

I consider them AAA because their implementation is right inline and competitive with the AAA games that have big budgets. Popularity isn't what I measure for labeling a game AAA.

If the budget is not AAA then the game is not AAA.
What is the budget for this game?

i look at the budget of the game , low budget games can have exceptional tech , and obviously you favour the tech side of a game above anything else

Budget is the only way to define AAA, AA and Indie.

Tech, quality, implementation, etc is not important at all for the AAA classification.

 

[Deleted member 13]

If the budget is not AAA then the game is not AAA.
What is the budget for this game?

Not sure tbh. I can agree with the game not being AAA but I think the company has the tech and artistic talent to compete with AAA games.

Budget is the only way to define AAA, AA and Indie.

That's fair.

Tech, quality, implementation, etc is not important at all for the AAA classification.

And yet most AAA games are constantly having the best graphics. It's just exciting to have a developer other than the EAs, Ubisofts, Blizzards that can deliver top notch quality.

 

[ethomaz]

And yet most AAA games are constantly having the best graphics. It's just exciting to have a developer other than the EAs, Ubisofts, Blizzards that can deliver top notch quality.

It is because having more money allow you to push more... after all money helps to have more qualified developers, more time and resources to develop.
But that is not a rule... there are crap AAA games in quality and graphics.

 

[Deleted member 13]

It is because having more money allow you to push more.
But that is not a rule... there are crap AAA games in quality and graphics.

Exactly.

 

[Deleted member 13]

Wrong!

We get it.. only a Sony game can fill those shoes generation after generation..

 

[PropellerEar]

We get it.. only a Sony game can fill those shoes generation after generation..

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

We get it.. only a Sony game can fill those shoes generation after generation..

Well they do have teams which have consistently done the most impressive work even with generally 'weaker' hardware (i.e PS3 when that had a worst GPU than 360, PS4 being several steps behind PS4 Pro and One X on technological features, etc.).

I think PTR looks amazing, personally. But it has some sloppy optimization issues, particularly on consoles (and particularly on PS5). Asobo might be more comfortable with the DX12 Ultimate APIs and are also probably leveraging tech they got help for from Microsoft when making Flight Simulator, which might explain why performance on the Series consoles (which share that same API suite feature-for-feature with PC Windows) is as good as it is...though some additional optimizations can probably be made there, too.

There's also other things though; character models in HFW have more detail than those in PTR. Character idle animations in HFW are more pronounced. Facial animations in HFW are better. Geometry density looks about on par between both games. Comparing their artstyles is meaningless because they are going for very different vibes and have different color palettes as well. But, that last part is more a subjective thing anyway.

Both games have tradeoffs though leading to this. PTR has a smaller budget than HFW but for its budget (let's say it's a high-end AA release at very least), it's among the best out today visually. It's very linear though, while HFW is open-world yet has at least as good visual fidelity and is better in some technical areas than PTR even in spite of that (it also had to natively run on base PS4 whereas PTR's lowest-end hardware spec for native is Series S).

I'm comparing the two games just in terms of on console (and HFW in 30 FPS mode).

 

[Deleted member 13]

Well they do have teams which have consistently done the most impressive work even with generally 'weaker' hardware (i.e PS3 when that had a worst GPU than 360, PS4 being several steps behind PS4 Pro and One X on technological features, etc.).

No disagreements there but it's never been because of tech reasons contrary to popular belief. We can't have it both ways. Sony has never been known for pushing lighting/rendering tech in their games but always receive props for it simply because of it's artistic style and consistent level design. But that can't always be the narrative every single time something is compared.

I think PTR looks amazing, personally. But it has some sloppy optimization issues, particularly on consoles (and particularly on PS5). Asobo might be more comfortable with the DX12 Ultimate APIs and are also probably leveraging tech they got help for from Microsoft when making Flight Simulator, which might explain why performance on the Series consoles (which share that same API suite feature-for-feature with PC Windows) is as good as it is...though some additional optimizations can probably be made there, too.

Optimization doesn't really go into weighting a game's graphics features in my book. It's something that will get hashed out over the long run with patches (as most games).

There's also other things though; character models in HFW have more detail than those in PTR. Character idle animations in HFW are more pronounced. Facial animations in HFW are better. Geometry density looks about on par between both games. Comparing their artstyles is meaningless because they are going for very different vibes and have different color palettes as well. But, that last part is more a subjective thing anyway.

Are you trying to say that HFW is the best looking next-gen game even though it's cross-gen? I haven't seen character models in HFW so I can't say one way or the other how good they look but I would be comparing in-game models and not cinematic ones. Idle animations isn't a standout for me although I can see people weighing them in. Facial animations again is something that is a "nice to have" but not something that would make/break a judgement call like "best graphics" imo. Geometry density and pixel density aren't the same. For example, the rock formations in HFW isn't as detailed as UE5/PTR simply because it's not using Nanite nor is it approximating nanite with combining 3 layers of detail for the props (normals, parallax and displacements combined). In that regard, it simply can't produce the amount of per-pixel detail as PTR which is what I'm judging. I also don't think HFW has energy conserving PBR materials as the GI system still introduces way too much ambient lighting whereas PTR normalizes the equations using more advanced form of ambient occlusion to reduce the constant illumination. Art style is of course subjective but many gamers use that as a main metric for judging what game looks the best. Unfortunately it's so subjective, it shouldn't even be compared.

Btw, I'm also judging graphics with the PC version as it's the best iteration. I'm including ALL hardware in my claim as opposed to just consoles. The PC gives the most noteble differences running 4k/60FPS with all approximations at their highest levels.

Lastly, I find it hard to believe that this game was designed around the Series S. There is no proof that that is the case and Asobo never mentioned it. I believe their graphics engine was designed around agnostic hardware and their techniques are pushing current hardware to the limit because of it.. clearly showing that their techniques were designed with more high-end hardware in mind.

 

[arvfab]

It was time some 3rd party game joined R&C and HFW in the very short "it looks next-gen" list of games. GOW is next.