NX Gamer: Top 10 Graphics & Technology games of 2018

starfox · Dec 23, 2018

Tyaren said:
Alfheim looks absolutely beautiful. Also, what? The vegetation even moves by a swoosh of the axe. It's even mentioned in the Digital Foundry/NXgamer analyses.

It doesn't, not compared to most of the "realistic" realms, seems half baked.

and the sparse vegetation in it doesn't react to you body, go check it again. And its just a tiny detail, in one level with one specific lone plant that you go by. But the devil is in the details, and if the game has any visual award going for it is the huge ammount of AAA polish in unusual/overlooked details, anything somewhat lacking jumps like a sore thumb.

Prine · Dec 23, 2018

Tyaren said:
Static and sparse?
As static as buildings are I guess, lol. But sparse?

Yeah, they look like empty levels void of fauna activity

CozMick · Dec 23, 2018

Only on Era would anyone question God of Wars visuals. Fucking hell fire.

Tyaren · Dec 23, 2018

Prine said:
Yeah, they look like empty levels void of fauna activity

There's actually a lot going on, since you battle all sorts of enemies in there. Maybe play the game and make your very own judgement. ;)

CozMick said:
Only on Era would anyone question God of Wars visuals. Fucking hell fire.

This. It's comical.
Even in his video NXgamer said GoW is a very close second (the closest ever), and some people in here not only claim it doesn't look as good as RDR2 in their opinion (which is perfectly fine), nope, they outright claim GoW looks bad. Worse than a PS3 game even. Come on...

WordsintheWater · Dec 23, 2018

Vire said:
Horizon 4 missing is just all kinds of wrong.

Also if we are talking about the most impressive VFX Sea of Thieves water should definitely 100% be on the list.

The list seems slightly biased.

Read the thread, he explains why this is the case. Why do people scream bias every time they don't agree, he's biased to what exactly?

Deleted member 1589 · Dec 23, 2018

RDR2 is probably all around the most impressive, but GoW is a veeery close second.

Spider-man looks great too! Havent played FH4 but I'll take everyone's word for it.

Carolina Reaper · Dec 23, 2018

NXgamer forgetting Xbox exists? I'm shocked. RDR2 really was the best choice here. Amazing game that looks astoundingly good. Spider-Man on the Pro may play like a 10 year old game, but it looks and controls beautifully on the Pro and definitely deserves to be there.

Fastidioso · Dec 23, 2018

gadwin said:
RDR 2 deserves it for sure. I never would have thought that Rockstar would beat all of Sonys top studios in this category but here we are. RDR 2 is the most impressive game graphically this gen, with Horizon Zero dawn as an runner-up.

RDR2 is tremendously overrated considered the number of people and the budget involved.

Mashing · Dec 23, 2018

I would have liked to see DQXI up there.

Seahawk64 · Dec 23, 2018

Forza Horizon 4 should've been #2 on the list.

Agree with RDR2 at #1. By far the best looking game this gen.

Nintendo · Dec 23, 2018

Fastidioso said:
RDR2 is tremendously overrated considered the number of people and the budget involved.

What?

Deleted member 49132 · Dec 23, 2018

Nintendo said:
What?

It's Fastidioso.

Deleted member 19924 · Dec 23, 2018

MetalGear? · Dec 23, 2018

Lewis said:
I've found Battlefield V very underwhelming graphically, especially coming from Battlefield 1.

In fact, there's a lot of areas where I believe Battlefield 1 looks better.

Anyone else?

I agree, felt the same way. Still looks great though.

AegonSnake · Dec 23, 2018

Good list. I would replace no man's sky with forza, and far cry with on rush. Onrush is 60 fps with some of the best real-time weather and time of day changes ever.

As for rdr vs gow, i think rdr2 is doing so many things at such a high fidelity that its hard to pick any game over it. The draw distance is the best ever. Lighting is the best ever. Foliage and jungles best ever. Environmental detail best ever. Animations best ever. Detroit tops it in character models and gow tops it when it comes to artstyle and setpieces but rdr2 comes very close.

Any other year, Spiderman, Detroit and gow would win best graphics. They are all worthy. Put them up against previous best graphics winners and all three games easily beat out horizon, uncharted 4, the order and driveclub.

chandoog · Dec 23, 2018

CozMick said:
Only on Era would anyone question God of Wars visuals. Fucking hell fire.

Wait a few hours and you'll have some users saying how they can replicate the exact same quality 1 : 1 in UE4 :)

RE: List - NXGamer already said he covered games he played for the list so I guess that kinda explains the lack of FH4. But it's still a shame because that game is a BEAUT.

Toriko · Dec 23, 2018

AegonSnake said:
Good list. I would replace no man's sky with forza, and far cry with on rush. Onrush is 60 fps with some of the best real-time weather and time of day changes ever.

As for rdr vs gow, i think rdr2 is doing so many things at such a high fidelity that its hard to pick any game over it. The draw distance is the best ever. Lighting is the best ever. Foliage and jungles best ever. Environmental detail best ever. Animations best ever. Detroit tops it in character models and gow tops it when it comes to artstyle and setpieces but rdr2 comes very close.

Any other year, Spiderman, Detroit and gow would win best graphics. They are all worthy. Put them up against previous best graphics winners and all three games easily beat out horizon, uncharted 4, the order and driveclub.

Uncharted 4 looks far better than God of War. I found it graphically underwhelming compared to my expectations. The Envrionments look blocky and IQ is not very good imo.

Deleted member 13101 · Dec 23, 2018

End of the year RDR2 vs. GoW across multiple threads is my Era Unexpected Salt of the Year award winner. Two very different games, it should be no surprise that everyone will inevitably like one over another.

stat84 · Dec 23, 2018

RDR 2 is a beast!!

Seriously after i finished it i checked a lot of open world games on my PS4 again and none of them are anything like it.Especially when talking about draw distance.

Only the two latest AC games and maybe Spiderman have satisfying draw distances but still nothing RDR 2.

Philly Cheesesteak · Dec 23, 2018

CozMick said:
Only on Era would anyone question God of Wars visuals. Fucking hell fire.

I know opinions and all, but I just chalk it up to another one of those RDR2 vs. GoW things. Both games look great, but when you are saying GoW looks worse than an 8 year old, last gen game, you are hitting trolling levels.

Ryo · Dec 23, 2018

rahzel said:
Is it surprising? I mean Rockstar is a massive studio and this game had a huge budget as well. Plus it was released on a console with considerably more power. And this is a 'tech' list, not a graphics list.

Also, other than SSM, what other top Sony dev released a game in 2018?

It's surprising because of the scope of the game, huge world with lots of things to interact with and as a result lots of things to potentially go wrong or look bad.

I imagine TLOU Part II will look better but as a technical achievement I can't see anything else matching it this gen.

Philly Cheesesteak · Dec 23, 2018

Toriko said:
Uncharted 4 looks far better than God of War. I found it graphically underwhelming compared to my expectations. The Envrionments look blocky and IQ is not very good imo.

Come on guys really? The environments look blocky and the IQ is not very good? Holy hell.

Linus815 · Dec 23, 2018

GOW looks impressive, especially Kratos, but I don't think its even the best looking PS4 exclusive released this year. That's Detroit. And if we're considering ALL ps4 exclusives then I'd say that both UC4 and LL look better too.

Toriko · Dec 23, 2018

Philly Cheesesteak said:
Come on guys really? The environments look blocky and the IQ is not very good? Holy hell.

Yes really. The only thing I will give it is great character models and some good looking interiors. The exteriors are not that good looking.

Linus815 said:
GOW looks impressive, especially Kratos, but I don't think its even the best looking PS4 exclusive released this year. That's Detroit. And if we're considering ALL ps4 exclusives then I'd say that both UC4 and LL look better too.

This. Chapter 14 in UC4 alone looks better than anything in God of War. UC4 is still jaw dropping. God of War in a fantasy setting could have been so much better at least art direction wise if not in pure tech but I just dont think it looks as good ( tech and art direction ) as UC4. Like look at Libertalia and see how gorgeous it looks and compare it to anything in God of War.

Kazaam · Dec 23, 2018

I think God of War looks great and has some absolutely stunning moments, but I think compared to Naughty Dog's works from this generation is not as technically cohesive and the shortcuts it takes to achieve that graphical fidelity are not always as well hidden (of course the direction with the camera chosen for the game is probably the main culprit for this). It is no doubt a beautiful game and definitely up there with the most impressive showcases this year (especially taken in consideration the art direction). There is one thing however that for me really stands out in a bad way graphically in God of War, especially since it's an element that's quite prevalent and that is the water. I think the water (specifically the lake of nine) looks absolutely terrible to me. It has this viscous, plasticky quality that sticks out like a sore thumb every time I play it.

Baccus · Dec 23, 2018

I love Odyssey but the engine feels ancient af. The physics are not existent, and the lighting which was breathtaking in Origins was downgraded to ridiculous levels.

Remo Williams · Dec 23, 2018

NXGamer said:
As I say in the video, I can only cover what I have played. Sadly I still do not get many review codes, over half this list I purchased myself, big thanks to all those that did send me review code though.

Forza Horizon does look great, I asked for review code but never got it. I had to pick up other games and due to 3 I was not driven (lol) to pick this up yet.

Fair enough, but I have to say it's still quite perplexing. The game is on Game Pass, and it even has a pretty extensive free demo. NX Gamer is one of the few outlets that specialize in that sort of stuff, and one would assume that all the obvious candidates would be given a fair shake, especially considering the availability of FH4.

VinFTW · Dec 23, 2018

No offense but for me the least kinda invalidates itself if it doesn't include FH4.

I mean, you're a media outlet that focuses solely on the technical aspects of games. The excuse of "oh we didn't get a free code so we didn't bother" is pretty wild to me. I mean, the game came out months ago and is on game pass. Like, what.

On a side note, happy to see I'm not the only one who thinks GoW is a superior looking game than RDR2. Neither of them hold a candle to TLoU2 though (from what we've seen at least).

Andrei Rublev · Dec 23, 2018

Slim said:
FH4 would probably claim one of the spots if it wasn't for the review code. The #1 is deserved despite disappointing character models.

I don't understand why him not getting a review code would prohibit it from his list. All he had to do was get GamePass and he could have had easy access to it.

NXGamer · Dec 23, 2018

Remo Williams said:
Fair enough, but I have to say it's still quite perplexing. The game is on Game Pass, and it even has a pretty extensive free demo. NX Gamer is one of the few outlets that specialize in that sort of stuff, and one would assume that all the obvious candidates would be given a fair shake, especially considering the availability of FH4.

I do not agree with valuing a game list like this from a demo, but, I did totally forget about Gamepass having the game which is crazy I know. I am downloading it as we speak.

Equanimity · Dec 23, 2018

VinFTW said:
No offense but for me the least kinda invalidates itself if it doesn't include FH4.

I mean, you're a media outlet that focuses solely on the technical aspects of games. The excuse of "oh we didn't get a free code so we didn't bother" is pretty wild to me. I mean, the game came out months ago and is on game pass. Like, what.

On a side note, happy to see I'm not the only one who thinks GoW is a superior looking game than RDR2. Neither of them hold a candle to TLoU2 though (from what we've seen at least).

I disagree. A single person can only cover so much in a year, especially one in (full time?) employment.

He didn't get a code so he moved on, it's not that hard to understand.

Slim · Dec 23, 2018

Andrei Rublev said:
I don't understand why him not getting a review code would prohibit it from his list. All he had to do was get GamePass and he could have had easy access to it.

It's kinda weird excluding FH4, especially considering the thread title (graphics & technology).

Terbinator · Dec 23, 2018

Do Gow4, GOW4 and UC4 share any similar middleware, do we know? I swear there's instances where certain textures and surfaces in the games look very similar. Almost like they've all been through to same filter in PS.

VinFTW · Dec 23, 2018

Equanimity said:
I disagree. A single person can only cover so much in a year, especially one in (full time?) employment.

He didn't get a code so he moved on, it's not that hard to understand.

Eh, then we're talking about the legitimacy of the channel itself. How do you not review one of the most talked about games of the year (critically and especially technically)?

starfox · Dec 23, 2018

VinFTW said:
No offense but for me the least kinda invalidates itself if it doesn't include FH4.

I mean, you're a media outlet that focuses solely on the technical aspects of games. The excuse of "oh we didn't get a free code so we didn't bother" is pretty wild to me. I mean, the game came out months ago and is on game pass. Like, what.

then accept the fact he may very well find the tech/visuals just diminishing returns and iterative and nothing to go by (there are examples of people who disliked FH4 visual shortcomings compared to FH3 offerings) just like Battlefield V.

VinFTW · Dec 23, 2018

starfox said:
then accept the fact he may very well find the tech/visuals just diminishing returns and iterative and nothing to go by (there are examples of people who disliked FH4 visual shortcomings compared to FH3 offerings) just like Battlefield V.

Game content aside I don't know how anyone can think FH4 looks worse than its previous titles.

hydruxo · Dec 23, 2018

Top 3 is on point. I think you could swap Detroit and GoW if you wanted simply based on preference, because they're both incredible from a technical standpoint. RDR 2 is nuts though. Just how great it looks and the level of interactivity in such a massive world really is worthy of being #1. I mean even on base PS4, RDR 2 looks stunning and has the best draw distance I've seen in a game.

RPTGB · Dec 23, 2018

Yep, racing games clearly don't count in these kind of lists either. Very shortsighted of the channel owner.

NXGamer · Dec 23, 2018

VinFTW said:
Eh, then we're talking about the legitimacy of the channel itself. How do you not review one of the most talked about games of the year (critically and especially technically)?

What?
As Equinamity said above, I work full time and this is something I do on the side. I wanted a review code, asked a few time, was told I could expect one, it never came.

Is FH4 a cracking looking game? Yes, if I had played it would it be on the list? Absolutely.

Does that invalidate this list? No, not at all. This is a personal list, like any best of lists, is subjective and based on what I have actually played. These are all things I mentioned in the video and asked for this feedback, I welcome it as I cannot see everything that is available, review codes do help this greatly.

You may be happy to know I have downloaded the game on my X now to give it a full test drive.

Also, 6 of the games on my list I played and enjoyed on the Xbox. The X sole purpose is to be the best place for Multi-platform, and it certainly is.

RagdollRhino · Dec 23, 2018

Wipeout VR, RDR2, God of War, and Astro Bot for me.

Wipeout VR is an incredible achievement. Not sure how they got it looking so good, and that's considering its an older racing game.

Deleted member 41104 · Dec 23, 2018

NXGamer said:
What?
As Equinamity said above, I work full time and this is something I do on the side. I wanted a review code, asked a few time, was told I could expect one, it never came.

Is FH4 a cracking looking game? Yes, if I had played it would it be on the list? Absolutely.

Does that invalidate this list? No, not at all. This is a personal list, like any best of lists, is subjective and based on what I have actually played. These are all things I mentioned in the video and asked for this feedback, I welcome it as I cannot see everything that is available, review codes do help this greatly.

You may be happy to know I have downloaded the game on my X now to give it a full test drive.

Also, 6 of the games on my list I played and enjoyed on the Xbox. The X sole purpose is to be the best place for Multi-platform, and it certainly is.

Don't worry about those comments. You're doing a good job with your channel, even moreso knowing it's not even your full-time job !

If you subscribed to GP, you should also try Sea of Thieves. The game might not be everyone's cup of tea but it looks amazing.

rashbeep · Dec 23, 2018

Flux said:
I personally wouldn't have GoW in the top 5 graphically of this year, something about its lighting and shading is off (particularly in interior areas). Still a good looking game with a nice artstyle.

Yep it's closer to SoTR for me. Detroit and rdr2 are the clear winners of this year.

cooldawn · Dec 23, 2018

Unfortunately I haven't played most of these games (yes, I have them though...to do) but I guess it's only right a massive open-world title from a development team with a history like Rockstar North wins the day. It's crazy how different Farcry 5 and Read Dead Redemption II is. Both open-world yet one looks 'designed' and the other looks completely organic.

Also really surprised Forza Horizon 4 didn't make the cut.

base_two · Dec 23, 2018

Octopath Traveler was snubbed.

LegalEagleMike · Dec 23, 2018

NXGamer said:
I do not agree with valuing a game list like this from a demo, but, I did totally forget about Gamepass having the game which is crazy I know. I am downloading it as we speak.

Take a look at sea of thieves while you are on gamepass. Might not make your list but the water is pretty impressive.

zma1013 · Dec 23, 2018

Flux said:
Forza Horizon 4 should be on this list, high on this list. No Man's Sky is a weird choice.

Do they still have that awesome sky tech they used in 3 to record the sky? That was the most impressive thing to me about it, the amazing and natural looking sky.

Equanimity · Dec 23, 2018

VinFTW said:
Eh, then we're talking about the legitimacy of the channel itself. How do you not review one of the most talked about games of the year (critically and especially technically)?

Do you know what a personal list entails? I've already answered your question.

impact · Dec 23, 2018

base_two said:
Octopath Traveler was snubbed.

Lol

Its not a thread about art styles.

Deleted member 49132 · Dec 23, 2018

The thing with GoWs visuals that probably hold it back are some crazy inconsistencies with lighting/textures in certain areas.

I haven't played it in awhile so I can't remember the names of the areas specifically, but I do recall that they were distractingly bad.

Putty · Dec 23, 2018

Nice list my man. No complaints with the top 4.

NX Gamer: Top 10 Graphics & Technology games of 2018

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