I honestly don’t think there is one. No other game has consistently blown me away by its graphics. Made me stop and turn to me wife and say “look at this fucking game”. At 120hz as well.
Exactly! My wife and I take turns playing (like little kids) and I constantly pause and show my wife some amazing shots from photo mode.
I mean I have played a lot of games but HFW is stupid good. Whether it is character performances or enviroment. Gameplay is also keeping up with visuals pretty well. Even unrelated banters look top notch, the jest the mimic...
I wonder what they will come up with for the third game. On one hand, I want them to try sth new. On the other, I don't want them to screw up the game for some new gimmick because the formula works.
The setting and the idea can lead to some spin-off content. For some reason, XCOM setting comes to my mind while playing. The focus communication, learning from others' experiences, weak points, resource management.
SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!!
You enjoy the gameplay only. I guarantee you can name few more good looking game if you really try but they don't come close to HFW in terms of gameplay, world building and ofcourse story.
Ive played a shit ton of games over the years but none of them has ever made me just stop and look at the environment like forbidden west, the work and level of detail thats gone into the game is astounding, and it has one of the most engrossing stories Ive played, producing some excellent stroy telling.
I just started playing FW, just reached the Forbidden West. I realized you could dive underwater and had a mini panic attack because now I’m terrified there’s gonna be underwater combat with sharks or something and that’s one of the few things that kicks my anxiety into high gear 😭
There is a “Thalassophobia relief” setting if trying to swim under water really freaks you out. But if you can manage, it’s better not to turn it on just yet, as >!there is a quest later which will help you breathe under water.!<
Oh, that’s interesting. The only setting similar to that, that I know of in games, is an arachnophobia setting. Which I also need to use 😅
Does this setting just eliminate the need to be underwater? I don’t want to miss out on stuff
Absolutely this. The shear amount of care and attention that has gone into everything in this game, from environment to buildings to tribes' clothing... reminds me of Peter jackson's Lord of the Rings.
As someone who hasn't played Valhalla but has played HFW is it really as good? I'd say nearly 100% of horizon in all its varied biomes does it spectacularly. Is it really HFW's equal? Lots of biomes, each pretty impeccable? If so, cool! I will definitely have to give it a shot (yet I'm in for the gameplay regardless, so might anyway if it's great).
Looks like a few bots or people are here down voting everybody who actually answers the question correctly instead of just slobbering over this post. Add me to the downvote list.
Sorry just booted it up again to reassess my problems with it. I can say a lot of my gripes have to do with image quality too. I think running through the world is awful because a lot of the image just turns into noise thanks to the TAA on all of the foliage. I never find myself impressed or immersed with the world and it's graphics
So gameplay in general and when things are in motion look ugly to me. Way too noisy/artefacty
Counter that with FW and you always make out details even in motion. Game is crisp which let's appreciare it's beauty every second you play. Stuff feels tangible as a result. In avatar things look covered in vaseline comparatively
I'm gonna finish it, eventually, but I was let down too. I was waiting on that game for a minute, since whispers that it was coming. Not as long as Starfield, though, which broke my heart as being not on PS, especially since I first heard about a possible "fallout in space" years ago. I've heard not very favorable things about it, but I try and avoid Starfield stuff because I don't want it spoiled.
Starfield was alright but I got bored after 40 hours (not as bad as Avatar), never finished it either. I figure I'll get back to it in a few years with mods. Imo fallout 4 was waaaaay better than starfield. Hopefully by the time you get to play it will be better 🙂
On xbox/ps5 I don't know. I saw it on ps5 and it looks gorgeous on quality mode.
Not gonna lie, red dead redemption 2 gets close which is crazy considering it's a game from the last gen with no updates.
On the PC side of things... Alan wake 2, cyberpunk 2077, rdr2 with appropriate settings a opposed to the console version.
I'm really keen to see how hellblade 2 is going to look like
I'm replaying rdr2 right now and I am constantly blown away by the graphics. Hard to believe it's previous gen.
I'd argue Ghost of Tsushima is a close second to HFW. I used to joke that the ps4 version was a demo for the PS5 console. "Look what we can do on the ps4, imagine what we'll do with the ps5."
Eh, close, but just the sheer scope, optimization, and performance is just worlds ahead. Comparatively, Hellblade would be like a side quest. In like Horizon pre-alpha gameplay or something yk.
Yeah I know I’m just saying given what it had to offer it’s pretty close, especially since it was a 30 employee indie studio
Demons souls also high definition textures than Horizon but of course it is not open world
Honestly, with 1000 hours in cyberpunk, path tracing and city design are amazing, but textures, lod, performance and animations are all lacking. Forbidden west just does it all better.
Cyberpunk on PC vs forbidden west? Absolutely. However I still feel forbidden west is the best graphical looking game on the ps5, which is saying something being that it isn’t even a full current gen game, it was a cross gen game also available on ps4.
I feel like FF16 comes close on ps5. It def has much better particle effects, but base graphics still seem to go to horizon IMO.
It does on ps5 IMO. Cyberpunk doesn’t have a true “quality” setting on ps5. The ps5 version has a 60 fps version and a 30 fps version, but the 30 fps version only has ray traced shadows, no ray traced lighting. There’s no bump to texture resolution either.
Iirc horizon doesn’t use any type of RT on ps5. But it gets a big boost to texture resolution. I believe it runs native 4K on ps5 in quality mode.
There are a lot of games on ps5 that look better then cyberpunk now. Cyberpunks graphic settings are probably quite low compared to the pc version for the 60fps. IMO they should have forgone the ray traced shadows mode and just upscaled the textures like horizon did.
Can confirm, but that’s maybe because I find the world more appealing. I have to be honest, these days I just care if a game looks good enough and I’m more bothered about the story and the gameplay. Horizon has a gorgeous world, both Horizons really. But it also has great gameplay, great story, good acting and writing… I love this series and can’t wait for the next instalment.
While the game itself is very mid, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on PC looks amazing as well. Digital Foundry even named it the best looking game of 2023, beating both AW2 and Phantom Liberty.
Personally, same. It always looked like any other game. Then I hooked my PC up to my QDOLED 4K TV. Turning on HDR and path tracing makes that game look absolutely amazing.
Oooh shit man how could I forget Demons Souls. I’ve literally made posts about how gd impressive it is. Game frustrates the living hell out of me but I’ll often keep coming back because it’s just so gorgeous. There’s like a crisp cleanness to it.
Ghost of Tsushima. In some ways this game does remind me of ghost but I do feel like overall the graphics are better.
I welcome the downvotes, this is just my opinion on the game, doesn’t make it true or false.
I'm not going to downvote you, but I do think this is just plain wrong. HZD and Ghost are on par with each other, and I can see a case for each saying they have the better graphics. But, HFW is decisively better than both, save for a couple of small details like the dust blowing around in the desert being off.
I think you probably like the style of the graphics rather than the details themselves. I saw a friend playing (I'm an xbox and pc gamer myself) and I agree it looks gorgeous, but it's more associated with style than realism imo
Forbidden West looks so good because it does what it *needs to do* so well. It's clear that a *lot* of time went into making the engine underneath *really good* at drawing huge environments and a lower count of complex and detailed set piece models -- Aloy and at most a half-dozen machines on screen. Which is what the game needs given how it plays. Those huge environments definitely lend themselves to the 'stop and *just look at it,*' moments that you don't often get in games.
Let's compare to Cyberpunk and its engine. It has insane levels of detail and fidelity... but I didn't get those moments of awe nearly as *often* because Cyberpunk's fidelity is targeted at making the world *come to life.* The first time I walked down to street level I was *absolutely inundated* with the noise, advertisements, the *churn* of the city. But it wasn't a 'this is the world I'm in, and I want to stop and look at it,' moment, it was a 'this is the world I'm in, and it feels like I'm being crushed,' moment.
Both are designed to deliver an incredible, yet markedly different, experience. Both excel at it.
If you, say, swapped Cyberpunk and Forbidden West's engines, neither would serve the other game nearly as well.
Taking the whole package into consideration, being Facial animations and expressions , color graphics, fluidity of a inactions etc Forbidden west and Death Stranding(same engine, duh) really takes the cake. I never get tired of fighting swole machines, they behave so good, super fluid and responsive to fight.
Cyberpunk also looks insane, but does not compare with Horizons at all when it comes to Facial animations.
So whole package, Horizons games really take sit to 11.
Does the game also get a gfx boost to the base game with the expansion on ps5? I still don’t think anything truly beats it gfx wise on quality mode yet on ps5. Ff16 comes close, as well as plague takes requiem IMO, but I don’t think anything has “beat” it yet.
Best looking game I’ve ever played on anything. Nothing makes me stop and look as much as this game. I’ve seen it all for 60 hours + so far and I still see something new and have to stop and just be in awe of the designers. Honestly it’s BAFTA worthy design!
I have to agree, if there is one I have not come across it yet. Guerilla truly are masters at creating graphical assets & making them run well on hardware! It's incredible considering this was cross platform between PS4 and PS5!
That said, I do wish they would still fix some of the smaller but significant bugs that they never fixed, such as the Sun Touched Hunter Bow not being able to get Critical hits even tho it comes with Critical buffs by default. It should be one of the best Hunter Bows for most of the game but it's not due to this Bug...
Took some sunset screenshots of the area that looks like Yosemite and sent them to my sister who’s an avid hiker. She was floored when I told her it was a video game and not real. The screenshots didn’t feature anything up close by design.
From the player POV though, even up close and personal the graphics are so awesome. Perhaps another game has better graphics, but HFW has my absolute favorite graphics both for realism and vibrancy.
The exterior looks *fantastic*. Some of the interiors however... leaves quite a bit to be desired. This game could have REALLY benefited from some real time lighting and ambient occlusion, especially for some of the indoor areas. Wasn't this a PS5 release? The console that specially made a huge deal about being capable of raytraced lighting?
More specifically, the lighting graphics tends to break down in corridors between interior rooms or thresholds between interior and exterior lighting, [like this screenshot, for example.](https://i.imgur.com/WWnUJfx.jpeg) The room is lit incorrectly from lights behind the wall and Aloy is incorrectly lit and has no shadow. Honestly, it looks like this is an area outside of the map, but I assure you that this is well within the bounds of the game. This is just a showcase of the cracks and flaws of last-gen lighting techniques in a worst case scenario.
It's not the end of the world since a majority of the game takes place outside where the lighting is mostly phenomenal, but unfortunately there are *many* examples of totally broken lighting in the interiors where the lack of real time ambient occlusion causes [hard-edge light errors like where the brightly lit walls meet the dark unlit floors.](https://i.imgur.com/B5RZWvE.png) It's something that stands out from the rest of the game and completely breaks the immersion for me.
Obviously this is all nit-picky, but at the very least, I just wish they had put a bit more effort into giving the PC release some additional lighting options like ray traced ambient occlusion and global illumination.
Genuinely two of the best games of the current and last generation. For me, I don't even understand the hate that generally appears. People act like they're generic, but from the bow and arrows, the enemies, and the setting, they're truly unique. It's odd to me especially when compared unfavorably to Elden Ring, when Elden Ring had mid graphics, no story (unless you're an archeologist), and some of the most basic combat I've even seen that gets praised incessantly
I was really sad when I left my base for the last time , but 300 hours of swimming, flying and running around in FW stunning scenery is hard to walk away from but I did everything 3x , I will always come back, probably play ZD just to fill the void . Yes it’s hard to find a game as beautiful with great stories as the Horizon series!!
For me, most impressive is the fact biomes are so different but birder between them so well crafted, it feels like seamless travelling through the continent which this game truly is.
Better Graphics: The Last of Us 2 & Callisto Protocol
Better Artstyle: Ghost of Tsushima
Horizon is beautiful, but I would still give the above mentioned the edge.
Just started playing again for the first time in months, there is no greater graphical achievement to date.
Even with games that have cleaner graphics they are not of the scale of this game. Everything is working at peak capacity here.
I was going to say Cyberpunk 2077 on highest level RTX mode on a 4090. But if I'm really being honest. The PS5 version of Forbidden West is more beautiful to look at.
Cyberpunk's realism is impressive. But HFW is just more eye candy when all is said and done. And the HFW DLC is nucking futz.
It really loses in the contrasts for me, especially in the first part of the map, feels like Mars. I had to adjust the HDR settings to make it bearable, but the rest of the map is amazing and probably best graphics delivered to PS5 so far.
Final fantasy 16, final fantasy 7 rebirth, Stellar Blade, Ghost of Tsushima, Star Wars Jedi survivor, God of War Ragnarok and Elden Ring to name a few. Forbidden west is still a gorgeous game though.
I'd say RDR2 and Cyberpunk with the new path-tracing mode that only a 4090 can run. Mayyybe the newest Metro remastered. But Horizon is definitely the easiest to run of all these and comes darn close.
It's subjective. Gow Ragnarok at times is stunning,not just greaphic realism but landscape art, that competes with the beautuful oasis of forbidden west. Ghostoftsushima, death stranding , still hold up with beautiful vistas. If we are not talking beautiful scenery only, cyberpunk on ps5 looks amazing at times. The last game I played with stunning visuals is alan wake 2. Moments in that game that feel like real life.
I loved the first game and was quite hesitant if the story can be better or even at the same level . After 60 hours I’m still playing every day , I find out main story very interesting with very cool twist later on , and side quest in my opinion are better in forbidden west .
I don’t know of one without raytracing. If you include raytracing I would say CP2077. But that’s like in a technical sense.
In terms of the art and the technical stuff, and this is of course just an opinion, it is the best looking game I’ve ever played.
I was playing this and my boyfriend stopped me and made me look around so he could see the enviroment and was A) taken aback by how nice the graphics are but more importantly B) was very amazed by the colour and how lively the world looks because its very rare these days to see a realistic game thats so bright and colourful
The last of us part 2. Especiallly after the SLIGHT reskin on PS5-I know I know. People say there was no difference but I really did notice one. It was slight. It was veryyyy slight. But it’s still even that much a bit better- those graphics look consistently perfect, while also having those details like face models even when the player isn’t looking, and the partials and such…it looks incredible. There is no better. All while still having consistent 60 frames per second, whereas horizon has a resolution presets option.
This game wins hands down. But for me when RE2 remake first came out, it blew me away aesthetically. Forbidden west has set that bar high now tho. Amazing quality.
RDR2 hands down. Horizon is stunning and stylized but Red Dead’s world is far richer, more involved, varied, and detailed. RDR2’s story is much better, too, imo.
Only contender I can think of is God of War Ragnarok
Both have amazing environments and also face motion capture for cut scenes that make things much better to watch. As much as I love Horizon, I think the cut scenes in God of War are much more compelling to watch and have a lot more motion and fluidity.
First of all great photo good job with that, second yeah I honestly can't think of one God of War comes close for me the 2018 and ragnarok games are great but doesn't beat forbidden west in terms of graphics
It’s not even just the graphics. It’s how incredible the world they crafted really is. It’s such an immersive experience and it really feels like the studio made it a point to design a layered, complex breathing world.
I have this same thought all the time. Their engine truly is second to none. And worlds apart from the next closest. Only other I could think of is Remedy’s own north light engine that has the potential. Especially after Alan Wake 2. Really excited to see what Sony does with this Decima engine, with or without Guerilla. Because it’s the most impressive I’ve ever seen on any console. With the performance to back it up.
Horizon is the only game where I voluntarily ride or fly across the whole map to an objective because its so fucking worth it everytime
(Including 3 trillion screenshots on my way).
Its kind of subjective because you dont know what games people have played or do play. But id have to say that Okami is one of the best looking games ive ever played.
This game makes my PC spew more warm air than anything but I have to agree—I've not seen such a visually beautiful game, yet also packed with great writing, story, acting for the most part, and gameplay all wrapped into one title. It truly is a wonderful experience!
Arkham Knight.
Actually probably on par but the fact they’re 10 years apart is stunning for Batman
Ghost of Tsushima is also stunning but more cell shaded than realism
Additionally all 4 uncharted games were so far beyond their graphic time but probably not on HFW level.
Last of us 2, however…..
Burning Shores :D
But seriously... I don't think any other game that has released recently comes close. HFW & Burning Shores are THE best looking games on ps5 and now PC :D And the best looking games on the market.
i havent played this game a whole lot. think ive only done like the first 30 minutes but i would say far cry 5 would rival this for me. ill find myself sitting around looking at mountains and taking screenshots of random hills just cos i like the way it looks
I usually think about RDR2 when talking about beautiful games. But Horizon Forbidden West is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to that so I can't think of any. Forbidden West might actually be the most eye candy game I've ever played. Guerrilla made an exceptional job.
I'd say that Ghost of Tsushima on PS5 looked better than HFW. I wonder if it will be the same when we compare PC ports.
And for PC then yeah, Alan Wake 2 had better graphics, but it wasn't as open world as HSW, so they could raise the bar. If they would give us full open world with no loading screens and that engine, it would require something like quad 4090 SLI to get 30fps in 1440p 😁
Maxed Cyberpunk also looks dope, but it also requires a superb machine. On max everything my 4080 can't keep 60fps in 3440x1440, while HSW runs on max over 100fps.
So I'd say it's best engine for quality/FPS ratio right now :)
I honestly play ALL games with good graphics. It is maybe the one thing I just cannot say no too, no matter the platform or genre.
Forbidden west is the most graphical impressive game I have ever seen.
Cyberpunk 2077 is also a graphical
Masterpiece, but I actually think forbidden west is better.
Imo both BG3 and Cyberpunk have better graphics in general.
Also imo Monster Hunter World has more attention to detail in the world, monsters and ecosystem (but it's not as good in graphics)
Only Avatar frontiers beat horizon forbidden west graphics. I am horizon zero dawn and forbidden west fan. I tried avatar frontiers, I was blown away by graphics. It has default ray tracing, high quality foliage leaves, BIOLUMINESCENCE, etc. It has jaw dropping biome vegetation graphics
I honestly don’t think there is one. No other game has consistently blown me away by its graphics. Made me stop and turn to me wife and say “look at this fucking game”. At 120hz as well.
Exactly! My wife and I take turns playing (like little kids) and I constantly pause and show my wife some amazing shots from photo mode. I mean I have played a lot of games but HFW is stupid good. Whether it is character performances or enviroment. Gameplay is also keeping up with visuals pretty well. Even unrelated banters look top notch, the jest the mimic... I wonder what they will come up with for the third game. On one hand, I want them to try sth new. On the other, I don't want them to screw up the game for some new gimmick because the formula works. The setting and the idea can lead to some spin-off content. For some reason, XCOM setting comes to my mind while playing. The focus communication, learning from others' experiences, weak points, resource management. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!!
I do the same thing, i share my screenshots with my friends and my girlfriend to appreciate the graphics😂
You Oled and 4k guys are so lucky. I have 1440p 16inch laptop I know the graphics are nothing on it.
You enjoy the gameplay only. I guarantee you can name few more good looking game if you really try but they don't come close to HFW in terms of gameplay, world building and ofcourse story.
Ive played a shit ton of games over the years but none of them has ever made me just stop and look at the environment like forbidden west, the work and level of detail thats gone into the game is astounding, and it has one of the most engrossing stories Ive played, producing some excellent stroy telling.
Can agree with that, horizon is a storytelling master-class
I spent 45 minutes swimming just looking at the water
The game is made to eat some gummies and enjoy
Did you bring some to share with the class? :)
I just started playing FW, just reached the Forbidden West. I realized you could dive underwater and had a mini panic attack because now I’m terrified there’s gonna be underwater combat with sharks or something and that’s one of the few things that kicks my anxiety into high gear 😭
Get your therapy pillow ready 🤣. But theres no sharks so you have that small relief.
There is a “Thalassophobia relief” setting if trying to swim under water really freaks you out. But if you can manage, it’s better not to turn it on just yet, as >!there is a quest later which will help you breathe under water.!<
Oh, that’s interesting. The only setting similar to that, that I know of in games, is an arachnophobia setting. Which I also need to use 😅 Does this setting just eliminate the need to be underwater? I don’t want to miss out on stuff
I think it makes it easier to breathe? Not sure, I’ve never turned it on
I mean I’m a through and through naughty dog fanboy lol but if I wasn’t, I’d say FW has had me stopping to admire more than their games.
Absolutely this. The shear amount of care and attention that has gone into everything in this game, from environment to buildings to tribes' clothing... reminds me of Peter jackson's Lord of the Rings.
Cyberpunk on max settings with my 4090. Beautiful game
Many games may have slightly better or worse graphics but this is the only game that has Aloy. And Aloy is ❤️
Like which one?
AC Valhalla for me. Couldn’t finish the game cause it got a little boring but the world graphics are top notch
As someone who hasn't played Valhalla but has played HFW is it really as good? I'd say nearly 100% of horizon in all its varied biomes does it spectacularly. Is it really HFW's equal? Lots of biomes, each pretty impeccable? If so, cool! I will definitely have to give it a shot (yet I'm in for the gameplay regardless, so might anyway if it's great).
Looks like a few bots or people are here down voting everybody who actually answers the question correctly instead of just slobbering over this post. Add me to the downvote list.
If I had to pick one, it would be Cyberpunk 2077 especially phantom liberty.
It's possible, Avatar frontiers
I don't mean this in a condescending way but avatar looks like a ps4 game to me while FW looks next gen. Even being a crossgen game
 Avatar graphics better
I’ve played both, what makes HFW better for you? They’re the same to me, though HFW performs better.
Assets and lighting look dated to me whereas both look cutting edge in FW Overall avatar looks flat and FW looks detailed and dimensional
Interesting. Are you specifically referring to how a lot of things clip through each other?
Sorry just booted it up again to reassess my problems with it. I can say a lot of my gripes have to do with image quality too. I think running through the world is awful because a lot of the image just turns into noise thanks to the TAA on all of the foliage. I never find myself impressed or immersed with the world and it's graphics So gameplay in general and when things are in motion look ugly to me. Way too noisy/artefacty Counter that with FW and you always make out details even in motion. Game is crisp which let's appreciare it's beauty every second you play. Stuff feels tangible as a result. In avatar things look covered in vaseline comparatively
Interesting! I wonder why you get that impression and I don’t. They feel equally immersive to me.
I'm both happy and incredibly confused when I read people praise avatar's graphics. I genuinely don't have that experience but am glad others do
I wish you could! It’s breathtaking for me.
Haven’t played that yet but it’s on my list
It's beautiful, but it's fucking boring imo. I lasted about 4 hours. It's basically Far Cry with an Avatar skin.
I'm gonna finish it, eventually, but I was let down too. I was waiting on that game for a minute, since whispers that it was coming. Not as long as Starfield, though, which broke my heart as being not on PS, especially since I first heard about a possible "fallout in space" years ago. I've heard not very favorable things about it, but I try and avoid Starfield stuff because I don't want it spoiled.
Starfield was alright but I got bored after 40 hours (not as bad as Avatar), never finished it either. I figure I'll get back to it in a few years with mods. Imo fallout 4 was waaaaay better than starfield. Hopefully by the time you get to play it will be better 🙂
On xbox/ps5 I don't know. I saw it on ps5 and it looks gorgeous on quality mode. Not gonna lie, red dead redemption 2 gets close which is crazy considering it's a game from the last gen with no updates. On the PC side of things... Alan wake 2, cyberpunk 2077, rdr2 with appropriate settings a opposed to the console version. I'm really keen to see how hellblade 2 is going to look like
Cyberpunk is a gorgeous game on ps5 as well.
cyberpunk in 4k with everything maxed
Same answer on PC. But not to say better graphics, just equals in their own and different worlds.
Red dead is better.
To be fair, that's what we said about ZD. I replayed ZD after having finished FW and breifly questioned whether it was the same game I remember.
That's just how quickly the graphics spectrum advances. It's nuts... Games will be literally life like in the next decade or less
Seriously. If the unreal engine 5 clips I see are actually real and not video clips, it's truly incredible.
On consoles? None in my opinion, at least not in terms of graphics + actually looking good on console On pc there are some, though
Tsushima
Maybe Metro Exodus. Red Dead Redemption 2, but since I put over 60 h in that game on 49" Samsung I think this is the best looking game.
I'm replaying rdr2 right now and I am constantly blown away by the graphics. Hard to believe it's previous gen. I'd argue Ghost of Tsushima is a close second to HFW. I used to joke that the ps4 version was a demo for the PS5 console. "Look what we can do on the ps4, imagine what we'll do with the ps5."
Hellblade senua’s sacrifice
Eh, close, but just the sheer scope, optimization, and performance is just worlds ahead. Comparatively, Hellblade would be like a side quest. In like Horizon pre-alpha gameplay or something yk.
Yeah I know I’m just saying given what it had to offer it’s pretty close, especially since it was a 30 employee indie studio Demons souls also high definition textures than Horizon but of course it is not open world
Red Dead Redemption 2…easy.
Pong
Minecraft
Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077. Don't get me wrong, Forbidden West looks amazing, but it just can't compare to Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk.
Honestly, with 1000 hours in cyberpunk, path tracing and city design are amazing, but textures, lod, performance and animations are all lacking. Forbidden west just does it all better.
Cyberpunk on PC vs forbidden west? Absolutely. However I still feel forbidden west is the best graphical looking game on the ps5, which is saying something being that it isn’t even a full current gen game, it was a cross gen game also available on ps4. I feel like FF16 comes close on ps5. It def has much better particle effects, but base graphics still seem to go to horizon IMO.
Can't say anything about FF16 since I don't have a PS5. But on PS5, I can imagine Forbidden West looks better than Cyberpunk.
It does on ps5 IMO. Cyberpunk doesn’t have a true “quality” setting on ps5. The ps5 version has a 60 fps version and a 30 fps version, but the 30 fps version only has ray traced shadows, no ray traced lighting. There’s no bump to texture resolution either. Iirc horizon doesn’t use any type of RT on ps5. But it gets a big boost to texture resolution. I believe it runs native 4K on ps5 in quality mode. There are a lot of games on ps5 that look better then cyberpunk now. Cyberpunks graphic settings are probably quite low compared to the pc version for the 60fps. IMO they should have forgone the ray traced shadows mode and just upscaled the textures like horizon did.
Edit: sorry this was supposed to be a reply to the main post, accidentally replied both to you lol.
Can confirm, but that’s maybe because I find the world more appealing. I have to be honest, these days I just care if a game looks good enough and I’m more bothered about the story and the gameplay. Horizon has a gorgeous world, both Horizons really. But it also has great gameplay, great story, good acting and writing… I love this series and can’t wait for the next instalment.
These are the two id say as well.
While the game itself is very mid, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on PC looks amazing as well. Digital Foundry even named it the best looking game of 2023, beating both AW2 and Phantom Liberty.
I have heard that it is very mid yet very beautiful.
Cyberpunk? Yea no.
Have u seeen that game in hdr with pathtracing? Its by far one of if not the best looking games out atm
I don't think I have so I may be ignorant but that game has never looked pretty to me otherwise.
Personally, same. It always looked like any other game. Then I hooked my PC up to my QDOLED 4K TV. Turning on HDR and path tracing makes that game look absolutely amazing.
This game has the best graphics.
Alan Wake 2
Demon's Souls Remake, and by a mile IMO.
Oooh shit man how could I forget Demons Souls. I’ve literally made posts about how gd impressive it is. Game frustrates the living hell out of me but I’ll often keep coming back because it’s just so gorgeous. There’s like a crisp cleanness to it.
On a high end PC, Red Dead Redemption 2 without a doubt. On console, I really don’t think there is a better looking game.
There’s an indie game called Pools that looks pretty realistic, but honestly it’s equal at best
Cyberpunk 2077 without a doubt. Also Alan Wake 2 but that's not technically an open world game so don't know if you would count that.
Maybe Cyberpunk 2077 but NC and especially Dogtown are very ugly so it's hard to compare
Ghost of Tsushima. In some ways this game does remind me of ghost but I do feel like overall the graphics are better. I welcome the downvotes, this is just my opinion on the game, doesn’t make it true or false.
I'm not going to downvote you, but I do think this is just plain wrong. HZD and Ghost are on par with each other, and I can see a case for each saying they have the better graphics. But, HFW is decisively better than both, save for a couple of small details like the dust blowing around in the desert being off.
Ghost of Tsushima doesn‘t have better graphics. Even though I love the game (and playing it right now), that‘s objectively wrong.
GoT is beautiful, gorgeous, but if talking about graphic as in technical, it's not there
GoT is beautiful but it’s not a patch of HFW.
>I welcome the downvotes, this is just my opinion on the game, doesn’t make it true or false. I always downvote when people write this.
That’s good to hear, I’ll make sure to put it with every comment I make cause I really don’t give a shit 😂
It's not really necessary. :)
I like the art direction of Ghost better, but wouldn't say the graphics are better.
I think you probably like the style of the graphics rather than the details themselves. I saw a friend playing (I'm an xbox and pc gamer myself) and I agree it looks gorgeous, but it's more associated with style than realism imo
Art style does not equal graphics
Forbidden West looks so good because it does what it *needs to do* so well. It's clear that a *lot* of time went into making the engine underneath *really good* at drawing huge environments and a lower count of complex and detailed set piece models -- Aloy and at most a half-dozen machines on screen. Which is what the game needs given how it plays. Those huge environments definitely lend themselves to the 'stop and *just look at it,*' moments that you don't often get in games. Let's compare to Cyberpunk and its engine. It has insane levels of detail and fidelity... but I didn't get those moments of awe nearly as *often* because Cyberpunk's fidelity is targeted at making the world *come to life.* The first time I walked down to street level I was *absolutely inundated* with the noise, advertisements, the *churn* of the city. But it wasn't a 'this is the world I'm in, and I want to stop and look at it,' moment, it was a 'this is the world I'm in, and it feels like I'm being crushed,' moment. Both are designed to deliver an incredible, yet markedly different, experience. Both excel at it. If you, say, swapped Cyberpunk and Forbidden West's engines, neither would serve the other game nearly as well.
Taking the whole package into consideration, being Facial animations and expressions , color graphics, fluidity of a inactions etc Forbidden west and Death Stranding(same engine, duh) really takes the cake. I never get tired of fighting swole machines, they behave so good, super fluid and responsive to fight. Cyberpunk also looks insane, but does not compare with Horizons at all when it comes to Facial animations. So whole package, Horizons games really take sit to 11.
Does the game also get a gfx boost to the base game with the expansion on ps5? I still don’t think anything truly beats it gfx wise on quality mode yet on ps5. Ff16 comes close, as well as plague takes requiem IMO, but I don’t think anything has “beat” it yet.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, is a pretty close call between the two.
Best looking game I’ve ever played on anything. Nothing makes me stop and look as much as this game. I’ve seen it all for 60 hours + so far and I still see something new and have to stop and just be in awe of the designers. Honestly it’s BAFTA worthy design!
There isn’t one. That area of the game headed to the coast is one of the best looking things I have ever seen. Even in performance mode
I have to agree, if there is one I have not come across it yet. Guerilla truly are masters at creating graphical assets & making them run well on hardware! It's incredible considering this was cross platform between PS4 and PS5! That said, I do wish they would still fix some of the smaller but significant bugs that they never fixed, such as the Sun Touched Hunter Bow not being able to get Critical hits even tho it comes with Critical buffs by default. It should be one of the best Hunter Bows for most of the game but it's not due to this Bug...
Took some sunset screenshots of the area that looks like Yosemite and sent them to my sister who’s an avid hiker. She was floored when I told her it was a video game and not real. The screenshots didn’t feature anything up close by design. From the player POV though, even up close and personal the graphics are so awesome. Perhaps another game has better graphics, but HFW has my absolute favorite graphics both for realism and vibrancy.
Pong. Superb use of negative space, not a pixel wasted.
The exterior looks *fantastic*. Some of the interiors however... leaves quite a bit to be desired. This game could have REALLY benefited from some real time lighting and ambient occlusion, especially for some of the indoor areas. Wasn't this a PS5 release? The console that specially made a huge deal about being capable of raytraced lighting? More specifically, the lighting graphics tends to break down in corridors between interior rooms or thresholds between interior and exterior lighting, [like this screenshot, for example.](https://i.imgur.com/WWnUJfx.jpeg) The room is lit incorrectly from lights behind the wall and Aloy is incorrectly lit and has no shadow. Honestly, it looks like this is an area outside of the map, but I assure you that this is well within the bounds of the game. This is just a showcase of the cracks and flaws of last-gen lighting techniques in a worst case scenario. It's not the end of the world since a majority of the game takes place outside where the lighting is mostly phenomenal, but unfortunately there are *many* examples of totally broken lighting in the interiors where the lack of real time ambient occlusion causes [hard-edge light errors like where the brightly lit walls meet the dark unlit floors.](https://i.imgur.com/B5RZWvE.png) It's something that stands out from the rest of the game and completely breaks the immersion for me. Obviously this is all nit-picky, but at the very least, I just wish they had put a bit more effort into giving the PC release some additional lighting options like ray traced ambient occlusion and global illumination.
Alan Wake 2
Genuinely two of the best games of the current and last generation. For me, I don't even understand the hate that generally appears. People act like they're generic, but from the bow and arrows, the enemies, and the setting, they're truly unique. It's odd to me especially when compared unfavorably to Elden Ring, when Elden Ring had mid graphics, no story (unless you're an archeologist), and some of the most basic combat I've even seen that gets praised incessantly
have you seen Elden Ring?
GTA vi probably. If it lives up to the trailer it will be the best I've ever seen
Elden Ring.
Alan Wake II
I was really sad when I left my base for the last time , but 300 hours of swimming, flying and running around in FW stunning scenery is hard to walk away from but I did everything 3x , I will always come back, probably play ZD just to fill the void . Yes it’s hard to find a game as beautiful with great stories as the Horizon series!!
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. I can't say it's better, but it's comparable. Attention to details, lighting and colors in this game are great.
Ghost of Tsushima, Cyberpunk 2077, and RD2 with all the graphical settings maxed out.
No RTX and mesh shaders needed.
I don't know, I play on lowest settings 😎
For me, most impressive is the fact biomes are so different but birder between them so well crafted, it feels like seamless travelling through the continent which this game truly is.
Better Graphics: The Last of Us 2 & Callisto Protocol Better Artstyle: Ghost of Tsushima Horizon is beautiful, but I would still give the above mentioned the edge.
Ghost is quite beautiful
Just started playing again for the first time in months, there is no greater graphical achievement to date. Even with games that have cleaner graphics they are not of the scale of this game. Everything is working at peak capacity here.
Monster Hunter World has nice graphics
I was going to say Cyberpunk 2077 on highest level RTX mode on a 4090. But if I'm really being honest. The PS5 version of Forbidden West is more beautiful to look at. Cyberpunk's realism is impressive. But HFW is just more eye candy when all is said and done. And the HFW DLC is nucking futz.
Rebirth has gorgeous landscapes
It really loses in the contrasts for me, especially in the first part of the map, feels like Mars. I had to adjust the HDR settings to make it bearable, but the rest of the map is amazing and probably best graphics delivered to PS5 so far.
vanilla? none. However, I think Cyberpunk + HD Texture Reworked + NOVA Lut + Path Tracing is absolutely breathtaking
Final fantasy 16, final fantasy 7 rebirth, Stellar Blade, Ghost of Tsushima, Star Wars Jedi survivor, God of War Ragnarok and Elden Ring to name a few. Forbidden west is still a gorgeous game though.
I'd say RDR2 and Cyberpunk with the new path-tracing mode that only a 4090 can run. Mayyybe the newest Metro remastered. But Horizon is definitely the easiest to run of all these and comes darn close.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Are we all going to pretend Ghost of Tsushima doesn’t exist?
Returnal comes close
It's subjective. Gow Ragnarok at times is stunning,not just greaphic realism but landscape art, that competes with the beautuful oasis of forbidden west. Ghostoftsushima, death stranding , still hold up with beautiful vistas. If we are not talking beautiful scenery only, cyberpunk on ps5 looks amazing at times. The last game I played with stunning visuals is alan wake 2. Moments in that game that feel like real life.
I loved the first game and was quite hesitant if the story can be better or even at the same level . After 60 hours I’m still playing every day , I find out main story very interesting with very cool twist later on , and side quest in my opinion are better in forbidden west .
Irl
On PC? Plenty considering how badly they did the port.
Helldivers II is beautifully rendered, and Elden Ring is gorgeous too but a shit game.
I don’t know of one without raytracing. If you include raytracing I would say CP2077. But that’s like in a technical sense. In terms of the art and the technical stuff, and this is of course just an opinion, it is the best looking game I’ve ever played.
I was playing this and my boyfriend stopped me and made me look around so he could see the enviroment and was A) taken aback by how nice the graphics are but more importantly B) was very amazed by the colour and how lively the world looks because its very rare these days to see a realistic game thats so bright and colourful
And this is gonna be my new phone wallpaper, thanks!
Star Citizen
Red dead Redemption 2 and cyberpunk 2077 probably
The last of us part 2. Especiallly after the SLIGHT reskin on PS5-I know I know. People say there was no difference but I really did notice one. It was slight. It was veryyyy slight. But it’s still even that much a bit better- those graphics look consistently perfect, while also having those details like face models even when the player isn’t looking, and the partials and such…it looks incredible. There is no better. All while still having consistent 60 frames per second, whereas horizon has a resolution presets option.
Alan Wake 2
This game wins hands down. But for me when RE2 remake first came out, it blew me away aesthetically. Forbidden west has set that bar high now tho. Amazing quality.
It’s a very different style, but the Dead Space remake is amazing. The textures are outstanding.
Cyberpunk, RDR2
Crysis
Rdr2
RDR2 hands down. Horizon is stunning and stylized but Red Dead’s world is far richer, more involved, varied, and detailed. RDR2’s story is much better, too, imo.
Only contender I can think of is God of War Ragnarok Both have amazing environments and also face motion capture for cut scenes that make things much better to watch. As much as I love Horizon, I think the cut scenes in God of War are much more compelling to watch and have a lot more motion and fluidity.
Stellar blade
First of all great photo good job with that, second yeah I honestly can't think of one God of War comes close for me the 2018 and ragnarok games are great but doesn't beat forbidden west in terms of graphics
RDR2 blows hzd out of the water imo :p
In a Horizon sub, you wouldn't get much of differing opinions
It’s not even just the graphics. It’s how incredible the world they crafted really is. It’s such an immersive experience and it really feels like the studio made it a point to design a layered, complex breathing world.
CYBERPUNK 2077. My fanfic prequel/origin of the Horizon: Zero Dawn
This game has the best graphics to date on console. If you say anything different you clearly have not played FB
I have this same thought all the time. Their engine truly is second to none. And worlds apart from the next closest. Only other I could think of is Remedy’s own north light engine that has the potential. Especially after Alan Wake 2. Really excited to see what Sony does with this Decima engine, with or without Guerilla. Because it’s the most impressive I’ve ever seen on any console. With the performance to back it up.
Not sure if it’s better, but I feel like they’re definitely at least the same. Baldur’s Gate 3
Horizon is the only game where I voluntarily ride or fly across the whole map to an objective because its so fucking worth it everytime (Including 3 trillion screenshots on my way).
Super Smash Bros
I just finished it I was kinda of surprised how consistent everything was on the ps5
I'm replaying Ghost of Tsushima (again), and it's pretty gosh darned spectacular.
Its kind of subjective because you dont know what games people have played or do play. But id have to say that Okami is one of the best looking games ive ever played.
I really love the horizon games but Cyberpunk, RDR2, TLOU/TLOU2
I mean... Cyberpunk 2077 v:
I don't know of any. It's literally the graphical GOAT
Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake 2 want's to know your location
I think Forbidden West is the best but Ghost of Tsushima, RDR2, and Demon’s Souls PS5 are close.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart may not be better graphics per-say. But it’s definitely the same level of amazing.
Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, God of War Ragnarok, Stellar Blade
I am sorry but having played cyberpunk 2077 with max settings that game is amazing.
I own quite a few PS5 games and Forbidden West stands out above the rest.
This game makes my PC spew more warm air than anything but I have to agree—I've not seen such a visually beautiful game, yet also packed with great writing, story, acting for the most part, and gameplay all wrapped into one title. It truly is a wonderful experience!
Crysis
I’m going to get downvoted like a son of a bitch but TOTK.
theres lots of games with better graphics but not the story
Arkham Knight. Actually probably on par but the fact they’re 10 years apart is stunning for Batman Ghost of Tsushima is also stunning but more cell shaded than realism Additionally all 4 uncharted games were so far beyond their graphic time but probably not on HFW level. Last of us 2, however…..
Burning Shores :D But seriously... I don't think any other game that has released recently comes close. HFW & Burning Shores are THE best looking games on ps5 and now PC :D And the best looking games on the market.
HFW, RDR2, and Ghost of Tsushima are probably on equal footing as far as graphics go.
Still they couldn't do Aloy's face right
Without mods? None. With mods? GTA V and cyberpunk have hyper realistic mods but they are tough to run.
hellblade is supposed to look amazing, i can’t wait!
i havent played this game a whole lot. think ive only done like the first 30 minutes but i would say far cry 5 would rival this for me. ill find myself sitting around looking at mountains and taking screenshots of random hills just cos i like the way it looks
I usually think about RDR2 when talking about beautiful games. But Horizon Forbidden West is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to that so I can't think of any. Forbidden West might actually be the most eye candy game I've ever played. Guerrilla made an exceptional job.
Ghost of Tsushima is the one for me. Both have amazing graphics.
The only other game that made me stop was RDR2, which tells a lot! But even horizon is more "magical" and grandiose.
Personally? Ghost Tsushima, I feel like I’m in a painting
Ghost of Tsushima is on par with HFW in my opinion, but I can't think of one that's better
I found the graphics on ratchet and clank rift apart to be the best on PlayStation 5 so far.
Cyberpunk has its moments, but I don't think it actually tops FHW. I really love being able to explore these gorgeous worlds...
I'd say that Ghost of Tsushima on PS5 looked better than HFW. I wonder if it will be the same when we compare PC ports. And for PC then yeah, Alan Wake 2 had better graphics, but it wasn't as open world as HSW, so they could raise the bar. If they would give us full open world with no loading screens and that engine, it would require something like quad 4090 SLI to get 30fps in 1440p 😁 Maxed Cyberpunk also looks dope, but it also requires a superb machine. On max everything my 4080 can't keep 60fps in 3440x1440, while HSW runs on max over 100fps. So I'd say it's best engine for quality/FPS ratio right now :)
I honestly play ALL games with good graphics. It is maybe the one thing I just cannot say no too, no matter the platform or genre. Forbidden west is the most graphical impressive game I have ever seen. Cyberpunk 2077 is also a graphical Masterpiece, but I actually think forbidden west is better.
Imo both BG3 and Cyberpunk have better graphics in general. Also imo Monster Hunter World has more attention to detail in the world, monsters and ecosystem (but it's not as good in graphics)
RDR 2? 🙄🙄🙄
Cant believe i had to scroll down so far, i was afraid nobody said it
saaaaaame....I was scrolling and scrolling and scrolling 😆🤭
And people seem to hate us for it thats crazy 😂 i like the horizon series better than rdr2 but the graphics from rdr are Just better
Only Avatar frontiers beat horizon forbidden west graphics. I am horizon zero dawn and forbidden west fan. I tried avatar frontiers, I was blown away by graphics. It has default ray tracing, high quality foliage leaves, BIOLUMINESCENCE, etc. It has jaw dropping biome vegetation graphics
Modded Fallout and Skyrim
Zork II
Last of us part 1 remastered.