It was announced as a PS5 exclusive game, but Horizon Forbidden West is finally coming out on Sony’s previous-gen machine as well. As controversial as the decision was, Guerrilla Games itself has revealed that both versions have been developed in parallel, at the same time. In addition, he has detailed the graphical improvements of the characters in the new generation. Of course, in the study they do not think that the game will lose quality on PlayStation 4. All these reflections are collected on the official PlayStation blog, where Bastien Ramisse, chief character designer, has shared his thoughts on the matter.
“Each generation of consoles brings more power, allowing us to add denser polygons to our character models to create finer details” in the skin and in other aspects, such as “smooth contours, more detailed textures and a more material expression. precise ”. They have also increased the “number of joints” of Aloy’s skeleton, so that “deformations and facial expressions” reach higher quality levels.
“It does not mean that the PS4 version loses quality”
For the developer, these improvements are not detrimental to the PS4 version: “The fact that the team has pushed the capabilities of the console to the limit in the PlayStation 5 version of Horizon Forbidden West does not mean that the PlayStation 4 version loses quality”, Bastien comments. “We develop and test the game simultaneously for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, because ensuring that PlayStation 4 players have an equally immersive experience is important to us. With what we learned in Horizon Zero Dawn, we knew that we still had some unexplored resources that could further enhance the realism and quality of our characters. It’s great that we can now draw on that knowledge and experience in the sequel. “
Horizon Forbidden West relies on stylistic lines marked by the first installment, so that the differences at a technical level are more focused on the capture of body and face movements. “With a meticulous increase in the density of polygons” it is possible to capture “the clothes used and made by hand”.
The game will be available on 18th of February 2022 on PS4 and PS5.
Source | PlayStation Blog
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