@Moogle Midgar Death Stranding have wonderful assets, Control have the most advanced ray tracing implementations in games to date. Even COD MW only implement ray tracing for shadows. But I agree with you that COD MW is better than Metro Exodus. As for Gears 5, my opinion is that game have very good performance for the fidelity it offers.
9900k/2080Ti on 3440x1440 I have yet to see shit graphics, Control looks amazing, I played through it originally on a 8700k/1080ti and was decent but a second time through with RTX was completely different experience, just a shame RTX really isnt being implemented more..
I don't know how they got his eyes to look so fantastic. It's all I could look at while he was on screen, it's a shame that the rest of the character's eyes didn't match the same level of quality.
Death Stranding is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played, the atmosphere is rivaling games like Okami and Shadow of the Colossus for me. thanks for giving it the recognition it deserves!
@@easter3000 They'll both probably slap some "8K ready" stickers on their stuff. Like being able to play 8K photo's and video's lol. i'm not sure the average consumer is interested the coming year or 2, especially if they see 8k TV prices. Also, 4K TV's are finally "Cheap" since the past year or 2. Many people still need to upgrade to 4K.
Yay, A Plague Tale getting its deserved recognition, really great lower budget title! Can't wait for the sequel which is apparently already being worked on
@@childofvenus3781 one of thier previous videos Alex puts a lot of emphasis on the "friend" at the end of the video It's the one where they talk about the Xbox series x reveal
@@TaimatCR It goes further. It was one of John's videos where he says something along the lines of "last time I was joined by my friend, now I'm joined by my colleague Alex."
@@childofvenus3781 They always said friend and colleague, but one video John had his friend Audi on and the next similar video he said "I'm joined by not my friend Audi, but my colleague Alex" and the comment section freaked out. Obviously just a minor slip, but Alex jokingly emphasizes friend now after the reaction.
Norman Reedus looks so confused in death stranding all the time, which is quite representative of what the player feels, which makes for a starkly immersive experience.
Having played them all on a 2080 super (minus DS), Metro Exodus, is the game that stands out the most. It's the game I want to go back to play the most and I've never played either of the prequels for it. It is just insanely gorgeous and atmospheric with Ray tracing pumped up! Best graphical game I've ever played!
John just said "joined by my colleague" and not friend about alex a few videos ago. Everyone commented on it and they turned it into a bit of a running joke
i have been a subscriber to this channel from the past 9 years,these guys have never disappointed me and they have come a long way,love you DF, hope you make videos till i die and more...
Hahahahaha! YES!!! Finally, Alex is both John's FRIEND and colleague! How long we have waited! xD (very nice edited with the colors, comic sans font and the music, just what the community needed) xD
Death Stranding and Gears 5 are the usual example of the end of life of a console circle were the developers know so much about the system and had twick their engines to the best level possible to fully unitilize the system. I bet Ghost of Tsushima will be another such title when it comes out next year and by the end of the year it may be the only title that makes it to such a video despite being on previous consoles by then and not having ray tracing etc. Well The last of Us II may also make it.
I know it's not strictly a 2019 game but the Red Dead 2 PC release has easily some of the best graphics I've ever seen. Playing at 4K it's stunning and with gsync enabled the 40s and 50s framerate is acceptable. Unfortunately you do need both a 2080ti and a 4K gysnc screen, but, if you've neglected to have a child and found yourself with a decent amount of disposable income, it's highly recommended.
B K that’s why I play at 3440x1440. Nice crisp image that looks better due to the higher aspect ratio but my 2080ti is capable of putting out higher fps than if I was to game at 4K
They don't surpass PC, though. If you've seen ray tracing in Control or RDR2 on PC in ultra, you'd know why. He only says that because it's an opinion, much like many things in this video.
And yet it laks so much details when you compare it to Gears of War 2...and thats a fact....the impact of the bullits in objects, reflections in the mirrors, when you shoot objects they disapear and so on and so on.....all of that was much better in Gears of War 2... FACT.....
I don't know anything about development of games, but judging by Horizon Zero Dawn and Death Stranding and considering the platform, I think Decima engine is a 3d graphics miracle machine.
Since I played HZD I kept wondering how other games would look in Decima. The build of the machines in HZD, the stacking of parcels in DS, scenery in both, so many details looking good and working well together.
To be honest, One game that I have been completely floored by this year is actually Generation Zero. Not because of character models (they look mediocre at best) or revolutionary techniques like ray-tracing, but rather the sheer natural size of the world, and the environmental art. The amazing weather system in conjunction with the micro detailing of the environment is absolutely excellent. And it actually feels like exploring rural Sweden in the 80's... The morning mist covering the fields, or the sun shafts created by the sun piercing through the humid forests is a sight to behold. Sure the game had a really rough launch with tons of bugs, glitches and asset re-use (and should've been a early-access title if you ask me) but over the last 6 months it actually plays amazing and looks the part as well. I don't know how it plays on console, but on PC with max settings 1440p and 60+fps gameplay it has been one of the most beautiful games I have played this year.
I just finished Control on PC, cause it was on sale... It looked spectacular, and I just have an RX580. I can't imagine what my reaction would've been if I had a Ray Tracing capable card.
I'd really like to see if you guys could find out how devs will use AI/MachineLearning to help create in game development. There is some exciting technology out there. I think Nvidia has a lot going on there.
A Plague Tale so underrated. It's not just graphics... Soundtrack and the voice acting TOP fckn NOTCH. Gameplay is basic yet fine, story telling using gaming as a medium great. They achieved great things with this game. Congratz and thanks to that studio. I hope they get bigger.
Plague tale innocence blew me away. I cant believe such a small team did such a good job on the visuals. But not only that, they made a game that is better than any of the shit AAA developers put out there these days. Incredible game.
A Plague Tale looks amazing, but I wish we could get a remaster with RT since the fly in the graphical ointment is the SSAO shadows always flickering at the edge of the screen as geometry moves in and out. The art is amazing in Plague Tale, I would love to see that fixed. It shows the limitations of screen space graphical hacks. RT isn't just a nice-to-have feature going forward; graphics are getting to the point where screen space artifacts are the ugliest things onscreen.
If you slept on Plague Tale please wake up and go get it now that the price is right. It was one of my favorite games this year and it seems like lots of people missed out on it.
I was actually impressed with Noita this year and its per-pixel physics engine. I was blown away by it! Yeah, I know it's a 2D pixel art indie game, but the technology behind it is nevertheless absolutely mindblowing.
Good picks guys. Personally I find Death Stranding more realistic looking than Metro Exodus especially in the character models, world density and lighting. Both are excellent looking games tho. Decima on PS5 would be too much for RU-vid lol.
Death stranding is the best over all its just perfect every thing i would want in a first person game with zombies lol. Its so realistic looking just unbelievable shame this isn't my type of game i like the use of linda wagner in a computer game its was nice to see maybe we will start to get more famous stars in games for the future and make use of there acting skills in a unique way .
So, I don't know if somebody already wrote this in the comments but I can say how Plague Tale achieved these wonderful assets. They used MegaScans (which is now free on UE4, which is revolutionary for small studios in my opinion) Also, this studio is the same that develops Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 so their future looks bright
Very nice! This feels like a bonus for me, since John was saying goodbye for the year at the end of his previous standalone video. It's always nice to have more great content! Happy New Year und Auf Wiedersehen!
I must really be a graphics glutton, because three of my overall top 5 games of the year are Control, Metro Exodus and RE2 remake haha. I’m so glad you gave Metro some love. It’s not a perfect game but it’s SO unique for a shooter in today’s market. I wish more games were like it. And it’s gorgeous, runs really really well on PC at this point too for the degree of fidelity it’s offering. I’m just getting around to RDR2 for the first time with its PC release and it’s a stunner. A lot of that is incredible art design but it also does something with the interplay of volumetrics and lighting that at times just takes my breath away.
Metro is perfect but you're crazy to put those games above death stranding. Especially resident evil and control. The image quality in those games is terrible. Re 2 has the worst iq I've seen since 2014 lol
Hugo Stiglitz I haven’t played Death Stranding, so I can’t really comment. It’s funny how subjective this stuff us, in terms of art and what people like. Watching videos of Death Stranding, it doesn’t seem all that visually appealing to me personally, yet I still understand why it’s impressive. When it comes to PC ill get to see it in real time, which can make a huge difference. And RE2 I found absolutely beautiful with the lighting, character models, volumetrics: but I understand why someone might not like it. Some softness to the AA solution and reflections but it fit the filmic style of the presentation. It’s also just an atmospheric game in general.
Great choices guys. For me Death Stranding, RE2, Plague Tale, Metro Exodus. Gears 5 a near miss. Fantastic interiors but very bland and weakly designed exteriors. Fast forward a year and you just know Last Of Us 2 and Cyberpunk will be on this list... PS Quixel being incorporated into Unreal 4 is seriously major. Nice move Epic.
I can't wait for digital foundry to announce their first games console. Every game for it will use either the quake or duke nukem engine or be a 2D SHMUP. They will all feature full ray tracing, run at 600fps and the console will only work with the supplied 17" CRT.
I'm pretty sure I learned from Alex's video that Asobo used Quixel for A Plague Tale - that's how they managed to have these beautiful materials all over despite only having a small team of artists. They are working on Microsoft Flight Simulator these days, but rumor has it that development for a sequel A Plague Tale is underway.
Not development as such, they're completely focused on Microsoft Flight Simulator. Pre-development has started, i.e. writing the story and storyboards etc but no actual work on the game itself
@@acurisur Unless you have some insider information, that's kind of hard to tell for sure. That being said, the work you describe already counts as development - especially if there is (presumably) some prototyping going on on the side.
I was surprised neither of them knew about Asobo working on Microsoft Flight Simulator. If any game shows off amazing graphics, it’s that game.....and supports their amazing work on Plague Tale.
Great vid! Unfortunately I predicted 'Control' would be on the list for the RTX effects, but I personally believe it is not even an honorable mention. I thought the character models were Gawd awful for a 2019 game. I mean, some of those NPCs characters looked circa 2007....and their animations were horribly limited and unrealistic. Comparing 'Control' to 'Gears' or even 'Death Stranding' is like night and day. In my opinion, 'Control' definitely does not meet a "best graphics' threshold...maybe more "best tech implementation/tech demo", but surely not "Graphics" in its entirety.
To elaborate on A Plague Tale: Innocence: They used Megascans, which is a gigantic library of all photoscanned objects, ready to use with sets of PBR textures and materials that developers can use in their games.
Stoprigjr there, don't try to defwnd that mail delivery simulator. Even "pro" reviewers admitted to it being boring and repetitive. And boss fights are pathetic as well. Good you enjoyed it though :)
@@lordscav3794 never gonna play it, dude, not even for free, still it's easy to see it from miles away, also many who played it have said the same about it, stop being a Kojima bot and damage control that trash
14:44 If it hasn't already been said, A Plague Tale used Quixel Magascans for their assets. Which was smart. It allowed them to use assets someone else generated and they could focus on other parts of the game.
Most impressive looking console game Gears 5, especially when you consider it's not just a single player campaign it also has a fully fledged Multi player and all at 60fps.
the best looking game iv played this year has to be days gone... it just looked stunning and the way weather works in that game is amazing. imo one of the most underrated games this gen. Death stranding is a amazing technical achievement but Days gone for me is hands down the best looking game of 2019 RE2, Dmc and gears 5 also high marks of this year. Gears 5 also looked very good on Pc but Days gone was just on another level.
Hadrian Veska yes iv played both death stranding and control, days gone certainly looks great, the weather effects where snowfall changes the landscape has not been done in any other game.
the graphics of death stranding were just amazing and it was just on ps4 imagine how the sony first party games are gonna look on ps5 like its gonna be amazing
I love how Capcom pushes tech and always do an exceptional job. Like "F Unreal, we're better". And IMO, they are. Last gen I couldn't believe RE6 was running and looking like that on consoles, and 5 was already a good job.
Excellent video! I especially liked your enthusiasm when talking about Quake 2 RTX. I'm really excited about what this technology may bring in the future.
Plagues tale was up there with gears 5 for me. To anyone that hasn’t played plagues tale give it a shot. Truly awesome and it’s free on game pass as of jan 2020
I'd elect Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019 as an honorable mention just for its animations. The handgun firing animations in particular..so realistic!
@@MylesDaye Crazy to think that it's not actually a totally new engine. (Well, not that crazy, because Advanced Warfare and Black Ops 3 are beautiful, too)
I think the most amazing part is just how much they can get out of a PS4. I mean the 7850 in a PS4 was mid range in 2013. For them to get that level of detail out of it, shows how good Guerilla games engine is. Horizon is also crazy beautiful. I mean there's optimizing code for consoles and then there's this. It's crazy.
while I love raytracing, theres just one issue with it for me. Companies have iterated on things like SSAO, PBR, SSR, planar reflections, signed distance fields, parallax occlusion mapping, cubemaps, crepuscular rays and other effects to make their games look as good as real life because simulating light itself would be too taxing. I hope studios don't drop all those interesting methods in favor of just throwing raytracing in and calling it a day, because I love seeing how studios work hard to make their reflections look better than another studio's, but run just as well if not better, for instance - like how the SSAO in Crysis 1 was a new never-before-seen graphical effect and was a really good method of simulating indirect shadowing
so you would rather a worse looking game in the future because it would make game companies waste money developing worse looking technologies into a game
Plague Tale makes heavy use of Quixel's Megascan photogrammetrically-sourced materials to create a lot of the surface detail (Alex actually mentioned this in his coverage of the game). Epic recently bought Quixel and are providing the library free for UE4 developers, so that might be an incentive for the developer to move over to that for their next project.
