“The world is so detailed”: For some, the visual slam of the year is not Elden Ring, but a PS5 and PS4 exclusive!
Elden Ring won the Game Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Director, but the ceremony makes no mention of “technique.” When it comes to graphics, it’s best to take Digital Foundry for granted. The reference in video game technology has just revealed its top 3 of the best graphics of the year. Elden Ring is absent, as is God of War Ragnarök.
Artistic direction vs. technical quality
When we talk about the beauty of a game, we have to distinguish two aspects. On the one hand, there is the artistic direction, that is, the elements that make up the entire world of a video game. At this point, the big winner of the year is undoubtedly elden ring. The Hinterland offers many impressive environments, from the underground city of Nokron to the Caelid, from the capital Leyndell to the peaks of the giants. All the elements of the FromSoftware title – the bestiary, the equipment, the NPCs, the locations, etc. – form a cohesive, enveloping and devilishly fun whole. However, the question of artistic direction partly omits that of pure technique.
An aspect in which Digital Foundry journalists are justly specialized. Digital Foundry, one of the leading authorities on gaming technology, has just shared their Top 3 Best Graphics of 2022. None of the games awarded at the Game Awards is in this top three. Not Elden Ring or God of War: Ragnarokbut authentic visual slaps that make the engine of our favorite machines purr. And this Top begins with a surprise.
What is the graphic slap of the year?
Which games have conquered the Digital Foundry team with their graphics this year? To start with the end of this Top 3, there is already a surprise. It is the reissue of Portal. Valve’s cult title underwent a major graphical overhaul at the end of the year that included support for Nvidia’s RTX technology.
Also coming in second is a year-end game: Callisto Protocol. Dead Space’s successor didn’t necessarily shine in terms of gameplay or plot, but his graphs put everyone in agreement. Finally, the first place is for a Playstation exclusive, or rather its version for PS5. Unlike its predecessor, Horizon: Forbidden West is a technical gem for Digital Foundry.
The world is so detailed (…) they have rendered the particle effects and the view distance beautifully on PS5 (…) (Compared to its predecessor) the lighting has improved a lot. It’s really nice, visually speaking. There’s a nuance of lighting that didn’t exist in the original game (…) – John Linneman, journalist and video producer at Digital Foundry.
Digital Foundry’s full comments can be found just below in their full video.