Horizon Forbidden West was initially announced exclusively for PS5, but as you know, Sony has changed its mind and Aloy’s adventure will be available on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
The creators want to use the advantages of both devices and on the PS5 we can count on, among other things, a new level of facial expressions:
“Each console generation brings additional power that allows us to add more polygon density to character models, so we can create finer details, such as a bokeh blur effect, smooth selection, or finer texture details and accurate material rendering. It’s not just the visual aspects that count. Take advantage of the new PlayStation 5 – We’ve also increased the number of skeleton joints to take our deformations and facial expressions to a whole new level, providing more believable and engaging character depictions. Overall, this is a dream come true for both gamers and developers!”
Horizon Forbidden West on PS5 is set to “push the boundaries,” but that doesn’t mean the PS4 version will look much worse. Developers are now production testing over two generations to ensure the quality expected on both devices:
“We have already developed and tested the game on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 simultaneously, as it is very important to us that PlayStation 4 players have an equally immersive experience. With our knowledge of Horizon Zero Dawn, we knew we still had some Undiscovered resources that can advance the realism and quality of our characters’ assets; it’s great to be able to use this knowledge and experience in a sequel now.
The creators do not hide that Horizon Forbidden West is based on Horizon Zero Dawn, which is not surprising, but the developers did not talk about the project so clearly:
Technically, Horizon Forbidden West stands on the shoulders of the design foundation that has been successfully created in Horizon Zero Dawn. One of the most notable differences and improvements for Aloy in terms of technology is increased accuracy of face and body capture, allowing for more realistic shapes and surface detail on characters, as well as Carefully increase the density of the polygons to capture handicrafts and second-hand clothing.”
