Keep your 3090, I prefer Horizon on PS5

Keep your 3090

You have surely seen the State of Play last night. We did and we are honestly still looking for our jaw around the house. What was shown yesterday by Sony is sensational, to the point of pushing us to come out with a very strong title that is perhaps the case to contextualize immediately. Before you tell us that NVDIA's 3090 is super powerful and that consoles - in comparison - are toys, read what we have to tell you. The point that we want to underline, in fact, is the optimization work behind the game, which the developers will still be trying to refine in the smallest details, probably. If Horizon Forbidden West has a substantially Next-Gen glance, despite it not and it also runs on a PS4, it is because Guerrilla Games knows 100% of Sony's hardware and can exploit it like never before, as indeed we have. seen with other well-known and noble PlayStation exclusives.

Withdraw the pitchforks, we can proceed.

A graphics sector of rare beauty

The first chapter, Horizon Zero Dawn, also wonderful to the point of almost pushing the limits of the platform, had a big problem related to expressiveness of the various characters, even more accentuated by the remarkable level of detail. It was great to see how, judging by this 14-minute presentation, the developers took care to fix the problem. The State of Play, in fact, opens with a cut-scene that sees Aloy, the protagonist, rescue one of the men of the Carja, a tribe led by Erend, a character who makes her return. To a very pleasant surprise, the expressiveness of the faces has reached good levels; probably not comparable to some of the best examples seen on PlayStation 4, but definitely above average and the previous chapter. We could tell you the same about the direction that accompanies the cutscenes, perfect in the transitions between movies and game phases, but without any particular flashes. But it is when silence falls and the pad ends up in someone's hands (unfortunately not ours) that we felt projected into the future, incredulous at a perfect glance, convincing lighting and a very wide draw distance. A miracle, we said, a level of detail that dwarfs an NVIDIA 3090. But not because it isn't capable, it might even do a lot more, but because no one will ever develop a title tailored to that card, and a super high-end configuration in general. The positive side of the consoles, on the other hand, is precisely this: closed architectures and to be learned to the millimeter in order to come up with a production of this magnitude. Of course there will be limits, and to tell the truth a careful eye can already notice them from this presentation. First of all, exactly as happened in the first chapter, with the exception of the tall vegetation within which it is possible to hide and act stealthily, no blade of grass trampled by the protagonist will react; exactly like no other structure, except for those present during the boss fights, it can be knocked down by enemies.

Undeniable limits that, net of what we have seen, we do not feel in the least to criticize, especially considering the nature cross-gen of the title. The truth, in fact, is that Horizon Forbidden West is next-gen, but no. Probably, it would take a chat with the big boys of Guerrilla Games to find out how much and where they have been limited by the PlayStation 4 generation, but the idea that some of the "problems" encountered would have remained the same cannot be ruled out a priori. One point that we saw chatted immediately after the presentation, not surprisingly, concerns the introduction of the grapple and the fact that it can only be used where provided by the developers, well highlighted by the design of the structures in order to make the scenes readable; the same with regards to the paravela, completely inherited from the latest Zelda Breath of the Wild, which will almost certainly have important limitations, for example linked to a focus-controlled battery (these are suppositions). Well, if you were expecting the total freedom of Zelda, with Aloy able to cling to every possible structure, it's not that hard to be disappointed. It must be understood that each production has different objectives and makes history in itself, and if those of Horizon (as Sony has accustomed us to in recent years) mainly concern graphic amazement with an exaggeratedly successful artistic direction in support, so be it. If in Breath of the Wild it is possible to cling everywhere, except for the limits imposed by stamina, it is because the production objectives are about pure gameplay and total exploration of the world. So it does not make us turn up our noses to see a surface that we are climbing, completely simple and browse, especially considering the technological capabilities of Nintendo Switch and Wii U; just as in Horizon the alleged lack of these possibilities should not turn up one's nose. For years, Sony has been manufacturing highly technical products that are open to the mainstream public and are satisfied with a rocky solidity of the game mechanics, and I don't see why the sequel to a game that has surpassed 10 million units should break this circle. .

A more of the same, but nice ones

That's right, you got it right: starting with the now inevitable stealth mechanic involving tall grass, Horizon Forbidden West is a more of the same. As reiterated before, with regard to the technical sector and the improvement in the expressions of the faces, also in this case Guerrilla Games seems well aware of the problems that critics and users have encountered in the previous chapter, and would seem well prepared to make a low forward. The element that most of all had disappointed the audience was the sword fighting, specifically with human opponents. Here, although it is still too early to discuss it, from the gameplay shown there is a quite substantial improvement. Another surprise was the reaction of the machines to Aloy's actions, intent on following her even underwater, great news of this second chapter. It will almost certainly be an ad hoc combined scene to amaze the audience, but also considering the introduction of the smoke bomb, it cannot be ruled out that the escapes will play a good role within the game economy. After all, we are fighting machines, and in case we encounter a particularly threatening one, it might not be a bad idea to run away. In this regard, the grappling hook and the paravela deserve a mention again, which could amplify the range of these new findings, as could the possibility of diving in depth to get out of the reach of the enemies. a moment to what we said about melee combat, in addition to greater pleasure in the attacks launched, the real shock in this sense could be given by these newly introduced super abilities. Basically, in addition to the already known weapons already appeared in the first chapter, with the exception of some gadgets and some new entries, we will have an ability to recall when ready, as visible from the bar under the character's health. Should there be at least a couple of them, in combination with the improvements described they could greatly improve the phases to be played against humanoid opponents.

But as the presentation of the last Horizon Zero Dawn taught us, what was shown last night could only ending with a mammoth boss fight, reached by the protagonist using the now well-known override, which allows us to make a car our ally and ride it using it as a means of travel. This series of features, although substantially those closest to the last chapter, have been able to impress us more than any other game component: once again the battles seem tense, demanding, physical, adrenaline-pumping. Music pumps in our ears and gives us no respite. In short, pad in hand, at least according to the good achievements made by the first chapter and to our imagination, it seems really very satisfying.

On the narrative sector, however, it is really too early to say: our only hope is that of seeing a more concrete and incisive story that is not lost too much and knows how to keep interest alive.

But now the word is up to you: has Horizon Forbidden West convinced you? And also, do you also prefer experiences built to exploit all the technological possibilities of a console? Please let us know in the comments section.

In the meantime, you can retrieve the first chapter at a good price!