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Hellblade II Screenshot Thread | Best looking game this gen so far?

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I’ll say this, it definitely isn’t that impressive via Xbox Cloud. The lighting gets fuzzy and I’ve got a Samsung Q70A. It is running off a Xbox One, but still.

Reading everyone’s jaw dropping comments just shows that cloud gaming has some way to go. I’m personally not impressed, but I get why.
 
I was amazed by it last night on series x, it's absolutely stunning in motion, with headphones it's really imersive.
Story seems decent to.
Yes it's very on rails but I totally forgot about that and was drawn in to the experience.
 
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Mortisfacio

Banned
q2h3Z8z.png


If not for the deformed wrist movement there, an otherwise solid scene.

And another from the same fight. The animations are absolutely insane


T7cC6DJ.png
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Where are the gameplay shots? Still have to see what the gui looks like

There's no HUD. The first one was the same. All the screens I've posted, except one or two, are straight gameplay shots.

The one's above your post by Mortisfacio Mortisfacio is also game-play, its' the 'boss' at the end of the first segment of the game. Maybe he used photo-mode for camera framing, but it's all real-time.
 
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Mortisfacio

Banned
There's no HUD. The first one was the same. All the screens I've posted, except one or two, are straight gameplay shots.

The one's above your post by Mortisfacio Mortisfacio is also game-play, its' the 'boss' at the end of the first segment of the game. Maybe he used photo-mode for camera framing, but it's all real-time.

Yah it's photomode, but only alteration was lighting. Those specific scenes during gameplay due to the lighting the facial detail doesn't show as well. It's really just a masterclass visually.


yPjLegS.png
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I think this whole discussion is taking away from the fact, how incredible the facial animation is.

For first time it actually does not invoke that uncanny valley feeling, but rather it looks really natural (for a crazy bitch that is), I know that meta human with that iPhone thingy can do it, but the question is, why the fuck we are 4 years in and this is the first time, we actually get something like this. This whole gen is so slow.
 

WX3

Member
Graphics are lovely and all and I only played an hour but one thing I must ask, why does this bitch sound like a rabid dog every time she swings her sword?
 
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evanft

Member
I made a quick comparison with effects on vs. off

Screenshots are at 1440p w/DLSS quality and frame gen turned on. I left the letterboxing on because right now removing it crops the image from the sides rather than expanding the top and bottom.

Here's the full list of changes in engine.ini. It's based on the mod I linked before with additional changes from the comments:

[SystemSettings]
r.SceneColorFringeQuality=0
r.Tonemapper.GrainQuantization=0
r.Tonemapper.Quality=0
r.NT.Lens.Distortion.Intensity=0
r.NT.Lens.Distortion.Stretch=0
r.NT.Lens.ChromaticAberration.Intensity=0
r.FilmGrain=0
r.DefaultFeature.MotionBlur=0
r.MotionBlurQuality=0
r.Refraction.Blur=0
r.MotionBlur.Directions=0
r.NT.Lens.Softness.RadiusSampleCount=0
r.NT.Lens.Softness.Intensity=0

EDIT: Updated to remove DOF changes. I don't see much change in image quality from them and like the way the DOF looks, anyways.
 
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calistan

Gold Member
I made a quick comparison with effects on vs. off

Screenshots are at 1440p w/DLSS quality and frame gen turned on. I left the letterboxing on because right now removing it crops the image from the sides rather than expanding the top and bottom.

Here's the full list of changes in engine.ini. It's based on the mod I linked before with additional changes from the comments:
Looks better with effects on.
 
I think this whole discussion is taking away from the fact, how incredible the facial animation is.

For first time it actually does not invoke that uncanny valley feeling, but rather it looks really natural (for a crazy bitch that is), I know that meta human with that iPhone thingy can do it, but the question is, why the fuck we are 4 years in and this is the first time, we actually get something like this. This whole gen is so slow.
Yeah all round this is the best animated game yet. Absolutely crazy how realistic everyone moves.
 
Jesus Christ this looks absolutely insane graphically - people think Horizon Forbidden West looks better than this???? If Naughty Dog can get an actual game to have this level (or close) graphics. I will consider this gen a success

Its a very linear game with very little going on or characters on screen at any one time. So of course its going to look like this. I'm sure if you gave other developers the time and budget they too could come up with something to this visual fidelity but not every developer is going to want to spend years and millions to develop a linear corridor story driven game like this.
 

M1987

Member
PC version with the letterbox removed, along with film grain and CA etc removed -

prw1XQp.jpeg


It looks more like a 'game' now than a cgi movie and i'm sure some will feel its lost its charm like this, but i prefer the clean and crisp image quality. The game looks fucking nuts too imo, the detail really shines through with all the post processing gone (well most of it)..


vm6cyAi.jpeg

Zjn6Eup.jpeg
MnSDoT6.jpeg
How do you remove the CA etc?
 

Ashamam

Member
Had a look on the Series X. Initially I thought 30fps was going to be ok, but that was in the opening night stage where everything is murky already. The sun came up and whoa, what a smeared mess in motion. Made worse by what is a pretty low internal resolution. I think on balance Starfield had a better 30fps experience. Probably because it wasn't fighting some pretty extreme upscaling. (But Starfield at 60fp is still night and day better ofc)

HB2 has its moments visually and the HDR is really good, but its not a particularly stable image on an OLED at 30fps.
 
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kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
Is it weird that I'm not that impressed? It's technically impressive, but in a way that a tech demo for a new engine is impressive. There doesn't seem to be anything going on artistically. It's kind of the opposite of Ghost of Tsushima, which is actually not doing much technically but is absolutely gorgeous due to style and smart design decisions. They're leaning HEAVILY on post-processing, too, which I hate about 95% of the time. I'm seeing a lot of film grain, motion blur, and chromatic aberration, which are basically the three horsemen of shit I turn off in ever PC game.

Yep. I feel the same way. I'm sure the tech is great, the textures and modeling is incredible, etc. But when I look at these screenshots all I see empty, barren landscapes in the same drab color palette. There's absolutely nothing that is getting me excited about spending time in that game world.

And then there's that literally crazy main character... Why would you want to play a game featuring a schizophrenic character?
 

BbMajor7th

Member
"Not a game" , and "but, but CA" .. Looks like the haters found something to latch onto, and now they are following the same script.
It's not a detraction, just an acknowledgment of where the CPU cycles and development time have been spent. Most 'games' feature massive, open-ended spaces with thousands of scripts, dynamic time-of-day and weather, dozens of on-screen NPCs, thousands of interactable objects. Running that kind of world simulation costs masses of CPU cycles. Hellblade II isn't running a simulation comparable with most big-budget open-world games, nothing close, which is why it's fair to balance that when comparing to a game like - say - Red Dead Redemption 2.

It was the same with The Order: 1886 - visually, it was probably never exceeded on PS4, even by the likes of ND, but without massively decreasing scope, even the best developers would be fighting a losing battle.
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
Once i was able to remove that horrendous CA and the other bullshit processing effects its definitely up there. I think AW2 is a fair bit better looking maxed out on PC but HB2 is no slouch.
 
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OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
"Not a game" , and "but, but CA" .. Looks like the haters found something to latch onto, and now they are following the same script. I mean, it's obvious that most of you don't even know how the CA in this game work.
Jesus Christ. What incredible fragility. The post processing effects are a detriment. Especially in motion. If you like its that's fine but some of us turn that shit off in every game.
 

Hugare

Member
Character models are amazing, and so is the mocap, but apart from those, I'm not impressed (from the screens)

I guess rocks + some strong light source over and over again make some very boring, samey looking environments

Will pay for GP in order to test it personally
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I think this whole discussion is taking away from the fact, how incredible the facial animation is.

For first time it actually does not invoke that uncanny valley feeling, but rather it looks really natural (for a crazy bitch that is), I know that meta human with that iPhone thingy can do it, but the question is, why the fuck we are 4 years in and this is the first time, we actually get something like this. This whole gen is so slow.


Oh yeah, the 2+ months of motion and facial capture shows.
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
Character models are amazing, and so is the mocap, but apart from those, I'm not impressed (from the screens)

I guess rocks + some strong light source over and over again make some very boring, samey looking environments

Will pay for GP in order to test it personally
Just pay close attention to the color. 1 screen of rocks may seem like just brown if you dont really pay attention. But if you look a little closer the whole screen changes from pink to blue, red, purple, grey, orange based on the lighting. The rocks and dirt have about 10 different colors packed in small highly detailed areas. Then the mist, moss, grass and water on top. And the water moves around like Wave Race or Sea of Thieves. Its all subtle but totally crazy. And they frequently pack the screen with brighter colors than most games and put it right next to pitch black darkness. I just love their art choices. Then add the audio to that.
 
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Calverz

Gold Member
Finished it. Enjoyed it more than first game. But I wouldn’t call this a game. More an experience or interactive movie. Story was good and felt it was written well. Voices were more annoying in this game but maybe that was the point? 🤔
 
Its a very linear game with very little going on or characters on screen at any one time. So of course its going to look like this. I'm sure if you gave other developers the time and budget they too could come up with something to this visual fidelity but not every developer is going to want to spend years and millions to develop a linear corridor story driven game like this.
I’m aware of the situation with this game - but in the past developers like Naughty Dog have been able to make games that look basically the same as this type of game (IE: the order) while also having plenty of gameplay. I think it could be possible this gen to see
 

evanft

Member
Someone on the Nexus figured out how to remove the black bars while maintaining the FOV in the horizontal direction.

Here's my complete engine.ini changes now. Bolded sections effect the aspect ratio and FOV.

[SystemSettings]
r.SceneColorFringeQuality=0
r.Tonemapper.GrainQuantization=0
r.Tonemapper.Quality=0
r.NT.Lens.Distortion.Intensity=0
r.NT.Lens.Distortion.Stretch=0
r.NT.Lens.Softness.RadiusSampleCount=0
r.NT.Lens.Softness.Intensity=0
r.NT.Lens.ChromaticAberration.Intensity=0
r.FilmGrain=0
r.DefaultFeature.MotionBlur=0
r.MotionBlurQuality=0
r.Refraction.Blur=0
r.MotionBlur.Directions=0
r.NT.AllowAspectRatioHorizontalExtension=0
r.NT.EnableConstrainAspectRatio=0

[/Script/Engine.LocalPlayer]
AspectRatioAxisConstraint=AspectRatio_MaintainXFOV

BBy2UmJ.jpeg
SaCcbmh.jpeg
 
Finished it. Enjoyed it more than first game. But I wouldn’t call this a game. More an experience or interactive movie. Story was good and felt it was written well. Voices were more annoying in this game but maybe that was the point? 🤔
How long it take you?
 

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
She seems fit … very surprising considering the current political climate

In today's parlance she's "neuro divergent". That's another way of winning the oppression Olympics.
 

Mortisfacio

Banned
0tzCT3y.png


Captured this mid fight. Would be curious to see how much the FPS tanks if all this smoke and shadows were removed and needed to fully render everything obscured in the background.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
0tzCT3y.png


Captured this mid fight. Would be curious to see how much the FPS tanks if all this smoke and shadows were removed and needed to fully render everything obscured in the background.
Well volumetric fog is a resource hog, I think it would be an opposite situation, then what you are expecting
 

HeWhoWalks

Gold Member
Although a slight polish of some of the textures and a robust raytracing system would literally leave this game flooring every other out there in totality, what's here is still about as good as it gets.


Hellblade2-Win-GDK-Shipping-2024-05-22-16-52-09.png



Hellblade2-Win-GDK-Shipping-2024-05-22-17-01-51.png


Hellblade2-Win-GDK-Shipping-2024-05-22-16-53-35.png


Hellblade2-Win-GDK-Shipping-2024-05-22-17-17-40.png



Rocks and geometric detail are simply stupendous and everything about Senua makes you feel like there is a live person behind the character model.
 
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