Shadow of the Colossus (Remake 2018) [PS4]

[Globalisateur]

Some of my shots running with Vivid filter on, can't get over how beautiful it looks.

https://abload.de/img/29wsqu.png
https://abload.de/img/4x1sh3.png

What's the default filter ? Because I like this one.

 

[ultragpu]

What's the default filter ? Because I like this one.

The default is None. These are all taken with Vivid filter.

 

[OCASM]

We are trying to tell you guys. It's not a remaster and it's not even a 100% faithful remake. It's like a re-imagined-ish remake with a big emphasis on actual gameplay (as much as they could from a Ueda game ). And it's a very big open world (with current gen level of details / textures) that runs at locked 60fps, even during battles, so it's not graphically perfect.

But many first timers seem to love it ! And they find the game beautiful. I would be happy to try a new take on the Ueda masterpiece, preferably without my rose-tinted nostalgia glasses.

Why would anybody want an inferior take on a masterpiece? Oh well, I guess crazy people do exist

There's self shadowing in the remake :

Completely absent in the original game :

I could be wrong, but cardboard foliage doesn't have shadowing (unless baked) and doesn't move...

I think he's referring to the ambient occlusion that was baked into the vertex colors in the original game:

The underbelly is now fully bright because there was no consideration for large scale AO. The effect is exacerbated because the color of the colossus is brighter than the original.

So I streamed the original a bit on YT since I never played it, personally I fail to understand how the monotone blurry mess of PS2 version with an over abundant of bloom lighting can be considered anything special in terms of visual presentation, even for a ps2 title. Yes, the concept of fighting those colossis and the general creature design are ingenious but as far as rest of the visual goes it's trash. Like dear god the amount of overblown lighting and sheer grey is nothing short of vomit inducing, how did you guys get through it back then lol? I even love bloom effect but only used with moderation, not covering 3/4 of your damn screen. As far as the remake/remaster hybrid goes, it's perfect so far and because of the lack of NPCs and etc it often times looks like a moving painting to me.

So you hate Ueda's art style. It makes perfect sense that you love this game.

 

[Karamazov]

i friend bought a ps4 just for TLG and okami HD last month, he does not play much games but loved ueda's games, he finished ICO and SOTC several times when they released on PS2.
He has been playing the remake since wednesday and he loves it. I had told him about the photo mode and he replied he would not care much about such a feature but now he admits he is addicted to this mode too

 

[Recop]

I thought everyone had played the game on PS2 here but apparently it's not the case. So don't watch my comparisons to avoid spoilers if it's the case.

Other kinds of massive improvements over the original game :

Spoiler

Spoiler

The underbelly is now fully bright because there was no consideration for large scale AO. The effect is exacerbated because the color of the colossus is brighter than the original.

I don't see AO issues.

I see 3 reasons :

- The time is brighter
- The colossus skin is less dark
- The engine manages indirect lighting

 

[Dweeeb]

Yeah I was talking about what Team Ico referred to as "self shadowing", you can read about it he.. nevermind I can't posts links yet . The new game has a different model for shadowing but I think the original version looked much better even if most of the environment shadows were just drawn on textures. In the remake a lot of the colossi are straight up full bright, Dirge is one of the times where it looks really bad on his underbelly, Phalanx as well.

Also Recop, Basaran is another boss that fares worse off in the remake in my eye. The intro scene is missing some falling debris, during the fight Basaran's feet no longer deform the ground, the overall lighting is way better on PS2 imo, and in the death cutscene a lot of debris are missing and the blood spray is gone. I'm feeling less empathetic to his cries too.

What do you find so impressive about this fight in the remake? The only notable difference in the overall scene is that the remake's strictly green atmosphere, where in the original you had green but there were other colors present in the scene too.

 

[Dweeeb]

I was watching those Phalanx videos Recop posted and noticed those flaps cast shadows on himself even on PS2 too. I think you may have just missed it since the game isn't high contrast with deep dark shadows. He's also casting shadows on the ground which is pretty crazy, I don't think his tail casts a shadow on himself though. And I like the sand effect in the original much more than the remake, the new effect when his wings glide through the sand now looks pretty cheesy to me.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

What make this game special for most people are the Colossi battles and the big desolated environments, those 2 things are even better than before thanks to the controls, framerate and focus on environment details. Not that particular low res fog or bloom implementation.

And others poster showed that in some places the lighting and atmosphere are even better than in the original.

The "big desolated environments" in the new remake don't hold a candle to the original in terms of atmosphere and evoking the feeling of a desolate dreamlike landscape that is frozen in time.

The new graphics and presentation are the same as virtually every other modern open world game with almost nothing to set it apart when not battling a colossus. They are just there. Going back and forth between the two, there's absolutely no contest with regards to the feelings that are evoked when playing the games. The first is just more soulful.

For me, the new sterile remake doesn't hold a candle to the Ueda games. I can only wonder at how good it could have been if Ueda had been in charge of the remake. That might have been glorious.

Regards,
SB

 

[Clukos]

The temporal stability of the IQ in this game is really impressive, one of the cleanest looking games in motion this gen. The TAA used in this is spot on.

Edit: You can also imitate the "sun going supernova" visual style of the original with filters if that's what you want

 

[Recop]

In the remake a lot of the colossi are straight up full bright, Dirge is one of the times where it looks really bad on his underbelly, Phalanx as well.

The remake uses global illumination or an approximation of it. So the ground reflect the light on the colossuses. With a much more dynamic tech, you have less control on art style.

You can see an example of what i mean here :

When the colossus turns around, he gets a sand-like color. In other words, you have much more light sources in the remake.

I think you may have just missed it since the game isn't high contrast with deep dark shadows. He's also casting shadows on the ground which is pretty crazy, I don't think his tail casts a shadow on himself though. And I like the sand effect in the original much more than the remake, the new effect when his wings glide through the sand now looks pretty cheesy to me.

The remake has a better tech and produces better results on almost everything imo. But i do agree that the original game has better effects, animations in somes really rares instances.

If we speak about the atmosphere, then it's a much closer fight because both look great in my opinion even if i prefer the remake. If i had to use only 2 words i would say the original game is more poetic and the remake more cinematic.

Obviously if Ueda had to remaster his game himself with a decent budget and a good tech, we would probably get a perfect jewel.

 

[OCASM]

I thought everyone had played the game on PS2 here but apparently it's not the case. So don't watch my comparisons to avoid spoilers if it's the case.

Other kinds of massive improvements over the original game :

Spoiler

Spoiler

I don't see AO issues.

I see 3 reasons :

- The time is brighter
- The colossus skin is less dark
- The engine manages indirect lighting

The Basaran fight loses a lot without the weird distance-based bloom from the original. It's one of the areas where the multiple scattering effect was most visible and now it's gone. The energy shots now look totally generic as well.

https://forum.beyond3d.com/posts/1957634/
https://forum.beyond3d.com/posts/1958431/

As for the AO, there is baked GI but also there isn't any large scale AO on the colossi, only the crevice type.

Yeah I was talking about what Team Ico referred to as "self shadowing", you can read about it he.. nevermind I can't posts links yet . The new game has a different model for shadowing but I think the original version looked much better even if most of the environment shadows were just drawn on textures. In the remake a lot of the colossi are straight up full bright, Dirge is one of the times where it looks really bad on his underbelly, Phalanx as well.

Also Recop, Basaran is another boss that fares worse off in the remake in my eye. The intro scene is missing some falling debris, during the fight Basaran's feet no longer deform the ground, the overall lighting is way better on PS2 imo, and in the death cutscene a lot of debris are missing and the blood spray is gone. I'm feeling less empathetic to his cries too.

What do you find so impressive about this fight in the remake? The only notable difference in the overall scene is that the remake's strictly green atmosphere, where in the original you had green but there were other colors present in the scene too.

Yes, that's right, they used stencil shadows which allowed for self-shadowing. They even had penumbra, something you only found on high-end PC games like FEAR.

The temporal stability of the IQ in this game is really impressive, one of the cleanest looking games in motion this gen. The TAA used in this is spot on.

Edit: You can also imitate the "sun going supernova" visual style of the original with filters if that's what you want

Gotta love all that bloom... oh wait, there isn't any

 

[Recop]

Yes, that's right, they used stencil shadows which allowed for self-shadowing. They even had penumbra, something you only found on high-end PC games like FEAR.

It's fancy words then because the result is not good... if there is self shadowing, it is extremely hard to spot. In terms of shadows, the remake looks much better and much more dynamic to me.

The Basaran fight loses a lot without the weird distance-based bloom from the original. It's one of the areas where the multiple scattering effect was most visible and now it's gone. The energy shots now look totally generic as well.

My point was mainly about the sound effects that are vastly improved in the remake. In the original game, it's like if Basaran had no weight since the sound effects are extremely weak when he falls down.

Also, the ambience is far more coherent in the remake since the area is satured by humidy which is normal in a volcanic place with powerful geysers. But the original game still looks excellent too and some effects are better as well in this part.

A very cool lighting effect :

Spoiler

 

[chris1515]

Great remake enjoying the game

 

[OCASM]

It's fancy words then because the result is not good... if there is self shadowing, it is extremely hard to spot. In terms of shadows, the remake looks much better and much more dynamic to me.

My point was mainly about the sound effects that are vastly improved in the remake. In the original game, it's like if Basaran had no weight since the sound effects are extremely weak when he falls down.

Also, the ambience is far more coherent in the remake since the area is satured by humidy which is normal in a volcanic place with powerful geysers. But the original game still looks excellent too and some effects are better as well in this part.

A very cool lighting effect :

Spoiler

With the shadows being very sharp and the colossi brighter it makes sense that they're more visible.

About the sound, it seems more exaggerated, in line with what you'd expect for contemporary sound design.

The particles being lit by the energy bolts is indeed a nice effect.

 

[Karamazov]

i had forgotten so much about the game ! Nice to replay it at last, love it.

https://i.imgur.com/fpcB9Pc.jpg
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https://i.imgur.com/FvzSINn.jpg

 

[ultragpu]

The more I play this the more I'm impressed with each new colossi, the design and rendering are simply stunning in the remake. That electric water serpent with its sleek movement and imposing size as it emerges from the deep and moving slowly towards you was both terrifying and beautiful . And boy you gotta see this in HDR, it adds so much to the effects.

 

[Karamazov]

photo flooding
the rock textures and variations are gorgeous

https://i.imgur.com/nTN1hlt.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xAvUPAF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/FE3bKM0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fcER6UU.jpg
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https://i.imgur.com/HnIatTe.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rLIAtQM.jpg

 

[bunge]

Played for an hour today. Definite hat tip to the developers.

I don’t believe the Forbidden Lands have lost any of their mystique, desolation, or solemness. I haven’t been in this world for over a decade and it’s still striking.

No offense to @sebbbi but the original looks like blobs of clay. The fidelity and detail don’t detract from the experience for me. They help make the world more empty.

 

[Karamazov]

i think my Agro is broken

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The audio recording in that clip failed to pick up on the horse beat-boxing.