These articles really try and find a difference where ever they can.

CPR even said that they feel everyone is trying to ride the hype with articles like this.

Is there some difference? Sure... But I have yet to see an in-engine reveal that = gameplay ever...

The game is getting 10s and 9s so I am going to go out on a limb and say that the game is good regardless.

That's so true. Most of these comparisons are pretty ridiculous when you get right down to it.

They're like "there's this table in this tavern in this certain village on one of the Skellige isles and the wood textures have been totally downgraded because it used to have a crack in the tabletop but now it's just smooth...the game's been massively downgraded". Haha

Seriously, though, it's obvious some people are eagerly trying to find a downgrade and make a big deal about it.

Have some things been changed in the game? Definitely. But are all of those changes downgrades? No. Some are upgrades and some are changes that can't technically be called downgrades or upgrades, just differences.

Here are some other screenshots comparing similar scenes in the game. Older version on top, newer version on bottom.

http://i.imgur.com/vhI9fbJ....
http://i.imgur.com/OpAIUgN....

http://s6.postimg.org/4h07l...
http://i.imgur.com/yy6hs8n....

http://i.imgur.com/Q1GyXYy....
http://i.imgur.com/noKtOPQ....

http://i.imgur.com/zBKOLR7....
http://i.imgur.com/U1FCgdk....

http://i.imgur.com/Jti5f9M....
http://i.imgur.com/LITqjgN....

http://s6.postimg.org/433gz...
http://s6.postimg.org/lrv7r...

So, looking at a wider variety of scenes from the game we can easily see that there are times that the new version looks better than the old version. I think when we finally get the game and make better comparisons of the same exact places, under the same lighting and weather conditions, we will find that some areas have been improved, some downgraded and some have stayed the same.

Are people seriously comparing PC vs PS4 and shout downgrade???

...
was so much better on PC reveal... definitely a huge downgrade on PS4 release...(...)

that kind of crap goes on and on and people dont even question what platform the comparisons are from :/

Are you trying to tell me that you expect a high end PC (What the game was first shown on) to look the same on console? As stated in the article this is PC vs PS4.

There is another article up showing how colour correction makes it look much closer to the announcement footage.

That's what make these articles so dumb and blatant click bait.

These guys are so nice they are literally offering pirates a patch that allows them to play the game and you want us to get all up in arms about nothing.

Thanks but I will enjoy the game either way, GG on your click bait.

You are being ridiculous if you thought for one second that the PS4 version will look like the high end PC footage they showed.

Come on, don't tell me you think this was a good comparison. It's just two horribly compressed screenshots. I don't know how you think it can confirm the stuff you are claiming. That second screenshot in particular is so badly compressed you can hardly make out anything about the foliage or texture quality.

Moreover, it's comparing the PC version to the PS4 version. The PS4 version looks great and I'm not sure how different it is from the PC version but it's a well known fact that multi-platform games look better on PC, so this is not a direct comparison. According to at least one source the PC version on Ultra settings has denser and higher quality foliage.

As far as the clouds and draw distance, you are mistaken in your conclusions. The atmospheric conditions are quite different. It's mostly clear skies with a few scattered clouds in the first screenshot, whereas it's much more overcast in the second shot and there is a fog or haze in the air.

I think some of you don't realize how dramatically time-of-day and weather conditions can affect the look of the game. Here are a couple screenshots to give you just a little idea how different the game can look depending on the weather and time of day:
http://i.imgur.com/i72czXg....
http://i.imgur.com/Fy4f0o6....
http://i.imgur.com/LY9vvtS....
http://i.imgur.com/nLIiPRi....

Notice how the visibility of distant objects is affected by the weather and lighting. We can also see how variable the clouds are. Here's a video showing the day-night cycle in time lapse and you can see the variety of cloud cover:
https://translate.googleuse... http://www.pcgames.de/The-W...

I don't know why some people try to compare a screenshot with foggy/hazy conditions to a screenshot with clearer atmospheric conditions. There are plenty of examples of clearer conditions in the newer videos and the draw distance is still very impressive.
http://i.imgur.com/Q8CjpjB....
http://i.imgur.com/ZkxQ9RQ....

Curiously enough, if you look closely you'll notice that there are actually more trees and other foliage being rendered in the distance in the PS4 version of your comparison. Perhaps they upgraded all three versions in that respect, or maybe they've simply changed the placement of assets. This is why we need better comparisons in order to come to hard conclusions. I think the game looks amazing in any case, but it's tiresome to see people jump to firm conclusions based on flimsy evidence.

Yeah, but when you look at the latest Ultra PC gameplay videos it doesn't look as good as the earlier trailers that said it was actual gameplay. The game is amazing regardless, but there's a clear difference.