The internet lit up like a neon Christmas tree recently with the revelation of a framerate disparity between Tomb Raider on the Xbox One and the PS4. Whether you jiggle furiously with percentages or not, there is no doubt that the PS4 has higher framerates and looks more fluid. Numerous articles and numerous posts have debated the framerate to such an extent that something glaringly obvious has been completely overlooked: the graphical differences.
I was one of those people caught up in the debate. It wasn't until someone over at Neogaf posted two pictures from IGN that it suddenly dawned on me. It was difficult to see all the differences immediately so I asked if someone could make a gif, and what it showed was an astonishing level of disparity between the two versions. Here is the gif in question:
http://i.imgur.com/cQCWacC....
This has brought into question whether the Xbox One version is really in 1080p, and many are now debating if it's 900p upscaled. There are other possible answers such as low resolution textures, over saturation of colours or badly implemented AA, but whatever the reason, it's there and it's clear. There is also a lack of detail such as the rivets on the tail of the crashed plane, the surf on the waves or the machine lying on the ground just in front of Lara. I've watched this scene in the actually videos themselves and the discrepancy is not just this fleeting moment, it perpetuates throughout the whole scene. Just for clarity, here is another capture from the same scene. This one is from Gamersyde:
http://abload.de/img/tr8tse...
A comparison Gif with the gamma set to match the PS4. These are the highest quality grabs you can get and show the blurriness in the X1 version more clearly:
http://abload.de/img/tr_com...
A closer look at that plane:
http://i.imgur.com/KgNxSyd....
BlimBlim from gamersyde has explained that they had to adjust the gamma settings on the Xbox One version in order to get a good capture, but that's not what you should be looking at anyway ... it's the detail or lack of detail, and blurriness. Screen tearing also seems to be a problem with the Xbox One version as seen clearly by this screen. Note the red dash on the far right and follow it across. You'll see how the tear effect the wires and the tower in the far distance:
http://i.imgur.com/bGnoF6C....
Another slight difference in the X1 version is DOF. It has it here and there but misses it in a lot of scenes. DOF is something that Compute would be helpful with. This gif also shows the better colour pallet on the PS4, something I haven't touched upon because it can be largely corrected by adjusting the settings on your TV:
http://abload.de/img/tr_com...
So why has this gone unnoticed? Digital Foundry has already done a quick analysis and promise a more in depth analysis later on, but one would have thought the glaring differences we see here would have been mentioned immediately. It doesn't even take close scrutiny to see the differences, your eyes are all you'll require. I now wait patiently to see just how honest Digital Foundry are.
UPDATE:
It seems that Digital Foundry have at least been honest in the follow up analysis:
"To begin with, let's address the differences between the two versions of the Definitive Edition on offer. PlayStation 4 users get a comfortably delivered 1080p presentation backed up with a post-process FXAA solution that has minimal impact on texture quality, sporting decent coverage across the scene, bar some shimmer around more finely detailed objects. Meanwhile the situation is more interesting on the Xbox One: the anti-aliasing solution remains unchanged, but we see the inclusion of what looks like a variable resolution framebuffer in some scenes, while some cut-scenes are rendered at a locked 900p, explaining the additional blur in some of our Xbox One screenshots. Curiously, the drop in resolution doesn't seem to occur during gameplay - it's only reserved for select cinematics - suggesting that keeping performance consistent during these sequences was a priority for Xbox One developer United Front Games.
For the most part the main graphical bells and whistles are lavished equally across both consoles, although intriguingly there are a few areas that do see Xbox One cutbacks. As demonstrated in our head-to-head video below (and in our vast Tomb Raider comparison gallery), alpha-based effects in certain areas give the appearance of rendering at half resolution - though other examples do look much cleaner. We also see a lower-quality depth of field in cut-scenes, and reduced levels of anisotropic filtering on artwork during gameplay. Curiously, there are also a few lower-resolution textures in places on Xbox One, but this seems to be down to a bug (perhaps on level of detail transitions) as opposed to a conscious downgrade."
http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...
Where Winds Meet on PS5 is a wuxia MMO with strong action combat, open-ended exploration, and plenty to do if you like setting your own pace.
Travis Bruno of Capsule Computers writes:
"It is hard to believe that there would be a time that not only would the Western releases of The Legend of Heroes franchise manage to catch up to the Japanese releases of this incredibly lengthy franchise, but that the game’s that helped kick it off would be getting remade at the very same time. A few months ago we reviewed the fresh remake of Nihon Falcom’s Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter and now here we are, visiting the most recent release in a story featuring characters and plot elements spanning all the way from that very first game twenty-two years ago. It’s not often that a video game sequel requires full knowledge of its predecessors, and in many ways The Legend of Heroes tried to do that with Daybreak, but now that everything has gathered together in The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon, players best be ready for the most character packed, lore heavy, game of the franchise since Reverie."
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "While not carrying the same heft it enjoyed long ago, last year was one of the adventure genre's most commercially-successful years in this century. A Telltale-esque adventure eclipsing 3 million sales in three months would be the talk of the town were it not for another adventure game hurdling over 10 million sales in two. Though not all finalists reached those heights, each did share a greater amount of spotlight compared to similar titles within their respective sub-genres.
Past any sales thresholds and popularity contests, 2025 also deserves credit for its creativity; the last time our entire shortlist consisted exclusively of new IPs was for Best Adventure Game of 2020. An impressive year for the genre, with even greater potential ahead."
Well Richard Ledbetter has always been in favor of the Xbox 360 when these 'tests' were being conducted. Even when the PS3 had better results he usually downplays them in his analysis.
So it was no surprise when i read that Digital Foundry article that again Richard Ledbetter is downplaying the actual results. Even some of the comments in the article were confused on his findings.
Most of the time when Digital Foundry does these articles they are reasonable but everytime i read one that Richard does it makes me wonder if what he writes is actually what is going on.
People may have issues with Neogaf at times but when they find something at odds with comparing games on systems they don't hold anything back.
Yeah Dick Ledbetter's proven himself to be less than trustworthy in the past. As it is though this just looks like MS trying to rewrite the last eight years.
Seriously, look at sites like LOT. Comparison after comparison where sometimes a "winner" would be decided on things that didn't make sense. Color, a .03 FPS difference or just straight up misinformation (check the res listed for ACM for 360 lol). MS and their fans trying to make a massive deal out of any perceived difference was par for the course. So what was done about it when the new consoles launched? LOT shut the site down and closed their Twitter account. Coincidence?
Now MS (and by extension their fanboys) are trying to downplay massive differences. Even going so far as to frame the argument around there being something wrong with even mentioning a difference.
They (MS) spent years creating the situation they now face. Paying people to misinformed the public and withholding information simply aren't going to have a positive outcome now.
TLDR: It's going to be hard to change the gaming landscape after the effort they put in last gen and I can guarantee it won't be quick.
Edit: For edits (strange, I know).
I saw the comparison.
The first half was nothing but downplaying the fps advantage, nearly skipping over the fact that Xbox can't even maintain 30 fps.
No mention at all of the improved lighting and shadows on PS4 and no mention at all of the blurry textures on Xbox.
It's pretty obvious the Xbox has lower graphical quality and struggles to maintain 30 fps. And personally I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out it's not true 1080p.
But it's just the start, as time goes on it will become undeniable that the PS4 can produce higher quality graphics than the Xbox. It just simply is made with more powerful hardware and has a better architecture. The gap will only widen as time goes on.
I see a difference (mainly color and brightness) but nothing "DRASTIC". A "drastic" difference IMHO would be grass vs no grass. Boat vs no boat. Tessellation vs no tessellation.
The true resolution of the XBone version will have to wait until Digital Foundry does their analysis I guess. Then you guys (on both sides of the argument) can really get your arguing in.
I never know the resolution of console games I play, unless I read it somewhere. At this point in time it's irrelevant to me (for console). I played mass effect without ever knowing the resolution. I liked it so I bought the series on PC also. I played Uncharted without ever knowing the resolution and I loved it. Same with many other games. I played Battlefield 4 on my ps4 and i thought it looked great. It wasn't even 1080p.
I understand we all have different aspects of gaming that we look for but man, it isn't about fun anymore I can tell you that.
Yeah, funny that no one else is talking about this. If that gif is accurate theres more wrong with the bone version than framerate.
Whats even funnier is IGN, Gamespot and Gameinformer gave the exact same score both versions. Apparently there is no difference.
Whats even more funnier is Xbone has the higher score on Metacritic, but admittedly less reviews.
Thats whats wrong with games journalism these days. Some guy gave it a 60 on PS4 for Godsakes apparently because its a port of a game he already played.
Doesnt make it less good of a game IMO. Hes basically deducting 30 odd point for being $20 overpriced.