Horizon Zero Dawn Dev Addresses Criticism Over Aloy’s Remastered Look
Remember that game you fell in love with years ago? Horizon Zero Dawn? Well, it’s back with a remaster, During PlayStation’s State of Play this week, the
It looks fine, but why is this game being remastered?
In order for Sony to sell the game again and a PS5 (or PS5 Pro) to you - or at least, in a couple of years, the remaster to those who bought the original PC port. There are still about twice as many PS4 than PS5 consoles due to a lack of both exclusives and actual reasons to switch over to the newer system. It doesn't help that more and more people are realizing that one should replace any mention of "the economy" in the media with "rich people's yacht money", given how little average people are benefiting from it anymore, which means disposable income is down. The PS4, despite being almost 11 years old now and still relying on a mechanical HDD (unless you upgrade it), is simply "good enough" in the eyes of many. Microsoft has the same issue, of course, except from a much weaker position in the market. The law of diminishing returns makes newer consoles a hard sell.
At the same time, PC gaming is highly accessible, PC hardware is lasting longer for gaming than ever before (in large part due to the longevity of the previous console generation keeping hardware requirements of most multiplatform games in check) and now that former exclusives are finding their way over at a reliable pace, there are fewer reasons for those that are primarily playing on PC to get a console just for the exclusives. As fantastic as Astrobot looks and as much as I appreciate the return of the classic 3D platformer with physics and shiny new graphics, it won't make me purchase a PS5 any time soon or ever.
Sony is still producing both PS4 and PS4 Pro (whereas Microsoft discontinued both Xbox One consoles four years ago; they are still supporting the previous gen though), games are still being developed for them, despite first party studios having switched over to PS5 by now. Third party developers who were once happy about the low number of hardware variations they had to deal with now have to handle up to nine different systems if they want to release a game on all currently supported games consoles (ten when Switch 2 comes out) - plus PC and Steam Deck, which might just as well be another console as far as developers are concerned. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've ever seen cross-gen games that aren't just yearly sports titles being made for this long into a new generation at such a large scale. We certainly haven't had such a wide variety of systems since the early home computer era, even if their architectures and capabilities are much more similar now than they were back then.
My (non-)issue is more with the fact that she looks too polished for a character that exists in a post-apocalyptic world. Both her clothes and some facial characteristics, like the perfect eyebrows.
This game is already great IMO. It really doesn’t need a remaster.
I mean, that's a problem with the original as well. But it's not because you live in a primitive way that you can't take care of your appearance, if anything prehistoric people were already shaving themselves and styling their bodyhair for dozens of thousands of years before writing was even a thing. If you want more realistic characterization then give her sunburnt and rough skin, callouses on her hand, scars on her limbs, that sort of thing...
The perfect filled-in eyebrows, looks like she's wearing lipstick and eyeliner. It's a little... strange.
They did the shitty misogynistic tweet:
The girl on the right definitely looks like someone living in a post-apocalyptic tribe, 1000 years after the break-down of human civiliation.
Aloy on the left has exactly my expression after I had to read that
Horizon Zero Mean Girls
How about address how the PS4 version doubled from $15 to $34 to fuck people over?
If there's anything I know, it's that gamers all have a problem with aloys appearance, positive or negative.
How can you have a "positive problem" with something? That seems like an oxymoron.
Is it just me, or the fabric in the the shirt look better in the old model? At least in that screenshot it looks more like something that was handmade Vs the remake model (look at the end of the sleeves for example)
Completely agree.
The remaster looks better. This is manufactured outrage.
I don't know about "better". It looks different.
But then again, I think the original looks fine and that there's no need for a remake. It's just a way to milk suckers for more cash.
"Look at the shiny! Don't you want the shiny?"
Why are people complaining over how a character looks??? You see her backside most of the game when you play anyways. Some people.
Quite a few people appear to be playing this game and its sequel for the photo mode, which isn't surprising, given that the gameplay is nothing special, contrary to the visuals.