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 remaster was officially confirmed, and let’s be honest—it kind of feels like no one was exactly begging for it. Still, here we are, with Sony showing off some flashy upgrades like higher fidelity, DualSense support, and—you guessed it—upgraded character models.
The remastered version of Horizon Zero Dawn is looking kind of shinier compared to original one.
However not everyone’s loving the changes.
Right after the trailer dropped, fans on social media were quick to point out something surprising: Aloy’s remastered look on the PS5 might not actually be an upgrade.
In fact, some are saying she looked better on the PS4!
Most of the criticism centers around Aloy’s face, which has been smoothed out compared to the more rugged look in the original game. And because the internet loves a good meme, people started comparing the new Aloy to those “yassified” AI edits that were floating around when Horizon Forbidden West came out.
Guerrilla Games Defends Aloy’s New Look
While some fans aren’t too happy with the remastered Aloy, Guerrilla Games isn’t taking it lying down.
Jan-Bart van Beek, the art director for Horizon Zero Dawn, has been responding to the backlash on Twitter.
According to him, the remaster actually uses the same Aloy model from Horizon Forbidden West, and it benefits from the tech improvements that have come along since Zero Dawn first released.
Van Beek also explained that they’ve made some upgrades to lighting, skin tones, and hair shaders to make it look more in line with Forbidden West’s visuals.
As for the whole “smooth” look people are calling out, he pointed out that it’s likely due to motion blur, which wasn’t used in the PS4 version.
To drive his point home, he even shared a close-up screenshot of Aloy’s skin—pores and all—to show that the detail is definitely there.
But Van Beek’s explanation likely not win over everyone. Becouse there’s always going to be a bit of a fan divide when it comes to remastered versions of beloved games.
Perhpas nostalgia has a way of making us cling to the original versions of our beloved games, even if the new one is technically “better.”
But, is this remastered version actually any better?
Well, that’s for the players to decide, and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered is dropping on October 31st, we won’t have to wait long to find out.
Whether you’re in the “give me that 4K polish” camp or the “I’ll stick with the original, thanks” crowd, it’ll be interesting to see how this shakes out.
