Horizon Forbidden West Director Thinks Fans Missed This Small Trailer Detail

"Horizon Forbidden West" is easily one of the most anticipated games set to be released on the PS5. On May 27, Sony released a "State of Play Gameplay Reveal" video on YouTube which was designed to showcase how the game would look on its latest console. The 14-minute long video not only offered showed off some exciting gameplay, but it also displayed the game's impressive graphical fidelity, perhaps hoping to entice a few gamers who were on the fence into upgrading (if you can actually find a PS5 in stock, that is.)

Some fans have been worried that "Horizon Forbidden West" might be visually hampered since it is also being released for the PS4. Some have even expressed their concern that the development team would have to hold the game back from reaching its full potential in order to make the game work as a cross-gen release. 

Guerrilla Games' game director Mathijs de Jonge denies this, stating in an interview with Hardware Zone, "I don't think the cross-generation development was limiting in any way. When we started with the concept of this game, we had so many great ideas that ended up being included – to the point that we didn't really think about hardware limitations." This led him to point out one detail he believes fans might have missed.

It's obvious at a glance that the scenery in "Horizon Forbidden West" is impressive, just like it was in the original game. The post-apocalyptic San Francisco setting features lush forests and deep blue oceans, all rendered in exquisite detail and featuring some gorgeous lighting effects. De Jonge insists that the new hardware on the PS5 is what makes a lot of this possible. 

"On the PlayStation 5, we can add so much more detail graphically. We can see the tiny hairs on Aloy's face, for example. You can also see a ton of detail from far away." De Jonge also pointed out a singular detail that most people probably missed. "I don't think many people notice in the demo, but you could see moss growing on the rocks. On the PlayStation 5, each individual strand of moss is rendered individually. So this machine is so powerful, and it can add so much more detail to the image."

Combing back through the footage, it's easy to see why people might have missed it. The underwater terrain is full of a chaotic blend of vibrant sea life and glowing visuals. A lot probably gets lost in the grandeur of the larger world in "Forbidden West," but the micro-level has details for you to appreciate too, if you know where to look — and it seems like the PS5 version of the game will render it all in splendid detail.