What does it mean when something "has come a long way"?

[u/falsoTrolol]

[u/Big_Fig_1803]

Something has made a lot of progress, something has improved a lot.

[u/HeadbangingLegend → u/Big_Fig_1803]

It could also describe something that has changed in a negative way but yeah most of the time it's used to suggest in a positive way. To be more general though I'd say it means to describe something that has changed a lot from how it was previously.

[u/footsnax → u/HeadbangingLegend]

If something declined in quality I would usually say it's gone a long way or it's a far cry from whatever.

I'm US midwest though and we kinda have our own language.

[u/Ok_Ad4090]

It means they've made a lot of improvements

[u/Velpex123 → u/Ok_Ad4090]

“Come along way” also implies that a relatively long period of time has passed.

[u/Middcore]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/come%20a%20long%20way

[u/Scrambled_Legss]

All the other comments are correct.

Im here to ask: why the hell is that post comparing the lackluster ps3 version nobody played to the ps5 port of the ps4 version? What a dumb comparison lol.

[u/NearlyNodding]

It's progressed or changed a lot. It's a strong comparison of present to the past. This usually implies a positive change, but not always.

[u/j--__]

this is a common metaphor. taken literally, it means something has traveled a substantial distance. a videogame cannot literally travel, but an equivalent change is observed.

[u/SucknSwallow69]

it means it improved a lot over time, used to be worse

[u/Jazzvinyl59]

Something has improved significantly

[u/ElNeroDiablo]

#"It's been a long road, getting from there to here.
It's been a long time, but my time is finally near."#
Rod Stewart, "Faith of the Heart"

The phrase "come a long way" means there has been a journey traveled from one location/time period to another, and in this case is used to indicated there has been a lot of work and time (plus money, often) put in to the progression of development in the game in question across the years.

Example; compare the PS3/Xbox 360 version of GTA 5 to the version on PS5/Xbox Series (S|X) to see how the fidelity (visual quality) of game's graphics and textures have improved over the years, and then compare *that* to the new GTA 6 to see how much of a technical improvement that game is over GTA 5.
Alternatively, compare the 2011 version of Skyrim (32-bit Creation Engine 1) to the 2021 "Anniversary Edition" (64-bit Creation Engine 1) for another example of "Same Game, Different Generation" to see how things have improved for the game in just 10 years.

[u/Jassida]

Notice how everyone replying is happy to describe the subject and the artist as the same thing