Summary:
- Limited capture to first 2 hours of game, still be ware of spoilers.
- Resolutions and Visuals:
- Series X roughly hits 1800p in performance and 2160p in resolution mode, both w/ checker boarding.
- Resolution mode is a bit clear but both hold up pretty similarly owing to the games dark contrasty nature.
- PS5 in performance mode comes around 1944p and resolution at 2160p
- Looks 'substantially blurrier'. The game is smeary on PS5 on opaque surfaces and a lot of break up on transparencies and a lot of SSAO shimmer as well.
- Series S renders at 1080p in performance and 1440p in resolution.
- Series S takes a hit in texture quality but otherwise very close to the others.
- Series S, despite lower resolution, has about the same amount of aliasing as PS5
- Turning Resolution mode On and RT Off also disables Screen Space Resolutions for some reason. A baffling issue. But DF thinks the RE engine SSR is bad so they would have rather removed it entirely.
- Lens Distortion and Chromatic Aberration is advised to be turned off. It degrades the IQ and PS5 is especially effected with a very soft resolve.
- Hair Strand should be disabled, DF (Oliver specifically) likes the non-strand hair. The lighting also doesn't play nice with Strand = On.
- RT improves presentation but only applies to reflections, does not apply to all surfaces and is rendered in low quality.
- Series S does not have RT on/off toggle but the resolution mode enables RT reflections by default at a very low resolution. It does not have Hair Strands either.
- Performance:
- Series X, without RT/hair runs a tested scene at 60 but as you enable things like RT and Hair, it starts dropping performance to a big extent. Even with everything off the performance can fall in combat scenarios to mid/low 50s.
- Resolution mode drops even more than the performance mode. Can drop as low as mid 30s with everything enabled in Resolution mode.
- PS5 is much the same but the average frame rate is higher in all modes.
- In Frame rate mode with everything off, drops to mid 50s in combat.
- In Resolution mode bottoms out at high 40s and everything enabled at low 40s.
- Series S runs worse than both the above, but it has RT locked on in Resolution mode as well.
- Series S frame rate mode spend between 50 and 60 and Resolution mode drops to low 30s in combat.
- DF's recommendation: Stick to frame rate mode.
- If you have a VRR display, then enable Ray Tracing.
- 'Xbox players have a bit more latitude to play with' thanks to the larger VRR window, at the cost of response fluidity.
- Overall, Oliver is 'not really happy' with all the modes and none of them having locked performance. Would have preferred a simple 30 and 60 FPS toggle instead.
- DF also encountered some visual bugs like flickering water in their testing.
- Xbox versions controller dead zone response is tackled. Neither console feels very responsive but Series version has the added dead zones on top.
- Last Gen:
- PS4 version is 'an impressive effort taken as a whole'
- But a lot of differences when seen side by side
- Texture resolution very low and a lot of streaming issues
- Lighting also downgraded with low quality GI and missing shadows from dynamic light sources.
- No SSR and sub surface scattering either.
- Foliage lacks animation and enemies drop to half frame rate at medium distance.
- PS4; 900p, only one visual mode. PS4 Pro: Frame Rate: 972p, Res: 4K w/ checker boarding.
- PS4: Generally between 35-50.
- PS4 Pro Performance: 60 in quiet areas and drops to low 50s in combat similar to Series X
- PS4 Pro Resolution mode is the worst performer in all the tested versions, in low 30s and drops to 20s.