PlayStation let several outlets and creators go hands-on with the PS5 Pro this week following a semi-unconvincing reveal, and the impressions after people have gone hands on with 11 games are super positive.
The one that always pulls the most weight is Digital Foundry, who came away impressed saying that “It’s very similar to the upgrade that you get from slotting in a PC graphics card that’s a tier or two higher or a generation or two newer.” particularly in performance mode in which you can expect to get much higher framerates without losing that visual fidelity. They even went as far as saying that quite a few games look better in their performance mode than the game running in fidelity mode on a base PS5.
They called F1 24 the most impressive demo that they said offering a big boost in fidelity and pushing out RT effects and looking next-gen, but also called out the likes of Final Fantasy Rebirth, Hogwarts Legacy as Demon’s Souls as big improvements.
Digital Foundry | PS5 Pro Hands-On Impressions with 11 Games Tested
Summary: If you're a performance mode player, the console feels worth the price as games get 'significant upgrades' in image quality at 60FPS, plus better visuals and extra RT features, like slotting in a PC GPU… pic.twitter.com/bQLGd2kSbI
— Shinobi602 (@shinobi602) September 25, 2024
Shinobi on Twitter has done a fantastic job summarising a lot the enhancements, so I highly recommend reading that as long as watching the full Digital Foundry video below as well.
Here are a few that stood out to me:
- Demon’s Souls delivers a 4K-like image at 60FPS vs 1440p/60 and 4K/30 on base PS5, with new contact shadow system with ‘high level of detail’
- Dragon’s Dogma 2 rendered at 4K using PSSR, sees much improved framerates in the 50s in city areas vs 30s and low 40s on base PS5, within PS5 Pro’s VRR window which should reduce judder and look smoother
- FF7 Rebirth looks as good or better at 60FPS than quality mode on base PS5
- Hogwarts Legacy looks “significantly better” than base PS5, 60FPS performance mode uses many of the settings from PS5 fidelity mode
- “Big boost” to ray-tracing effects in Hogwarts Legacy 30FPS fidelity mode – higher res and longer range reflections and shadows + benefits from PSSR upscaling and AA
- Gran Turismo 7 adds RT Mode and Image Quality Priority Mode; RT mode adds real-time reflections on cars during racing at 60FPS (not as stable image as non-RT native 4K on base PS5), IQ Priority Mode drops RT and outputs at 4K on 4K screens, and 8K on 8K screens and is noticeably sharper
- F1 24 sees “almost generational leap in image quality”, delivers 4K/60FPS with multiple RT effects like DDGI (dynamic diffuse global illumination), plus RTAO, RT transparency and RT opaque reflections
The PS5 Pro will release on November 7th. It’s currently available for pre-order on Amazon HERE or at other retailers HERE.
