Changes are welcome - but don’t go far enough.
Black Myth Wukongwas a phenomenon.
So is the console version finally in reasonable shape?
And should we expect any issues from the Pro upgrade?
Let’s start by taking a quick look at the patched PS5 code.
The most obvious superficial change here is that there is a sharpening slider now.
With no sharpening applied, the image looks soft but relatively free of aliased edges.
Compared to the launch code, a value of about seven matches the base PS5 in its performance configuration.
There’s more obvious occlusion present in certain parts of the game world, essentially.
The shadow maps sometimes appear slightly different as well.
Other visual configs appear similar, at least in my tests.
That includes resolution, which remains at 1080p internally, with no apparent upsampling to a higher output resolution.
Performance mode is similar then - but the other two modes differ more dramatically.
It’s a substantial loss relative to the earlier code.
It’s a baffling choice.
Other visual configs do seem to have been bumped though.
Frame-rates are improved over the base game, at least in a sense.
The original quality mode ran with an unstable frame-rate, often running in the low-to-mid 30s.
Balance mode gets a very different visual treatment though.
The new image obviously has more detail, and finer geometric lines manage to present without artifacting.
New in this patch is an alternative version of the balance mode.
In my experience, this actually holds a stable 40fps, with relatively rare - and small - dips.
This small change makes this mode highly useful in my opinion.
Of these modes, I really think the 40fps balance mode at 120Hz is best.
It has good input response, consistent frame pacing, and feels reasonably smooth.
I might prefer a non-frame-gen 60fps targeting mode though, if one was available.
On PS5 Pro, let’s start with the quality mode.
It’s perceptibly sharper, especially during movement, and holds up really nicely on a 4K TV set.
There are some Lumen tweaks though that do mirror the quality mode a little as well.
The performance mode hasn’t changed much.
It’s still a 60fps-targeting mode using frame-gen and still runs at a 1080p resolution.
Compared side-by-side, it appears very similar to the old performance mode, minus some Lumen discrepancies.
This mode still appears to use FSR 3 as well.
It also performs very similarly to the base console performance mode.
The Pro upgrade is on the conservative side, but does represent a clear improvement from the base game.
