One of the latest games that Digital Foundry has been putting through its paces this week is The Witcher 3 Next-Gen for Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, and the analysis reveals some interesting differences between the two at launch.
Firstly, in terms of the 30FPS quality mode, DF points out that it looks incredible on the two current-gen consoles, and the Xbox Series X version often runs at a higher pixel count on average than PS5, although "there are very visible differences in foliage and shadow draw distance" where Sony's console benefits the most.
That said, the Series X version tends to lock at 30FPS for the most part, which is an improvement compared to PlayStation 5 "for almost every case". The exception to this rule is the city of Novigrad, which can sometimes see the Series X drop its frame rate to as low as 23FPS. Regardless, DF advises that quality mode isn't the ideal choice on either console as both suffer from fairly severe input lag.
"Xbox Series X can enjoy a higher dynamic resolution and performance advantages over PS5, but has easily noticeable level of detail drawbacks against its rival console."
"You get better foliage and shadow draw on PS5, but worse performance in its RT mode - and to be clear, neither console in RT mode feels great owing to the higher input latency."
As for the performance mode, both the Xbox Series X and PS5 generally remain locked at 60FPS, aside from the likes of Novigrad where both consoles suffer drawbacks once again. DF says Series X has a slight advantage here:
"In performance mode, Series X has a frame-rate advantage - albeit with more limited draw distance vs PS5."
There are a few improvements that CD Projekt Red could target in patches for The Witcher 3, then, and the outlet points out that stability has also been an issue — something we found when suffering a few crashes during the review period.
All in all, though, you're still going to have a blast with The Witcher 3 Next-Gen if you decide to pick it up over the holiday period (it's discounted in the Xbox Countdown Sale), and don't forget it's free if you already own the Xbox One version!
Here's the final verdict from the Digital Foundry crew as of right now:
"Overall, The Witcher 3 Complete Edition is an ambitious next-gen release and it's fantastic that CD Projekt RED is giving away the update for free when it does so much more than many paid-for remastered. Equally though, being free doesn't spare it from criticism.
The main issues with it for now relate to stability - the crashes on PS5 and Series X - and also performance struggling to hit a locked 30fps in the RT mode, notably on PS5. Features-wise, it's also odd that Series X isn't as dense in detail as PS5, which should be a huge advantage over the last-gen release."
How are you getting on with The Witcher 3 on Xbox Series X|S so far? Tell us down below.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 13
I'm playing on PS5 and it's awesome. 60fps makes it feel like a new game.
Sometimes I dream about having so much extra money where I can invite friends over to look at the realism of leaves.
But I'm stuck enjoying the games as a poor sap on my XB1.
Performance mode is always the way to go.
I am still confused on why we have these new systems offer 4K at 60 FPS, but games are not being made 4K at 60FPS locked. Can someone explain to me like I am 5 why this is?
@NarutosBiggestFan I don't think there is a real way to explain it to a 5 year old.
Native 4K/60 is actually very taxing - there is a reason dynamic resolution scaling and upscaling techniques are so prevalent.
Sometimes there are bugs preventing it.
Sometimes it's the way a game is rendered that causes hiccups.
Sometimes the dynamic resolution scaling isn't aggressive enough to make things "locked".
Sometimes it's artistic vision where the developer wants a game to have a certain look and isn't willing to compromise certain things for the sake of a totally "locked" experience.
Sometimes it's bad optimization.
Sometimes it's bad QA.
Sometimes there are just outliers. A developer can't always test every little thing (especially one as dynamic and massive as this game). This is where people like DF are important as they can (and have) found stress points that were missed and they report to developers to have fixed.
Sometimes it's just the reality that you are playing on a system where price-point matters and the software outpaces the hardware and a "mostly locked" is good enough.
I mean there are numerous factors that prevent a "locked" experience.
Lol, because this consoles are not powerful enough for 4k60. The ps6 xsz will be 4k60 easily as minimum.
They are hardware from 2019-2020, not even 3080 cant do 4k60 always
@Sixor native 4K is becoming irrelevant when you have DLSS and FSR giving a ‘4k’ image without any of the performance hits. That’s where the future is.
Performance mode has always been the go to.
Despite people being Stockholm'd into believing that 30fps is "good enough", it was never okay and always had more input lag than 60.
Same way 120 has less input lag than 60.
For the life of me I just can’t get excited about Ray Tracing at all - it’s like emperor’s new clothes to me. Performance mode is great though and I’ve enjoyed it so far despite the slightly ‘clunky’ controls (perhaps I’ve just played too much AC Odyssey).
Certainly no complaints for a £5.99 game!
It didn't seem as different as I thought it would, but I'm having a great time with continuing the story. Can't complain about a free update on a game I paid $10 to buy, either way.
I haven’t got to Novigrad yet in the story, but I can’t believe that the PS5 & XSX still struggle in this built-up area, even in performance mode. Anyhoo, having a blast playing this game again.
RT ray tracing seems like a waste of time and resources on console. its always is far too costly for what little difference it makes
@trev666 It depends on which type of ray tracing features are being used, in a game like Cyberpunk 2077 which just uses ray traced local shadows, it’s not worth sacrificing 60fps for imo. The Witcher 3 though uses ray traced ambient occlusion and global illumination which are the best ray tracing features as it makes a massive difference to the visuals and surroundings in-game. I’d still choose performance mode because even though it looks great it still tanks the performance and I’ve been spoiled with 60fps since the Xbox One X.
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