In and amongst a stacked September on Xbox Game Pass, new soulslike Lies of P arrived and since then, the team at Digital Foundry has been hard at work looking at all three of the game's performance modes on Xbox Series X and S.
Amazingly, both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S contain all three modes - including a 40FPS / 120Hz option for those with compatible displays. However, due to a noticeable issue with frame pacing, DF reckons that only one of these modes is really viable at launch.
"There's a 30FPS quality mode, a smoother 40FPS quality mode for those using 120Hz displays, and a 60FPS performance mode. It's rare to see Series S in particular get a full spread of three modes - often, Microsoft's three-litre console has only one or two options.
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The final option to check out is the 60FPS performance mode - which is actually the default setting on PS5, Series X and Series S. That makes sense from a playability perspective, as it solves the frame-pacing issues of the quality modes - you get 60 unique frames per second, each at a steady 16.6ms cadence. The increase in fluidity and decrease to input lag makes this the obvious setting to recommend; Lies of P as it was meant to be played."
Of course, the other two modes are still totally playable and if you're enjoying either of them, then more power to you! But for now, it seems that the 60FPS option is the smoothest way to play Lies of P.
If you'd like to read up on how the game plays outside of these frame rate technicalities, be sure to check out our full written review down below.
Have you tried out all of these performance options on Xbox? Let us know which you're sticking to in the comments section!
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 8
This is the kinda thing that makes me wish this didn't become a standard thing.
This game is clearly meant to be played at 60fps, this entire genre is built on precise timing for both attack and defence, so why have the option of making the gameplay worse?
Don't get me wrong there are plenty of other games where it's very much your "flavour" go fps or go graphics, but here seems like it purely exists because people expect it.
Always happy to see the 40fps mode. Every game should have this as standard.
It's been two years since I have my Xbox and I still can't notice the difference.
@abe_hikura I see your point, but most of the games in their initial run were 30fps.
Dark Souls 1 as 30fps until the Remastered version
Dark Souls 2 was 30fps until the Scholars of the First Sin version
Dark Souls 3 didn't have a smooth 60fps until the current generation (PS4 Pro got an unlocked Framerate patch, but Xbox One X did not).
Bloodborne still runs at 30fps and is considered the best of the genre
Sekiro was in the 30-40s last gen (depending on the console) and didn't get up to 60fps until this generation
So, with that in mind, maybe people want to push the visuals and are used to 30fps (or 40 if you have the capability).
I actually find 30fps totally fine. It's only when you jump to 60 then jump back to 30 where things "feel" sluggish because your eyes haven't adjusted back to 30fps. I am playing Jedi Survivor in the 30fps mode and it feels perfectly fine.
@GamingFan4Lyf huh I initially shared Abe's opinion on this but your comment makes a lot of sense. Cheers
@GamingFan4Lyf don't get me wrong you are right, but my (poorly made) point here was more along the lines of dev intent and those Souls games were made to be 30fps, as this was intended to be 60fps (as it's the default setting).
Again choice is generally good, my personal preference is for solid FPS over higher unstable FPS, but I think devs should be allowed to say "We're only offering X graphics/FPS for reason Y" if they want.
@abe_hikura The great thing about options is that they're optional!
Those who want worse gameplay and slightly better graphics can have that, and the rest of us can just ignore the setting.
And conversely, if the devs intend for a game to be a 30fps "cinematic" experience by default, there's another, smoother option for those of us who aren't interested in that default. It's win-win, with next to no downside!
@abe_hikura Totally agree about developers being allowed to choose only one graphic option if that meets their artistic intent. Unfortunately that seems to make the internet explode.
Sure options are optional, but what if a developer just wants to focus on a single vision?! I don’t think it’s lazy or irrational.
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