Tango Gameworks' outstanding Hi-Fi RUSH officially made its way onto PlayStation 5 just a couple of weeks ago, and as expected, it's been getting a great reception so far - in fact, it might even be an early GOTY candidate!
Something we didn't expect, however, is that the PS5 version actually has "slightly improved" visuals compared to the Xbox Series X version. This is due to a higher quality of shadows, as explained by Digital Foundry this past weekend:
"The shadow quality on PS5 is improved compared to the Xbox Series X version. It's not a one-off case either, in that it applies across all of the game's dynamic shadows for the environment and characters.
"The higher resolution of shadows on PS5 allows for more precise shadow definition on fine details, like the mesh pattern on fences. We have none of the break-up, the aliasing or the pixelation we see on the lower Series X setting."
Digital Foundry's analysis also highlights that the PC version's shadows are identical to the Xbox Series X, so the PS5's improved quality is a mystery - perhaps the result of a "common" bug for Xbox and PC development environments.
Nevertheless, the outlet argues that we're "seeing too many inexplicable issues like this" on Xbox, and it's not something that's just limited to Hi-Fi RUSH - Ghostwire: Tokyo is another example that's brought up in the analysis.
"Whether it's the bugs or the more serious issues found in games like Ghostwire: Tokyo, Microsoft should be held to a higher standard when it comes to its multi-platform output.
Where there is sensitivity around the idea that exclusive games may jump to rival platforms, it just makes sense to ensure that Xbox versions are as performant and feature-complete in every way as the PlayStation 5 versions."
The full video is well worth a watch if you're interested (viewable at the top of the page), as it goes into even more detail about the differences between Hi-Fi RUSH on Xbox Series X and PS5, as well as some of the experiences that do perform best on Xbox such as Pentiment, A Plague Tale: Requiem and Resident Evil Village.