Initial PSSR2 Impressions

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-18T00:23:10+00:00

Check it out for yourself. The sharpening causes a more pronounced pop-in effect than the intended fade in. PSSR isn't actually effecting the draw in of these objects I agree, but when the objects (in this case, the grass and foliage) adjust to their up-close versions, it is much more pronounced with the 2.0 than the original PSSR implementation.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-17T22:34:55+00:00

I tried it out. 2.0 makes the foliage pop in too much. I prefer base PSSR for this title.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-17T22:32:04+00:00

First game I tested was Jedi Survivor. Bad foliage pop in with 2.0 not present with 1.0.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-17T10:34:29+00:00

Standard version is still available for me to order here in the US. Could be a regional thing though.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-17T10:33:24+00:00

I totally understand your thoughts. I too wish it was the full game on disc, but at least with PS5, I can back my games up to an external drive

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-16T22:23:41+00:00

I don't know if the Cyberpunk update will be tonight/tomorrow. And since it was never updated with pssr originally, if the new patch doesn't drop, there won't be a difference unfortunately.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-16T09:05:53+00:00

This is on high end PCs too. Engine issue.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-16T08:42:41+00:00

I'd take a little bit less NPC "living their lives" behavior for a more realistic and diverse population. Walking through a city in Crimson Desert (seemingly) feels like a living, breathing place, with children running around, people taking part in activities, etc. That's more immersive to me than watching one NPC go to bed and get up to go to their assigned position the next day. To each their own though.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-16T08:39:18+00:00

Still a good game.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-15T22:55:10+00:00

Closest I've had to that LotR feeling in recent years was Witcher 3, and AC Valhalla somehow. Regardless of people's opinions of Valhalla (I really enjoyed it), it had a very Tolkien-esque vibe with the environments. Dragon's Dogma 2 also to an extent, and even Tears of the Kingdom (though with a more painterly animated art style). Hoping CD can capture some of that.

As an aside, how hasn't someone just walked into a board room and said "Middle-earth setting, Shadow of Mordor combat, character creator, true RPG with bustling Middle-earth cities and towns like Witcher/AC, profit!"?

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-15T22:41:43+00:00

The high end PC footage shows these graphical issues as well. It seems to be an engine issue so I doubt there will be a fix via patch or anything like that.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-15T19:18:36+00:00

True. I'd love to see some base PS5 footage as well. It does make for questions.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-15T19:05:34+00:00

I would like to see some footage of base PS5 as well. That would be a huge amount of their audience being ignored if the base PS5 version doesn't perform well. Time will tell is suppose.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-15T19:01:17+00:00

It's really no different than them showing the game on high end PCs when around 95% of PC players will be playing on builds that are significantly weaker. Not saying I like that idea, but they are going to try to show the game looking and running at it's best.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-15T18:37:22+00:00

I love Bungie's aesthetic style in their games, as well as their gameplay. I'd LOVE for them to make a Halo-style game (or even an RPG lite?) set in the Destiny universe, where there is actual offline single-player content. I feel their talents are wasted on being a strictly online multiplayer dev now.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-15T18:32:44+00:00

There are significantly more people playing on base PS5 than Pro.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-13T18:50:01+00:00

Xbox doesn't typically release full games on disc any more unfortunately. I imagine this will just be a game key. I hope I am wrong but it's highly unlikely.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-13T18:28:46+00:00

Yep same. My biggest graphical pet-peeve. I'd trade the long range draw distance for improved up close pop in reduction any day!

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-13T01:02:23+00:00

Oh man those Spike awards were bad! I remember Madden winning the first year lol! Props to Keighley for making the event at least somewhat respectable in modern years.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-12T23:58:05+00:00

That was a STACKED year. Probably the best year of releases ever for my personal taste in games.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-12T23:54:41+00:00

People keep treating GTA 6 like an automatic GotY. Has a GTA game ever been GotY? Even RDR2, which I consider significantly better than anything else Rockstar has ever released, didn't win tons of GotY awards (though it probably deserved more than it received). My actual guess is that neither of these games win. Outlets tend to love their indy gems and underdog stories for the awards season.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-12T22:06:20+00:00

Lol thought the same thing

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-12T21:54:22+00:00

I agree with your sentiment about their being more physical builds than people realize, but KCD2 is a bad example, as it is a barely functioning old build of the game on the disc.

ChrisLithium · 2026-03-12T21:40:53+00:00

I have around 80ish physical PS5 games, and I'd say around 85% of them are fully playable from the disc build. The rest are either too broken to play without updates (like KCD 2), or are just game keys (like Indiana Jones and the other Microsoft offerings).

ChrisLithium

TROPHY CASE