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Digital Foundry: Stellar Blade PS5 - Digital Foundry Tech Review - An Ultra-Polished Action Game

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?



Stellar Blade has finally arrived for PlayStation 5 and we're delighted to say that this is an ultra-polished, highly enjoyable action game. Based on Unreal Engine 4, developer Shift Up isn't rewriting the technological rulebook in any way - but what is delivered is nigh-on flawless within its ambition. It's something of a tonic in a world where so many games ship with issues, requiring multiple patches to address. John Linneman has the DF tech review for you.



00:00 - Introduction
01:15 - A Strong Presentation
04:01 - Graphics Options
04:29 - HDR Settings
05:13 - Stunning Visual Design
06:18 - Visual Flourishes
10:04 - Mode Comparisons
11:52 - Frame-Rate Analysis
13:49 - Final Thoughts
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
- Game has launched in a relatively bug free state, unlike most modern releases.
- No toggle for film grain which some folks might find heavy, HDR is supported but system-level calibration doesn't get factored, only in-game settings do.
- Features full UE4 suite, volumetric lighting etc
- The game also avoids hiccups and stutters unlike many other UE games
- Loading is fast (5~ seconds)
- High detail on character models praised
- Thin, finer detail, objects like hair can appear noisy
- Layout density praised but textures and fine details can appear blurry and low-res.

- Graphics Options:
- Largely the same as the demo
- Quality: Native 4K with DRS at 30 FPS, uses standard up-scaling.
- Performance; 1440p with DRS, 60 FPS, uses standard up-scaling.
- Balanced: Uses temporal reconstruction from a native 1080-1440p.
- Balanced mode can sometimes have better IQ than even Quality mode because of the reconstruction.

- Performance:
- Performance mode is locked 99% with brief drops in some cut-scenes during combat
- Quality is 30 FPS with proper frame-pacing
- Balanced: Targets 60, mostly stable but can have drops to low 50 FPS.
- Balanced drops are within the VRR window so VRR owners will benefit the most here

- John noted some issues in the games surround sound mixing
- Some people have commented on the games input latency, John recommends people try the demo to see if they can get used to the combat.
 
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Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Can't wait for Alex's PC coverage.


strip-club-the-simpsons.gif
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
So Will benneffit if I Have a 120hz VVR tv? Will get some extra FPS?

There's no mode that unlocks FPS beyond 60.

But VRR will let you have the best of the Balanced mode. That seems like the go-to mode.


-

Looks like the input latency in the game is a bit high, DF commented on it in the video too.


 
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Fbh

Member
Damn this sounds awesome, this should be an example for most other devs.
Great balance of visuals, IQ and performance. Instead of "let's focus on graphics and figure out performance later" it seems like they tried to push visuals as much as possible while always keeping performance as a priority.
3 perfect modes: 4K30 with proper frame pacing, 1440p with locked 60fps and a balanced mode that stays within the VRR window

Did they have a recommendation on how players should play the game?

They said if you have VRR display go with Balanced as it stays within 50-60fps the vast majority of the time and the drops are basically unnoticeable with VRR.
If you don't have a VRR display then performance seems the way to go as it's basically a locked 60fps.

The 30fps mode has proper frame pacing but the game obviously plays much worse at 30fps and the visual gains don't seem worth it, specially when the balanced mode actually has better IQ at times
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Damn this sounds awesome, this should be an example for most other devs.
Great balance of visuals, IQ and performance. Instead of "let's focus on graphics and figure out performance later" it seems like they tried to push visuals as much as possible while always keeping performance as a priority.
3 perfect modes: 4K30 with proper frame pacing, 1440p with locked 60fps and a balanced mode that stays within the VRR window



They said if you have VRR display go with Balanced as it stays within 50-60fps the vast majority of the time and the drops are basically unnoticeable with VRR.
If you don't have a VRR display then performance seems the way to go as it's basically a locked 60fps.

The 30fps mode has proper frame pacing but the game obviously plays much worse at 30fps and the visual gains don't seem worth it, specially when the balanced mode actually has better IQ at times

Perfect thanks! Performance for me.
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
"uses standard up-scaling."

How can it be native 4k/1440p and use some upscaling at the same time? Game activates upscaling when DRS kicks?
 
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YCoCg

Gold Member
Great to hear that John loves it as he says it feels like a PS2 game in the best possible way of just being fun.
 

Skifi28

Member
Film grain was about the only issue I had with the demo, but it seems like it wasn't patched unfortunately.
 

skit_data

Member
Finding the right settings for HDR really is a real pain in the ass (no pun intended). I noticed this in the demo as well and the only game I can remember having HDR settings being like this is Cyberpunk 2077. Same wierd washed out look using default settings and adjusting the brightness and contrast sorta works but as soon as the environment/lighting in the game changes drastically it looks wierd again.
Strange they haven't solved it, one would think a game published by Playstation themselves would have its settings integrated with the system wide HDR settings.

I've managed to get it to look pretty decent (Brightness 60, Contrast 61, UI Brightness 20) but as John says it's probably completely different depending on your setup.

Edit: Very good that they made it possible to disable film grain and chromatic aberration now. Looks a lot cleaner than the demo despite HDR still acting up.
 
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