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[DF] The Medium PS5: Big Changes vs Xbox Series X + PC Comparisons

Arioco

Member



- PS5 version has DualSense support.
- PS5 is slightly darker, and the reason is PS5 versión switched off RT ambient occlusion and uses SSAO instead.
- Resolution of RT reflections is lower on PS5 than it is on Series X.
- PS5 has slightly reduced shadow quality.
- Those changes are not very noticeable according to Alex when playing the game.
- PS5 has a very consistent internal resolution compared to Series X, which is lower and changes more depending on the scene (in some of them the game is 1728p on PS5 and 1026p on Series X). PS5 looks definitely higher rez.
- On the Series X the frame pacing issues the game suffered from seem to be corrected via patches. Still drops some frames, but it's not a frame pacing issue. PS5 performs better, but it has inherited the frame pacing issues of Series X. Hopefully PS5 will get a patch too.
- The games loads faster on Series X (13 vs 21 seconds for the initial load). DF thinks there's no reason for that even if the devs are not using the low level API.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion


Watching will update

Also:
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
snimekobrazovky2021-19pj86.png
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
if you read the article, it seems the PS5 is the "balance" version with stable performance, while Series X is the "fidelity" version, with lower. fluctuating resolutions and such.

There is no winner here, really.
 
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SaucyJack

Member
Pretty big down grade. I imagine that is because of a quick cash grab more than anything.

You neither watched the video nor read the article did you?

Game has been rebalanced and as a result the PS5 version doesn’t suffer from the performance issues that the Series X does. You’ve effectively got different choices made in the performance versus visual effects trade-off between the two versions.
 

ethomaz

Banned
Seems like dev choose to cut back effects to not have the big fluctuations in resolution and performance like happened in Series X.

Series reached 720p while PS5 go low like 1620p.

It looks like what they tried with Series X didn’t cut off so they decided to change it for better experience.
 
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GHG

Gold Member
Lower ray tracing resolution, slightly lower quality shadows and different AO on the PS5 but higher resolution:

xaqC9XF.jpg


Both John and Alex seem to think the changes for the PS5 version are favourable in a lot of cases but as a whole the situation is subjective.

For framerate, 30fps on both. They've improved the frame pacing issues that were in the original Xbox Series version at launch, that problem is now mostly gone but there are some scenes where it will drop frames. The PS5 version has inherited the launch frame pacing bug from the Xbox version - Alex said Blooper need to address and fix that because it's actually a solid 30fps if not for the inconsistent frame pacing.

The load time problem for the PS5 version is still yet to be fixed - not using the available API's for loading.

Let the games begin.

dj khaled ciara GIF by AMAs
 

Riky

$MSFT
Frame Pacing issue sounds severe, will ruin any game. Until they fix that it sounds like a bad experience.
 

ethomaz

Banned
Where does this fall then?
“The obvious question to ask is this: which take on The Medium works best? There's no easy answer here because ultimately it comes down to personal preference, but it does look as though Bloober has essentially delivered the equivalent of a 'fidelity' mode on Series X and something more akin to a 'balanced' mode on PlayStation 5. The Microsoft machine offers up a more polished look with more of an emphasis on ray-traced effects. Meanwhile, PS5 delivers a much more convincing 4K-like image by trading visual quality, gaining performance in the process. Both still look impressive, of course, thanks to the quality of the core artwork. Perhaps there are technical reasons we're unaware of that prevent this happening, but I can't help but think that both consoles should have access to both modes - and the option of a clearer image may also yield dividends for Xbox Series S too.”

Alex believe both consoles should have the two options.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
You neither watched the video nor read the article did you?

Game has been rebalanced and as a result the PS5 version doesn’t suffer from the performance issues that the Series X does. You’ve effectively got different choices made in the performance versus visual effects trade-off between the two versions.
Lower RT res, lower shadows, missing lighting, much longer load times vs more stable FPS.

I still say it’s more a cash grab that they didn’t put as much time in as they should. I mean longer load times?
 

GHG

Gold Member
Cross post from the duplicate thread:

Lower ray tracing resolution, slightly lower quality shadows and different AO on the PS5 but higher resolution:

xaqC9XF.jpg


Both John and Alex seem to think the changes for the PS5 version are favourable in a lot of cases but as a whole the situation is subjective.

For framerate, 30fps on both. They've improved the frame pacing issues that were in the original Xbox Series version at launch, that problem is now mostly gone but there are some scenes where it will drop frames. The PS5 version has inherited the launch frame pacing bug from the Xbox version - Alex said Blooper need to address and fix that because it's actually a solid 30fps if not for the inconsistent frame pacing.

The load time problem for the PS5 version is still yet to be fixed - not using the available API's for loading.

Let the games begin.

dj khaled ciara GIF by AMAs
 

Zathalus

Member
Seems like dev choose to cut back effects to not have the big fluctuations in resolution and performance like happened in Series X.

Series reached 720p while PS5 go low like 1620p.

It looks like what they tried with Series X didn’t cut off so they decided to change it for better experience.
The lowest the Series version dropped to is 1026p in this new comparison. Still dramatically lower then PS5.
 

nikolino840

Member
Seems like dev choose to cut back effects to not have the big fluctuations in resolution and performance like happened in Series X.

Series reached 720p while PS5 go low like 1620p.

It looks like what they tried with Series X didn’t cut off so they decided to change it for better experience.
From the artiche

Dynamic resolution scaling is used extensively in the game, and image quality varies significantly but in all tested areas, PlayStation 5 has a clear advantage in clarity. Across 17 matched samples, Xbox Series X ran with resolution that varied from an absolute low of 720p (thankfully an outlier) to 1440p. Outside of dual-view shots, PlayStation 5 seems to resolve in a tighter, higher resolution 1620p-1728p DRS window. Combined with UE4's temporal upscaler, the presentation passes much more often as a good 4K image. On the really taxing dual-view angles which are The Medium's trademark, Xbox Series X seemed consistent at 972p, whereas PS5 clocked in at 1188p instead.
 

SaucyJack

Member
Lower RT res, lower shadows, missing lighting, much longer load times vs more stable FPS.

I still say it’s more a cash grab that they didn’t put as much time in as they should. I mean longer load times?

AND higher resolution, which is kinda a key difference.

Longer load times, sure that’s a weird one, not using the available API properly it seems. Just shows Blooper are not a top tier dev…
 

GHG

Gold Member
I see benefits to both approaches, so why not give the user a choice? Why are these settings forced upon us?

Because overall its not a well performing game on any platform, it's clearly not something they like doing.

Optimisation is not this developers strong point, we've seen enough evidence across all their games now to say this is the case.
 

FranXico

Member
I see benefits to both approaches, so why not give the user a choice? Why are these settings forced upon us?
I think they actively decided on which experience works better on each console.

It's very likely both resolution and framerate would have taken a hit with higher settings on PS5, or there was very little gain in terms of framerate on Series X by changing anything, they decided to just keep settings close to PC and reduce resolution.

Who knows 🤷‍♂️
 
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Way higher rez but lower fx's. Different balance made for ps5. Not sure if that's due to being lazy port or intended. Either way need to fix the frame pacing like Xbox had at launch.
 

Midn1ght

Member
Quick summary

Control:
- Haptic feedback on the controller for atmospheric effects (wind, rain,...)
- Gyro aiming when investigating objects (They don't like it and turned it off)

Graphic:
- Image is darker because Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion was switched off in favor of SSAO
- Resolution of Ray Traced Reflections is lower on PS5 (Higher on XSX and Best on PC)
* Note: Originally had no RT Reflection, SSR still present on many surfaces
- PC and XSX have manually placed fake bounced lights on walls and ceilings. PS5 not
- Shadow resolution is slightly lower on PS5. (High on PC, Medium on XSX, Lower than Medium on PS5)

Even with the negative above, the game still look good and you won't notice a huge difference with other version

Resolution :
- 1728p on PS5 most of the time
- 1440p on XSX with more variation
- Game and textures look crispier on PS5, feels like 4K, XSX does not

Framerate:
- 30 fps on XSX (Rare drops) (Frame pacing better than before)
- 30 fps on PS5 (No drops) (Bad frame pacing, need to be fix)

Loading Time:
- 10.26 on PC
- 13.31 on XSX
- 21.31 on PS5 (wut)

Feel free to correct me if I made some mistakes.
 
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Skifi28

Member
To qualify for being "very better" I'd go for 3070 or 6800 and above.
I remember even those couldn't do 60fps at 1800p+ and people had to lock it to 30. If the biggest downgrade a "lowly" console has over an expensive rig is a couple of setting a notch down, I'd say console peasants got the better end of the deal.

Edit: This isn't directed specifically at you, just at the usual OMG PC master race is better crowd that's already here. Most people with a gaming PC (including me) don't even have a card of that level.
 
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Zathalus

Member
At that point the choice becomes a no-brainer. But I was referring to the 2 settings and if they allowed either console to have an option to choose,Not which version
Oh, then the higher resolution mode I would suppose. They may as well switch off RT reflections for that mode though, considering how poor they look.
 

ethomaz

Banned
I would pick PS5, if the frame pacing was fixed.
It is the same issue Series had at launch and it was fixed with post patch.

So common sense says it will be fixed too.
Frame pace is just code (software) bug… of course there are some small companies that never bothered in fixing it (yeap I l’m talking about you From Software).
 
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