This How Much Better The Witcher 3 Looks on PS5 Compared to PS4

Tomorrow I will download it early in the morning and play at night!!

Looks like garult has been hitting the sunbeds

@johnny30 lol, to be fair it's just what skin looks like when candle lit and in dark rooms, rather than his skin emitting it's own weird falsely lit glow like he is radioactive or on a movie set 😁

So they adjusted the brightness and contrast is what I’m seeing? I could have done that with the TV I’d play it on. If I’m being honest, this looks like another questionable attempt to bilk cash out of an already great game that didn’t really need the ‘upgrade’.

Other than the lighting, I see no difference that signals an improvement.

@johnny30 Thats what I was thinking a lot of these "glow ups" as push square likes to call them just make everything look darker. It seems this generation is darker/duller colours in the games. Maybe we should change it to dull downs instead of glow ups?

@DETfaninATL but the upgrade is free, and the game (with all DLC) costs £7 if you're not a complete muppet who buys it when it's not on sale - or goes for the physcial edition (I mean, some people like physical editions, but they're only going to complain if you don't let them buy physical editions, so I wouldn't really call that a "cash grab". No one's forcing them to spend more than they need to on the game)

@DETfaninATL, You call raytracing implementation " adjusting brightness and contrast" ? Lmao, that's what raytracing does , bouncing the light all across a surface and results in correctly putting shadows in a scene and making it look " darker". If anything this shows CDPR have done a pretty good job here. Maybe take a look at the DF tech preview before commenting.

Actually think it looks much better and usually I cant notice the differene on these things. the witcher was borderline ugly on a modern TV, far too bright and muddy. the better framerate with the improved lighting and resolution changes it a lot, cant wait to jump back in!

Does Roach still get stuck on roofs or appear in the window frame in Wild Orchard?

We'd heard about the optional new camera angle, but actually seeing it, it looks great

Compared to the PS4 Pro version (and even OG PC) we have:

• Far more accurate lighting using the RT global illumination and ambient occlusion OR improved lighting/ SSAO/ shadow quality in performance mode.
• Vastly increased grass/vegetation density.
• Much, much further draw distance and LOD values.
• Higher quality screen space reflections.
• Improved textures in certain areas (specifically ground and armour).
• Improved atmospheric effects like fog and improved weather system.
• Certain improvements to character models (specifically enemies).

This upgrade also offers:

• A choice between RT benefits at 30fps or improved response at 60fps.
• Various alternative gameplay settings such as close camera and ability shortcuts.
• FSR 2.1 implementation for a cleaner image.

I'm sorry but if you're saying there's hardly any improvement, and it's just 'darker', you need your eyes checked. Ridiculous! The PS4 version had wrongly lit characters and objects due the the very inaccurate lighting model, meaning random things in scene appear full brightness when they should be shaded to give a cohesive look so that they are grounded in the scene and not floating on top of it. The LOD pop-in was absolutely awful in both PS4 versions too. It's not just about the RT here. There are tons of other improvements - play it in the 60fps mode and you still get a far better looking game.

The improvement is huge and more importantly, it's completely free to owners of the game. Play it in person and I'm sure you will be satisfied - you won't be able to miss the improvements.

Edit: having just played 30mins of it I can say with confidence that it's a massive improvement over the original, whatever mode you select. All in my humble opinion of course! You don't have to agree with me but if you're someone who appreciates increased graphical fidelity and performance options then you'll find a lot to love.

I do wish the character models had been improved a bit more but again its free and I am stoked for the better performance and new camera!

@DETfaninATL "another questionable attempt to bilk cash out of an already great game"

Weird statement considering the update is free

Is it just me or does it look better on PS4? 🤔

It looks too dark on PS5.

I'm looking forward to replaying. The updated features are welcome.

The picture doesn't help at all.

I just bought the GOTY edition as I've never played but the comparisons just make the game look darker on PS5. What am I missing?

Will try to play this again once the upgrade is up. It's been sitting on my backlog and just waiting for the 60fps update

I always think that the original looks better in these comparisons but I'll take any excuse to replay the best game in the entire universe.

@themightyant correct that the fog is seemingly less pronounced in this version, but it is 'improved' in that its rendered using better/newer techniques and looks much better up close. It seems they've applied it to more logical areas and in a more realistic manner, for better or for worse. I would agree its removal diminishes the atmosphere in some scenes but what is there is at least of higher quality. I'm not sure of the extent that they've changed the weather system so I guess that could influence it too.

As for the dust, I guess it could be due to lighting affecting alpha effects or it could have simply been replaced by a more tame-looking effect. I agree that the old one adds more impact, quite literally.

The water effects are also kind of odd when you compare the two modes on PS5, Xbox and the new PC version... Pretty much every version has completely different water/wave animation. I can't work out which is supposed to be higher quality 🤔

@themightyant Yeah in GTA it really ruined the vibe. If enough people pick up on it in The Witcher then I guess it would be an easy thing to tweak in an update.

@DETfaninATL it's a free upgrade and no you couldn't get anywhere near the same result by adjusting your settings on the TV

I had this game at release but didn't get very far tbh. When they said they were doing an upgrade I bough a sealed GOTY edition for £7 and it's been sat there waiting for this. Can't wait to get on it tomorrow!

Been so excited for this. I am currently deep into GoW:Ragnarok but I can't wait to get back on this when I'm done.

Weird. Never played TW3 on PS4, but the lighting in the PS5 clips looks WAY closer to my experience with the game on PC, so I went back and watched some PC footage on ultra settings from before this recent update and, yep, pretty similar. Did the PS4 version's lighting really look this bad? Everything is so flat.

@DETfaninATL
A "cash grab" that is free for those who already own the game? Sure, dude.

Reading is fundamental.

Thanks for the side by side! I'll give the performance mode a go since my PS4 would stutter and tear. The biggest improvements that bring me back are draw distance (0:45) and textures (1:30). Little disappointing that the characters in the cut scenes don't look noticeably different but that could just be the lighting in certain scenes. Are you able to switch back and forth between modes? I would definitely like to see how the giant frog looks in quality mode

Graphics look slightly better but it's more the gameplay I'm interested in. Looks way more smooth at 60fps. At 30fps moving around always felt jerky. Looks good and it's free!

@DETfaninATL

You should have your glasses checked. Also, how can it be a cash-grab if the upgrade is free for people who already own the game?

@DETfaninATL "so they adjusted the brightness and contrast..."

Ignorance is hilarious lmao.

I'm guessing you're also the kind of person that doesn't need a TV with official HDR support or care about Ray Tracing because they can just "increase brightness and contrast" on their current TV from 10 years ago lol.

Also, this blurry 1080p video with YouTube's horrendous compression is a poor comparison to say the least. Watch this in 4K, and the next-gen upgrades will become dramatically more apparent.

Overall, loving this upgrade. It's clear that it's not just a "darker" filter, and more how the game should have looked like from the beginning with correct simulated lightning/shadows

LOLOLOL to all who flamed me for missing the obvious (which I clearly did!) , thank-you for pointing out it is a free upgrade. 🤣🤣 I never assume anything is free anymore in this day and age and I’m not sure how I missed that! Nice to hear it is free though. However I stick to my original statement about it merely looking like they only adjusted the brightness and contrast. They may have done the whole ray-tracing thing but the end result (at least as far as I’m concerned) is it just looks darker and maybe a little sharper. None of which is enough to get me to play this game again when there’s tons of good games coming out and I have a backlog as it is.

I feel like PS has late night meetings to discuss and determine the worst possible pic to show graphical differences in games updated for PS5. If so, mission accomplished. I doth my hat to thee for such a successful troll.

@DETfaninATL There's also better textures, 60FPS, better draw distance, more crowds, improved lighting, a new camera, photo mode, more foliage, new weather, much much quicker loading, many QoL improvements, new content, PS5 haptic and 3D audio. This isn't a remake or even a proper remaster its just a current gen version and considering its free they have gone beyond what most would.

I have not played this game because I would prefer it in first person with a 3rd person option for riding a horse, reported poor performance on PS4, and annoying glow/God rays.

That said I still enjoy comparisons like this and again to me sometimes it looks better on new, but sometimes better on old. Here I prefer interiors on old while I prefer exteriors on new.

What puzzles me is why would an overall darker image be considered an improvement. For me 60fp over 30fps and short loading times is what would get my interest to replay or first play. The darkness can be adjusted out in a minute.

The game already looked really nice but I'm not really that blown away by the upgrade. But it is 60 FPS with a already great looking game so not to shabby. It looks good the same for me a little darker.

It's a nice looking game - an artistic looking game, but not a "real" looking game. The PS5 enhancements give an alternative look to it. Yes it has more accurate lighting, but except for tech-nerds who geek out on "ITZ GOT RT NAO!", the rest of us see a subtle improvement, or at best an alternative look.
The extras are free and welcome, but they don't give us a better game or a different way to play. I recently loaded it up on my Steam Deck as that is a different way to play for me and gives me an incentive to play it again. But some RT and lighting changes and 60fps are not enough to make me sit in front of my TV and play it again.
Contrast this with the continual free content and gameplay and VR (and PS5 graphics) updates on No Mans Sky, and I am given an incentive to try the game again to play it different. I realize these games are totally different, but my point is that W3 is still W3 and exactly the same game but with some nice graphics adds.
SO yeah - cool and all, and thanks CDPR for bringing me some extra cheese on my leftover pizza, but it's still the same game I played 7 years ago and as much as I enjoyed it then, I just am not interested to play it on my TV again now.

there’s also a big update out today (Dec 13th) bringing the PS4 version to 4.00 that seems to add a lot of these enhancements even for those without PS5. nice!

I actually prefer the brighter looking ps4 version. It looks too dark on ps5.

@DETfaninATL

The ray tracing makes a huge difference. But the problem is that you can only play at 30 FPS with ray tracing turned on. That’s a deal killer honestly. There’s no reason the game can’t offer a performance ray racing mode.

@ItsBritneyB_tch

It’s supposed to be that dark. The console versions of the game were gimped. The lighting was always off and way too bright.

@Gloamin "huge" is subjective. I don't see how that's so hard to understand. People have different expectations.

If it was a completely new game I would have got it but Iv played it already so totally pointless spending another load of cash on it just to do exactly the same thing. Would have if I hadn’t played it before

took a while but the PS5 version finally downloaded!

to transfer a saved game from the PS4 version (I have the version from PS Plus) I had to sign into “My Rewards” with a GOG.com account in the PS4 game. then upload a cloud save to GOG, separate from PSN. (may have to update PS4 game to 4.00 to do this.)

then also log in to My Rewards in the PS5 game, and you’ll be able to continue the PS4 cloud save from GOG.

wow the new camera angle and performance mode are quite a change! loading times are sooo much faster than the PS4 game is on PS5. the ray tracing mode is noticeably less smooth than the PS4 game, doubt anyone will want to play with it on. but it did give a nice touch to a visit to the Passiflora. 4K Geralt has chest hair?

@naruball Its not hard to understand other's views when it comes to valuing the art direction of changes. On the point of advanced tech, realism in lighting, increase in foliage detail and in draw distance over the original, I think it's pretty fair to describe the improvements over the original as 'huge'. I still think some should get their eyes checked if they're saying the only difference is that it's "darker" or that there's only a couple of areas of improvements. Even if they don't meet some people's high expectations they are very apparent across the board, unlike a lot of low-effort remasters that just up-res the game and assets.

To be fair to people looking at these Pushsquare vids, it's not exactly the most thorough of comparisons. The IGN comparison vid does a great job at highlighting the improvements and I'm sure there's a Digital Foundry analysis inbound too.

@Gloamin, it is less about needing an eye exam and more about how the PS5 version looks like a darkened PS4 version. Almost all scenes on the PS5 actually look worse than the same scenes on the PS4.

For example: all interior scenes especially the pub scene 3:45, outside :56 is maybe the worst of dark outside scenes. At 1:45 that closeup shows the improved PS5 lod and along with improved distance lod is obvious even to my old eyes.

Overall this comparison is not good as one version appears to be incorrectly adjusted too dark. For me I would adjust down the PS4 brightness just a tad, and would never play any game set as dark like the PS5 version is here.

I was replying to a post about the 'subjectivity' of the amount of improvements. My facetious "eyes checked" comment was about that while the fact of whether you like the look of the more realistic Global illumination RT (which is subjective), to claim that's the only difference when there's many other improvements such as the increased LOD, reflections, textures, grass density, means "you need your eyes checked" for not seeing the plethora of other improvements 😂

It's completely fine that you aren't a fan of the GI but the RT bounce lighting + AO is displaying the 'correct' (and by 'correct' I mean closer to realism, which some may not prefer) amount of colour, lighting and shadow. You can see less detail in the background because things are no longer unrealistically lit indoors. Again, I'm not saying you are wrong for not liking the implementation of GI, that's completely subjective, but then that wasn't the point I was making in the comment you replied to 👍 It would be wrong to say that the GI version is less closer to realism (in lighting) though, but the results arent always favoured by some.

Personally I think the GI looks miles better and really adds proper depth and placement in the scene. This update adds way more than just the GI though... but I get some that some people aren't so impressed. Good news for you is that you aren't forced to use it and you can just play at 60fps instead with all the other huge improvements over the original 😁

@Gloamin, since my last post I have viewed the side by side presented here with other side by sides, and others have not presented a darkened PS5 version like here. Even with raytracing that adds more natural lighting effects. I still hate the god rays that look like a nuke explosion.

As you say there are some very noticeable improvements, with or without rt, but the dark setting ruins it all.
The PS5 version here that looks dark is the only video that looks dark to me, games, apps, cable, and internet on any of the devices I use.

@danlk1ng exactly. Only people who are going to buy this game are Gonzo, Rowlf, and Scooter!

Some of the shots provided dont really show off how much better it looks. There are better videos out there of the vegetation, etc. Looks way better on ps5. Dont know why they are using that picture it doesnt show off anything thats upgraded really.