Alan Wake 2's Latest Update Tackles PS5 Pro Problems, Includes Toggle for PSSR

Booted up the game yesterday after downloading the update and yes it looked so much sharper on Quality.
After I finish my Stellar Blade NG+ playthrough I will start with AW2 NG+, I was waiting for this update first, so nice it finally came out.

The fact that so many games have had to be updated to give people the option of turning of PSSR shows that the PS5 Pro was not ready for launch. Sony rushed an unproven AI upscaling feature out to make some money, and I say this as someone who bought the Pro

I've not tried this but whoever is developing PSSR needs to have a word with Guerilla games and see if there's anything that they're doing with their own upscaling solution in HFW, that can help with the development of PSSR

I kept PSSR on, yeah on a still image you will see issues but in motion those issues are non existent. Basically 90% of the time its better with PSSR.

@PloverNutter More games look and run better then those that don't with PSSR. Playing Space Marine 2 this afternoon and it looks amazing on Pro and a clear upgrade over the base version. Almost like Saber didn't rush out the update and instead made sure it worked unlike Remedy, Ubi and Bloober.

aha, OK, so the fix is to turn the new feature off since they cant make it work properly. Cool.

Man, pssr seems to be quite the dud, especially in direct comparison to fsr.

@tameshiyaku not really though, there are multiple examples of games that achieve better quality with PSSR than FSR.
Seems like it currently struggles with some specific stuff, most of all low native render resolution.

I went back and finished AW2 along with getting the Platinum yesterday and balanced mode with PSSR on all the way! Smooth 40fps with ray tracing on looked and played so well!

After that, I went back to Hogwarts Legacy and tried the quality mode with Ray tracing, but I couldn't deal with the 30fps, unfortunately. So it's uncapped HFR mode with that game for me. I wish more developers would give us a 40fps mode with Ray tracing on instead of 30fps.

It's funny but I think this update is actually a -positive- for PSSR.
Since you can change the setting on the fly and the menu is semi-transparent, you can very clearly see it resolving much more detail and an overall cleaner image while on. So while detractors that simply read a headline will hold this up as "proof" that it's flawed, playing the damn thing will prove otherwise.

Also, that 40fps balanced mode is where it's at! RT + smooth framerate = heaven.

Omg! So the whole point of the PS5 Pro was PSSR and now all these games have to have the option to turn it off because it doesn't work!? You kidding me?

@Arkman I think it handles detail and upscaling really well, it just struggles as a denoiser. Which is, I believe, what an Activision dev solved in 10 minutes a few weeks ago. Hopefully it shouldn't be long before there are real solutions to that one issue and everyone can move on 😅

PSSR has been a PR disaster for Sony. There are far too many games that have needed to gut it or provide the option to do so just to fix them. Truly an embarrassment for Sony. And yes, it's also an embarrassment for the developers of the games with issues. How you could look at your game, think that's okay, and push an update like that out is beyond mind boggling.

This toggle on/off for pssr isn’t a good look for the pro.

Can Sony do anything to sort this out or is it just a load of cack? Or maybe dev problems?

@PloverNutter
Totally agree, a few games have this toggle option and it makes PSSR look bad, definitely rushed to market in time for Christmas.
I have some trust for Sony, well as much as you can in this industry right now, but they have definitely gone down in my opinion.

Getting the Pro in a couple weeks. Can anyone tell me if PSSR actually improves the image quality? I'm not too bothered about artefacts so long as the image is sharper / more detailed.

@MARl0 The vast majority of games run and look better with PSSR. Last week saw one of the best PSSR uses in Space Marie 2 what looks incredible with PSSR

@JustCameHereToSay The people complaining are those who don't even own a Pro.

In my experience you always fined for smoothness and less blurry when panning around on PS5 Pro is still 60fps performance mode.
Or unlock VRR frame rate even better.

Then the games where you can toggle PSSR and go back to say FSR like Star Wars Outlaws show less fizz etc than using PSSR.

Even noticed this ND last of us remastered.
PSSR fence type scenery fizzed a little when panning out of Pro mode no fizz.

And I’m using a Sony A95L so no TV quality issues.

@PSDeckSwitchOwner @Dodoo the majority of games look significantly better with PSSR, it just has a few issues at the moment with a small amount of games. The likes of The Last of Us 2, Spider-Man and Ratchet and Clank look way better with PSSR on. Even games which don't use it like HFW look significantly better on the PS5 Pro, so it's not all about PSSR.

Personally I'm very happy with it as every game i play with Pro enhancements looks and performs much better on the Pro and even some games which aren't patched like the RE2 and 3 remake, run significantly better.

Also it's important to remember that the console has only just come out, I'm sure as more games are developed with it in mind, as opposed to just getting a patch will have much better implementations and PSSR itself will also improve

I’m generally happy with my Pro & all for choice if it gives people sensible options, but this is starting to get a bit stupid now.

We’ve gone from Performance, Fidelity (and occasionally Balanced) modes to Performance PSSR, Performance no PSSR, Fidelity PSSR, Fidelity no PSSR, Balanced PSSR and Balanced no PSSR - and that’s before you start looking at options for 120hz or VRR.

Who wants to have to watch a DF video before booting up every game? That’s where we’re headed.

What I don’t get is why Sony invested and invented PSSR, Guerilla games own upscaler in HFW on PS5 Pro gets the best praise I have ever seen from DF.
And when you don’t PSSR on PS5 Pro Naughty Dog games they look even better using ND tech.

Not sure what Sony are up to some marketing thing or future thing I guess.

What I have noticed the Guerilla and Naughty dog tech when used starts from a lot higher resolution.
And when PSSR gets used it starts from a lot lower resolution.
Concluding that using a lot lower starting resolution is not great for PSSR and it’s also proven not great for other upscalers like FSR aswell. Basically using a to lower resolution gives the poor PSSR to much work to do.

@Danloki GT7 pssr bad 🤣 first get a better tv then off to specsavers for a better pair of glasses.

@DennisReynolds I was discussing this with someone else on another article the other day - in motion is definitely where PSSR seems to shine the most, and as I spend most of my time in games moving...

@DTfearTheBEARD
RE Hogwarts Legacy Pro patch.
Try the normal performance mode but uncap the framerate - it runs significantly higher than 60fps, and not too far below the fps of the HFR mode given that you do get diminishing returns the higher you go, but the visuals are a lot better imo.

They also made a number of improvements to the normal performance mode for the Pro patch including LODs etc as well as PSSR, whereas in the HFR mode I think they just added PSSR.

@DennisReynolds That doesn't change anything about it being a PR disaster... It's well known that there are games where it's used well. 🙄

@Danloki What's wrong with GT7's PSSR?

@OldGamer999 Do you mean The Last of Us Remake? The remaster is a PS4 game

@MARl0 How is it a PR disaster if the majority of games are improved?

@PSDeckSwitchOwner
In the majority of cases PSSR improves the image, particularly when in motion, making it clearer and more detailed (cleaning up detail). In some games the boost to image quality is very large, in others, more modest.
In some games it can sofen the image very slightly, but you could alter your TV sharpness slider, if you even notice it.

As someone else said, the significant GPU boost is there even if PSSR isnt used, though to get the most out of patches so far I would certainly recommend a 120hz VRR TV (and uncap framerates if available).

Unfortunately, there have been a couple of examples of devs either poorly implementing PSSR when patching games, or running into problems, and somehow not noticing or ignoring the problems and putting the patch out anyway. Examples include SHill2, SWJSurvivor, SWOutlaws, Avatar - I think a lot of these now have been patched to allow PSSR to be turned off to remove the issue (though I cant remember having seen anything to say this has happened with SWJS which unsurprisingly given its PS5 base launch state is probably the worst example at least from what I've seen).

There are also a few examples where PSSR implementation has added a few issues, but overall is a still an improvement. E.g. I have read /heard that DAV has a few issues with its PSSR implementation - however to me it simply looks much better with the Pro, particularly in motion.
E.g.2 RE4 Remake / RE Village were noted by DF to have some positive and some negative points with PSSR where uncapped 120hz is turned on (PSSR not used in other modes) - knowing this I went and had a compare in RE4 Remake and overall I see a decent improvement where it has been used (as well as a very large uplift in fps of course).

Enjoy the Pro.

@PSDeckSwitchOwner
Sorry remake it was free on premium so I tried it.

@DennisReynolds Thank you for this comment, I have said it on other threads AW2 on the Pro has always looked and played brilliantly for me, before and after this patch so I never understood when people said it didn't run well on the Pro and just assumed I was lucky or had terrible eye sight :S

The new Balanced graphics mode is really good. They should have opened with it.

@OldGamer999
I think you have more or less answered your own question, at least as far as we know at present.
HFW has a much higher pre upscale pixel count on Pro than most games these days, and the upscaler probably only works at high pre upscale pixel counts.
It probably also only works when dynamic res scaling is not used as the base PS5 uses dynamic but they have turned dynamic scaling off as far as I know for the Pro version.
Its also very possible that this upscaler cant easily be used in other engines or with effects/techniques they have made the concious effort not to use.
They have also, clearly spent a lot of time implementing their upscaler into their engine - something a few bad apples havent when it comes to PSSR.

When it comes to ND and TLOU, all the tech reviews Ive seen or read have said PSSR has made a very positive improvement overall.

@Rich33
Yes last of us remake is weird.
When I take of pro mode back to performance mode and unlocked frame rate, I get a better image a little bit and especially less fizz when panning near wired type fencing.

As for PSSR just keep the base resolutions high like they do with FSR and others then add PSSR.
Not sure why they have taken this low resolution stance.
I mean taking a 1080p or below resolution in some cases and expecting PSSR or any upscaler to do an amazing job is just stupid to me.
It’s too much for it to do.

@Danloki Spidey games, Ratchet and Clank, Space Marie 2, Darktide, The Crew Motorspot, Path of Exile, Demons Souls, Stellar Blade, GT7, Rise of the Ronin, No Man's Sky, Empire of the Ants, The Last of Us Part 1/2, Marvel Rivals, Alan Wake 2 (as of the latest update), Resident Evil 4/Village, Lords of the Fallen, Assassins Creed Mirage and more all run and look better with PSSR.

@MARl0 Its not PR disaster because owners don't watch DF to tell them what they should find bad.

@OldGamer999
I think RE4 Remake is running at under 900p before upscaling to 4k via PSSR but as its only used in the 120hz uncapped fps mode its easy to go in and compare. To me, it looks like a very decent improvement.
PSSR will be improved, and im sure that low pre-scaler res will be one area - though why certain devs run that resolution so low just to add RT or a few extra touches is anyones guess.

@Rich33
I think you got to the issue.
Ray tracing a mass power user and that’s why they have to lower the base resolution so low and then rely on PSSR or any upscaler to get back to 4K, but it is to bigger a gap.
RT has definitely been the bane of the is generation power wise.
Take it out then you can up the base resolution which is better for the upscaler.
They are trying to do too much for this generation for the consoles power. And even the mighty Pro with PSSR or FSR can’t bridge that gap with RT and low base resolutions.

@Danloki @DennisReynolds

Plus: Hogwarts Legacy, DAV, GOWR (though you do lose a few fps in uncapped mode)

Otherwise, you have covered most of the games I have tried, with the exception of Lies of P which im not sure if it uses it or just higher res.

@Danloki No PSSR is fine in GT7 as Digital Foundry said, its better off yes but its also fine on.

@Rich33 Yeah i gathered i missed some games haha

@Danloki Thats fine bud you do you, i live by what i see infront of me in real life not by the judgement of a website 😉

@DennisReynolds
You have looked at more than I have, and I thought i'd tried quite a few out!

@DennisReynolds You don't need DF to see how bad those games look with it. It was night and day difference levels of bad. And in no scenario should a Pro version of a game look demonstrably worse than the base model version. Especially after a $700 investment and on some of the biggest recent games on the platform. PR disaster is putting it lightly. But sure, keep fueling the "Leave the multi-billion dollar company alone!" meme. It's not a good look.

@MARl0 I think the difference is i own a Pro and can make an easy judgement based on my own first hand experience. As i've said the people who moan most about the Pro are those who don't have one.

@Danloki and to you, keep up the good work 🤣

@DTfearTheBEARD Agreed. I just checked today after downloading the update: the new Balanced mode looks much sharper, with a very nice frame rate (all with PSSR left on, not toggled off). Too bad I’m now like 80% finished with the game…

@Danloki You going to ignore me? Oh no how will i survive 😂

@Rich33 I appreciate the information. I'll have to check it out and see which one i prefer.

@Chibbie Yeah, I was mostly finished with AW2 as well. I still have the DLC to go through, though.

Unfortunately for me, most of the Pro enhanced games I've already finished and Platinumed (TLOU 1 & 2, God of War, Spider-Man, Horizon Forbidden West, etc.) But it's nice to go back and see the improvements, plus it will be an even more enjoyable experience playing through those games again in a few years time.

I like Digital Foundry's videos as pure entertainment, but I really don't like the increasing need to watch their stuff in order to make a more informed decision as to what modes and settings I should use.

The whole idea of consoles is to be a turn on and play device. Devs and QA should really be doing the leg work here, tailoring the experience to what they judge will offer the best user experience. Sure, having "fidelity" and "performance" modes is fine, but anything beyond that should be reserved for PCs.

@carlos82 yeah I’m happy with my pro too and haven’t had any issues with the games I’ve played so far, they’ve all played brilliantly in fact.

Just seems pssr might not be a one-fit-all solution as maybe Sony thought? I’m not technically minded though so I have no idea…

@JustCameHereToSay so lazy devs looking for us to beta test their products for them still... got it.

If you turn off PSSR, what does it then do? Does it use FSR2 instead? Or just not upscale at all? And how does it look with PSSR on vs. off?

@DennisReynolds

I agree that it’s nowhere near a PR disaster yet, though it doesn’t exactly look great either. I’m very curious to eventually hear exactly what the issue is, if it’s just working worse with certain engines or similar. I don’t think it’s as easy as ”it’s the devs fault!” In every single case. Some of those devs are uber efficient technically.

Either way. Just found your comment a bit funny. If there is a gamer that watch what DF say, it’s most certainly the PS5 Pro owner, if any 😂 More likely the Pro owner than the regular PS5 owner at least.

But yeah. Some people are just negative Nancy’s (and most often don’t own one themselves). I love my PS5 Pro, but it sure as hell was expensive here in Sweden. But worth it, for me (barely though, with the disc drive).

@PloverNutter "so many games" it was a few. This reads like anti-Pro rhetoric.