Our friends over at Digital Foundry just published an in-depth look at Crimson Desert, the open world adventure that's set release for PS5 in just over a couple of weeks.
The aforementioned analysis, however, is all about the game's performance on PC, and the tech that's behind its impressive visuals and physics.
In short, Pearl Abyss' title has to potential to be something quite special from a technical point of view — but this fresh perspective on the project has PS5 owners, including ourselves, wondering just how well this thing is going to run on Sony's consoles.
Watch on YouTubeSubscribe to Push Square on YouTube168k
Previously, PR director Will Powers had stated that Crimson Desert will feature dedicated PS5 Pro enhancements, so you'd think that the developer's at least put some time into making sure that the game's solid on console.
But as it stands, we're yet to see footage of the title running on anything but a high end PC, despite the release showing up multiple times on PlayStation's official YouTube channels.
The thing is, Crimson Desert has always looked incredibly ambitious, and so PS5 players have been raising questions over performance ever since it was first announced. Hell, there were plenty of people who didn't believe that the game was even real to begin with.
Shedding a little more light on the build that Pearl Abyss is showing off, Digital Foundry writes: "This is still a work-in-progress build on last generation AMD GPU hardware. No upscaling is in use and performance is impressive — quite unlike the typical experience you'd expect from, say, an Unreal Engine 5-based title at equivalent settings and pixel count."
So from a PS5 perspective, that sounds somewhat promising.
But as you'd imagine, this is still Crimson Desert through the lens of cranked-up graphical settings. The report clarifies: "Settings are set to the ultra setting (not the fully tapped out "cinematic") but this is still very much towards the top end of the engine's capabilities."
There's no doubt that the console versions will be reigned in a bit — especially if you're playing on base PS5 — and the following points about advanced lighting effects hit that suggestion home.
For example, the article confirms "ray-traced global illumination", which works across a full day and night cycle, complete with all kinds of dynamic weather effects.
Ray-traced reflections are mentioned as well, which are "especially evident in standing bodies of water". In short, this is the kind of graphical stuff that can be rather demanding.
The reality here is that we're going to have to see Crimson Desert running on a PS5 before jumping to any conclusions. The lack of footage is perhaps a warning sign right now, but the title isn't out until the 19th March.
Are you holding out hope for Crimson Desert on PS5? What are you expecting from the console version? Make some assumptions in the comments section below.