Initially, Digital Foundry experts noted that the graphical fidelity of Crimson Desert on PS5 at launch was comparable to Nintendo Switch levels. They recently conducted a new evaluation to see what has changed with the release of fresh updates.
Upon its initial release, the game presented an unacceptably blurry image in 60 frames per second mode on Sony’s console, primarily due to the absence of FSR upscaling. This situation improved recently when Pearl Abyss rolled out a patch that introduced a “Fixed 4K” option, effectively activating FSR. As a result, image clarity has significantly increased, finally making the game look presentable.
However, the reason for FSR’s delayed implementation quickly became apparent: a noticeable drop in performance. Digital Foundry’s analysis indicates that in scenarios where the “blurry” mode without upscaling delivered 55-60 fps, enabling FSR causes frame rates to dip to 42-48 fps. This means players must choose between visual sharpness and gameplay fluidity.
In CPU-intensive areas, the performance picture remains largely unchanged; even without FSR, the game struggles to maintain around 30 fps. Performance issues also extend to the “quality” mode, where frame rates can fall to as low as 27 fps during routine exploration.
On a more positive note, the developers have successfully addressed the severe “slideshow” effect previously observed in a specific boss battle on both PS5 and PS5 Pro. Where frame rates once plummeted to approximately 10 fps, animation now consistently holds around 30 frames. Despite these improvements, Pearl Abyss still faces a considerable amount of work to fully optimize the console versions of Crimson Desert.