The PS5 Pro was just announced last week along with a list of existing PS5 games set to be enhanced by Sony’s upgraded console offering. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was one of the games on that list and we’ve already shared our thoughts on how we expect Rebirth will benefit from the PS5 Pro’s more powerful hardware. However, thanks to the tech wizards over at Digital Foundry, we know even more about how the Rebirth experience on the upcoming PS5 Pro compares to the base PS5.
Digital Foundry’s Oliver Mackenzie explained his findings in a YouTube video that breaks down the PS5 Pro’s ability to pump out enhanced graphics at 60 frames per second (FPS) during a 7-minute sample of Rebirth. The sample took place very early on in Chapter 2 of the game and his early impressions in comparing the PS5 Pro versus Rebirth running on Performance Mode on a base PS5 were pretty exciting.
Mackenzie says in the video, “We can make out far more detail across the environment, especially in high-frequency texture detail and fine tufts of foliage.” He adds, “Skin textures really shine on Pro, with a specular sheen on Barret, here, revealing poor detail that was smeared before. You can actually make out strands of hair on Tifa, here.”
He also notes crisper 4K visuals while in combat and significantly fewer issues with “ghosting,” which is basically the blurring of visuals during camera movement. All of this is credited to PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) technology, Sony’s new machine learning-based upsampling solution that's exclusive to the PS5 Pro.
He explains. “The enhanced GPU capability and machine learning acceleration in PS5 Pro enables Square Enix to hit greatly improved imaged quality metrics, with the game now genuinely looking like a title rendered at a much higher resolution.”
But it’s not all rainbows and butterflies when it comes to Rebirth’s graphics on the PS5 Pro. He notes a few issues, including problems with lighting that aren’t completely fixed by the PS5 Pro enhancements. And, in comparing Rebirth’s standard Graphics Mode and its performance on the PS5 Pro, the PS5 Pro suffers from visual stability in that, even with just minimal movement, details begin to break and become slightly less clear.
Ultimately, Digital Foundry’s take on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PS5 Pro is very positive, especially as it pertains to bridging the performance gap between Graphics and Performance Modes. Mackenzie notes that Rebirth running on Performance Mode on the base PS5, despite being lauded as the 60 FPS solution, would still experience frame dips during demanding cutscenes or combat sequences. The PS5 Pro, on the other hand, stayed locked at 60 FPS while still churning out heightened, high-definition graphics.
“Realistically,” Mackenzie begins in his conclusion, “squeezing this level of improvement out of the Pro console at this early stage feels like an impressive achievement and perhaps a sign of greater things to come as developers get to grips with the Pro hardware”
You can watch Digital Foundry’s video on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth running on the PS5 Pro on YouTube.
