Stellar Blade on PS5: A Simple Yet Powerful Upgrade Experience

We have been analyzing numerous video games optimized for PS5 Pro, but the one that has truly captured my interest is Stellar Blade. This game made a strong impression when it debuted on PS5 in April of this year, yet its smooth gameplay and stunning environments were slightly diminished due to inconsistent performance and unclear graphics quality. With PS5 Pro, the developers at Shift Up have provided a straightforward yet highly effective update that addresses all these issues.

Interestingly, this update introduces two PS5 Pro specific graphics modes for the game, although the original performance, balanced, and quality modes still remain available. Pro max is the simplest of the new additions, indeed functioning as the quality mode operating uncapped – ideal for VRR displays. The pro mode is more intriguing, as it employs both a higher internal resolution and PSSR upscaling to achieve a significant improvement in graphics quality.

PSSR is not always a guaranteed solution – we have seen some issues arise in titles like Silent Hill 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – but fortunately, it works well in Stellar Blade. The Sony upscaler delivers a temporally enhanced image without the pixelation or blurriness evident in TAA modes – even in the native 4K quality mode. Edges and surfaces are simply cleaner and more defined.

When comparing performance, balanced, and pro modes while examining transparency, each of the three modes has its own limitations, yet the PSSR upscaling in pro mode reduces artifacts and makes it easier to detect distant elements. However, it also introduces artifacts in certain situations, causing the intentional flicker of sunlight to become more pronounced and even affecting the sun’s glare. I do not believe this is intended behavior.

Despite the compromises, the overall graphics quality with PSSR is exceptional in Stellar Blade. Arguably, it is the best visual quality we have seen from the technology so far. The high input resolution certainly contributes, but the output is truly crisp and (mostly) free from artifacts. The contrast is significantly enhanced by just how poor the graphics quality was in the original game.

Performance also stirred some controversy during the initial release, so it is worth checking if the fresh pro and pro max modes have rectified this as well. In the original, only the performance mode provided a consistent 60fps experience, but now the balanced mode also achieves 60fps consistently due to the added GPU power available. The new pro mode also maintains a locked 60fps based on my observations, a perfect fit for a 60Hz display, even though it lacks VRR.

There is also a notable frame rate mode toggle that unlocks…