PS5 owners beware: Death Stranding 2 Quality Mode "is largely redundant on the Pro"

Death Stranding 2 Sam running through the desert near a derelict city
(Image credit: Sony)

Reviews for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach are in, and they're glowing, as you'd expect. But what about the more technical details? Well, if you have a PS5 Pro you're in luck, there's almost no perceptible difference between the Quality and Performance Modes.

As reported by the tech wizards at Digital Foundry, "On the PS5 Pro, the differences between Quality and Performance Mode are so minor that Performance Mode becomes the obvious choice. Quality Mode is largely redundant on the Pro. It looks excellent, sure, but Performance Mode is nearly identical and plays a lot better."

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach - PS5/PS5 Pro - Digital Foundry Tech Review - 4K HDR - YouTube Death Stranding 2: On The Beach - PS5/PS5 Pro - Digital Foundry Tech Review - 4K HDR - YouTube
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So, if you've got a PS5 Pro, you're better off running the smoother 60fps Performance Mode than the marginally better looking Quality Mode. Unfortunately, base-PS5 owners – such as myself – won't be so lucky.

Digital Foundry notes that on the standard PS5, the terrain details at a distance lack the visual richness they do on the Pro. It states that this "subtle yet meaningful" difference makes it worth playing on Quality Mode for the better visual fidelity, even if that will lock you to the choppier 30fps,

This console generation has completely ruined my perception of 30fps, so I almost never play games in Quality Mode anymore. I'll take Performance even if the render distance is halved, because I need that smooth 60fps to wash over me like warm surf at the beach (pun not intended).

Our own Death Stranding 2 review notes the games is "more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse," and claims "Sam feels more connected to those around him" than ever before. On Metacritic, this sequel has already scored higher than the original.

If you're not into Death Stranding and all its weirdness, fear not, we have a ranking of the best PS5 games you can try instead.

Issy van der Velde
Contributor

I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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