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We got a preview of PSSR 2 with the launch of Resident Evil Requiem a few weeks ago, but today marks the wider launch of the improved upscaling tech on PS5 Pro. The upgrade lands as part of a system-level update that can apply to all games, but some specific titles – including the likes of Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Monster Hunter Wilds – are getting their own special patches, and arguably the tech's most notable test will be the launch of Crimson Desert later this week.
"PSSR is an AI library that analyzes each frame pixel by pixel as it upscales game visuals," as Sony explains in its announcement. "With this latest evolution, image reconstruction is more precise, motion stability is improved, and developers have greater flexibility to balance performance and fidelity on PS5 Pro."
The original version of PSSR often did provide major visual upgrades for certain titles on PS5 Pro, but the machine learning-based upscaler sometimes introduced distracting graphical artifacts in certain games. PSSR 2 – simply the "new" or "improved" PSSR, as Sony prefers to call it – builds on an upgraded algorithm that should both eliminate those sorts of artifacts and offer better results across the board.
A new Digital Foundry analysis breaks down some of the big improvements to existing games. Silent Hill f, for example, no longer has the shimmering, pulsing visual noise it once displayed on PS5 Pro. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth offered one of the better PSSR 1 implementations out there, but it's also been improved, cutting out the soft film grain-like effect that once overlaid the screen.
It's not all perfect, as DF highlights that Dragon Age: The Veilguard sometimes showcases odd, dot-shaped artifacts with PSSR 2 on certain textures. But all the games tested are definitively better under the new tech. "This is a big improvement over PSSR 1," Digital Foundry's Oliver Mackenzie believes. "So big that it justifies the existence of PS5 Pro almost on its own."
Silent Hill f, Silent Hill 2, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Control, Alan Wake 2, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Nioh 3, Rise of the Ronin, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Dragon's Dogma 2 have all been specifically upgraded for PSSR 2. The new PS5 Pro update, which launches today, also introduces a system-level setting to enable or disable the feature across all games on the console, though we don't yet know what sort of improvements – or flaws – may be introduced with this more general setting.
"Moving forward, most new PS5 Pro titles will launch with support for this enhanced PSSR, ensuring players continue to see improvements in image quality and performance," Sony explains in its announcement.
One of the key upcoming PS5 games with PSSR 2 support is Crimson Desert. The long-awaited open-world RPG looks so visually impressive that console players had begun to grow skeptical of how it would run at launch, but the devs finally released some PS5 Pro footage last week that looked darned impressive – and that was without the new PSSR. In theory, it should be even better with PSSR 2.
Sony has also confirmed two other notable PSSR 2 patches arriving "in the coming weeks": Assassin's Creed Shadows and Cyberpunk 2077. PS5 Pro's impact was greatly diminished by a number of games – I'm looking at you, Silent Hill 2 – that straight-up looked worse than they did on the base console thanks to poor PSSR implementations. While I wish things had been different at launch, I'm glad Sony is finally making efforts to set things right.
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