Can The PS5 No Longer Push The 60 FPS It So Enthusiastically Promised?

PC vs console has been an age-old debate, with both sides having some solid appeal points. Consoles bear ease of use, just run a game and play, and the ability to run any supported title. On the other side, PC can have much more beefier hardware, comes with extreme customizability, and can run the same game in a much superior state if properly optimized.

How does it run the game better? Console versions of a game come with a locked framerate, while the PC has no such restrictions generally, as long as your hardware can handle it. In the past, consoles couldn’t even go beyond 30 fps, creating a less desirable output. The present gen changed that to a smooth 60, but recent games like Rise of the Ronin, FF7 Rebirth, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 are forcing you back to the old times.

Performance Mode Doesn’t Do The Beautiful Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Justice

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a beautiful game and a perfect sequel, there’s no doubt about that. However, this is only true if you play it in quality mode. Don’t get me wrong, I always favor performance over visuals. Graphics don’t matter to me as much as smooth and consistent gameplay does.

However, things are pretty bad here if even I’m saying to choose the quality mode. Performance mode butchers the visuals so much that it’s just better to sacrifice the framerate.

just a simple side by side of graphics mode vs performance mode from demo
byu/wikid24 inFFVIIRemake

Ever since this issue first surfaced in the demo, I feared for the worst. When Square Enix acknowledged it and decided to fix things with a new demo, I was glad, but skeptical nonetheless. I mean, for something that couldn’t be fixed in such a long time, can it be done in less than a month? As expected, it never got better.

You can make the argument that at least it runs at a solid 60 fps, so my point is invalid. It does have a 60 fps mode, true, but it sacrifices too much to maintain it. It’s like the game is a subconscious reminder to “get used to 30 fps.” While this game can push 60 fps, who knows what the future has in store? Especially since PS5 games are now pointing to a 30 fps future.

Rise Of The Ronin Can’t Maintain 60 FPS In Performance Mode

Next up on the list is Rise of the Ronin, Team Ninja’s latest adventure out now on the PS5. It’s a trip back to feudal Japan, where you explore beautiful historical landscapes with creative traversal mechanics, and cut down your enemies with the Team Ninja-special brutal and complex but rewarding combat system.

That’s all great, it truly is, but you know what the problem is? The game can’t hit a consistent 60 fps among some other problems that are a different discussion. In many towns and areas, performance drops are pretty significant and noticeable, something that sours the experience.

"Rise of the Ronin unstable frame rate in performance mode"

Bro ima be real, while I'm excited to play ronin, I've been very cautious with my expectations..
Every trailer they've put out looks like **** with either massive performance issues or super flat colors / graphics pic.twitter.com/Vda6tPKKc1

— Scyushi (@Scyushi) March 17, 2024

Do keep in mind that this is a Team Ninja game, and just like its predecessors, it’s not too hot on the visuals. Rise of the Ronin has modest visuals for a PS5. Despite having just alright visuals, it struggles to hit 60 fps. What does that tell you about the current times? Is it about time we learn to live with 30 frames once again?

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Doesn’t Even Target 60 FPS On Consoles

And finally, we have Dragon’s Dogma 2, which is probably the most clear-cut example. It’s a visually impressive adventure that runs at such, but to sustain that, the game never even targets the 60 fps mark on consoles. It is designed to run with an “uncapped 30 fps” on the console, and that’s just saying 30 in a fancy, less conspicuous way.

Itsuno confirms the game is targeting ‘uncapped 30 FPS or above’ on Consoles
byu/IcePopsicleDragon inDragonsDogma

Granted Dragon’s Dogma 2 has performance issues on PC as well, but it can still run better on a PC than a console at this point. It doesn’t even have quality and performance modes. The game pushes out its full glory while targeting the 30 fps mark to ensure consistency.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a sign of what’s to come for these “next-gen” consoles. To run the games in the visual quality they were meant to be played in, we need to start accepting the 30 fps domain once again now, being a console gamer.

Is Consoles’ Return To The 30 FPS Era Inevitable?

The point is that issues arise primarily in performance modes. If games stick to the 30 fps target like in quality mode, they run without any issues. Performance mode is either 60 fps for a visual abomination like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, or straight-up can’t even hit the target, as in Rise of the Ronin.

I always chuckle when we reach the point in the generation where 30fps games become the norml
by ingaming

Do you know what all this makes me wonder? It looks like the promised “60 fps on consoles” era is almost over. The 60 fps mode is still present to keep up appearances, but it’s like subconsciously, we’re being forced to pick the 30 fps option.

Is this a sign that the consoles are no longer powerful enough to run upcoming games with both splendid visuals and 60 fps? Can they only push one of these things at a time now? You might think I’m exaggerating, but these recent games certainly have me thinking this. Especially Dragon’s Dogma 2, which doesn’t even attempt 60 fps.

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So The PS5 Pro Will Be The “60 FPS” Console Now?

I think it’s safe to say that this current gen of consoles went through a lot of trouble, and are now close to the end without doing anything too extraordinary. First, it was the critical lack of games. When PS5 was first released, it barely had any strong games not available anywhere else. It’s life was full of hiccups.

PS5 will go down as the first console in history to not have a single game.
byu/_yearoldonreddit invideogamedunkey

For a long time, it was stuck with cross-gen games limited heavily by the PS4’s backward hardware. And now when proper next-gen games are coming out, it can’t even run them on 60 fps properly?

What’s more, the base PS5 is already being pushed back as now allegedly the PS5 Pro is on the horizon, with better hardware and the ability to “run games in 60 fps much better.” So is this it for the PS5’s promise of 60 fps and the Pro will fulfill it now? With what happened to the base one, I highly doubt the Pro can do it for long, either.