The Witcher 3 and its new-gen PS5 and Xbox Series patch have just come under scrutiny. What’s the best version?
As usual when there are big releases, Digital Foundry reviews the different versions of the games and lists the strengths and weaknesses of each one . Today the long-awaited new gene patch of The Witcher 3 is on the table of operations and if there are very good there are also very bad.
With this new gene patch, The Witcher 3 improves and brings with it several mods developed by the community to improve its graphics, refine its models (the sky, the characters, the environment, etc.) or even its overall balance to optimize . You can also find the detailed patch notes in our dedicated article.
Unstable ray tracing and efficient performance mode
After carefully analyzing each version of the patch from The witcher 3, Digital Foundry states that Ray Tracing, available in “Quality mode”, targets 1440p (dynamic resolution) on PS5 and Xbox series and does an excellent job regardless of the version. Colors are more accurate and natural, blacks are deeper, and shadows look great. The lighting effects are also much prettier and the shaders are of better quality. Simply put, ray tracing completely changes the visual experience.
There are also more elaborate reflections – but not in ray tracing, as consoles can’t handle that – and slightly finer textures in this ultimate graphics mode on the PS5 and Xbox series. On the other hand, the slowdowns are legion. While originally supposed to run at 30 fps, the ray tracing mode is from The witcher 3 unfortunately does not deliver what it promises. On the PS5 the game never manages to hold or reach 30 fps, rather stagnating at around 25 with dips that can drop below 20. Yes, it stings.
On the Xbox Series X, on the other hand, it’s significantly better. The version is generally more stable and maintains its 30fps, although it still has some framerate dips around town. As a bonus, both versions incur over a hundred milliseconds of input lag, giving the controller a strange feeling of latency.
In addition to this quality mode, this new version of The witcher 3 also features a performance mode that targets 4K (dynamic resolution) at 60 fps. Here the frame rate is much more stable than the PS5 or Xbox series, however the two consoles still show rare frame rate drops, especially in Novigrad (definitely in the center of the evil), although Microsoft’s console takes advantage of a higher one here too to offer resolution than the Sony machine. Digital is oriented towards a paved road where the XSX displays 1800p while the PS5 doesn’t go further than 1400p. On the other hand, the Sony console withstands a higher display distance and better shadow management.
The Witcher 3 PS5 vs Xbox Series: Is the Version Better?
In other words, it’s a tie. If the Xbox Series X version does better overall than the PS5 version, neither version seems perfectly optimized and they each have their strengths and weaknesses. CD Projekt still has a lot of work to do to make the ray tracing modes perfectly smooth and stable. Performance mode, on the other hand, comes into its own without too much harm, although some tweaks can be expected here too. So it’s not Peru, but we’re not far from the goal.
