Crimson Desert’s Performance Mode ‘Not Recommended’ on Base PS5, Here’s 25 Minutes of Direct Capture Footage

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Latest update [Fri, March 20, 2026, 4:45 PM]: The team at Digital Foundry has shared their first impressions of Crimson Desert. It’s important to note that this is based on a very early version of the game, as no console code was available before release.

Effectively, when it comes to the base PS5, it doesn’t recommend Performance Mode at all.

Okay, so I’ve been playing, and honestly the performance is kinda rough. For the first hour or so, the frame rate is all over the place – it jumps from the high 30s to 60, but it rarely stays at one number. And it looks like the game is rendering at 1080p, but they’re not using any upscaling tricks to make it look better, so it’s just a native 1080p image.

On the standard PS5, Quality and Balanced modes offer smoother gameplay with more consistent frame rates of 30 or 40 frames per second. They also use FSR 3 technology to improve the overall image quality, making it look sharper despite the lower resolution.

If you’re aiming for smooth 60 frames per second gameplay on consoles, the PS5 Pro appears to be the best option. It utilizes a new technology called PSSR 2 to significantly enhance image quality without sacrificing that 60fps target.

Digital Foundry has a detailed article explaining how the game uses the PS5’s 120Hz feature. It’s worth checking out, as this setting can impact how the game looks on your TV depending on the model you have.

Although it’s still early days, the current recommendation is to use Balanced or Quality mode on a standard PS5, and Performance mode on the PS5 Pro.

Original Story: We’ve finally been able to test Crimson Desert on base PS5.

We’re preparing a detailed report on the PS5 Pro, and in the meantime, we’ve recorded the first 25 minutes of gameplay from the standard PS5 so you can take a look.

We’re using Performance Mode, and have all of the latest patches and updates installed.

Our video producer, Aaron Bayne, says the game appears blurry and unclear on the regular PlayStation console, and there’s a significant and distracting visual issue where the image seems to be ripped apart.

We asked Aaron to send us some more thoughts, and here’s what he told us:

Crimson Desert unfortunately isn’t quite ready for release on the standard PlayStation 5. When you start the game, you’ll immediately notice blurry graphics, uneven performance, and distracting visual glitches.

The game has potential and is visually appealing, but something feels off – it’s almost as if it’s slightly out of focus.

I stopped playing the game after only 30 minutes. While I can’t comment on the game’s story or ideas, I found it too rough and unfinished to enjoy.

Although there are some notable issues, this isn’t shaping up to be another Cyberpunk 2077 disaster. The game is playable, and if you can tolerate the somewhat blurry graphics and occasional slowdown, the overall experience is comparable to playing on a PlayStation 5 Pro or a powerful computer.

You’re free to check out the footage embedded above and make up your own mind.

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2026-03-20 20:37