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For weeks, those excited to play Crimson Desert have been asking a simple question: how does the game actually run on a base PS5? Pearl Abyss have shown PS5 Pro footage repeatedly, and it looked more than solid, in some cases even impressive, but the standard console remained conspicuously absent from any official showcase.
Concerns grew. Digital Foundry recently confirmed they probably would not be able to share base PS5 console performance analysis ahead of launch, as their review copy had not been made available in the usual way, with Pearl Abyss having previously sent them a PS5 Pro with the game pre-installed rather than providing a standard code.
Today, Pearl Abyss finally shared a 20-minute gameplay video via PlayStation Japan, captured on a base PS5. It is the footage fans have been waiting for, and the presentation immediately became a talking point for all the wrong reasons.
The video is uploaded at 1080p and locked to 30fps. That alone makes a fair assessment difficult. The image is noticeably soft, fine detail in foliage is lost, and the overall picture quality brings to my mind Red Dead Redemption 2 running on a base PS4, which is not a comparison Pearl Abyss will want anyone making. The lighting also appears noticeably flatter than the Pro footage, likely due to reduced or absent ray tracing at this tier.
Players were quick to point out that a 1080p 30fps upload is a poor way to showcase a visually ambitious open world title, and they are not wrong. Whether Pearl Abyss follow up with higher quality base console footage before launch remains to be seen, but right now, this video has done little to put concerns to rest.
While it is unusual that we haven't yet seen a tech breakdown of the game on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, I don't think Pearl Abyss are hiding anything on purpose. It's probably just the case of optimising for these consoles until the last day, trying to squeeze every last bit of performance from the ageing hardware.
Come launch day, I'd expect base PS5 and Xbox Series users to have a solid experience, with some cutbacks in graphics when compared to PS5 Pro and especially PC.
