Dragon's Dogma 2 received a lot of positive attention this year thanks to its stunning visuals. However, the game has faced significant challenges post-launch, particularly in terms of visual fidelity and performance across different consoles. A new patch is set to address these performance issues.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is one of the most visually stunning games of the year, showcasing advanced lighting technology and detailed Ray-Traced Global Illumination (RTGI) in Capcom's expansive open-world epic.
Technical Advancements & Challenges
Despite these technical achievements, the game faced significant visual and performance issues upon release and even after its second patch. Problems included non-functional image reconstruction on Xbox consoles and frame rate issues in densely populated city areas. Recently, Capcom released patch number seven, promising improved framerates and new visual options, prompting Digital Foundry to take a closer look.
On the Xbox Series X, the visual settings remain largely unchanged from the second patch. Previous reconstruction issues on Series X have been largely resolved, although the image still appears less sharp than on PS5. A new option to toggle between high and low settings provides additional customization.
Console Performance Analysis
Performance has also been tweaked, but the game remains generally unstable in most scenarios, especially with raytracing (RT) enabled. While CPU-bound performance has improved in NPC-heavy areas like Vernworth, overall gameplay fluctuates between 30 and 60 fps with no clear framerate target. The 30 fps mode still has problems with uneven frame pacing.
Take a look at the head-to-head comparison here:
On PS5, Ambient Occlusion (AO) has been improved to minimize visual differences between RT and non-RT modes. Performance in CPU-limited areas has also been improved. With 120 Hz output and VRR enabled, the PS5 can now deliver a more stable frame rate, similar to Xbox consoles. Although the Series X has a performance advantage in GPU-limited scenarios, the PS5 surpasses it in CPU-limited areas such as Vernworth.
The latest patch significantly improves performance in CPU-limited scenarios with no noticeable impact. The Xbox Series S shows similar visual and performance improvements to other consoles, but continues to suffer from lower lighting quality and flickering issues.
Overall, Dragon's Dogma 2 has seen significant improvements through patches since its release, although some issues such as the buggy 30 fps mode and the lack of a true 60 fps mode remain unresolved, as noted by Digital Foundry. In a head-to-head comparison, the PS5 and Series X are now almost equal in performance, with the PS5 having a slight edge due to image quality.