In our last series of Resident Evil Village Gameplay Demo screenshots, we compared PS5 with PS4 Pro captures. Though we could point to some differences and appreciate the improvements in quality, the difference was not ‘night and day’. PlayStation 4 Pro held its own despite being four years older than PS5.
This time we are looking at differences in graphical quality between Resident Evil Village Gameplay Demo‘s Ray ‘Tracing On’ vs. ‘Ray Tracing Off’ modes. Throughout the piece the ‘Ray Tracing On’ screenshots are on the left.
More than Reflections
Two games we have looked at previously, Control: Ultimate Edition and Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales, offer optional ray tracing. Both of these titles use the tech for the most eye-catching and noticeable effect – adding realistic reflections to in-game objects. The two areas we visited in each Resident Evil Village Gameplay Demo have only patches of reflected splendour.
Instead, we are treated to immersive lightscapes. Though subtle, effects like ambient and diffuse lighting alter the look of parts of the demos immensely. In others, it’s hard to see any difference beyond a smoother universal gradient as primary and secondary light rays interact with the game’s objects.
Gone Global
The lightscape of the ray-traced mode can seem a little too dark at times and a little too washed at others. While the softer glow created by diffuse interreflections leads to a more realistic image, it doesn’t always look better than the simpler passes done without RT effects.
Resident Evil Village Gameplay demo is especially dark with ray-tracing turned on. While it does suit the game, there are times when a player won’t know what they are looking at or whether they should be afraid of it or not. Though it must be said the game does a good job at leading players around through the dark with light sources often acting like a breadcrumb trail.
It’s also worth noting that ray tracing seems to have minimal impact on the game’s frame-rate. Capcom had seemed to suggest that RT mode would run at 45 frames per second but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It looks like RT mode hits 60fps most of the time and that 45 was a safe minimum number to publish.
Not Overdoing It
At the dawn of the seventh generation, game devs had access to some neat new hardware tricks. Tricks that they ruined by overuse and misuse. Bloom and lens flare were shoehorned in at every turn, often taking away more then they added.
Ray traced reflections could become the lens flare of the 9th generation if too many devs choose that path to an easy ‘wow’. Capcom deciding on a less eye-catching but more immersive track for Resident Evil Village‘s lighting is something I personally endorse.
Are you disappointed at the lack of shiny stuff? Would you have preferred they shoehorned as many windows and mirrors in as possible? Did you actually enjoy all of the bloom and lens flares to be found in 2006? Let us know in the comments below…
