The Blood of Dawnwalker Console Performance — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:00] Bringing to life a gothic world where vampires run amok, The Blood of Dawnwalker is a new RPG from fledgling developer Grebel Wolves.

[00:16] Formed of ex-CD project red staff, some of the pedigree behind The Witcher 3 is clear right away, but the game props up multiple unique ideas of its own. As our part-man, part-vampire lead, Coen, you're given an ultimatum to save your family within 30 days from the evil Lord Brenseth.

[00:34] That's the crux of the game. 30 days and 30 nights, where every quest you take on takes a set number of time segments. Another twist on the RPG formula is a day-night cycle mechanic.

[00:46] This has Coen flip between human and vampire forms, depending, and each form opens up different abilities and quests. As for the plot, Dawn Walker gets its claws in quick. It's Unreal Engine 5 rendered cutscenes waste no time in getting to the heart of a blood-soaked story,

[01:02] a revenge rescue arc with vivid, horrifying imagery from the get-go. Today on console then, how is the state of the game's framerate? And does PS5 Pro offer a substantial improvement over base PS5 and Series X at 60 frames per second?

[01:17] Next, beyond the Performance Mode, what visual upgrades do the 30fps quality and 40fps balanced modes offer? And last of all, what of the Xbox Series S situation, where Dawn Walker only runs at 30fps with no other graphics modes to tinker with?

[01:34] Let's find out. It's right to sing Dawn Walker's praises

[01:46] and it's truly a unique concept but even on patch 1.04 today it's undeniable that it has rough points So let's get this out of the way first Sadly, the impact of its well-plotted cutscenes

[01:58] is at times marred by the technical delivery on UE5 The key problem is that counters often fall into the uncanny valley, with model detail being far from the best we've seen realised on the engine.

[02:10] Perhaps most frustrating of all is the hitching during cutscenes. With each camera cut you get a stutter, a batch of dropped frames as you apply the load to the next shot. Often games use this buffer of a frame or two to settle all physics-based elements before you see them, except

[02:26] here the result just feels erratic. It's worst on PS5, Series X and Pro's 30fps haughty mode, with up to 120 millisecond hitches in NPC density news like this one in the church.

[02:39] So, again, the hook of Dawnwalker is utterly compelling. But these rough spots do add a little friction to getting into the story.

[02:56] Let's go straight for the jugular and talk on performance. The bottom line is that optimization levels on console are not where they need to be. PS5 and Series X each offer three modes, 30fps quality, 40fps balanced, and a new 60fps performance mode added in a day one patch.

[03:14] More on PS5 Pro in a moment, but focusing on 60fps play to start, the reality is PS5 and Series X run reasonably well at 60fps in the open world. Open stretches of woodlands, bogs, and ravines can run fine.

[03:29] Typically, each hits the target thanks to a string of visual nips and tucks from the quality mode, but the catch is that it's far from locked in every area. For example, both consoles still suffer from bits into the 50s and even high 40s

[03:43] once you get into combat or tree-dense foggy areas of the map. We're very much looking at a mode built around the assumption that you have VRR, Variable Refresh Rate, engaged on your PNG, because otherwise this all appears as jubber.

[03:58] VRR must also be forced in the console menus for it to actually engage too, and it's worth noting the feature is not included at a software level. Thankfully once that's all set, the framerate usually stabilises the lesser drops in the

[04:11] open world. The real problem areas though slip well outside its ideal range, and so even with VRR, city areas especially packed with NPCs still show that glaring judder.

[04:23] It's often the CPU heavy stuff with crowds that causes grief here, and the bustling, far-tough city is a big culprit in this respect. Also, while Series X tends to run at a higher average framerate than Base Gear 5, this city

[04:37] sprawl does seem to chug on Xbox more by comparison especially getting to that central market bit Neither console comes off especially well though and yes VRR visibly struggles

[04:49] in either case. Another factor to consider is that the cutscenes have their own issues of course, with hitching on each camera cut that VRR simply can't save. Curiously, some cutscenes run at 30fps even on the performance mode, which certainly doesn't help matters,

[05:06] but a bulk do run fully unlocked to 60. Where they do go fully unlocked, the hitching we see on the 30 FPS mode is at least improved and the frame time spikes are made less spiky, essentially.

[05:18] But even so, you're fully exposed to sub-60 drops as well. So this church sequence is a great stress test for PS5 and Series X where the sheer volume of characters on screen seems to bully each machine into the low 50s and sometimes much lower.

[05:33] It's constantly wavering and looks especially poor on non-VR displays. Again, if you have a VR display, this is still probably the mode to pick.

[05:48] On the plus side, introducing PS5 Pro into the mix, you get a better, if still imperfect, frame rate out of the box. For perspective then, let's throw all three consoles into a side-by-side test at 60fps.

[06:01] Right away, all the very same scenes are immediately smoother, showing a knock-on benefit to Pro's boosted GPU clocks and memory bandwidth. Open World's traversal is less prone to lurches, as is combat, the spartan city run, and even those choppy cutscenes are improved at times.

[06:18] Ultimately, the performance rankings are as follows. PS5 Pro takes the lead, with Series X in second place, while base PS5 trails the trio with the most issues hitting 60. The net result on PS5 Pro is one that still ideally demands VRR.

[06:34] It's much better, generally speaking, but those cutscene lurches remain a problem, and its 50-60 FPS reading in the church sequence is at times even 1-to-1 with the other consoles. Even so, for controllable play in the open world, it's at least less reliant overall on that VRR tech.

[06:58] Okay, but what about the quality mode? Of course, dropping to 30 frames per second gets you several visual upgrades into the bargain, but the snag is that its 30fps cap is unevenly

[07:10] frame paced. As we've seen in many games with this issue, you get erratic choppy motion going this route. Perhaps the most generous way to look at it is its Bloodborne-esque, but in practice it's much worse than FromSoftware's output with a cap in place. Reason being,

[07:26] Dawnwalker's frame times frequently drop to lower points on the grass, like 67 milliseconds, making that jitter feel much more aggressive. This applies to PS5, Pro, and Series X alike, and also Series S of course, where 30fps is the fixed setting.

[07:41] You have to make peace with this highly distracting jitter, and Rebel Wolves seriously needs to fix this. Stacking on top of the frame pacing, there are also drops under 30fps on PS5 and Xbox machines, so specific cutscenes and sprinting through Spite House market stalls tip each into the high 20s.

[07:59] And while we're on the subject, this frame pacing issue applies to the 40fps balanced option as well. The cap is raised by 10fps, which immediately feels smoother, so a win there, but the core issue of judder is much the same.

[08:12] Also, it's worth noting that typically 40fps modes are meant for 120Hz displays, but bizarrely it works here at 60Hz as well, which is not a recommended combination. And in either case, 60 or 120Hz, that uneven frame pacing is still there.

[08:36] From the off then, we're stuck between a rock and a hard place in deciding which mode to use. So much so, it's proven tricky to decide, while editing this video, on a mode to use for regular B-roll capture.

[08:48] On that note, here's the summary of what you gain and lose across the three options. This is base PS5 in the spotlight, but everything you see here matches Series X to a T. Resolutions, settings, the lot is identical to PS5.

[09:02] To start, you have the resolution figures. Quality, balance and performance all resolve to a 4K target using what appears to be Unreal's TSR upscaler. The underlying native res numbers are of course much lower.

[09:14] That 900p to 1260p on performance mode 1080p to 1620p on balanced and 1440p to 1620p on quality The latter mode seemingly can afford to raise the floor of that dynamic scaler to 1440p and comfortably hit 30fps

[09:32] but with the same peak 1620p. Now these are just taking the best and worst cases and in-between values are possible though I've noticed to sustain 60fps in the opening village PS5 and Series X typically run at 900p. The second point

[09:47] is that TFR does a reasonably decent job with the 4k upscale in every case, especially whilst it's static or pretends to look sharp. The biggest challenge of course is upscaling performance modes 900p while in any movement. Hence, zooming in

[10:02] here, the performance mode has this weakness in resolving fine elements like distant foliage, fast roofing and roof tiles. As those details shift ever so slightly with the camera's idle fray, there's more noise in view, inevitably

[10:16] running or swinging the camera only adds to the challenge for TSR, but on the whole, image quality is still surprisingly OK regardless of mode.

[10:32] Settings next. The Blood of Dawnwalker uses a mixture of methods to draw reflections, depending on the water surface type. Also, to confuse matters a little more, the setup varies by the mode. In the best case, on Base CS5 and Series X, the Quality mode engages

[10:47] Unreal Engine 5's lumen reflections for small water bodies alone. As a result, puddles and this waterlogged farmland draw a mirror image even when it falls out of screen space. Quality mode reaps the spoils here, whereas Balance and Performance modes revert to SSR for the

[11:02] small water surfaces, causing that mirror image to disappear as you look up and down. It's a classic pitfall of the SSR technique and a sacrifice to strike those higher frame rates.

[11:14] Sticking with reflections, there's a different setup for larger water bodies like lakes and rivers. In those cases, with larger water planes, quality and balance modes get SSR, while the performance mode removes the reflection altogether.

[11:28] You get nothing here. Nada zilch. In the open world, it's just a plain, undetailed water surface at 60fps, and this, for me, is the biggest sacrifice going with this mode.

[11:44] Getting 60fps to work on console involves several other notable cutbacks. Here's another big one. Environmental shadow animations run at a limited setting at 60fps. Effectively, all PS5 and Series X modes animate shadows stemming from trees no matter what.

[12:00] The catch is that an object must be close to the player for its shadow to actually move and on the performance mode that range is tiny. It still works at 60fps but at a highly restricted range often meaning tall tree branches and flapping flags

[12:15] are pretty much exempt from animation unless you look right at the ground. It's barely functional in woodland areas at 60 and you can just about spot the threshold as you look to the ground. Meanwhile balance mode runs at a higher setting with a more generous range

[12:30] and course mode is a setting even higher. Notice the flag shadows in Spartow City here, and how there's three different cut-off points for where those shadows start to animate. Unfortunately, this is another big drawback for enjoying the game at 60, and on top of that, character shadows also settle for a lower quality, more pixelated setting.

[12:50] A few other points bear mention, to deal with the CPU load of all those roaming NPCs, the performance mode invokes a cut to character animation quality as well. So, as we saw in Elden Ring last week, decimated animations are used on village folk past a

[13:05] set distance, causing them to move at half or quarter rate, while the 40 and 30fps modes are unaffected. It's a tad jarring to see that frame rate mismatch, but it makes a lot of sense for city areas where there might be a CP bottleneck.

[13:19] As for the rest of the differences, the following settings are shared between the 60 and 40fps modes, while the 30fps quality mode enjoys a unique higher setting. First off, world detail is pushed up a setting on the quality mode, filling the landscape

[13:33] with a richer spread of foliage and grass, plus a superior draw distance for those elements. Lighting is also improved on quality mode, hence the volumetric effect resolution is higher as light streaks through small window cracks.

[13:47] Also, the volumetric effect for dust across Spar Tau City is only available on the quality mode, though mist and fog do still engage regardless of mode. First of all, Lumen Global Illumination is deployed across the game,

[14:00] most notably for interiors like churches On the quality mode you get a higher accuracy Lumen GI setting which reduces the flicker on the pillars there Balanced mode runs at an in setting it seems not eradicating the problem entirely but

[14:15] it's still an improvement on performance mode. All of which leads us to the PS5 Pro situation. Enhancements are promised by

[14:29] Rebel Wolves and we've seen a key one already in its frame rate boost at 60fps. After extensive back and forth between Pro and Base TS5, it's clear that the second big advantage for Pro is in resolution. Performance mode goes to a

[14:42] dynamic 900 to 1620p, balance increases to a 1440p to 1800p range and the quality merge jumps to 1620p to 1800p. Not a bad return by any means, though there's no

[14:56] sign of PSSR upscaling here. Instead we're looking at TSR once again and with more pixels feeding into that upscaler, Pro spits out a sharper, less break-up prone image in motion. As for settings, after extensive testing of all modes, the

[15:10] upgrades elsewhere are less exciting I'd say. The 60fps performance mode is a one-to-one match in every aspect to the base model's equivalent mode, so sadly all limitations still apply, including limited shadow animations, decimated NPC

[15:25] animations and missing SSR on large water bodies. Point for point it's the same on Pro's 60fps mode which is a shame. However, and this is the good news, the quality mode on Pro has a unique extra setting. Large water bodies like

[15:41] lakes and rivers no longer use SSR on this mode and instead you get the deluxe treatment with lumen reflections. It's a neat upgrade and means PS5 Pro's quality stands out from all other console-round modes, which either use SSR or switch

[15:56] that reflection off entirely. Great stuff. Finally then, the other extreme in the console space to check out is Xbox

[16:09] Series S. Performance is surprisingly well held at its target 30fps cap, but the obvious issue there is the frame pacing, which we won't dwell on much further. The Series S visual setup is a surprise though and it's not as pared

[16:23] back as you might expect. Unreal Engine's TSR targets a letter 1080p final output generated from a native 792p to 900p range. Next to Series X on its equivalent 30fps mode there's no question there's a drop off in clarity

[16:38] but it's roughly par for course for Series S. Impressively it does keep a suite of settings from that X quality mode rather than copy pasting the limited performance mode settings. On the positive front, Series S keeps SSR on large water bodies, you keep

[16:52] that volumetric dust effect around SparTau, again matching the X quality mode, and it even retains Lumen GI for interiors, without resorting to the more obvious flickering low setting of X's performance mode. On the negative side, texture quality and foliage

[17:07] density is dropped a peg, and yes, the shadow animation range is much more limited on Series In settings terms, then, it's perfectly decent given the power spec, but the real deal-breaker

[17:19] is being forced to run at 30fps without erratic frame pacing, and without an alternative option, it's a rough experience.

[17:32] There's a lot to love about The Blood of Dawn Walker. The way its story dovetails with its day-night mechanic and the 30-day time limit is a masterstroke from the new developer. For all its technical issues, there is a central conceit that absolutely works, compelling

[17:46] repeat playthroughs to see the different outcomes by the game's end. The reality of its optimisation on console, though, is unfortunate, given all that good stuff. Between its 30, 40 or 60fps modes, you've really got to pick your poison, and no mode

[18:01] feels like a fair trade-off. Constant judder at 30fps or lower settings at a wavering 60 are the options, but at a to push, I'd suggest the 60fps mode is the less distracting one overall. And if you have

[18:14] a PS5 Pro, at least some of the performance issues are improved. But that's all from me today. If you did enjoy this video, feel free to like or subscribe,

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