While running at a higher resolution, too
Even though Bandai Namco wouldreally preferthat people didn’t, plenty of folks went ahead and downloadedDark Souls IIIweeks ahead of time via the Japanese Xbox One store. This allowed that version of the game to get performance tested ahead of schedule.The results weren’t ideal.
Dark Souls IIIon Xbox One has a few shortcomings. For one, the game runs at a native 900p resolution that’s upscaled to 1080p. Second, it suffers frame rate drops from its baseline of 30fps, sometimes down to around 20fps during boss fights.
As it turns out, theDark Souls IIIon PlayStation 4 doesn’t have these same problems. In the above-embedded video, Digital Foundry does a side-by-side comparison and finds that the game mostly runs at a rock-solid 30fps on PS4.
However, an issue common to both versions of the game is that theBloodborneengine has difficulties with its frame-pacing. The frames aren’t always ordered evenly, and the result is a stuttering sensation. It seems as if the game’s dropping frames, even though that’s not the case.
With all this in mind, the PS4 version ofDark Souls IIIis definitely the superior console choice. Still, Digital Foundry plays down the differences between the two, noting thatDark Souls IIIon Xbox One is “perfectly enjoyable.”
