Dragon's Dogma 2 Update Improves Frame Rate on PS5 at the Cost of Ray Tracing | Push Square

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Dragon's Dogma 2 has been blessed with some notable improvements via its first post-launch update. With patch 1.050, Capcom has implemented several graphics settings on PS5, and we're happy to report that the open world RPG has taken a decent step in the right direction.

To start with, let's go over the options that patch 1.050 has added. They can be found under a new options tab, simply named 'Graphics'.

Right off the bat, we can confirm that turning ray tracing off immediately benefits the game's frame rate. In its patch notes, Capcom stresses that disabling ray tracing and motion blur will not have a «significant» impact on the frame rate, but at least in our experience, the difference is noticeable.

With the frame rate still set to variable (uncapped), and with both ray tracing and motion blur disabled, Dragon's Dogma 2 runs quite a bit smoother — but it's still not close to being a stable 60fps (again though, Capcom set appropriate expectations for this update). The frame rate dips that occur in busy areas are much less pronounced, and generally speaking, the game's able to maintain 30fps and above much more often when ray tracing is off.

Of course, the downside to this is that the title's ray tracing does a lot to enhance its visuals. The dynamic lighting in Dragon's Dogma 2 is often superb, and when ray tracing is off, everything looks comparatively flat — especially when you're inside, or at night, when candles and torches cast realistic illumination. In our opinion, the removal of ray tracing isn't a dealbreaker — the game's baked-in lighting still looks nice — but it does drain the adventure of some atmosphere.

On that note, here are some comparison pictures we took straight from our PS5. The screenshots on the left have ray tracing on, while the screenshots on the right have ray tracing off.

So, you're going to have to choose between a noticeably better frame rate or a better looking game. This is basically Capcom offering your typical 'performance' and