Horizon Forbidden West patch adds VRR support and new ‘balanced’ graphics mode

theverge.com:

Horizon Forbidden West now offers variable refresh rate (VRR) and high refresh rate support as well as a new 40Hz “Balanced” graphics mode on PS5, developer Guerrilla Games announced Wednesday. They’re available as part of patch 1.17, which you can download right now.

Variable refresh rates can dynamically adjust the refresh rate of your display while you’re playing a game. In practice, it means that games will generally feel smoother to play, though you’ll need a display that supports the feature.

After messing around with the update for a few minutes while writing this article, I can say that Horizon Forbidden West does feel smoother on the “Favor Performance” graphics mode. (I have my PS5 hooked up to a TCL 6-Series Google TV, which supports 120Hz gaming and VRR.) That mode, which has been in the game since launch, trades higher framerate for lower graphical fidelity, and if you prefer to play games at higher refresh rates, it feels even better now than it did before. Higher refresh rates let games display more than 60 frames per second, which also contributes to smoother feeling games. While it’s unclear exactly how it works in practice in Horizon Forbidden West, Guerrilla’s patch notes say that “VRR & HFR targets a refresh rate between 60Hz and 120Hz,” which seems like it will apply in the Favor Performance mode.

The more interesting addition to me is the new 40Hz Balanced graphics mode, which lets you play the game at 40fps with improved graphics over the Favor Performance mode. Horizon Forbidden West has offered a “Favor Resolution” option that offers better visuals but a locked 30fps framerate, and to me, that just felt slow. Like what we’ve seen with Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apartand the Steam Deck’s 40Hz / 40fps