Red Dead Redemption Port Looks Cleaner, But "Barebones"

thegamer.com:

Red Dead Redemption's controversial PS5 and Nintendo Switch port has finally released and, despite the absolute disaster that was GTA: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition which released a couple of years ago, it runs fairly well. In fact, the developers seem to have made a few improvements here and there to Red Dead Redemption to make it look a little cleaner, which have been broken down by popular YouTube tech channel Digital Foundry.

In their latest video, they explain that Red Dead Redemption on PS5 appears to be a little more than just a port, though nowhere near a full scale remaster. One of the big highlights for the PS5 version of the game is the image quality, which appears to be a little bettere than the backwards comptabile version of the game which is playable on Xbox Series X. Another is shadow quality, as the shadow of characters and animals look much sharper than the Xbox Series X version.

Related: Why Is Rockstar So Committed To Doing The Bare Minimum For Its Old Games?

Unfortunately, that's where the big improvements end, as there is a lot more to be disappointed about with this port/remaster than there is to be excited about. For starters, Digital Foundry explains that the sharper shadows make a lot of scenes in the look rather harsh and out of place, whereas softer shadows would have made things a little more realistic.

Another of the game's biggest disappointments is the lack of improved UI, which is still using 720p elements despite now running on more powerful hardware. Digital Foundry explains that the lack of enhancements to the UI is "really agregious", and that text and icons all look muddy when scaled up to 4K. The only UI that has been scaled up are the button icons, which appear to be in 4K,