And Plague Tale: Requiem now has a 60fps option, so what's the problem? (2023)

Your wish has been granted. A Plague Tale: Requiem made its debut on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S in late 2022 - a true next-gen project with a huge leap in visual quality over the original game from 2019. A game that pushed developer Asobo Studio's in-house engine from significantly higher-quality materials, lighting, and stage details, even increasing the number of rats from 5,000 to 300,000 tidal waves. It's still a true showcase for newer consoles, but for many the online discourse has been reversed by the fact that it ran at just 30fps on the PS5 and Series X. Or 40fps if you ran the game with a 120Hz screen plugged in. Still, that's 30fps for most people, and most importantly, a step backwards from the original game's 60fps performance when played on these consoles.

Enter patch 1.5 and Asobo finally has an answer. This new update adds a 60fps performance mode alongside the existing 30fps resolution mode and it really works. Finally, the action of the game, its combat, the camera movement flow like silk in 60 fps. In fact, on both PS5 and Series X, I've hardly seen a single dip below this new performance mode. As a side note, the S series unfortunately doesn't get any updates here, and this build sticks to 30fps as usual. But there's also a catch for two premium consoles.

There is compensation. A hint on how 60fps is achieved is in the Asobo patch notes, where there are new options for PC since patch 1.5. Most importantly, players can now adjust the refresh rate for rats and NPCs, as well as reduce the number of rats on screen. All this significantly saves CPU performance. And so, to cut to the chase, both the PS5 and Series X use the "low refresh rate of rats and NPCs" option. Being the result? While we have the game at 60fps in performance mode, the problem is that the rat swarms and characters around towns still update at 30fps.

The most obvious example of the Asobo reduced animation trick is the dark areas of the Requiem crypt. We get 60fps animations on Amicia as she lights a path through the shadows, but here the rats at her feet are running at 30fps. It creates an otherworldly effect, a disconnect between the player's movement, the camera, running at 60 speed, then a swarm of rats updating at half that speed. Honestly, for any scene where rats dominate the screen to such an extent, it begs the question: can the game always run at 60? The good news is that this is not the case for most of the game. Entire missions go by without seeing any mid-updated items, rats or otherwise, and you might as well get used to it. Either way, it's a clear demonstration of why A Plague Tale Requiem was set to 30fps at launch.

Interestingly, it's hard to see a significant drop in rat counts on PS5 or Series X, depending on your PC options. I'll be honest, I didn't count those 300,000, but what we have in 60fps performance mode is still an overwhelming number. no complaints. The most visible change, however, is with NPC refresh rates on PS5 and Series X. NPCs in cities rely on a similar scam, even if it works a bit differently than rats. In this case, the animation rate of the townspeople is measured by distance, similar to the Elden Ring's approach to enemies. From a distance, individual characters update at just 20fps, but when you get closer, it drops to 30fps, and you end up with full 60fps animations when you're a few feet away. Fortunately, this only applies to NPCs in large cities. Human enemies on the field are always refreshed at 60 fps, and even at long distances they stay at 60. Asobo made the right decision: keeping enemies at 60 fps certainly helps players with responsiveness and counters in any real action.

Other compromises are also made to get frame rates up to 60, starting with resolution. Taking the Series X as an example, although PS5 is also affected, the pixel count drops to a native 1920x1080, down from 2560x1440 in normal resolution mode. On both PS5 and Series X, this 1080p image tends to blur details in the distance. But in general I would suggest that doubling the refresh rate in performance mode compensates for the loss in image quality.

There are a few other performance mode improvements worth mentioning. Asset quality is downgraded, meaning close-ups of materials such as wood, rock, and even character clothing reveal a much lower resolution texture. It's a bit of a struggle to detect the in-game camera, but in cutscenes comparisons show that resolution mode is a marked improvement for visual purists. Again, this also applies to the PS5. Draw distances are similarly affected, and even subtle changes to ambient occlusion and shadows are affected, but overall nothing that noticeable.

For complex areas such as cities, the cutouts are even larger to maintain 60fps. For starters, in performance mode, entire patches of grass are completely removed from the scene. When switching between market modes, it's clear that plant details are never fully visible when playing at 60fps. What's even more amazing is that the wildlife, poultry and waterfowl that walk the streets are also killed in performance mode. During the walk, some animals stay on the sides, but freely moving animals are removed from the scene. These critters tend to crouch down and out of your way as you progress, and again this is likely another concession to offload your CPU.

Some final points: the resolution mode in patch 1.5 runs at 1440p of course, and uses mostly the same settings as the pre-patch default mode. On both PS5 and Series X, anyone wanting to play at 30fps with higher texture settings, draw distances, and more will have that option today in patch 1.5. And the second point? If you prefer to play at 60fps in performance mode, both PS5 and Series X offer the same level of image quality. Comparing the settings between the two shows no difference: both run at 1080p, with texture settings, draw distance, etc. adjusted accordingly. And, as we'll see, they both run that way at a flat 60fps as well.

In benchmark tests, optimizing Asobo to 60fps was a great success. After dropping to 1080p, flora and fauna were removed, texture resolution and ambient occlusion quality were reduced. After locking the rats to 30fps, the actual game actually runs at a smooth 60fps. The gameplay benefit is also tangible. For a slingshot, for the overall smoothness of camera rotation, it flows beautifully. I'm all for the option, and even more pleased that this performance option rarely drops below target on PS5 or Series X. Even the city square and open areas with hostile NPCs and rats are no problem. I only detected slight jitters when the rats first appeared in the Series X, although on the second run it improved to a flawless 60fps.

In addition to the hits of 60fps performance mode, here's an extra surprise in update 1.5. When you connect a PS5 or Series X to a 120Hz display, this mode works at a fully unlocked frame rate. This also potentially allows the renderer to max out at 120fps, in rare cases including select cutscenes. But in general gameplay, we're more likely to see 70 to 100 frames per second, sometimes dropping to the mid-60s during the opening around the castle ruins. It's really fascinating to see this included and gives you an idea of ​​where the most important areas of the stress test are. How wide or narrow is the headroom above the 60fps line at 60Hz. Another interesting twist is that the rat's animation refresh rate changes to 60fps as long as both consoles are transmitting at 120Hz.

It is also worth mentioning the state of the 1440p resolution mode. When connected to a 60Hz display, you get a 30fps lock as before the patch, running at 1440p with all the added bells and whistles in textures, vegetation density and more. And just like before, switching to a 120Hz display in this mode brings you back to 40fps. I'm happy to say it works equally well on both Series X and PS5, with some big dips below 40 if you prefer to aim for higher visual quality. At 40 or 30 fps in resolution mode, it inevitably hides the lower refresh rate of rats and NPCs. Either way, it's never performed better, and performance has dropped (mostly) to a flat line since launch.

Asobo Studio answered the call to play at 60fps. The sacrifices are obvious: a drop to 1080p, partially enhanced elements, lower-quality textures, and a lack of city detail, but it gets the job done. A Plague Tale: Requiem runs smoothly at 60fps, and by accepting the disconnect with those 30fps rat animations, it really does play better than ever. It's a great optional extra, and there's nothing stopping you from going back to the original 30fps.

In response to criticism that it runs at 30fps at launch, update 1.5 also reveals the cost of next-gen graphics. The advances in the complexity of the scenes, materials and AI elements that are integrated into the game design are a huge step up from the original A Plague Tale. However, each of these points is significantly lowered to allow for 60fps here. He explains that pushing technical boundaries isn't free, and even on newer systems like the PS5 and Series X, GPU and even CPU resources are a big factor in the pursuit of 60fps.