Despite PlayStation 5's full backward compatibility with PlayStation 4 games, Sony Interactive Entertainment has yet to implement the ability to automatically enhance previous-generation projects using the new console's more powerful hardware. This week, it became clear that significantly improving one of the most sought-after games — Bloodborne from FromSoftware — would require very little effort.
Digital Foundry specialists published a video on YouTube demonstrating a modified version of Bloodborne running on a hacked retail PlayStation 5. The mod was created by enthusiast Christina and allows the game to use the console's additional RAM, as well as consistently maintain maximum CPU and GPU frequencies, which usually doesn't happen in backward compatibility mode.
Thanks to an additional 4 GB of RAM, Bloodborne runs in native 4K resolution at a stable 30 frames per second. At the same time, the frame pacing issues that plague the original version of the game on PlayStation 4 completely disappear.
Additional modifications also improve the visual component. Optimizing Light Grid Global Illumination and disabling chromatic aberration significantly reduce the number of visual artifacts. As a result, the game looks as close as possible to a full-fledged official remaster.
More impressive results are achieved by reducing the resolution to 1440p and using 120 Hz mode with VRR support. In this case, Bloodborne consistently runs above 60 frames per second, and in some scenes, the frequency reaches 70 frames per second, which positively affects control responsiveness. Even with volumetric effects enabled, performance remains within the PlayStation 5's VRR range and rarely drops below 48 frames per second.
At 1080p resolution, the game is capable of delivering over 100 frames per second, providing the smoothest gameplay ever available for Bloodborne on a console.