Console versions of The Blood of Dawnwalker have serious issues - Digital Foundry analysis

The Blood of Dawnwalker received high praise for its atmosphere and RPG mechanics. At the same time, Digital Foundry's analysis revealed serious performance issues with the console versions on PS5 and Xbox.

On base PS5 and Xbox Series X, three modes are available with image reconstruction up to 4K. Performance aims for 60 FPS, running at dynamic resolutions of 1600×900–2240×1260, and in demanding scenes, it can drop to just over 40 frames. Balanced offers 40 FPS at 1920×1080–2880×1620, while Quality provides 30 FPS at 2560×1440–2880×1620. The latter two modes suffer from inconsistent frame pacing.

PS5 Pro shows the most stable performance and a sharper image. In Quality mode, it is also the only console to offer full Lumen reflections on large bodies of water. In some scenes, the frame rate drops to 50 FPS.

On Xbox Series S, only one mode is available, targeting 1080p with native resolutions of 1408×792–1600×900. However, vegetation density and shadow quality are reduced, and the 30 FPS limit is accompanied by stuttering.

The main technical problem across all platforms was sharp spikes in frame generation time, up to 120 ms, during camera changes in cutscenes.