Ghost of Tsushima, developed by Sucker Punch and printed by Sony, first appeared in the summertime of 2020 for the PlayStation 4, with a mildly expanded model for the PlayStation 5 arriving a 12 months later. Now it is accessible for the PC, after being given a radical conversion by porting wizards Nixxes Software program, whose portfolio additionally contains ports of Horizon Forbidden West, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Aside, and Spider-Man Remastered.
For probably the most half, Nixxes has accomplished an outstanding job of the conversion, with all the newest rendering applied sciences, reminiscent of upscaling and body technology, in addition to help for ultra-wide displays and PlayStation and Nintendo controllers.Â
Nonetheless, it isn’t a wholly flawless port, however I believe a lot of the points will get ironed out by way of patches.
Sony offered no early preview code of Ghost of Tsushima, so all of my efficiency testing was accomplished on the model that everybody around the globe has entry to, i.e. the worldwide launch model. Which means the efficiency information we have got is as the sport is on launch, with none pre-release weirdness including to the combo. So, there isn’t any excuse…
Ghost of Tsushima PC efficiency
I examined Ghost of Tsushima predominantly in an open-world space, with a number of bushes and grass, plus a flowing river for reflections and water results, and an unlimited view of the world, albeit surrounded by some tall hills.
The sport’s efficiency was recorded over three 60 second runs, over three resolutions (1080p, 1440p, 4K) and 5 graphics presets (Very Low, Low, Medium, Excessive, and Very Excessive).Â
Sucker Punch and Nixxes Software program counsel {that a} Core i5 8600 + RTX 2060 mixture (or Ryzen 5 3600 + RX 5600 XT) is sweet sufficient for Medium settings at 1080p, with a efficiency of 60 fps. As you possibly can see beneath, the Core i5 9600K + RX 5700 XT setup, with the identical settings, carried out notably higher, so the devs’ recommendations are most likely fairly correct.
For 4K Very Excessive at 60 fps, the really helpful {hardware} is alongside the traces of a Core i7 11400 / Ryzen 5 5600 with an RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XT graphics card. Once more, my testing means that’s about proper, as the primary factor one can glean from the above benchmarks is that Ghost of Tsushima is not notably CPU-heavy.
Having quite a lot of CPU cores does not notably assist, although outright clock pace does. So, so long as you have got a processor with six cores that help multithreading, you may be high-quality. AMD chips with 3D V-cache do get pleasure from a small enhance, however solely at low resolutions and even then, it is actually solely the 1% low figures that see probably the most enchancment.
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Ghost of Tsushima is, although, very GPU demanding, particularly with the graphics set to Excessive or Very Excessive. That ultimate preset does not max out a number of the high quality settings, reminiscent of shadows, volumetric fog, and ambient occlusion. You could be pondering {that a} PS4 sport should not be like this, nevertheless it’s value noting that the very best PS4 video games have been created to be performed at comparatively low resolutions and low body charges.
That meant the complexity and variety of shaders might be ramped up, with out impacting the efficiency an excessive amount of. Nonetheless, operating at 4K natively, with an uncapped body price with some added PC goodies, these prolonged shaders are fairly a problem for any GPU.
However, even in the event you do have probably the greatest graphics playing cards you should buy proper now, you will not get ultra-high body charges (e.g. 200 fps or extra). Not with out the usage of performance-enhancing tech, at the least.
Upscaling and body technology
The extra Tsushima pixels you give the GPU to course of, the extra it may battle, and that is the place upscaling can assist considerably. Nixxes Software program has added three programs to the sport—AMD’s FSR, Intel’s XeSS, and Nvidia’s DLSS—so each PC gamer will be capable to allow one thing to spice up the body price.
You’ve got additionally acquired AMD and Nvidia body technology programs to spice up issues even additional and for the primary time in any sport, it is solely decoupled from the upscaler. Nvidia launched its Body Technology function like that, and it is nice to see AMD following swimsuit, even for Nvidia customers.
As a result of, as we have already talked about, it is now doable to run DLSS Tremendous Decision and FSR 3 Body Technology on, say, an RTX 30-series graphics card. The sport efficiency charts present that Ghost of Tsushima runs significantly better at decrease resolutions, and the body price quickly declines because the pixel depend will increase. So it’s no shock that upscaling helps efficiency significantly.
Each FSR and DLSS add a noticeable diploma of blurring to the general visuals at excessive efficiency settings, however High quality and Balanced modes labored fairly properly—you get an honest bump within the body price, higher anti-aliasing than TAA gives, and a really minor quantity of object fuzziness. It is a disgrace that Nixxes Software program hasn’t added a sharpness slider within the upscaling choices to allow you to set it to your individual tastes, nevertheless.
When in movement, FSR is just a little worse trying than DLSS, however there’s not a substantial amount of distinction between the 2—it is there in the event you actually search for it, however so long as you employ Balanced or High quality modes, you are unlikely to be sad with the outcomes.
What was a shock was simply how unhealthy XeSS was. Solely two XeSS settings really enhance efficiency (Extremely High quality and Extremely High quality Plus) and even then they nonetheless introduce some critical shadow artifacts. I attempted reloading the sport between modifications in XeSS settings, rebooting the PC, and letting the Arc A770 cool between every run—none of it made any distinction.
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The Alchemist GPU usually has critical issues in Ghost of Tsushima, together with misplaced meshes, jittery shadows, and fairly low efficiency throughout. That 1080p Very Excessive results of 35 fps is not a mistake, regardless of 1440p Very Excessive being 21 fps increased. I checked it a number of occasions and every time, the decrease decision runs have been worse than the upper resolutions. I additionally tried a few driver units, together with the very newest WHQL launch, to no pleasure in anyway.
However at the least it runs the sport, which is greater than could be stated for the Radeon RX 7800 XT I attempted to make use of for this evaluation. It managed all of three seconds of sport time, earlier than freezing, after which crashing to the desktop. The GPU displayed the identical drawback in all the examined platforms; it wasn’t overheating nor missing in energy, so I can solely assume that I both have a glitchy graphics chip or AMD has a bit extra work to do in its drivers for this sport.
One last item to notice about body technology—each AMD and Nvidia’s programs work fairly properly, even when the bottom body price is sort of low, however cutscenes are usually problematic with both of them enabled. I’ve largely skilled a little bit of micro-stuttering however typically acquired a black body, flickering out and in of view.
Of the 2, Nvidia’s DLSS body technology produces superior-looking outcomes. AMD’s FSR 3 interpolation system typically has issues with slim tree branches, leading to them quickly flicking about.
Ghost of Tsushima VRAM utilization
For probably the most half, Ghost of Tsushima does not use an enormous quantity of graphics card VRAM. Utilizing Microsoft’s PIX improvement software, I recorded precise utilization, reasonably than allotted reminiscence, and you may see that house owners of 8GB playing cards might be high-quality—simply so long as you do not attempt to max out the standard settings.
Nonetheless, it is value noting that all the efficiency figures we have checked out up to now are for the open-world areas. Transfer to a village or city, the place there are tons extra finer particulars and transferring meshes, and the body price does take a little bit of a knock. The CPU and GPU masses are a lot increased in such areas, and even actually highly effective gaming PCs will battle to push excessive body charges with out assistance from upscaling and/or body technology.
You probably have an 8GB graphics card you would possibly expertise stuttering in these areas, because the VRAM utilization exceeds that determine when operating at 4K Very Excessive or extra. I say ‘would possibly’ as a result of I really did not—the RTX 3060 Ti struggled to succeed in 25 fps within the Golden Temple location however at the least it was a constant body price, with no sudden hitches.
That stated, there have been a number of occasions instantly after loading a saved sport when a fast digital camera motion would induce a momentary pause. However that was just about the one time.
It is doable that these have been attributable to shader compilation. Nixxes Software program most likely makes use of the identical system that it developed for a few of its earlier ports, the place a number of the shaders are compiled throughout the primary loading of the sport, with the remainder being accomplished by way of a number of CPU threads as and after they’re required throughout gameplay. The problem was too sporadic to pin down as to the precise trigger but when it’s a shader compilation drawback, then I believe will probably be ironed out in a later patch.
Greatest settings
Because of time constraints, it simply wasn’t doable to dig into the person graphics settings to find out how each one impacts efficiency. Nonetheless, because of many hours of benchmarking the standard presets, I can say that the printed system necessities appear correct sufficient and together with my very own efficiency charts, you’ll decide how properly it’s going to run in your gaming PC.
What I’ll say is do not hassle with both the Very Low or Low high quality presets. Ghost of Tsushima continues to be in the end a PS4 sport, regardless of Nixxes Software program’s magic, and quite a lot of its magnificence and visible splendour is held collectively by the beautiful artwork route, lighting and shadow results, reasonably than high-resolution meshes and textures.
Turning down the standard settings exposes the very aggressive LOD (stage of element) system that Sucker Punch employs within the sport, and the top outcome is not very good. Consider the Medium preset as being the bottom one it is best to go together with, and you will be high-quality, as that is fairly first rate trying.
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If a handheld gaming PC just like the Asus ROG Ally can run the sport at over 30 fps with the Medium high quality setting, your PC probably will too.
In fact, in order for you the sport to actually shine, then the Very Excessive preset or most high quality is the one solution to go. On a fantastic 4K gaming monitor, Ghost of Tsushima seems beautiful, although pushing the digital camera up too near sure fashions will present the boundaries of the visuals.
And you will want a mighty GPU to run it at excessive body charges, in the event you go all out with the graphics—getting lower than 80 fps at 4K Very Excessive on a RTX 4080 Tremendous, in a sport that does not use ray tracing, tells you all it’s essential to know.
Luckily, it isn’t the form of sport that wants 140+ fps to be completely loved, and as soon as all of the glitches and issues have been fastened, it ought to run properly sufficient on most gamer’s PCs. Nixxes Software program has accomplished a really stable job at porting the PS4 sport, not simply by way of efficiency, however in the way it’s made Ghost of Tsushima as PC-friendly as doable.
And it has been a great whereas since we have seen a brand new sport like that.
