Best Stellar Blade graphics mode: FPS & visuals comparison

Stellar Blade comes with three elaborate graphics modes that have a noticeable impact on the game’s visuals and frame rate. Here’s a detailed comparison of all three modes and the best one for you to pick.

Stellar Blade by Shift Up will finally be available on the PS5 on April 26, 2024, and it has already gained a ton of praise for visuals, details, physics, and combat. To enjoy these elements to the fullest, the game offers three graphics modes that focus on frame rate, high resolution, and balance between the two.

All three graphics modes have pros and cons, so here’s a detailed comparison of the Performance, Resolution, and Balanced modes in Stellar Blade and which one is best for you.

• Best Stellar Blade graphics mode
• All Stellar Blade graphics modes explained
• Stellar Blade performance vs Dragon’s Dogma 2, FF7 Rebirth & Rise of the Ronin

Best Stellar Blade graphics mode

All things considered, we believe that Stellar Blade’s Performance mode is best for players with 2k monitors, while the Balanced mode is best suited for anyone with a 4k monitor that has VRR.

VRR refers to Variable Refresh Rate and this setting allows your monitor to run the game based on the source which helps in avoiding screen tearing during frame drops.

Without a VRR monitor though, you might notice the FPS fluctuate in Balanced mode and Performance mode might be the best option. Consistent frame rate becomes important because of the fast-paced combat and action. You’ll be required to parry boss attacks perfectly to survive which is why the Resolution mode is not recommended in most scenarios.

The visual bump offered by the Resolution mode is also not too noteworthy because there’s no ray-tracing and enhanced shadows.

Interestingly, Stellar Blade was originally planned to be released on the PS4 release but mid-way through the development, Shift Up decided to make the game a PS5 exclusive and you might witness the PS4-esque graphics at times. The title is also made on Unreal Engine 4, but to be fair, it holds up well against competitors.

All Stellar Blade graphics modes explained

Performance

• Image Quality – 2560×1440 i.e. 2k
• Targeted FPS – 60 FPS

The Performance mode for Stellar Blade is all about getting 60 frames per second without any hindrance. Be it cutscenes, combat, or other scenarios, this mode will never drop from the targeted FPS threshold and is perfect if you have a 2k monitor.

Balanced

• Image Quality – Ranges from 1920×1080 to 2560×1440 but 4k is achieved through temporal restriction
• Targeted FPS – 50-60

As the name suggests, you get a balance between visuals and frame rate in the Balanced graphics mode for Stellar Blade. It is worth noting that 4k visuals are promised here but that’s not the native resolution all the time. The range is between 1080 – 1440p and on average, you can expect the resolution quality to be above 1250.

Instead, through technologies like Unreal Engine’s Temporal Anti-Aliasing Upsampling (TAAU), the game uses previously loaded textures and frames to improve graphics quality over time. As a result, you’ll usually feel a drop in video quality when a new cutscene begins or when you enter a new area.

As for the frame rate in Balanced mode, it will mostly be locked at 58-50 FPS but during a few cutscenes and action sequences, it will drop down to as low as 53-54 for a split second. It is hard to figure out these fluctuations without an FPS tracker and the overall gameplay is still smooth.

Resolution

• Image Quality – 3840x1260p (4k)
• Targeted FPS – Native

Aside from a few stress points, Stellar Blade runs at native 4k in the Resolution mode to help you get the best visuals possible. However, this reduces the locked frame rate to 30 FPS which is easily noticeable considering how well the other two modes retain 55-60 FPS at all times.

It is also important to note that the visual upgrade here is purely in terms of native resolution. Other settings like shadows, textures, and geometrical details are the same. You also don’t get ray tracing in the Resolution mode so set your expectations accordingly.

Stellar Blade PS5 performance vs Dragon’s Dogma 2, FF7 Rebirth & Rise of the Ronin

As promised, Stellar Blade’s performance mode actually gives you the best of both worlds and doesn’t compromise on either graphics or FPS like FF7 Rebirth, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Rise of the Ronin on PS5. The end result is a very smooth gameplay experience that can be compared to titles like Ghost of Tsushima.

Even in its Demo, Stellar Blade has shown promising performance and graphics quality which fans complained about in other newly released titles like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Rise of the Ronin, and Dragon’s Dogma 2.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 offers 30-45 FPS on the PS5 which fluctuates a lot, Rise of the Ronin’s performance mode promises 60 FPS but you’ll still witness drops up to 45-50 FPS frequently. As for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, its performance mode is consistent at 60 FPS, but it comes with a major drop in graphics quality and shimmery visuals.

Of course, the scope of these open-world titles is much bigger but that should not take anything away from Stellar Blade and its developers as it’s their first AAA-level project.

For more Stellar Blade, check out:

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