God of War Ragnarök on PS5 - The Digital Foundry Tech Review 

For those that came for the performance review and none of the spoilers, it starts at the 13:20

Thats why I was in still in love with single player linear games.Immersion, story, graphics, environments. Just a proper escapism entertainment.

IMO I dont give af that it's technically a "ps4" game, this is the PERFECT balance of graphical beauty and playability/performance. If every PS5 game looked THIS good and ran THIS good, i'd have virtually no complaints. I understand there's differences when rendering massive open worlds, but I feel like smooth performance should ALWAYS be a top priority. Plague Tale looks jaw dropping-ly dense at times, but at the same time I don't think it looks dramatically better than this, and it runs DRAMATICALLY worse

I just tried playing with High Frame Rate (Performance) mode and it looks blurry on my 50” Samsung AU9000. If I leave it off, the game looks great. Weird.

Can't wait for the development documentary for this game. The first one was awesome.

Santa Monica and insomniac have earned the benefit of the doubt on everything. They put love in their games

Warning for everyone wanting to watch this: Digital Foundry included some massive story spoilers in this review, that are a really weird choice even with the warning. These definitely aren't some minor spoilers.

Thank you Digital Foundry for what you do. I can always count on you guys for quality content with deep analysis on the performance of most major releases. You guys are so chill and always professional.

Let this sink in, Santa Monica Studios (God of War Ragnarok) and FromSoftware (Elden Ring) have the chance to win Back to Back Game of the Year Awards for games released by a single game studio.

This is how you released a game polished everything to perfection both visually and performance

I'm a lead game developer, and I watch these reviews religiously... they serve as a lesson about tech art. Thank you so much for this content.

Finally, a game gets released that's actually finished and runs flawlessly 💯🙏

This is the God of War Ragnarok video I've been looking forward to the most, happy to see you had it ready for the review embargo

That 1440p 80-90 fps mode with VRR is extremely attractive. Honestly, the current gen hardware + 120 Hz TVs with with VRR support is becoming a game changer for console gaming. It is also remarkable how good this game still looks in the 80-90 fps HFR mode.

You guys are the top notch option when it comes to graphics/performance game reviews, keep up the good work!

The showcase of vistas and graphics starting around 5:20 mark its amazing. Great geometric environment and character detail and beautiful GI. Great work John! and congrats to SSM for the amazing product. Polished to perfection.

Great video! I always appreciate Digital Foundry’s detailed and thoughtful review and analysis. I love hearing about the technical aspects and achievements of different game developers. There are some really skilled developers out there. Thanks!

“Oh yea baby! This is what I’ve been waiting for…that’s what it’s all about!”

Excellent analysis as usual. You guys are really something else. Cheers for the fantastic video!

You guys do incredible work! Always cant wait to see your tech review. Thank you!

Digital Foundry is one of the most important reviews I’ve been looking forward to! The tech behind it is amazing!

Awesome stuff. Great work as always! ❤

I am just amazed at how good your videos are. Lots of work! Thank you!

Amazing information. Thanks John!

Can only imagine what Sony Santa Monica studios would produce on ps5 only. Can't wait to play this game !!

Love how they fixed the reflections. They were really distracting in the previous game especially in Alfheim with all that shiny marble.

What about 40+VRR (unlocked quality) mode? It is listed in the officials docs, and sounds like a very interesting choice for 120hz VRR capable displays.

Keep up the good work guys! Love the content!

This is the video i was waiting for! I might have to go for the 60FPS mode because my tv setup but man im hype for the game. This and Elden Ring are my GOTYs.

If you want to avoid most of the spoilers just listen to the video and don't watch it. And 60 fps performance is the recommended mode on PS5 with 60 Hz display.

One thing they seem to miss on this review is that does the 1440p resolution option work with 60fps high quality image? Or is it just a 4k performance mode scaled to 1440p

40hz mode will be my goto option. I want all the graphical bells and whistles (even if they're a minor improvement over performance mode) but still want the game to feel responsive.

Not only a fantastic game, with stunning visuals and polished through and through. A showcase of how a game should be released! Respect Santa Monica!

someone else saw the rainbow formation with the splash of water at the 23:41? man the amount of detail that they putted in this game is amazing!

Great video, and I love that you switched between modes fast so it’s easier to compare them. Well done!

Best thought out and delivered review I have ever seen. Subscribed

Never clicked faster in my life....

Feels nice to be able to play one of the biggest releases of the year in the best way, will definitely go for the high framerate mode.

20:40 I don't understand why you showed gameplay of another character a week before release when no other outlets have reported it? It'd be like showing Winter gameplay as Ellie 1 week before Last of Us released. Very much NOT a minor spoiler imo, and did NOT need to be shown.

So good to see the devs putting in the effort to allow the player to decide how to play the game. 30/40/60/120hz is an amazing amount to choose from and everyone will be happy. Some recent games have been locked 30hz and it's unplayable, lazy and unplayable

Flawless performance. WB games take notes 📝

John I so glad you back. Keep the good work and I sure to support your job.

Definitely doing the HFM since I got 120 HZ tv with VRR thanks!!! Always love your tech reviews

I’ll be playing this on my 1980’s 27 inch CRTV! 😁👍

Gotham Knights wishes it could run 1440p 80-90fps with VRR lol :D

Man….. this game looks insane… x.x

Great tech video again, John. I especially enjoy your developer interviews, and hoping for one for GoWR. Its clear how much you understand in this technical art form, not just posting the typical "spot the difference" comparisons from "analysis" tubers, while having deep insights into the most impactful development techniques. Your talent, knowledge, and history with gaming tech is hard to match anywhere and keeps me coming back. Appreciate the hard work.

I watched this when the game came out but I decided to watch it again as I may go back and play the game again. Wow, you guys do incredible work. Seriously great video.

I know there's a spoiler warning at the beginning but after seeing other reviews of the game that managed to keep it pretty spoiler-free I honestly wasn't expecting to see THIS many spoilers in this video, especially for a tech review....kinda pretty bummed right now:(

John, your narration and descriptive language is just wonderful. The time you put into writing is as valuable as the crazy attention to detail on the technicals. Hands down one of the best games journalists ever

Would love to watch this to hear your thoughts but would like to avoid spoilers! Would it be possible to include time stamps in the description so this can still be viewed by someone so wants to go in blind beyond what the trailers showed?

Amazing tech review and so well presented, just like God of War itself. Thanks so much

MY God this game looks absolutely gorgeous! Even at 1080p.

Why include spoilers? There’s really no need to show cut scenes/story sequences to talk about the tech of a game 🙃 I’ll have to watch this after I’m done with the game. Thanks for the warning tho.

Is it possible to choose the dynamic 4k 60fps mode using an output of 120Hz? Or that choice is only available to those who use a non 2.1 HDMI cable?

Excellent work and content as always

This review came out fast, can't wait to play GOWR.

Is there any visual difference between 60 hz RGB Color mode and 120hz YUV Color mode? Generally I prefer a best depth of color. What do you suggest?

I was lucky enough to get my cracked OLED tv screen replaced recently so I'm definitely gonna be playing this at Fidelity + 40fps. That mode worked well in Miles Morales & Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection. VRR really is a game changer for consoles.

Sounds like they added an extra performance mode maybe through day 1 patch. It's the high quality preset at unlocked 40fps for HFR and VRR. Would be interesting to see how this one performs.

I'll happily accept graphics at this level for the entire generation as long as it's 60fps. All 30fps titles need not apply on my consoles

This game looks insane. Looks like a playable CGI movie. This is what i thought ps4 games were going to look like when we transitioned to 8th gen.

I really do appreciate the insight from DF - the thing i have a hard time knowing though is the context of some of the recommendations. If someone has a large 77inch tv for example - I feel like quality drop may be more noticeable when going from quality to performance than if they have like a 55inch in general. However when they say the quality drop is not significant- is that universally speaking even with those with larger tv's?

Just got done watching SkillUp, in which he recommended watching DF for a tech review. Perfect timing, I say.

They did an amazing job with this game

fantastic work as always, thank you for making the gaming industry better and keeping these companies in check.

I’m a bit confused…when the performance modes were announced, I read on an article from reddit that you can only take advantage of the high-performance 120hz mode only if you have a HDMI 2.1 tv or monitor. It was saying, for example, if you have a 1440p/120hz HDMI 2.0 monitor or tv, you could not play the 120fps mode since it’s not 2.1 (even though 2.0 can handle 1440p/120hz). However @25:12 in this video, he states that you if you have a HDMI 2.0 1440p/120hz display, you can play the high-frame rate mode… I’m wondering if you have a 1440p or 1080p 120hz monitor w/VRR, can you play the high frame rate mode even though it only has HDMI 2.0?

There should be a 1080p mode that has maximum settings and maximum frame rate. Not everyone has a 4k display.

Playing a new game at a solid 60fps. Beautiful!

Brok's neck at 26:41 LOL!

Waiting for the base PS4 analysis before deciding on whether to buy it or not.

Great, video and I appreciate the effort. But for some reason you guys keep forgetting about the Quality Mode unlocked option. I'd like to see what I can push above 40FPS since I have a VRR display. If it can hit 50-60 that would likely be my preferred option.

I’m actually a fan of the crawl spaces feels realistic when exploring caves and such.

I really hesitate between the performance mode + hfr + vrr and the quality mode + hfr + vrr. to see controller in hand if there is a big difference between the unlocked 40fps and the unlocked 60fps.

The review I have been waiting for.

For anyone curious, yes, if you're worried about any type of spoiler, heed the warning at the beginning of this video. I am happy to watch this as DF videos on new games I'm excited about interest me, but there are a few things here I wish I didn't see, but I'm guessing it's stuff mentioned in previews and reviews.

Awesome review. But one thing to mention is the crawl spaces are there to mainly hide loading on the backend.

I wish it came with a 4K +fully unlocked framerate for forward compatibility. Great analysis, but I wish some scenes were omitted or cut away from earlier. It's not exactly spoilery, but I could've done without seeing Odin's entrance and dialogues or knowing about Atreus being playable.

Looking forward to the Evil West Review.

Dude this game looks absolutely amazing

Great video John!

Great work John! Any BFI recomendation for this game?

I don't care about goty, being able to enjoy Elden Ring, Horizon FW and GoW Ragnarok and such a great catalog in general in one year is just fantastic. I also hope both PS exclusives are available soon for PC gamers to enjoy.

DF, you did not mention the motion blur or film brain settings; how do you feel about those?

I waited 3 years to play God of War 2018 because I knew it would take a chunk of time to finish and I had such a backlog to get through already, while fitting it all in with work. Plus, if I am being honest, I just didn't get the hype in the beginning. So I kept pushing it off. But man, late or not, what a journey! The story is top notch, the graphics were incredibly well done and the sheer amount of immersive detail in every environment left me speechless on several occasions. I simply was not expecting so much depth in the details. It truly makes the experience amazing. I was also glad I waited to play it on the PS5, with the graphical updates. And from everything I have seen, Ragnarok takes all that detail to an even higher level. Not to mention, all the options in gameplay output, is just impressive. Considering so many new games are all over the place performance wise. So with all that said, I am very excited to jump back into this world!

Whilst i appreciate the warning re spoilers i would have appreciated far more a spoiler free - or very minor spoilers only - video i could watch!

This is probably gonna be my game of the year. And I’m a Xbox fanboy. It’s also good to see a review this far before release, it shows Sony’s confidence in the game. Would’ve liked to have seen ray tracing in the quality mode (they’re probably saving it for the remake 😂)

Superb review, thanks!

Can you post a spoiler-free executive summary? Maybe a quick recommendation of settings based on what features your hardware supports and what matters to you? I'd love to watch this, but I stopped at the spoiler warning.

I got the LG C2 specifically to have good VRR support on a TV, plus I don't buy TVs very often. I feel like any gamer buying a TV today should make sure that the TV supports VRR. Even with VRR I don't expect games to have hugely fluctuating framrates. What I do hope happens is that games can target non-standard framerates. For example, a dev could target 75fps and know that the TV will be able to display every frame.

This is a great tech review as usual. There really isn't anyone else out there that deep dives into graphics and gameplay performance like you guys do. My only complaint here is in the future try not to post gameplay spoilers. I don't remember them announcing that Atreus would be playable so it would've been great to go in blind.

17:06 Gulliver runs like he's skiing.

Hi, so does the 40 fps mode use the same graphics features as 30fps mode and the only difference is resolution? I feel you didnt cover this fully, but you kept repeating that the 30 fps mode offers visual enhancements or that the 40 fps mode offers nearly all graphical benefis. Could you please clarify this ?

Other game devs should take notes here. This is how you release a polished experience with plenty of visual options to play with. Great job, Santa Monica Studios! Gotham Knights could never lol

What mode do you recommend for someone who has a black and white CRT?

I would like a bit more explanation and demonstration of the stutter mentioned with 120hz displays without VRR

Thanks for the absolutely comprehensive comparison video. I'm definitely going to go with the 40fps render option when I get the game.

This proves ray tracing n 4k is gimmick in gaming industry. We just need performance, combat n environment. Good job Santa Monica n thank you 👏👏

This game is simply yet complexly amazing

16:32 isn't this intended? You can't keep the same shutter speed when increasing the framerate. It has to drop for it to look accurate.