Remnant 2 - An Unreal Engine 5 Nanite Showcase? PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S DF Tech Review

Up until now, it's only Fortnite that's seen Unreal Engine 5's Nanite micro-geometry system deployed on the current generation consoles. Remnant 2 changes all of that, with both Nanite and virtual shadow maps deployed. Can the current-gen consoles handle it? Is 60fps viable in performance and balanced modes? What about Xbox Series S? We had questions and Oliver Mackenzie provides answers.

00:00 Overview
01:04 Visual features
06:58 Image quality and performance
13:55 Analysis and conclusion

[TANuclear]

720p consoles are back baby. Jedi, this and FFXVI are truly showcasing the beauty of HD-ready gaming

[regulatorE]

Ive been playing on Series X in performance mode and havent noticed any screen but now that DF has pointed it out to me im sure its gonna be noticeable and annoying. Thanks guys 😂😂

[giacomopierpaoli]

@DigitalFoundry Virtual shadow maps implement soft penumbras automatically when used. You can see them at work at 2:35 in your review: the shadow casted by the foliage on the top right is soft while the shadow casted by the character is hard. Honestly you can also see it at 2:54, where the shadow of the character is harder than the shadow on the right of the car. Is just that the effect is kinda subtle.

[hazmifly]

720p with performance mode and yet still cannot hit 60fps... NICE..

[CheesusSweet]

Now I get why they didn't show the resolution of each mode in their console performance infographic. We're going backwards with all the 720p resolutions from this year alone.

[DerdOnner]

Insane 😂 I was looking at Remnant 2 and was convinced it looked exactly like Remnant 1. Seeing the comparison images makes me realise how wrong I was 😂

[mandrews]

The game actually looks surprisingly good, and is a leap over the first game. I also prefer the predefined block method of procedural generation used in a game like this. Returnal used a similar method. It allows these handcrafted spaces while simultaneously shifting when and where the player encounters them each run. Kind of best of both worlds approach and keeps things from feeling too bland and procedure like.

The Performance Mode is essentially just future proofing I suspect. I have seen plenty of complaints early on as to ‘why didn’t devs put in an uncapped framerate mode for the future’ for games that have yet to see that ‘next gen upgrade’. The uncapped mode will certainly age well, even if it’s not viable right now.

[kostasbousbouras]

Screen tearing at 60fps? No, just no. I will stick with the 30fps.
We have returned to the PS3/360 era when ST was a common thing, we forgot it in the last generation and now here we go again....
Also 720p. We are getting used to it too...

[hobolad]

I've been playing on Series X on balanced mode and so far it runs and looks great. It's a huge step up from the first game which I just beat for the first time 2 days ago. Remnant 2 already one of my favorite games this year.

[dan_loeb]

they (for clarity here, I am talking about epic and ue5, not the remnant 2 devs and this specific game) should really add in extended screenspace rendering, ie, beyond the visible bounds, at a lower resolution to fix the screenspace artifacting if it's going to be used for so much more besides just reflections now.

[davidpelaez]

we don't need ps5 pro or series XL, we need devs to take their time and use the hardware more effectively, especially on PC.

[jamescampbell]

It's freaking hilarious how we are just starting to get next-generation visual experiences out of PS5 and Xbox, but the thing is already Limited 2 rendering at 720P without even using any ray tracing. I hope people are ready to buy another mid gen refresh console

[doodledust]

720P on a fucking ps5, developers really are lazy huh

[Lws-ntkk]

I'm noticing a trend with unreal engine games. Alot of them are below 1080p at sub 60fps. Makes me worried about future releases with more developers going with unreal.

[IMan__]

Been playing it in Balanced Mode on PS5 and loving it. It doesn’t look perfect, but the game is fun as hell and I’m having a great time

[Rdebo_]

Gotta hand it to Epic, Unreal Engine 5 is such a step up. Was a real visual treat jumping in when the new chapter dropped.

[plume...]

I noticed those Shadow occlusion artifacts at the edge of the screen at 1:58 and from then on I couldn't unsee them, they were so distracting! Great video Oliver, thanks <3

[abhaskumarpalo]

Basically it's an unoptimized game

[kartzau]

I'm all for reconstruction tech, but for the love of God, 720p resolution is way too low for any modern game. If a game can't reach at least 1080p, modern reconstruction solutions just don't make it look anywhere near as good as advertised. I'm afraid of what games are going to look like on Series X by 2028. Ps5 at least seems to be getting a Pro model, but developers really need to evaluate their priorities with performance and resolutions as bad as this

[mecharobots]

For a AA studio they have done a decent job and can't wait to play the game