um who said that? Literally (almost) nobody wanted to play as the girl from wreck-it-ralph. Not even my niece. not to mention full price for an aa made by the effort of only 14 people, so greedy.
15 people with a vision and a aim an perseverance and they did extremely well.. it's a wonderful game. Sony really on a blast this generation since the ps5 came out. It's just game after game after game.. I'm loving it.. an next year will be no different. . Go Sony. .
It's a beautiful game and it first the gameplay felt generic and in many ways it is but getting a bit further into the game it gets a bit more challenging and the rot abilities are quite good. It also plays extremely well with a mouse and keyboard which is how I'm playing it. I'd say it's worth the asking price.
@@ivanleon6164 It is like that , as a game dev who has seen this phenomena in person if the team was 150 people that "direction" you speak of would be diluted, every decision and opinion of those extra people would steer it off course. He specifically said things even look like they're modelled consistently, as a 3D artist I can assure you that doesn't happen when you have hundreds of artists.
@@rmlambert95 i totally get your point and its real. but also if work is peer reviewed it should not happen, but again, in reality, people just want to finish things, so I agree with your point. Especially on outsourced work.
I picked this up on a whim and I CANNOT BELIEVE this game is only $40 bucks! It’s so incredibly charming and fun, and the music is fantastic. I highly encourage everyone to pick this up, you can’t find a better value
@@jose131991 I had PS5 and PC as options and went with PS5. My PS5 is hooked up to an OLED and home theater setup, and I wanted to play it with the DualSense controller.
No this game performance is just garbage on pc, camera movement isn't smooth and it stutters like crazy... I would love to support small indie developers like this but get your game together!
I’m loving Kena Bridge of Spirits, it’s hard to believe it’s an indie game in all honesty, its a phenomenal game (also i really wish we could get an extended version of Majora’s Mask Terrible Fate from Ember Labs 😊
I'm sad that the base PS4 didn't get any attention on this video. I understand that the PRO model has become the point of comparison for last gen games because of the higher specs but as myself there are still a ton of players stuck on the base machine. Or maybe it's just because Alex is the PC guy (sorry for the bad english).
I think this is a 'graphics showcase comparison', as opposed to a console or pc vs console comparison. If it was on Xbox, we'd be seeing the Series X and One X versions as opposed to Series S and base XBO.
@@VariantAEC yeah I know but they are still irrelevant no matter the player base, they were already outdated when they released back in 2013 that’s why Microsoft, Sony and 3rd party developers are prioritizing the enhanced versions of those consoles for cross gen games because the base systems is pretty much beyond saving for newer titles
After this, there's the question of whether you should use dx11 or dx12. 9:34 And after _this,_ there's the question of whether you should use dx11 or dx12. 9:54
I bought the PS5 version without realizing there was a PC version but i dont regret it, the triggers on the dualsense are something else, loved playing Returnal and now this game too.
Protip: if you watch/play a lot of 60fps and 24fps content, use a 120Hz monitor (or use that refresh rate if available). I know it won't solve the cutscenes issue for people who can't do that (for lack of such a monitor, playing on consoles, or simply using a different/higher refresh rate), but it's good to keep in mind should you want proper 24fps video playback. 144Hz works too, but then it will affect 60fps content.
Yeah, that's because it looks like a ps4 game. Static bland and lifeless, small environments with just about no interaction due to the utter garbage cpu.
@@dannywoods3928 you obviously never played horizon zero dawn, you can even see all sorts of bugs flying around and even ants minding their own business and that's the game got nothing to do with these things, stuff that most modern games doesn't bother doing. the ps4 yeah its old but its more than capable of running intense games, these sort of things is depend on the devs to do and the people behind kena are just new and they're indie, despite the huge effort they put in this game but it's still on a budget, it can't reach that quality of Sony's first party games. let's not forget the unreal engine 4 as well, it's one of the most popular and friendly engine out there, yet the most buggier out there.
@@anasbakhit4303 I mean, realistically there's never that much going on in Horizon and it's not like the game is known for its AI. Bugs and animals flying around has been a standard for a while predating the PS4. I don't know why your mind went there as if it was a unique feature.
Finished the game a couple days ago. Been waiting to see a DF review of it. I thought it was an amazing first game from this dev. They’re on my radar for sure now.
@@Ray-dl5mp no, but I played on a 120hz monitor for years with vsync 1/3 because my old pc's CPU couldn't hit 60fps. It's fine and much better than 30fps but developers should focus on 60fps now that the CPUs can easily handle it. For example, I'm just guessing the 40fps figure here obviously but in this game on PS5 you might get: 30fps at 2160p (dynamic) 40fps at 1800p (dynamic) 60fps at 1440p (dynamic) I would always choose the 60fps 1440p option here. Frames are generally more important than resolution. Obviously there is a balance but 60fps is the standard. It should be the minimum, not the maximum this gen. Maybe as the generation goes on 40fps will become more useful but right now I'd prefer that developers just lowered the resolution of the 60fps mode.
@@brewski535 yea I get what you’re saying. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the monitor pc experience you did is different than ratchet at 40 fps on 120 hz on a tv. Also the visual wow with higher graphic settings on a big tv also might make the smoother than 30 fps more impressive in that mode. Perhaps that’s why people were loving it on Ratchet based on the RUclips comments. I’m just guessing because I haven’t tried it yet. I just think a monitor of course you always want higher frames because your eyes are right next to it. Also I think people just appreciate the option. Why not add it if people loved it on Ratchet? You will always have a 60fps option it seems like on this gen if you want it.
Only 15 hours!? Now I miss vanilla WOW.. Grinding that level 60, spending several months! Feeling like you're at work, while playing a game! Then complaining about it, but deep down you actually like it.
@@kev1nno yes and no, I would say that they just didnt know. Its a animation studio and probably well to settled into the 24fps workflow. 24fps to 30fps actually makes a big difference how motion can be felt,
@@AngryApple If you work with video production professionally you more than likely to know what issues occur if you try to play a video in framerate that's not perfectly divisible with the original framerate. Telecine judder have been an issue for ages.
@@AngryApple I've seen lots of people upload 24/25 fps videos onto youtube for that "cinematic feel" without having any knowledge of what kind of a display 99% of people are going to be watching their videos on, resulting in the majority of people having an inferior experience (Especially noticeable during camera panning).
@@snakebebop hey bro it might be time to unsub from DF and just switch to Tucker Carlson permanently. You'll feel much safer from hearing opinions you don't like
the big hitch that happens when an effect is displayed, its quite simple. it happens when an effect uses a texture that has not been loaded into the VRAM yet. since the VRAM is usually not big enough to hold all the textures in a level, they have to be streamed in and out. with most textures on environment or characters thats fine because they have mipmaps that can be streamed in super quick in a pinch, but usually VFX textures are configured to not have mipmaps so they always appear crisp. if an effect appears that uses such a texture and it has not been loaded into the VRAM yet, the big hitch will occur and it can be fixed by just asynchronously preloading that texture before the effect can occur, for example based on character proximity. a lot of earlier UE4 games had a similar bug where you could always see the mips loading in on character creation screens or inventory screens when you equip something new, cause its quite hard to predict what model will be displayed the next frame. usually during the final polish phase before ship there are a lot of more important bugs, so often times this kind of bug might fall to the wayside since it not very critical to the function of the game, and then sooner or later it might be patched.
Great artistry tends to scale and age well. I like the extra frames of the PS5 version, but I think the PS4/ Pro, which far more people have, does look very nice due to the superb artistry.
11:45 It is sad to see that performance dips issues is not shared industry wide by Epic. This should be so well known knowledge by all the companies that use UE.
Yeah Alex is wrong about other UE4 games "figuring it out". A ton are still messy with stuttering and other problems on PC. Hell I returned Pshychonauts 2 because it was nearly unplayable with all the stuttering, but that's from a MS studio so he'll never call it out. And Ascent is still choppy with stuttering btw.
@@ionseven I'm sure he would've called it out if he had the chance to cover Psychonauts 2. The reason it wasn't covered was because the one who was supposed to cover it, John, was on vacation.
@@ionseven I played the game on Xbox and it was super smooth. The only noticeable thing I noticed was texture streaming in cutscenes. Maybe there's something wrong with your PC?
@@ionseven You just took his words out of context. He doesn't mean other games are perfect. He's talking about a very specific issue and the point he's making is simply to support the idea that they could fix it since others were able to as well.
Sad to see no mention of the issue where Kena will stop moving for a second then start again. It’s not a frame rate issue or loading. It may tie to the fact that there’s a big dead zone on the left stick, and then beyond it, the slow walk doesn’t change to a jog until the stick is almost fully moved out. If they’d fix these issues, the game would look and play incredible.
It's a shame no one is mentioning this as it is one of the more annoying things i'm experimenting with the game so far. More even than the camera animation jumps.
Add [SystemSettings] r.CreateShadersOnLoad=1 r.Streaming.PoolSize=8000 to the bottom of engine.ini config file to help with the stutter, this basically eliminates those shader compilations on DX12. And you can add r.ShadowQuality=5 r.Shadow.CSM.MaxCascades=4 r.Shadow.MaxResolution=2048 r.Shadow.RadiusThreshold=0.03 r.Shadow.DistanceScale=1.0 r.Shadow.CSM.TransitionScale=1.0 to further increase shadow quality, if you have the horsepower.
Cool, I'll try that tomorrow. Can you add fov adjustments to the engine.ini or does that go somewhere else? I've been using Unreal Engine Unlocker but if I can bypass it that would be even better.
Problem with Unreal is that it will stream an effect or an asset whenever it is "called". Developers can prepare them in background async to make sure no hitchup happens but most developers ignore this or forget it in some places. UE5 will try to fix this issue with gameplay features addition where you tell engine "ok so at this point I'm going to use these abilities, effects, this map, so make sure everything is ready".
Sure you guys aren't a bit harsh here? Apart from the prerendered cutscenes, which could have be done better, a tiny hitch when transitioning from one area to the next seems hardly an issue. I mean, not too long ago we had loading screens of minutes between game areas. Plus the fact that this is their first game and virtually bug-free, it's a very impressive effort, technically.
I haven’t seen anyone talk about the high juttering when using the Rot monster. It wasn’t a game stopper but it was quite noticable whenever I had to use it. Not sure if I’m the only one that experienced this.
8:25 No, the game is not at the lowest res possible. I still don't understand why there's this huge push to keep resolution above 1080p (or trying to get as close to 4k for some dumb reason) when a lot of people even on PC haven't even moved on to having 1440p screens, much less 4k. I hate the fact that I game on a 1080p monitor for consoles, but every fucking PS5 game never allows me to just have a native 1080p res to make sure the game runs better or more consistently.
That's just how consoles are unfortunately. Restrictions = user friendly but obviously frustration for advanced users. Imo 1440p is the sweet spot still and will be for many years. 4k is just a waste most of the time.
@@brewski535 Yeah I've been on 1440p for my PC since like 2015 and have a dual monitor setup in which I switch the second smaller 1080p monitor to console feed. But it's just annoying ya know? Unfortunately, it is like you say... until they start giving us the option to, I'll have to deal with games running at 1200p with small framerate drops instead of 1080p with no framerate drops.
Does it dip often? I got a ps5 and considering to pick this game up but I’m so use to 60 FPS so just wondering from your experience has it dipped below 60 often?
@@jaspelino1963 I wasn’t referring to the fact that tech youtubers dont talk about it, its the fact that Sony themselves aren’t really pushing this game with commercials and the likes. Its like it released with barely anyone knowing about it.
That is, if your monitor goes down that low for VRR (many stop at 40Hz). Also I've seen VRR not work with pre-rendered cutscenes before. Most PC gamers have 120Hz or better monitors though. Set your max refresh rate to 120Hz, 144Hz, or 240Hz, and you're good. Or any other refresh rate 24 divides into that your monitor supports.
@@konga382 Most vrr displays have lfc. So if it's outputting 120hz. Lfc will kick in and the display will drop to 48hz. Edit: but alas it would divide evenly with 120/144hz
Such a fun game, and lush visuals. 2080ti/3070 does well on 80% 4K Maxed visuals then drop shadows 1 step. 60-100fps, but the 60minimums are the focus on these settings. And that's before I saw this.
Use my 3060 Ti and play on 4k (all maxed). Avg. is about 61 fps but it can sometimes drop down to 55fps. If I would optimize some settings, stable 60fps shouldn't be a problem. DLSS / FSR would still be a great addition to the game.
@@OSgaming93 Gained 12-15fps avg by dropping shadows alone.....at 80% of 4K Ultra. I'd just use Alex settings going forward with the ini tweak for better TAAU on top. "Ultra isn't everything, enjoy frames and visuals both" 80% 4K is noticibly sharper than 1440p 100%, without the TAAU tweak. I've got two videos on the game, 80% 4K and 1440p Native. On DX11 though, without any ini tweaks.
@@SKHYJINX thx man I'll try the tweak. I didn't understand alex setting that well, like the SSAO didn't find it there, i guess im a newbie when it comes to graphics.
I'll wait for the physical version release. Hopefully they have the PS5 performance mode sorted and 24fps cut scenes up to 30fps by then. Impressive game from this small studio! Thanks for the video Alex!!
The 24fps is intentionally cinematic, Ember labs was an animation studio before this and most animated features are developed & rendered at 24fps (same as the vast majority of movies, anime and live action TV shows)...I think Alex has been staring at videogames too long because the 24fps cutscenes look gorgeous
2:30 This is what I've been saying since day one. I wish they work a little bit more on animation blending. Jumping or skipping from one animation to the other looking rather unpleasant even on 60fps gameplay. Aside from that everything is great.
Great across all versions, insane since it is the 1st game of the studio & Cross Gen. They already said next game is Ps5 Only and Pc most likely so it will be a true next gen showcase.
True next gen on next game means it’ll be PC only. By that time 40 series will be out to absolutely destroy consoles. And before you say anything I love PlayStation. Just that PC is “true” next gen wether you like it or not
@@PhotoJohn80 yeah.. the only problem is, not everyone wants to spend $3k building a high end PC that in 2 years will require another upgrade if you want the “latest next gen features” a 2080 is irrelevant now days compared to the 30 series. Tho I guess this can be said about everything Tech wise.
@4K 60FPS da hell are you taking about pc has the largest gameing user base in the world with more games and exclusives than the console's combined, its the majority of the gameing market, console is the minority so how you work out its unless for gameing when its the number 1 platform for it is bloody idiotic. Pc is the luxury console's are a poor mans gameing system, this game at 60fps on ps5 dosent come close to 4k and at all pc lowest settings and thats luxury to you.
@4K 60FPS That’s irrelevant to my comment. I’m stating facts. I love PlayStation as I said. It’s the unfortunate fact that PC is next gen. Not a console.
Probably my favorite game so far this generation. Yes, it's a little "janky" at times, where you find yourself clipping through random objects, or floating along the top of rocks you aren't supposed to be able to jump on, but the game is a testament to how far real vision can take a project, even with a small team. The other thing with the game is that if you want the challenge, it's certainly present here, especially if you crank up the difficulty!
It's crazy to think, i played gamed for years, i have pretty high expectations generally. I see all those big games with a lot of complexe mechanics, i'm currently playing tales of arise and i find it kinda complicated to remember all the mechanics that are present in the game and use them efficiently. I then there's kena, very simple, not a lot of mechanics, but i'm totally sold on it, i find my time in this game much more enjoyable than the time i've spend in a lot of games for years. Now that i think about it, it's been a while since i felt that.
Honestly I'm pretty deep into tales of arise and I just button mash and hit the special moves of each character as they come up and its worked on moderate difficulty. Lol.
@@Jbayz Yeah thats basically what i do too, i'm not struggling with the game, but there's that feeling that at don't play it at full potential (talking about tales), and also the enemy variety is almost insulting to me. What i expressed in my previous comment is that kena is simple and "little" in the scale of the different mechanics, and i'm enjoying it more, my time in the game is always good. In the opposite, tales is good but i sometimes find myself playing without really having a real good time, and asking myself " why am i doing this ? " (tales is not the only game where i felt that i recent years, maybe is just me). Far is the time when i was young, playing final fantasy 7, 8, 9 on my ps1, with stars in my eyes and heart. Sometimes playing games is like a chore for me these days, i don't know why i'm still doing it. I like the idea, but my heart is not always in it. That's why Kena surprised me, and i surprised myself in the way i enjoy it. It's not the best game of all time, it's kinda modest in a way, but if i look at how i feel when i play it, compare to the games i played this year and how i felt playing them. It's kinda my game of the year. In the first hour, i had chills all over my spine, and the environments and ambiance made me shed a tear.
@@Jbayz There's love in that game and i can feel it. It makes me want to go back to work in unreal engine when i'll be done with other 3D projects. Maybe create my own little world. It inspires my creative side a lot.
I'm sad to report that until this very day the PC version has not been properly optimised, since either DX11 or 12 still have serious frame drops constantly during the whole game (probably due to shader compilation problems). It's a shame because the game is pretty and fun to experience, but the performance is really rough most of the time
Thank you!! The optimized settings on PC with the TAAU tweak worked PERFECT for my use case. At lower resolutions (meaning my monitor is 1080p), when TAA not tweaked, the AA solution in native rendering looks very bad, with a lot of temporal jaggies and artifacts, especially around the grass and hair. But using DRS and the game tweaked scaler brings out a really clean image now.
@@samdixon3719 with DRS I meant the nvidia downscaler, Kena is a bit wonky with resolutions so for it to work I had to set my desktop res to 4k with it, and then ingame to borderless windowed, after that put the scaler to where you are comfortable with your performance (in my case 80% was ok between 40 and 60)
Easily one of the nicest looking games ive ever seen. The devs really knew how to execute the artstyle. Perfect blend of cutesy cartoon and slight hint of realism. Looks like a cg movie. After i beat sonic frontiers im gonna buy this and try it out.
It's interesting. On Linux with DX11, I experienced the frame drops he described. With DX12, I didn't notice any. Either I just got lucky or VKD3D (translating to Vulkan) does something to smooth it out. I have an RTX 3080 with an AMD Ryzen 7 3800x.
It takes a budget and tech to make a game lol. They are also using unreal 4. No game can be made without a budget or tech smh. Stop trying to throw shots and just appreciate the game and the hard work that went to it. All these developers work hard on their games and lots of money goes into every game made. This is a good game. This team deserves a bigger budget and more tech.
That's the beauty of Unreal Engine. It's far easier to develop for than other proprietary engines. Although of course Unreal Engine 4 does have problems too which will hopefully be addressed in UE5.
@@darksunwithin You guys are comparing some of the biggest worlds in gaming with dozens of NPC's on screen and a realistic art style (much more GPU intensive) with a linear game that has a maximum of a handful of interactive things on screen.
@@brewski535 Not really accurate. Usually proprietary engines are much better at making the specific games they are built for. UE, Unity, etc need to be jack of all trades. It makes them super accessible and easy to prototype in, but harder to optimize for certain needs.
Love this game (easily one of the best game I have played this year). Crazy this is their first game, such an amazing job. The soundtrack is brilliant.
Digital Foundry, please do a modern tech review on Battlefield 3. It is one of the games mainly developed for the pc-platform, which are rare now. It presented a massive shift in graphics for FPS games as a whole, though not on the scale of what Crysis achieved.
I can't believe that after that many years and now with a new console gen games are still using low anisotropic filtering on consoles! It makes a huge difference on textures clarity!
lol bruh really and EA cant even optimize star wars jedi which use same UE4 engine, i played 4 hour so far and game run pretty smooth without any stuttering which is something very rare in UE4 games now a days, tho there are some framepacing issue but its much better then any recent UE4 games i played so far, it is way more smoother then biomutent which also has stunning visual tho but gameplay is way better, i consider to buy this game just because a small 14 peoples team can do much better then big AAA cant do which is really slap in the face for them
@@Ryzen-gh1en I too am shocked that Kena was made by a team of 14 PEOPLE. WOW. And it's not that big, nor is it too small. It lasts about 10 to 15 hours, which is fair and definitely not as big as AC Valhalla.
Im gonna buy the physical version for ps5 when it comes out. I realized I find myself actually playing my games when I buy them on ps5 when compared to my pc. If I buy a game on pc (I still have a 2080 super) I get so annoyed that I have to drop settings to get a smooth experience. So i end up tweaking my games so much that I end up wasting time. Im glad this gen of consoles can manage games now.
I just find it funny when someone thinks they have an 80 version of an nvidia card they can just max out every game like nothing, no issues. Like no lol that's not how pc gaming works
@@XZ-III Im not thinking that way though. I dont mind tweaking my game but if that ends up becoming a constant thing then i might as well just get the game on console. If pc gaming means I have to tweak settings so much to get something I like both visually and playable then idk if its worth it. I still buy games on pc that have a robust modding community but for all other games im contempt with playing them on console.
The problems he talked about on the PC and PS5 seemed quite small and should be fixable by a patch, it doesn't look like those issues will impact the enjoyment of playing the game much if at all but with any luck, the developers will iron out those issues. The 24fps cutscenes seem really strange, it baffles me why they would go for that frame rate when 30fps or even 60fps if space isn't an issue would be better.
All this support in the comments. Where was that energy for Biomutant and Grounded? We need to support these small studio devolved games because they seem to be the only ones allowed to go out of the box and do their own thing and I dig it.
Almost all the reviews and press I saw/heard about Biomutant was that it was a mess that wasn't worth picking up or playing, though. I thought it looked interesting, sure, but at release, the reviews were not good. Can't speak to Grounded, but that's just because I didn't personally feel a pull to that game. I'm right there with you in terms of your sentiment, however.
The cutscenes look just fine to me. My only problem with them is their quality (bitrate?) sometimes as some have obvious banding in there. That and it's a little odd it's not realtime. They just fixed that running issue where she would pause though in patch 1.06 thankfully.
@@Blade4Life76 Still better than my rtx 3070 equipped gaming pc which only plays pinball and minecraft without any real games, so kindly understand that it all basically boils down to preference.
Exactly. This is the only thing I don’t like about digital foundry - they have spent far too long measuring and obsessing over frame rates and and make it sound like the games grind to a halt when it drops to 58 or 59 fps !!!! It’s ridiculous.
If you don't have a VRR TV / Monitor those "little" drops can feel annoying. Also there are some big drops in performance during normal gameplay with DX11. If you watched the video completely you would have seen it. Those drops are around 10-15fps.
@@Varusal I was talking about the PS5 version. They do it on other games too , drops 2 fps and they make out it’s an issue. I personally can’t even notice it. Now dropping from 60 to 30-40 fps would be annoying. , but 1 or 2 fps , no.
This is a poisonous channel that starts console wars a lot in the comments. Jesus all these so called resolution drops or frame drops are not even noticeable during gameplay to me on ps5. I am amazed on the quality at performance mode. These people I bet cannot tell any differences without zooming in or using frame time graphs. Missed the old times of gaming when such channels did not exist.
I have a question, most people who have a PS4 PRO, PS5 and/or a PC only use a 1080p monitor, or TV. We are at least 8 years away from a 50+% 4K overtake, as of right now its less than 4% (realistically 2% maybe 3%) So why do you near Exclusively focus on 4K? Or am i wrong, i would love to know. I do understand, its better to be on the cusp of what we can do, and you cannot be expected to do everything. Especially when you have so few who are highly skilled and knowledgeable, time and accuracy are very important. To all you trolls and haters, Back off. Im simply asking a Legit question. And yes I love the Technical Breakdown, its why i love Gamers Nexus, and Digital Foundry, and Mark cerny. Some may see those kinds of long technical Informational previews as being boring, but i find them fascinating.
So PS4 Pro holds its own? That’s great to hear. I have a Samsung Evo 860 installed in my Pro. Seems like I’ll enjoy great visuals and story with my last gen console. And low load times. Thanks for this video!
I have to say I'm quite disappointed you didn't cover base PS4 in this video. I don't think it's fair to treat it as too old. Even Sony's big games are coming to PS4, and I'm sure many of your viewers want to know how these games perform. I know that your audience is more on the cutting edge, but its interesting at least from an academic viewpoint.
On the base PS4, it's definitely running at close to 720p and then using Unreal's temporal reconstruction to get to 1080p. In still shots, it looks nice and clean, but in motion there are a lot of visible temporal artifacts. There's minor hitching when the game loads in new data and some frame drops in combat when particles explode, but overall it's a relatively stable 30-fps. The combat definitely feels more challenging at 30-fps though; it's harder to time the parry and dodge.
TAAU is much better than the default upscaler, Why wouldnt that be the Default? The only reason I could think of is that it has some flaws. Rather odd they didn't use it or atleast make it an settings option.
Small team makes a great game. I wish Tuque Games had done the same with Dark Alliance. So much potential only to have them squander it by rushing out a broken game. (Insert Miyamoto quote here) I hope Kena is a big success for this team.
The game is simply fabulous. From the built-in photo mode to sensational high quality graphics, from the animations to back jump, i loved every bit of it. Once Kena channels her shield and then releases, the plants and anything next to it moves which is such as a fantastic detail. Its such a game that completely playable at Ultra settings on GTX 1650 4 GB due to its not being fast paced and the optimization feels right on top. It's such a game that fits loads of high quality stuff to 20 GB only. Glitch warning : if you collect the first 5 rots in the wrong order, the game glitches and one of the wisps will not connect to the right place. Btw, did i just stress that i loved the back jump? back jump and swimming.
Playing on performance mode on PS5 and the overall experience is awesome. Cutscenes look strange and jiggly but the ever constant 60fps gameplay is just great. Plus - no loading screens!
Performance mode is the way to go for sure. The differences in graphical fidelity the highlight here are virtually unnoticeable when you're actually playing. Most of us aren't going up to our TV to scrutinize pixels in cropped, zoomed-in sections the way these videos do. The difference is negligible. The difference between 30 and 60fps, however, is dramatic.
@@jonathanmatos714 clearly you haven't played games with Cutscenes at 60fps... Generally it's fine, the problem is they are 24fps in Kena which makes sense since the guys at Ember Lab worked in Animation for Films (which is done at 24fps) but for games/game engines it comes across as Stuttery and just weird. Had it been done at 30fps it would have looked like a Movie as intended and no one would complain 🤷♂️
The biggest bummer about this game right now is that you can't capture screenshots of it. The game's pause menu pops up any time you click the capture button, ruining any shots.
@@sup3rAVATARtlafAN you can't tell people your game is running like butter if you have no idea what Frame times are lol, frame times directly tell you how smooth a game is running..also shows other people aswell
![Digital Circus Episode 4 [TRAILER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/abZtsmMUbJo/mqdefault.jpg)
For everyone who ever said I wish they still made games like this, here it is so go buy it and support the Developers.
i really hope it does well sales wise
bought mine yesterday on ps5.
This and Psychonauts 2
There's plenty of games like this still being made. They're all indie though.
Amen!
um who said that? Literally (almost) nobody wanted to play as the girl from wreck-it-ralph. Not even my niece.
not to mention full price for an aa made by the effort of only 14 people, so greedy.
Yeah this game had surprisingly difficult boss moments, but overall a blast to play... Its crazy to think it was made by only 15 people
15 people with a vision and a aim an perseverance and they did extremely well.. it's a wonderful game. Sony really on a blast this generation since the ps5 came out. It's just game after game after game.. I'm loving it.. an next year will be no different. . Go Sony. .
@@lenordpark870 Agreed. Truly amazing, and what an awesome month.
Kena, Deathloop and Tales of Arise 🔥
It's a beautiful game and it first the gameplay felt generic and in many ways it is but getting a bit further into the game it gets a bit more challenging and the rot abilities are quite good. It also plays extremely well with a mouse and keyboard which is how I'm playing it. I'd say it's worth the asking price.
@@S94-l9w indeed
15 people? Damn. Thats insane.
This game is easily one of the best games of the year a future classic. The fact it’s only £32 and takes up minimal space on the ssd is a bonus! 👍
You're grasping at straws must suck to have no good games
32 pounds ONLY
@@SuperSublime9 PC got games though
@@SuperSublime9 I don’t understand what you are talking about 🤷♂️
@@peterdemetriou2263 he must've thought this was a Xbox channel 😂
It’s got some minor rough edges, but the game has so much charm and heart that it’s incredibly easy to overlook them. Definitely recommended
How can you not like those cute little helpers
Is it better with performance or resolution
The less people in a process, the less deviation from the source the more consistency, this game is a great example of that!
is not like that, is about the direction, so the tech and art leads are the ones who did a great work.
@@ivanleon6164 It is like that , as a game dev who has seen this phenomena in person if the team was 150 people that "direction" you speak of would be diluted, every decision and opinion of those extra people would steer it off course.
He specifically said things even look like they're modelled consistently, as a 3D artist I can assure you that doesn't happen when you have hundreds of artists.
@@rmlambert95 i totally get your point and its real. but also if work is peer reviewed it should not happen, but again, in reality, people just want to finish things, so I agree with your point. Especially on outsourced work.
@@rmlambert95 what games have you worked on??
That’s not always the case. The initial beginning of No Man’s Sky is a perfect example of that.
I picked this up on a whim and I CANNOT BELIEVE this game is only $40 bucks! It’s so incredibly charming and fun, and the music is fantastic. I highly encourage everyone to pick this up, you can’t find a better value
What platform you get it on?
@@jose131991 I had PS5 and PC as options and went with PS5. My PS5 is hooked up to an OLED and home theater setup, and I wanted to play it with the DualSense controller.
It's 100 bucks in newzealand
“no issues in site”
“the only issue I found…”
“but that’s not an issue”
I’m confused. 😂
the information to get TAAU working for the PC version is at 6:17
optimised pc settings at 9:36
thanks!
Thank you very much
When I add those two lines and save they do not save. When I open the file back up they are gone.
The Engine.ini file is not in the folder...
The Engine.ini file is definitely not in the folder...
Just support the developers if you want that Industry still produce innovative and artistically works. The game is really worth a look😁🙏🙋🙈🙆
Buying this as bday gift for my nephew.
No
Except the characters and length of the game this is a masterpiece must play
No this game performance is just garbage on pc, camera movement isn't smooth and it stutters like crazy... I would love to support small indie developers like this but get your game together!
@@PersianGamer36 Everyone should Support it
Ember Lab are a small indie team and this is their first game. Let us give them some time.
what time ? they woke as hell. look at developers racist tweets (white patriarchy and shit)
@@gamesthatmatter9374 As long as they keep it out of their games, it makes no difference if some of them have crazy sociopolitical beliefs.
It's like grow a set of balls.
@@ralphdailey9503 dream on
I’m loving Kena Bridge of Spirits, it’s hard to believe it’s an indie game in all honesty, its a phenomenal game (also i really wish we could get an extended version of Majora’s Mask Terrible Fate from Ember Labs 😊
It's so cute isn't it, and surprisingly challenging(!)
@@girl_on_fire_x_x ive had to turn the difficulty down a few times 😂
@@girl_on_fire_x_x The final boss on Harder difficulties is like a Dark Souls, Bloodborne final boss.
And it is also their first game. Pretty impressive for a small indie team
@@James-gj8rn Got to admit I'm about to turn it down for a boss 🤣
I have been very much engaged with this title on PS5.
I'm sad that the base PS4 didn't get any attention on this video. I understand that the PRO model has become the point of comparison for last gen games because of the higher specs but as myself there are still a ton of players stuck on the base machine. Or maybe it's just because Alex is the PC guy (sorry for the bad english).
Hahaha
The base last gen systems are irrelevant
@@zackariasevertson7733
Why?
Keep in mind most PS4 gamers are still on a standard PS4.
I think this is a 'graphics showcase comparison', as opposed to a console or pc vs console comparison. If it was on Xbox, we'd be seeing the Series X and One X versions as opposed to Series S and base XBO.
@@VariantAEC yeah I know but they are still irrelevant no matter the player base, they were already outdated when they released back in 2013 that’s why Microsoft, Sony and 3rd party developers are prioritizing the enhanced versions of those consoles for cross gen games because the base systems is pretty much beyond saving for newer titles
After this, there's the question of whether you should use dx11 or dx12. 9:34
And after _this,_ there's the question of whether you should use dx11 or dx12. 9:54
Dx11 better ...some games dx12 bring a modern next gen featured than dx11 depends tho but dx12 is low level than dx11
DX12, dx11 stuttering reported on redit threads.
Resizable bar or Sam seems to help multi thread preformance and max power setting.
DX11 + DXVK Async is the way to go.
@@TRONiX404 I’ve been watching DF for 2 years and I still have no idea what you just said lol
@@bearpuns5910 Resizable BAR and Sam just released a few months ago for RTX and Radeon
Nvidia control panel you can set power options to max.
This game is so freaking lovely. Wonderful - literally brimming over with it. I hope this video directs a few more players towards it
I bought the PS5 version without realizing there was a PC version but i dont regret it, the triggers on the dualsense are something else, loved playing Returnal and now this game too.
Protip: if you watch/play a lot of 60fps and 24fps content, use a 120Hz monitor (or use that refresh rate if available).
I know it won't solve the cutscenes issue for people who can't do that (for lack of such a monitor, playing on consoles, or simply using a different/higher refresh rate), but it's good to keep in mind should you want proper 24fps video playback. 144Hz works too, but then it will affect 60fps content.
Aside from the fps gap...the ps4 still holds up pretty good, no massive texture difference or stuff like that, still a pretty solid machine. 👌
I bet the game is originally was made for the ps4 and then ported over to ps5 and PC, just like Miles Morales.
Yeah, that's because it looks like a ps4 game. Static bland and lifeless, small environments with just about no interaction due to the utter garbage cpu.
@@dannywoods3928 tell that to games like horizon. Clown
@@dannywoods3928
you obviously never played horizon zero dawn, you can even see all sorts of bugs flying around and even ants minding their own business and that's the game got nothing to do with these things, stuff that most modern games doesn't bother doing.
the ps4 yeah its old but its more than capable of running intense games, these sort of things is depend on the devs to do and the people behind kena are just new and they're indie, despite the huge effort they put in this game but it's still on a budget, it can't reach that quality of Sony's first party games.
let's not forget the unreal engine 4 as well, it's one of the most popular and friendly engine out there, yet the most buggier out there.
@@anasbakhit4303 I mean, realistically there's never that much going on in Horizon and it's not like the game is known for its AI. Bugs and animals flying around has been a standard for a while predating the PS4. I don't know why your mind went there as if it was a unique feature.
I miss that they don't have movement inertia animations in this game.
It would clean up smooth animations so much.
I love this game! Ember lab did a great job indeed🙏
Finished the game a couple days ago. Been waiting to see a DF review of it. I thought it was an amazing first game from this dev. They’re on my radar for sure now.
Bruh it came out a couple of days ago
@@ErenTheWarcriminal it came out on Tuesday. It’s Saturday. The game is only like 9 hours long.
@@ErenTheWarcriminal 4-5 days. Well enough time
@@ErenTheWarcriminal Bruh you're point?
@@mandrews6282 A few days to complete a 10 hour game is perfectly doable?
I wish 40fps at 120Hz would become more readily available. It really is a game changer over 30fps.
Yeah it makes a big difference.
Meh, I'd rather they just dropped 30fps and focused on optimizing a single 60fps option. 40fps still sucks.
@@brewski535 you’ve played it on 120 hz on a tv with a console?
@@Ray-dl5mp no, but I played on a 120hz monitor for years with vsync 1/3 because my old pc's CPU couldn't hit 60fps.
It's fine and much better than 30fps but developers should focus on 60fps now that the CPUs can easily handle it.
For example, I'm just guessing the 40fps figure here obviously but in this game on PS5 you might get:
30fps at 2160p (dynamic)
40fps at 1800p (dynamic)
60fps at 1440p (dynamic)
I would always choose the 60fps 1440p option here. Frames are generally more important than resolution. Obviously there is a balance but 60fps is the standard. It should be the minimum, not the maximum this gen.
Maybe as the generation goes on 40fps will become more useful but right now I'd prefer that developers just lowered the resolution of the 60fps mode.
@@brewski535 yea I get what you’re saying. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the monitor pc experience you did is different than ratchet at 40 fps on 120 hz on a tv. Also the visual wow with higher graphic settings on a big tv also might make the smoother than 30 fps more impressive in that mode. Perhaps that’s why people were loving it on Ratchet based on the RUclips comments. I’m just guessing because I haven’t tried it yet. I just think a monitor of course you always want higher frames because your eyes are right next to it.
Also I think people just appreciate the option. Why not add it if people loved it on Ratchet? You will always have a 60fps option it seems like on this gen if you want it.
Here are, in my opinion, the best optimized settings for Kena: Bridge of Spirits, whilst maintaining performance and keeping visual quality:
*Visible Rot:* _All_
*Screen Percentage:* _100%_
*Depth of Field:* _Limited (Preference)_
*Motion Blur:* _Off (Preference)_
*Volumetric Fog:* _Low_
*Ambient Occlusion:* _Low_
*Post Processing Quality:* _High_
*Textures:* _Ultra_
*Foliage:* _High_
*Shadows:* _Medium_
is the benefit from high textures really worth it? You would expect the devs to know better by keeping it low...
Unpopular Opinion: A solid and good 10-15 hours of gameplay is better than a bloated 300.
Not unpopular at all, but I liked anyway
I agree with you on that. I tend to prefer shorter games as well.
The older I am, the more I agree with that.
Only 15 hours!?
Now I miss vanilla WOW.. Grinding that level 60, spending several months!
Feeling like you're at work, while playing a game! Then complaining about it, but deep down you actually like it.
👍
Can't really blame Ember Labs for any of the issues. Can't expect a tiny independent studio to fix the known inherent ussues with Unreal 4.
@@kev1nno yes and no, I would say that they just didnt know. Its a animation studio and probably well to settled into the 24fps workflow.
24fps to 30fps actually makes a big difference how motion can be felt,
@@AngryApple If you work with video production professionally you more than likely to know what issues occur if you try to play a video in framerate that's not perfectly divisible with the original framerate. Telecine judder have been an issue for ages.
I can't blame Alex for enjoying this game, especially since the female protagonist isn't "problematic from the neck down"
@@AngryApple I've seen lots of people upload 24/25 fps videos onto youtube for that "cinematic feel" without having any knowledge of what kind of a display 99% of people are going to be watching their videos on, resulting in the majority of people having an inferior experience (Especially noticeable during camera panning).
@@snakebebop hey bro it might be time to unsub from DF and just switch to Tucker Carlson permanently. You'll feel much safer from hearing opinions you don't like
the big hitch that happens when an effect is displayed, its quite simple.
it happens when an effect uses a texture that has not been loaded into the VRAM yet.
since the VRAM is usually not big enough to hold all the textures in a level, they have to be streamed in and out. with most textures on environment or characters thats fine because they have mipmaps that can be streamed in super quick in a pinch, but usually VFX textures are configured to not have mipmaps so they always appear crisp.
if an effect appears that uses such a texture and it has not been loaded into the VRAM yet, the big hitch will occur and it can be fixed by just asynchronously preloading that texture before the effect can occur, for example based on character proximity.
a lot of earlier UE4 games had a similar bug where you could always see the mips loading in on character creation screens or inventory screens when you equip something new, cause its quite hard to predict what model will be displayed the next frame.
usually during the final polish phase before ship there are a lot of more important bugs, so often times this kind of bug might fall to the wayside since it not very critical to the function of the game, and then sooner or later it might be patched.
So far this is unquestionably my game of the year
Been waiting for this video. Such a beautiful game.
I bought both the regular base game and deluxe version to support the devs!
This game truly is a gem
i was hesitant at first but now i feel i must buy this!
Great game... played it on da PS5...great graphics best 40 bucks I spent this year 👌🏾 👍🏾
Been playing it on PS5, and it looks and plays great.
@Lov Mir What specs do you have on your PC?
@@SC0RPI0NFURY lol
Unreal Engine and streaming stutter. Name a more iconic duo.
I'm playing on base Playstation 4 and it looks gorgeous and plays well.
Great artistry tends to scale and age well. I like the extra frames of the PS5 version, but I think the PS4/ Pro, which far more people have, does look very nice due to the superb artistry.
11:45 It is sad to see that performance dips issues is not shared industry wide by Epic.
This should be so well known knowledge by all the companies that use UE.
Yeah Alex is wrong about other UE4 games "figuring it out". A ton are still messy with stuttering and other problems on PC. Hell I returned Pshychonauts 2 because it was nearly unplayable with all the stuttering, but that's from a MS studio so he'll never call it out. And Ascent is still choppy with stuttering btw.
@@ionseven I'm sure he would've called it out if he had the chance to cover Psychonauts 2. The reason it wasn't covered was because the one who was supposed to cover it, John, was on vacation.
@@ionseven I played the game on Xbox and it was super smooth. The only noticeable thing I noticed was texture streaming in cutscenes. Maybe there's something wrong with your PC?
@@piotrmazek540 Don't mind the troll, I'm sure he didn't even play the game.
@@ionseven You just took his words out of context. He doesn't mean other games are perfect. He's talking about a very specific issue and the point he's making is simply to support the idea that they could fix it since others were able to as well.
Sad to see no mention of the issue where Kena will stop moving for a second then start again. It’s not a frame rate issue or loading. It may tie to the fact that there’s a big dead zone on the left stick, and then beyond it, the slow walk doesn’t change to a jog until the stick is almost fully moved out. If they’d fix these issues, the game would look and play incredible.
It's a shame no one is mentioning this as it is one of the more annoying things i'm experimenting with the game so far. More even than the camera animation jumps.
Your optimized settings are lovely. Keeps the game looking beautiful at 1440p (100%) while maintaining high fps with a GTX 1660 Super. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Add
[SystemSettings]
r.CreateShadersOnLoad=1
r.Streaming.PoolSize=8000
to the bottom of engine.ini config file to help with the stutter, this basically eliminates those shader compilations on DX12. And you can add
r.ShadowQuality=5
r.Shadow.CSM.MaxCascades=4
r.Shadow.MaxResolution=2048
r.Shadow.RadiusThreshold=0.03
r.Shadow.DistanceScale=1.0
r.Shadow.CSM.TransitionScale=1.0
to further increase shadow quality, if you have the horsepower.
Cool, I'll try that tomorrow. Can you add fov adjustments to the engine.ini or does that go somewhere else? I've been using Unreal Engine Unlocker but if I can bypass it that would be even better.
@@brewski535 More than likely, I have not found the command for that yet. Sorry.
As somebody who mainly only plays "adult" titles (Bloodborne, Last of Us, GoT, etc) this game was an absolute joy to play and I'm glad I bought it.
Problem with Unreal is that it will stream an effect or an asset whenever it is "called". Developers can prepare them in background async to make sure no hitchup happens but most developers ignore this or forget it in some places.
UE5 will try to fix this issue with gameplay features addition where you tell engine "ok so at this point I'm going to use these abilities, effects, this map, so make sure everything is ready".
Sure you guys aren't a bit harsh here? Apart from the prerendered cutscenes, which could have be done better, a tiny hitch when transitioning from one area to the next seems hardly an issue. I mean, not too long ago we had loading screens of minutes between game areas. Plus the fact that this is their first game and virtually bug-free, it's a very impressive effort, technically.
Not too long ago
I haven’t seen anyone talk about the high juttering when using the Rot monster. It wasn’t a game stopper but it was quite noticable whenever I had to use it. Not sure if I’m the only one that experienced this.
Kena is one of the few games out right now that feels like a "true" next-gen title! Absolutely gorgeous and the animations are Pixar-perfect!
oh wait so it's the running animation that hitches? I thought my game was stuttering. Good to know, thanks DF! :)
8:25 No, the game is not at the lowest res possible. I still don't understand why there's this huge push to keep resolution above 1080p (or trying to get as close to 4k for some dumb reason) when a lot of people even on PC haven't even moved on to having 1440p screens, much less 4k. I hate the fact that I game on a 1080p monitor for consoles, but every fucking PS5 game never allows me to just have a native 1080p res to make sure the game runs better or more consistently.
That's just how consoles are unfortunately.
Restrictions = user friendly but obviously frustration for advanced users.
Imo 1440p is the sweet spot still and will be for many years. 4k is just a waste most of the time.
@@brewski535 Yeah I've been on 1440p for my PC since like 2015 and have a dual monitor setup in which I switch the second smaller 1080p monitor to console feed. But it's just annoying ya know?
Unfortunately, it is like you say... until they start giving us the option to, I'll have to deal with games running at 1200p with small framerate drops instead of 1080p with no framerate drops.
I’m having a blast with this game on PS5 using performance mode. Really a hidden gem, people should really give it a chance.
It’s not exactly hidden, is it.
Does it dip often? I got a ps5 and considering to pick this game up but I’m so use to 60 FPS so just wondering from your experience has it dipped below 60 often?
At least wait 1 or 2 years to call it a hidden gem.
@@Ozzyozzysheesh barely any dips, u wont notice 1 or 2 frames dipping. Its practically smooth the entire game.
@@jaspelino1963 I wasn’t referring to the fact that tech youtubers dont talk about it, its the fact that Sony themselves aren’t really pushing this game with commercials and the likes. Its like it released with barely anyone knowing about it.
This game is so beautiful it almost hurts sometimes… it‘s a masterpiece.
Kena: *has 24fps cutscenes*
GSync/FreeSync: MY TIME TO SHINE
o.. actually that's unnecessary for 24fps
@@XZ-III it actually isn't
@@AchiragChiragg Are they fmvs? It's going to stutter regardless. They shouldn't lock them to 24fps if they are real-time.
That is, if your monitor goes down that low for VRR (many stop at 40Hz). Also I've seen VRR not work with pre-rendered cutscenes before. Most PC gamers have 120Hz or better monitors though. Set your max refresh rate to 120Hz, 144Hz, or 240Hz, and you're good. Or any other refresh rate 24 divides into that your monitor supports.
@@konga382 Most vrr displays have lfc. So if it's outputting 120hz. Lfc will kick in and the display will drop to 48hz. Edit: but alas it would divide evenly with 120/144hz
Such a fun game, and lush visuals.
2080ti/3070 does well on 80% 4K Maxed visuals then drop shadows 1 step. 60-100fps, but the 60minimums are the focus on these settings.
And that's before I saw this.
Use my 3060 Ti and play on 4k (all maxed). Avg. is about 61 fps but it can sometimes drop down to 55fps. If I would optimize some settings, stable 60fps shouldn't be a problem.
DLSS / FSR would still be a great addition to the game.
Is 80% 4k ultra ok? I used 4k 100res and i kept having drops to mid 50 and some times below, gpu is 3070 btw.
@@OSgaming93 Gained 12-15fps avg by dropping shadows alone.....at 80% of 4K Ultra.
I'd just use Alex settings going forward with the ini tweak for better TAAU on top.
"Ultra isn't everything, enjoy frames and visuals both"
80% 4K is noticibly sharper than 1440p 100%, without the TAAU tweak.
I've got two videos on the game, 80% 4K and 1440p Native. On DX11 though, without any ini tweaks.
@@OSgaming93 You should not use ultra, its often identical to high but with extra overhead.
@@SKHYJINX thx man I'll try the tweak. I didn't understand alex setting that well, like the SSAO didn't find it there, i guess im a newbie when it comes to graphics.
This game is Awesome , runs at 45fps maxed out at 4k with my 6700xt , drop the shadows and 90% resolution and it's smooth 60
What does Afterburner/Rivatuner say is being used at 100%?
@@XZ-III 99% gpu usage
There is litirally 0 reason to max it out, running same res as you are doing with ps5 settings makes you run it at 90 fps atleast
I'll wait for the physical version release. Hopefully they have the PS5 performance mode sorted and 24fps cut scenes up to 30fps by then. Impressive game from this small studio! Thanks for the video Alex!!
They've already patched the juddering in cutscenes. It's much smoother now.
Thomas Crinall they did but the op is saying they wish movies to be 30fps target instead of 24 which I don't think has yet changed
@@Shadow_Play3r I can tell from my own experience that the Unreal Video Player is just bad even with 30fps it still wouldnt look smooth.
The 24fps is intentionally cinematic, Ember labs was an animation studio before this and most animated features are developed & rendered at 24fps (same as the vast majority of movies, anime and live action TV shows)...I think Alex has been staring at videogames too long because the 24fps cutscenes look gorgeous
@@michaeldearie5266 that is true and exactly why we need 30fps variation because difference is so instantaneous when coming from so many other games
I love that in 10 years we will be emulating this game on a handheld powered by a raspberry pi 7 (raspberry Pi Foundation now owned by Disney 2031. )
2:30 This is what I've been saying since day one. I wish they work a little bit more on animation blending. Jumping or skipping from one animation to the other looking rather unpleasant even on 60fps gameplay. Aside from that everything is great.
Great across all versions, insane since it is the 1st game of the studio & Cross Gen.
They already said next game is Ps5 Only and Pc most likely so it will be a true next gen showcase.
True next gen on next game means it’ll be PC only. By that time 40 series will be out to absolutely destroy consoles. And before you say anything I love PlayStation. Just that PC is “true” next gen wether you like it or not
@@PhotoJohn80 yeah.. the only problem is, not everyone wants to spend $3k building a high end PC that in 2 years will require another upgrade if you want the “latest next gen features” a 2080 is irrelevant now days compared to the 30 series. Tho I guess this can be said about everything Tech wise.
@4K 60FPS da hell are you taking about pc has the largest gameing user base in the world with more games and exclusives than the console's combined, its the majority of the gameing market, console is the minority so how you work out its unless for gameing when its the number 1 platform for it is bloody idiotic. Pc is the luxury console's are a poor mans gameing system, this game at 60fps on ps5 dosent come close to 4k and at all pc lowest settings and thats luxury to you.
@@dxsuperstarl I did say I love PlayStation. I’m not going to spend 3k on a pc. Just stating facts unfortunately
@4K 60FPS That’s irrelevant to my comment. I’m stating facts. I love PlayStation as I said. It’s the unfortunate fact that PC is next gen. Not a console.
Probably my favorite game so far this generation. Yes, it's a little "janky" at times, where you find yourself clipping through random objects, or floating along the top of rocks you aren't supposed to be able to jump on, but the game is a testament to how far real vision can take a project, even with a small team. The other thing with the game is that if you want the challenge, it's certainly present here, especially if you crank up the difficulty!
It's crazy to think, i played gamed for years, i have pretty high expectations generally. I see all those big games with a lot of complexe mechanics, i'm currently playing tales of arise and i find it kinda complicated to remember all the mechanics that are present in the game and use them efficiently. I then there's kena, very simple, not a lot of mechanics, but i'm totally sold on it, i find my time in this game much more enjoyable than the time i've spend in a lot of games for years. Now that i think about it, it's been a while since i felt that.
Facts this will be a ps5 era classic
Honestly I'm pretty deep into tales of arise and I just button mash and hit the special moves of each character as they come up and its worked on moderate difficulty. Lol.
The story of tales is very gripping for me. Emotional.
@@Jbayz Yeah thats basically what i do too, i'm not struggling with the game, but there's that feeling that at don't play it at full potential (talking about tales), and also the enemy variety is almost insulting to me. What i expressed in my previous comment is that kena is simple and "little" in the scale of the different mechanics, and i'm enjoying it more, my time in the game is always good. In the opposite, tales is good but i sometimes find myself playing without really having a real good time, and asking myself " why am i doing this ? " (tales is not the only game where i felt that i recent years, maybe is just me). Far is the time when i was young, playing final fantasy 7, 8, 9 on my ps1, with stars in my eyes and heart. Sometimes playing games is like a chore for me these days, i don't know why i'm still doing it. I like the idea, but my heart is not always in it. That's why Kena surprised me, and i surprised myself in the way i enjoy it. It's not the best game of all time, it's kinda modest in a way, but if i look at how i feel when i play it, compare to the games i played this year and how i felt playing them. It's kinda my game of the year. In the first hour, i had chills all over my spine, and the environments and ambiance made me shed a tear.
@@Jbayz There's love in that game and i can feel it. It makes me want to go back to work in unreal engine when i'll be done with other 3D projects. Maybe create my own little world. It inspires my creative side a lot.
I'm sad to report that until this very day the PC version has not been properly optimised, since either DX11 or 12 still have serious frame drops constantly during the whole game (probably due to shader compilation problems). It's a shame because the game is pretty and fun to experience, but the performance is really rough most of the time
This indie game spoiled me like we were back in the Golden Age of Gaming in Gen 7. Before microtransactions destroyed it all.
Got this for My GF and the Kids they love it - Runs well looks great - Great job for the Devs I wish them all success. Congrats.
Thank you!! The optimized settings on PC with the TAAU tweak worked PERFECT for my use case.
At lower resolutions (meaning my monitor is 1080p), when TAA not tweaked, the AA solution in native rendering looks very bad, with a lot of temporal jaggies and artifacts, especially around the grass and hair.
But using DRS and the game tweaked scaler brings out a really clean image now.
i have same as you, so if i add lines he said it will be better? no res scale needed?
@@samdixon3719 with DRS I meant the nvidia downscaler, Kena is a bit wonky with resolutions so for it to work I had to set my desktop res to 4k with it, and then ingame to borderless windowed, after that put the scaler to where you are comfortable with your performance (in my case 80% was ok between 40 and 60)
@@92juanreus oh oh i did the same, i use amd's vsr which is the same.... 4k with 65% (in the game settings) for 60-70ish
@@92juanreus let me guess tho, u have 2060s or 1080 ti
@@samdixon3719 I wish! I have a 1070 but it performs surprisingly well (maybe the perf is closer to 30 I didn't really check but ot was smooth ^^)
The price is very generous for the quality of this superb game. 9/10
Easily one of the nicest looking games ive ever seen. The devs really knew how to execute the artstyle. Perfect blend of cutesy cartoon and slight hint of realism. Looks like a cg movie. After i beat sonic frontiers im gonna buy this and try it out.
I really prefer ps5 60 fps Mode, still look's really good and is much enjoyable
I liked it until I switched on performance mode and saw half of my rots dissappear. Now I can't stand it
It's interesting. On Linux with DX11, I experienced the frame drops he described. With DX12, I didn't notice any. Either I just got lucky or VKD3D (translating to Vulkan) does something to smooth it out. I have an RTX 3080 with an AMD Ryzen 7 3800x.
Such a beautiful game. A perfect example of talent and art trumping budget and tech.
The sound design is amazing too!
It takes a budget and tech to make a game lol. They are also using unreal 4. No game can be made without a budget or tech smh. Stop trying to throw shots and just appreciate the game and the hard work that went to it. All these developers work hard on their games and lots of money goes into every game made. This is a good game. This team deserves a bigger budget and more tech.
@@1234-y8z what xd
@@1234-y8z What nonsense are you typing?
The game by a studio of 15 people is more optimized and polished than some games made by the industry's giants... Great job EmberLabs!
*cough* Ubisoft *cough*
@@darksunwithin *COOOOUGHHH* CD Project Red
That's the beauty of Unreal Engine. It's far easier to develop for than other proprietary engines. Although of course Unreal Engine 4 does have problems too which will hopefully be addressed in UE5.
@@darksunwithin You guys are comparing some of the biggest worlds in gaming with dozens of NPC's on screen and a realistic art style (much more GPU intensive) with a linear game that has a maximum of a handful of interactive things on screen.
@@brewski535 Not really accurate. Usually proprietary engines are much better at making the specific games they are built for. UE, Unity, etc need to be jack of all trades. It makes them super accessible and easy to prototype in, but harder to optimize for certain needs.
Love this game (easily one of the best game I have played this year). Crazy this is their first game, such an amazing job. The soundtrack is brilliant.
Digital Foundry, please do a modern tech review on Battlefield 3. It is one of the games mainly developed for the pc-platform, which are rare now. It presented a massive shift in graphics for FPS games as a whole, though not on the scale of what Crysis achieved.
Battlefield 3 on console was amazing. Even though if I booted it up now with 2021 lenses I probably would say otherwise.
Overlord gaming did a video on it a year or two back iirc, just search "BF3 aged like fine wine"
I can't believe that after that many years and now with a new console gen games are still using low anisotropic filtering on consoles!
It makes a huge difference on textures clarity!
Yeah it's baffling to me considering how low-cost it is in terms of performance.
Man. That initial pixel count from that one channel was way off. Wonder where they got the 1800p figure.
I'm just honestly happy we are finally getting a 60fps option on most of these games with this generation.
@@Jbayz We will see if this trend continues.
I know this is an old video now, but this game really does shine on Steam Deck - might be worth a revisit, as it's popular to play on that platform.
Im considering whether to get it on PS5 or the steam deck. I see that it is steam deck verified...
One thing I'd really think would benefit DF is if they added chapters to their videos. Sometimes, people just want to come for a certain thing.
Disappointed no base Ps4 coverage. Pretty sure many more of those than pros in the Wild
This is an amazing game considering this is the first game from Ember Labs.
lol bruh really and EA cant even optimize star wars jedi which use same UE4 engine, i played 4 hour so far and game run pretty smooth without any stuttering which is something very rare in UE4 games now a days, tho there are some framepacing issue but its much better then any recent UE4 games i played so far, it is way more smoother then biomutent which also has stunning visual tho but gameplay is way better, i consider to buy this game just because a small 14 peoples team can do much better then big AAA cant do which is really slap in the face for them
@@Ryzen-gh1en what
@@Ryzen-gh1en I too am shocked that Kena was made by a team of 14 PEOPLE. WOW. And it's not that big, nor is it too small. It lasts about 10 to 15 hours, which is fair and definitely not as big as AC Valhalla.
30 FPS is truly horrible to play a game at. It matters.
Im gonna buy the physical version for ps5 when it comes out. I realized I find myself actually playing my games when I buy them on ps5 when compared to my pc. If I buy a game on pc (I still have a 2080 super) I get so annoyed that I have to drop settings to get a smooth experience. So i end up tweaking my games so much that I end up wasting time. Im glad this gen of consoles can manage games now.
I just find it funny when someone thinks they have an 80 version of an nvidia card they can just max out every game like nothing, no issues. Like no lol that's not how pc gaming works
@@XZ-III Im not thinking that way though. I dont mind tweaking my game but if that ends up becoming a constant thing then i might as well just get the game on console. If pc gaming means I have to tweak settings so much to get something I like both visually and playable then idk if its worth it. I still buy games on pc that have a robust modding community but for all other games im contempt with playing them on console.
Thanks for the TAAU tip on PC Alex, gives a great free performance improvement!
The problems he talked about on the PC and PS5 seemed quite small and should be fixable by a patch, it doesn't look like those issues will impact the enjoyment of playing the game much if at all but with any luck, the developers will iron out those issues.
The 24fps cutscenes seem really strange, it baffles me why they would go for that frame rate when 30fps or even 60fps if space isn't an issue would be better.
I rarely play my games to the end, I quickly lose interest. But suddenly I was playing Kena til 01.30 last night. I’m loving it!
Same here
All this support in the comments. Where was that energy for Biomutant and Grounded? We need to support these small studio devolved games because they seem to be the only ones allowed to go out of the box and do their own thing and I dig it.
Grounded wasn't made by a small studio... It was made by Obsidian backed by Microsoft. Rofl
Almost all the reviews and press I saw/heard about Biomutant was that it was a mess that wasn't worth picking up or playing, though. I thought it looked interesting, sure, but at release, the reviews were not good. Can't speak to Grounded, but that's just because I didn't personally feel a pull to that game. I'm right there with you in terms of your sentiment, however.
The cutscenes look just fine to me. My only problem with them is their quality (bitrate?) sometimes as some have obvious banding in there. That and it's a little odd it's not realtime. They just fixed that running issue where she would pause though in patch 1.06 thankfully.
The base PS4 would never be able to run this games cutscenes in real time
Hold on. What about the base PS4? That's the console I have.
RIP
You may want to check out "El analista de bits" or IGN games analysis made by nx gamer
Search it, there's a few videos showing it off.
@@jfd4706 Sadly no, not until I can actually buy PS5. It's a bloody nightmare trying to get one, and I'm not buying one off a scalper.
It runs perfectly on PS5 on a 120 Hz TV with VRR. 120/24=5 for perfect frame pacing during videos.
Why aren't you covering the base ps4 version?
Because only peasants have base ps4
@@Blade4Life76 Still better than my rtx 3070 equipped gaming pc which only plays pinball and minecraft without any real games, so kindly understand that it all basically boils down to preference.
@@kenway346 um...what?
Base ps4 is the God of gaming
Game flowed like water on my pc, love it so much
The game drops a max of 2 frames in normal gameplay = Alex Battaglia talking about big drops lmao
Exactly. This is the only thing I don’t like about digital foundry - they have spent far too long measuring and obsessing over frame rates and and make it sound like the games grind to a halt when it drops to 58 or 59 fps !!!! It’s ridiculous.
If you don't have a VRR TV / Monitor those "little" drops can feel annoying.
Also there are some big drops in performance during normal gameplay with DX11. If you watched the video completely you would have seen it. Those drops are around 10-15fps.
@@Varusal I was talking about the PS5 version. They do it on other games too , drops 2 fps and they make out it’s an issue. I personally can’t even notice it. Now dropping from 60 to 30-40 fps would be annoying. , but 1 or 2 fps , no.
Literally unplayable.
This is a poisonous channel that starts console wars a lot in the comments. Jesus all these so called resolution drops or frame drops are not even noticeable during gameplay to me on ps5. I am amazed on the quality at performance mode. These people I bet cannot tell any differences without zooming in or using frame time graphs. Missed the old times of gaming when such channels did not exist.
I have a question, most people who have a PS4 PRO, PS5 and/or a PC only use a 1080p monitor, or TV. We are at least 8 years away from a 50+% 4K overtake, as of right now its less than 4% (realistically 2% maybe 3%) So why do you near Exclusively focus on 4K? Or am i wrong, i would love to know.
I do understand, its better to be on the cusp of what we can do, and you cannot be expected to do everything. Especially when you have so few who are highly skilled and knowledgeable, time and accuracy are very important.
To all you trolls and haters, Back off. Im simply asking a Legit question. And yes I love the Technical Breakdown, its why i love Gamers Nexus, and Digital Foundry, and Mark cerny. Some may see those kinds of long technical Informational previews as being boring, but i find them fascinating.
So PS4 Pro holds its own? That’s great to hear. I have a Samsung Evo 860 installed in my Pro. Seems like I’ll enjoy great visuals and story with my last gen console. And low load times. Thanks for this video!
So PS5 peformance mode has dynamic resolution, ranging between 1296p-1440p, but other places say 1800p-2160p. I'm confused who to listen to.
I have to say I'm quite disappointed you didn't cover base PS4 in this video. I don't think it's fair to treat it as too old. Even Sony's big games are coming to PS4, and I'm sure many of your viewers want to know how these games perform. I know that your audience is more on the cutting edge, but its interesting at least from an academic viewpoint.
On the base PS4, it's definitely running at close to 720p and then using Unreal's temporal reconstruction to get to 1080p. In still shots, it looks nice and clean, but in motion there are a lot of visible temporal artifacts. There's minor hitching when the game loads in new data and some frame drops in combat when particles explode, but overall it's a relatively stable 30-fps. The combat definitely feels more challenging at 30-fps though; it's harder to time the parry and dodge.
TAAU is much better than the default upscaler, Why wouldnt that be the Default? The only reason I could think of is that it has some flaws. Rather odd they didn't use it or atleast make it an settings option.
I've been waiting for this!!! Been playing constantly for days! Definitely one of the most beautiful games I've ever played.
If you've been playing constantly for days your either lying or slow at games as it's only a 7 or 8 hour title...
@@Blade4Life76 What? Maybe he only wants to play an hour a day.
@@Blade4Life76 It took me a lot longer than 8 hours to finish the game and find all the collectibles and stuff.
@@Blade4Life76 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️ I play when I have free time...it's been the game I constantly play. Also collecting everything does take time.
I’ll be getting the physical version when it comes out.. hopefully by then all the bugs will be nonexistent.
Kinda has a Beyond Good and Evil mixed with Pikmin vibe going on.
Or original Jak and Daxter vibes.
Or mini ninjas :)
Small team makes a great game. I wish Tuque Games had done the same with Dark Alliance. So much potential only to have them squander it by rushing out a broken game. (Insert Miyamoto quote here) I hope Kena is a big success for this team.
when will you compare series x vs pc flight sim?
do you still need there permission from Microsoft?
The game is simply fabulous. From the built-in photo mode to sensational high quality graphics, from the animations to back jump, i loved every bit of it. Once Kena channels her shield and then releases, the plants and anything next to it moves which is such as a fantastic detail. Its such a game that completely playable at Ultra settings on GTX 1650 4 GB due to its not being fast paced and the optimization feels right on top. It's such a game that fits loads of high quality stuff to 20 GB only.
Glitch warning : if you collect the first 5 rots in the wrong order, the game glitches and one of the wisps will not connect to the right place.
Btw, did i just stress that i loved the back jump? back jump and swimming.
Which is visually better looking game kena or resident evil village?
@@silentassasin4202 they both look great. But i would say Kena
Playing on performance mode on PS5 and the overall experience is awesome. Cutscenes look strange and jiggly but the ever constant 60fps gameplay is just great.
Plus - no loading screens!
Cutscenes are made a 30fps on purpose
@@jonathanmatos714 The cutscenes are 24fps
Performance mode is the way to go for sure. The differences in graphical fidelity the highlight here are virtually unnoticeable when you're actually playing. Most of us aren't going up to our TV to scrutinize pixels in cropped, zoomed-in sections the way these videos do. The difference is negligible. The difference between 30 and 60fps, however, is dramatic.
@@game_now_4927 my bad 24fps and why you think they do it that way?? Imagine a cutscene at 60fps lol it’d look awkward as hell
@@jonathanmatos714 clearly you haven't played games with Cutscenes at 60fps... Generally it's fine, the problem is they are 24fps in Kena which makes sense since the guys at Ember Lab worked in Animation for Films (which is done at 24fps) but for games/game engines it comes across as Stuttery and just weird. Had it been done at 30fps it would have looked like a Movie as intended and no one would complain 🤷♂️
it's just A PS4 Game graphics and it's ported to PS5 and PC Enhanced a little bit for Textures quality, shadow quality & draw distance quality
Reminds me of other launch console games. Like how impressive Kameo was on the 360 for its time.
PS5 came out in 2020. It's old news.
The biggest bummer about this game right now is that you can't capture screenshots of it. The game's pause menu pops up any time you click the capture button, ruining any shots.
game runs like butter, looks like butter and is good as butter. At least on my Pc. Love it.
Which DX?
Upload a video with a frame time graph then we will see lol
@@MrEditsCinema My personal experience with the game has been pretty good. I recorded the first 12 minutes of the game.
@@MrEditsCinema huh what do you mean?.
@@sup3rAVATARtlafAN you can't tell people your game is running like butter if you have no idea what Frame times are lol, frame times directly tell you how smooth a game is running..also shows other people aswell