After weeks of speculation and leaks, Sony has officially revealed the PS5 Pro in a nine-minute presentation that touched on some of the improvements the console will offer. Boasting improved GPU performance, advanced ray tracing, and AI-assisted scaling, the PS5 Pro aims to eliminate the choices many of us currently have to make between performance and fidelity modes. In low, it aims to let us run both modes at the same time, and as part of the reveal, we saw some of the games that will be enhanced for the PlayStation 5 Pro, featuring higher-resolution graphics that run more smoothly at 60 frames per second.
While specific improvements have been mostly circumscribed to Sony’s first-party games, we’ve gotten a broader picture of which games will take advantage of the hardware when it launches. Here are all the games we know will be enhanced for PS5 Pro.
Alan Wake 2
Thanks to the power of Remedy’s advanced Northlight engine, Alan Wake 2 was already one of the best-looking games on the PS5 platform, and we’re hoping PS5 Pro takes it to recent heights, especially when it comes to the atmospheric lighting effects in the New York-esque Dark Place.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Ubisoft has purposefully enhanced the Anvil engine for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, its upcoming historical adventure set in feudal Japan. The extra power of PS5 Pro will allow the engine to render the expansive open world in 4K resolution at high frame rates, without sacrificing handsome touches like cherry blossoms and tree pollen. A steady 60 frames per second will also ensure that combat feels as pointed as Yasuke and Naoe’s blades.
Demon Souls
Despite being a launch title released in 2020, Demon’s Souls remains one of the most eye-catching games on PS5. The standard version includes Cinematic mode, which has all the bells and whistles tuned and runs at 4K resolution with a cap of 30 frames per second, and Performance mode, which drops the resolution to 1440p to hit 60 frames per second. The visual difference between the two is minor, so most people will opt to play in Performance mode, given that timing is a key part of Souls combat. Being able to utilize the full power of Cinematic mode at 60 frames per second will be a treat if that’s what the PS5 Pro offers.
Dragon Dogma 2
When Dragon’s Dogma 2 released earlier this year, it was panned for its spotty performance on console, where 60fps was practically impossible to achieve. Sony hasn’t yet provided details on what to expect from the confirmed PS5 Pro upgrade, but we’re hoping it bumps the frame rate up to 60fps so we can enjoy those giant monster battles exactly as they were meant to be. If we’re lucky, we’ll also be able to do so in 4K resolution so we can see all the details rendered by the impressive RE Engine.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Another 2024 game that has struggled with performance, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is often visually stunning, but it’s locked in a 30fps prison cell. Switching from Fidelity Mode to Performance Mode makes combat feel polished, but it comes at the cost of some worryingly blurry visuals. FF7 Rebirth is a game that needs to be played in the best possible conditions, so it’s best to showcase its gorgeous world design and meticulously rendered characters, and hopefully a PS5 Pro upgrade will unlock its full potential.
Gran Turismo 7
Gran Turismo 7 already looks pretty good on PS5, running at a polished 60fps, but on PS5 Pro the main focus is on ray tracing, especially between cars racing around the tracks. This was demonstrated when a vivid yellow Corvette passed a blue Porsche Cayman GT4, with the reflection of the Corvette in the blue body panels clearly evident. It looks nice, but $700? That’s up to you.
Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy was another game that really showed off the improved ray tracing capabilities on PS5 Pro, and when we walked through the doors into Hogwarts’ Great Hall, I was almost stunned by how shiny the stone floor was. more reflections, we were promised greater diversity reflective surfaces, highlighted as the hippogriff gracefully flew over the Great Lake, with distant hills reflected in the icy water. Finally, ray tracing will also benefit shadows, promising greater realism.
Horizon Forbidden West
Guerilla Games’ Horizon Forbidden West is another first-party game showcased at the reveal, and it promises to bridge the gap between performance mode and fidelity mode with PS5 Pro improvements, taking full advantage of the upgraded GPU. During the reveal, we saw Horizon Forbidden West on PS5 Pro with improved levels of graphical fidelity, from improved lighting to more detailed skin and hair textures during cutscenes.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 is the benchmark that all PS5 games are aiming for, with high-end graphics and incredible performance – but not necessarily at the same time. PlayStation architect Mark Cerny promises that with PS5 Pro, a game like Spider-Man 2 will no longer have to choose between performance and graphics, and Spider-Man 2 will hit high-fidelity graphics at frame rates in performance mode, so you get all that gorgeous detail at a sweet 60fps.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was an early technical marvel of the PS5, emphasizing in particular the kind of whiz-bang effects that could only be achieved with a faster SSD loaded into the base console. With the promised PS5 Pro improvements, we saw Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart now able to maintain that high level of performance and gameplay, while also improving the graphics that had suffered in order to reach peak performance. We even saw the PS5 Pro able to achieve greater visual detail while maintaining the same frame rate in performance mode.
Motorfest Crew
Ubisoft’s online racing game The Crew Motorfest was briefly shown off during a montage of games that will be enhanced with PS5 Pro. While we don’t have any details on what specific improvements are being made, the brief demo showed off what appeared to be improved reflections on car surfaces, potentially meaning a similar visual improvement to Gran Turismo 7’s graphical upgrade, while maintaining a 60fps.
First offspring
Nexon’s free-to-play MMORPG The First Descendant also appeared on the PS5 Pro build, indicating that it too will receive performance and graphical improvements with the recent console. The clips shown during the sizzle were purely from cutscenes, making it hard to tell what specific improvements will be added, but the PS5 Pro promises to close the gap between Performance Mode and Fidelity Mode, so expect even more detailed graphics while maintaining consistently higher frame rates.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered
During the presentation, we saw a side-by-side comparison of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered running on PS5 Pro and the PS5 version in full fidelity mode. The forested environments Eliie explores look just as gorgeous and detailed as ever on the Pro, but the key difference is the frame rate – it runs at 60fps, which looks significantly smoother compared to the standard PS5 version running at a choppy 30fps. When the presentation compared the original’s performance mode, the difference in detail was obvious – it’s noticeably sharper on the PS5 Pro. It’s another clear demonstration that the Pro will offer both high-resolution visuals and a polished frame rate, if you’re willing to spend $700.
These are all the games we know will be enhanced for PS5 Pro. We’ll be sure to add more as they’re announced. In the meantime, check out how the internet reacted to the PS5 Pro’s $700 price tag and watch the console’s trailer .
