A Plague Tale: Requiem's Frame Rate Is Another Disappointment For PS5 And Series X Fans
As the gaming industry pushes deeper into the next generation, performance has never been a hotter topic. Recently, gamers expressed their annoyance at the highly anticipated "Gotham Knights" — a next-gen exclusive following the cancellation of the old gen ports — not having a performance mode and instead being limited to 30 frames per second, well below the next-gen standard of 60 FPS. Now, it seems that "A Plague Tale: Requiem" will have a similar frame rate lock on consoles.
Arguably one of 2022's most anticipated titles, "A Plague Tale: Requiem" is expected to push modern gaming hardware to its absolute limit. Developed by Asobo Studio, the sequel to 2019's "A Plague Tale: Innocence" is capable of some amazing feats — such as generating over 300,000 rats at any given time — and true high-fidelity visuals (per GameRant). Unsurprisingly, these feats, in tandem with a great story and characters, have earned the game acclaim from critics since its release. However, they have come at the cost of the game having a high frame rate on consoles, which has really disappointed players on both the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.
A Plague Tale: Requiem only gets up to 40 FPS
In a lengthy video, YouTuber ElAnalistaDeBits investigates the differences in how "A Plague Tale: Requiem" runs on different platforms. For the most part, the game is locked in at 30 FPS when running at the standard 60hz. In lieu of a performance mode, "A Plague Tale: Requiem" peaks at 40 FPS while running in 120hz on the Xbox Series X/S and the PlayStation 5. However, even when put at this setting, frame drops are frequent when the action on-screen intensifies. On the PS5 in particular, the frame rate can drop to as low as 24 FPS in some spots.
With 60 FPS gaming becoming the de facto standard on newer consoles such as the Series X and PS5, many aren't happy about these limitations. On Twitter, one user complained about the 30 FPS on the PS5. "That is a deal breaker for me since the previous title had a performance mode on PS5," the user said. An Xbox player on Twitter expressed gratitude that "A Plague Tale: Requiem" is available on GamePass on both the PC and Xbox, allowing them to play the game on the former in search of higher frame rates than the console version can currently provide.
The game runs drastically different on each platform
When it comes to the game's performance on console, "A Plague Tale: Requiem" is fairly consistent across every platform. Even on the Xbox Series S — the weakest of the next-gen consoles — the game achieves frame rates of over 40 FPS. In fact, the experience seems even more stable than the PS5's at certain points. In the description of the performance comparison video, ElAnalistaDeBits says the demanding game pushes most consoles to the limit of their capabilities.
Predictably, the PC generates the best visual experience. Of the different specs used to test "A Plague Tale: Requiem," the RTX 3050 had the smallest amount of frames per second, topping off at about 46 FPS (still better than the frame rate on console). Meanwhile, the RTX 3060ti seemed to get the closest to 60 FPS out of all other challengers, topping off at a cool 56 FPS while running in a 2560x1440p resolution.