God of War Ragnarok’s graphics modes on PS5 and PS4, explained

Santa Monica Studio’s 2018 reboot of the God of War franchise was an absolute home run — so much so that it’s easy to forget some of its less successful elements now. God of War continued the series’ tradition of pushing console hardware to its limits, resulting in a graphical powerhouse whose performance left something to be desired, whether on a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 4 Pro. It wasn’t until three years later, with a patch that unleashed the power of the PlayStation 5, that we could experience the game the way it was meant to be played: in 60-frames-per-second glory.

I’m thrilled to report that that’s the baseline for the sequel, God of War RagnarökPlayStation 5 I can put to rest any fears that the game’s cross-generation status would compromise the PS5 version: It takes full advantage of Sony’s newest console to deliver an astounding level of performance that has impressed me at every turn, and continues to do so almost 30 hours in. In particular, the game’s support for the technological bells and whistles packed into the latest televisions elevates the experience to make this a defining technical showcase for the PS5.

Read our full review God of War Ragnarök, which launches Nov. 9 on PS5 and PS4, to learn more about Kratos’ and Atreus’ continuing adventures through the canon of Norse mythology. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how the game looks and feels.

God of War Ragnarök’s graphics modes on PS5 and PS4, explained

Image: SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

God of War RagnarökYou can play on PS5 in four different ways. While I haven’t been able to check out the PS4 version myself, I can explain the options available there, which depend on whether you’re playing on a PS4 or PS4 Pro.

In the “Graphics & Camera” section of God of War Ragnarök’s options menu on PS5, you’ll find two settings that combine to let you adjust the visuals and performance. First up is Graphics Mode: either “Favor Performance” (prioritizes higher frame rate over sharper visuals) or “Favor Resolution” (prioritizes sharper visuals over a higher frame rate). Another setting is High Frame Ratio Mode (HFR), that can be turned off or switched on. The second option will only be available if the PS5 is connected with a display capable of 4K resolution at 120Hz. This requires an HDMI 2.0 port.

A second HDMI 2.1 feature God of War RagnarökVariable refresh rate (VRR) is a feature that was available at launch. The game’s settings don’t mention it anywhere, but a PlayStation spokesperson confirmed to me that as long as you’ve enabled VRR in the PS5 system settings and you’re playing on a TV that supports it, it’ll work. And as I’ll explain later, VRR goes above and beyond to provide the best ways to play God of War Ragnarök.

Sony also provided details on the capabilities of each option. Let’s set aside HFR and VRR for now, since they complicate things somewhat (and since a significant portion of the audience probably hasn’t upgraded to an HDMI 2.1 television yet). The PlayStation representative has all details.

God of War Ragnarök’s default graphics mode, Favor Performance, runs at a locked frame rate of 60 fps, and uses dynamic resolution scaling — with a minimum of 1440p and a maximum of 2160p — to maintain it. Favor Resolution delivers native 4K at a fixed 30 fps.

You can play God of War RagnarökThe only way to enjoy the game at 60 frames per second is on the PS5. That does include playing the PS4 version in backward compatibility mode, which doesn’t offer any graphics options. The frame rate remains at 60 frames per second, and the resolution can be adjusted from 1440p up to 1656p.

In terms of playing on PS4, you’ll be able to choose between graphics modes only if you’re using a PS4 Pro — but either way, the experience will be in the realm of 30 fps. Favor Resolution works at a 30 FPS at resolutions between 1440p & 1656p. Favor Performance runs at a 30 FPS at an unlocked 30-fps. Favor Performance operates at 1080p with a minimum resolution of 1080p. The game runs at 1080p on a slim PS4 or base PS4.

Is it the resolution of 5 or the performance mode?

Image: SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

There’s a reason that Favor Performance is the default graphics mode in God of War Ragnarök on PS5: It’s a clear winner over Favor Resolution.

Everyone on the Polygon Team with the game has used the performance mode primarily. The locked frame rate of 60 frames per second is a huge advantage in combat games like this. It allows for greater attack fluidity, and responds more quickly. Console owners missed this opportunity for so many years. Even though action games could run at an unlocked framerate, it was often difficult to consistently hit 60 frames per second. That’s finally becoming more common on this generation of consoles, and more importantly, the performance mode is a no-compromise experience in God of War Ragnarök — unlike, say, the one in the launch version of Horizon Forbidden West.

The Favor Performance mode’s trade-off in resolution — dropping from native 4K to as low as 1440p — is an easy compromise to make because God of War RagnarökIt looks almost as stunning there as in the Favor Resolution mode. This is thanks to Sony Santa Monica’s terrific temporal upsampling algorithm, which the game uses to upscale sub-4K resolutions to 4K. As you can see in the comparison screenshots here, it’s difficult to distinguish between the performance and resolution modes unless you scrutinize the images with a magnifying glass; at my viewing distance of about 7.5 feet from my 65-inch TV, I’m barely able to tell the difference.

Sure, the lower native resolution in the performance mode makes things fuzzier, but that’s the one major noticeable change; elements such as lighting and draw distance appear identical. The only problem I’ve seen is some minor pop-in: The level of detail changes visibly with respect to certain objects and textures near the player character. As you move closer or further away from trees, they may appear more defined. But this issue is limited to background detail like individual flowers appearing and disappearing, not the environment as a whole; I haven’t found it distracting at all.

What time? God of War Ragnarök is in motion, the game doesn’t really exhibit any visual artifacts from the temporal upsampling technique. This applies regardless of any finely-detailed environments on the screen such as Vanaheim’s swampy jungles. It’s a stunning achievement, especially considering that shimmering foliage was a big enough issue for me in the performance mode of Horizon Forbidden West — a technical showpiece in its own right — that I initially used it only in combat. Developer Guerrilla Games issued several patches in response to this issue and improved the visuals.

For players who prefer to have the sharpest, best-looking image, there’s nothing wrong with the Favor Resolution mode. This is the first time that any God of War title has been playable on console in native 4K, and in static shots, or when I’m simply exploring the Nine Realms, it looks terrific. But it certainly doesn’t look far better than the performance mode — and that would have to be the case to get me to choose it over playing at 60 fps (and above). After spending dozens of hours in the performance mode, the resolution mode’s 30 fps frame rate almost makes me feel like Kratos is swinging his Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos through molasses. I’ve only been able to enjoy it when playing in the high frame rate mode with VRR enabled.

How about VRR and high frame rate mode (HFR)?

Image: SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

You’re always going to get the best results when you can pair powerful gaming hardware with audio/video equipment that makes the most of it. And if you’re lucky enough to have your PS5 hooked up to a TV that supports HDMI 2.1 and its associated gaming-oriented features, then you can get the best possible experience in God of War Ragnarök — no matter which mode you choose.

Reminder: The performance mode runs at an almost flawless 60 fps and has resolutions that vary from native 4K to 1440p. The high frame rate mode can be enabled to unlock frame rates, which will allow the PS5’s GPU to render all possible frames. (HFR also locks the resolution at the performance mode’s minimum of 1440p, which is 44% the pixel count of 4K but — again — looks almost as good, especially in motion. And as far as I can tell, turning on HFR doesn’t affect the performance mode’s image quality.)

Of course, running at frame rates above 60 fps will cause screen tearing if you’re playing on a 60 Hz display, or on a TV that has a 120 Hz panel but doesn’t support VRR (or doesn’t support it above 60 Hz). My testing without VRR enabled showed me that there was a fair amount of screen tearing. However, it was less bothersome than I expected. It all depends on what you are able to bear.

My LG C1 OLED television is a blessing. The HFR performance mode is available. God of War Ragnarök ranges from 80-90 fps in most situations — including boss fights, battles with multiple enemies, and action-heavy cutscenes. When Kratos uses a canoe to navigate through dense forests like Vanaheim’s, his frame rate plummets to between 70 and 60 fps. And if you crane Kratos’ neck up toward the heavens, you’ll see the frame rate soar past 100 fps.

I truly cannot recommend the HFR performance mode enough — it’s the definitive God of War Ragnarök experience. I worry that it has spoiled me, that I’ll try other action games at 60 fps and find them sluggish by comparison.

HFR provides a major boost for the Favor Resolution mode. HFR can be turned on to lower the resolution from 1800p to 2160p. This allows for the game to run at 40 frames per second. That might not sound like a major improvement, but it’s a 33% jump in the frame rate, and it feels much more fluid than the standard mode’s 30 fps. It would be a problem with 60 Hz displays, as it could cause some stuttering, however, the frame rate works well on 120 Hz screens, which are exclusive to PlayStation. Ratchet & Clank: Rift ApartAnd Horizon Forbidden WestTo great success, I have tried 40fps modes.

If your 120 Hz panel also supports VRR, that unlocks the HFR resolution mode’s frame rate and lets God of War RagnarökAt the same resolution of 1800p-2160p, it runs at 40 frames per second. (I’m not sure of the actual performance here, since my LG C1 doesn’t report the frame rate correctly in this mode.) Either way, HFR resolution mode is a great middle ground, delivering close to the image quality of the regular resolution mode at a frame rate that feels like it’s approaching that of the regular performance mode.

Having gone through this entire analysis, I want to reiterate that there isn’t a bad option when it comes to God of War Ragnarök’s visual settings on PS5. That’s a testament to the skill and hard work of the developers at Santa Monica Studio, who have crafted an ambitious follow-up to 2018’s God of War. The incredible 2022 year for PlayStation is complete, surpassing the technical achievements of Legacy of Thieves Collection: Uncharted, Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7Please see the following: Part I of The Last of Us.