The PlayStation 5 releases in less than two weeks and with it, expectations for video games on next-generation consoles will be initially set. That's because the PS5, unlike the Xbox Series X, features first-party launch titles exclusive to the platform. They're built for the PS5, after all. And no game stands out for this reason more than Demon's Souls. The Bluepoint remake is a visual powerhouse. Yet surprisingly, it's now confirmed that Demon's Souls won't feature one of the most widely advertised next-gen technologies: ray tracing.

In an interview with Spanish outlet LevelUp, creative director Gavin Moore explained the team's decision not to include ray tracing in Demon's Souls. Moore explains that ray tracing is a hardware intensive technology and that implementing it comes with a cost. "If we had implemented ray tracing in the game, that would mean that we would have had to leave something out," is how Moore characterizes the decision, though he notes also that there's "limited time" for game development. Perhaps Demon's Souls' PS5 launch deadline prevented Bluepoint from adding ray tracing, though that's just speculation at this time.

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Ray tracing isn't the only area that Demon's Souls won't be delivering on the promise of next-generation hardware capabilities, either. This past week, Bluepoint confirmed that Demon's Souls would feature two separate visual modes. Cinematic mode will feature native 4K resolution, but only 30fps, while Performance mode features dynamic 4K resolution and 60fps.

demon's souls monster face

There's no argument that Demon's Souls is a visually impressive game, judging from its early trailers. Even without ray tracing or a combined native 4K and 60fps, Demon's Souls could be one of the most visually impressive console games yet. Bluepoint is simply focusing on other aspects of the experience instead. Demon's Souls will hopefully have a deeper, more detailed world with more rich detail due to its decision.

Nevertheless, the decision does raise questions regarding what next-gen gamers, and specifically PS5 players, should expect from next-gen games. 4K seems to be the new standard for video games going forward, whether it's native or not. But frames-per-second is still in flux. Most of the past generation's games have targeted 30fps and there's no reason to expect that to change on PS5. That could change, however, depending on gamers' reactions to these initial launch games.

PS5 gamers will nevertheless have remaining questions even after launch, it seems. The widespread adoption of ray tracing is clearly not a certainty. And neither is the adoption of native 4K at 60fps. That could be dependent on what developers think fans want, or it could be a PS5 hardware limitation. Final details regarding all launch titles will help fill in the blanks.

Demon's Souls releases November 10 on PS5.

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Source: LevelUp (via Reddit)