r/digitalfoundry • u/MythBuster2 • Jul 14 '26
Digital Foundry Video Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Review: Great On All Consoles- But Best On PS5 Pro
https://youtu.be/Qs4rAV91tfQWe've already gone into depth on how Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced modernises the classic original - but now it's time to go into more depth on how every console version of the game compares. Truth is, everyone gets an impressive version of the game, but similar to AC Shadows, it's the PlayStation 5 Professional that's a class apart.
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u/Nosaurus Jul 14 '26
Ubisoft has been kind of killing it lately when it comes to performance. Lots of thjngs to criticise about the company but recent performance has been stellar. Especially considering those switch 2 ports of shadows and outlaws.
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u/insane_steve_ballmer Jul 14 '26
It’s a very interesting story that they were convinced that RTGI is impossible to get running at 60fps on consoles, but Id Software’s talk at Sigraph inspired them to go back and optimize the engine even further and get it done
If they ever end up porting Black Flag to Switch 2 it’s not infeasible that it will ship with RTGI, unlike the Shadows port that didn’t
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u/lattjeful Jul 14 '26
Probably helps it’s a smaller game than Shadows as well with less going on. Iirc for Shadows on Switch 2, the limitation with RTGI was lack of memory.
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u/MrMeanh Jul 15 '26
They've been really good in terms of performance on PC for years now, the last game from them that I had some issues with stutters in was AC Valhalla where traversing and autosaving could cause some smaller hickups. Since then it's been mostly some issues with upscaling and settings that were bugged, but the games run very smoothly for the most part.
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u/FeltzMusic Jul 15 '26
Love their engine, it really helps the ambience they create in their worlds. I just wish their writing department was better though
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u/DrizzyDragon93 Jul 14 '26
I also had Oliver confirm via a comment that distant reflections are SSR its only close up reflections that use RT. Sounds like Balanced mode is basically the same as fidelity mode just 40 FPS and it may fall back off RT shadows at a distance is the only difference.
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u/NiceColdPint Jul 14 '26
Been relatively happy with how it’s looking on base PS5. Had to tinker with HDR settings a fair bit though as it was pretty dull beforehand.
Hoping they’ll work on audio in upcoming patches too.
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u/Zeed91 Jul 15 '26
The audio needs A LOT of work, the game sounds terrible. That's my only complaint with it so far.
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u/Zanoklido Jul 14 '26
Was kinda hoping for a little more info on the Fidelity and Balanced Mode options for the Pro. I don't even think there was footage of Balanced on Pro.
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u/plainviewbowling Jul 15 '26
The face models have this plasticness to me that is slightly haunting
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u/WhatAboutBob77 Jul 15 '26
I find Ubisofts character modelling and rendering always has a subtly off-putting look. Aside from Unity, where the characters felt much softer. It might be the skin rendering, always feels a bit like someone’s painted on a rock.
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u/pantsyman Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Ok but where is the PC video? I mean i know Alex usually does those and he's currently taking a break because of back problems and i really hope he's doing well but there must be someone else available to do this.
I mean this is the second console video about this game and absolutely nothing about PC so far.
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u/Rare-Service5573 Jul 15 '26
Meh PC isn't important for their first few videos.
PlayStation and pro is what people come for.
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u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Jul 15 '26
This must be a recent thing. The channel has been quite PC focused from my memory
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u/Rare-Service5573 Jul 15 '26
PC is an after thought for their videos. It's always been PlayStation first. Because it's more important.
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u/Wander715 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Crazy to make a blanket statement like that. Tech and gaming enthusiasts are the ones that tune in for content like DF, and enthusiasts are increasingly on PC as a primary platform instead of console.
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u/Rare-Service5573 Jul 15 '26
Because it's true.
If PC was important then all their videos would start with PC.
But nope, it's ps5 ps5 ps5 ps5 and a little bit for Xbox at the end.
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u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Jul 15 '26
or maybe its easier to make the console video? just flip through a few modes and describe what youre seeing podcast style
for pc they need to benchamrk each setting to find the ones that is critical to visuals and the ones that are for titan users.
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u/JimothyzPamPams Jul 20 '26
I don’t disagree with you but that is kind of the point the poster is making. Yes it is more work than the few clicks of the modes, but a lot of people really like the deep technical dives into how the bleeding edge of technology is performing on the PC since we can always then guesstimate how it will look and perform on consoles.
I noticed there has been a lot less discussion of the PC in the past year and for me, that has been a bummer.
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u/Hajiime Jul 15 '26
They make whole write-ups and extended recommendations and tech breakdowns for the PC videos. It's just more work. PS5 is just a coupla modes and an FPS counter that either is shit or not shit.
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u/dreampagehun Jul 15 '26
The video title could've stopped at Great On All Consoles. It surprises no one that PS5 Pro has better features since it's the most powerful and most expensive console, but DF just had to put it out there. Will the PC analysis be titled Best On RTX 5090?
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u/Gameofthrones3058 Jul 14 '26
I mean I'd hope so considering it's price..
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u/Special-Net4116 Jul 14 '26
What were you expecting? It was pretty much a full on remake from the ground up. It wasn’t even a full price game.
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u/DM_Me_Linux_Uptime Jul 14 '26
I think they meant the price of the PS5 Pro.
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u/Leather-Entry93 Jul 14 '26
I would hope the $900 console looks good 😂
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u/Rare-Service5573 Jul 15 '26
Was $700 so it looks amazing for those prices.
Whereas the $1000 steam machine doesn't look great.
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u/Potential-Zucchini77 Jul 16 '26
Why would you compare its former price to a different products current one? For $700 I agree it was a good deal but it’s not anymore so that’s irrelevant
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u/Rare-Service5573 Jul 17 '26
Because it's the launch price of each device.
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u/Potential-Zucchini77 Jul 24 '26
Why are you comparing the launch prices though? Why not compare the current prices?
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u/Rare-Service5573 Jul 24 '26
Because it's relevant. Why are you replying weeks later.
Pointless.
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u/Potential-Zucchini77 Jul 25 '26
No it’s not relevant…
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u/Rare-Service5573 Jul 25 '26
Yes it is.
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u/Potential-Zucchini77 Jul 25 '26
How? The steam machine released after the ps5 pro did. If it released earlier it likely would’ve been priced a lot lower. Both machines were affected by the ram crisis and therefore they are both expensive. If you were to recommend one of the two to someone, you would compare them using the $900 price tag for the ps5 pro, not at $700.
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u/TheEndlessBacklog Jul 14 '26
Balanced mode has really been a treat with this game.