by The Witcher 3 Remastered marks a comprehensive revision to the venerable RPG, nearly 11 years after the initial release. While the upgrade comes free for owners of the original game, its launch hasn't exactly proven smooth sailing, with critiques of the revised visuals, frequent crashes and sub-60fps performance. Version 5.01 promises fixes for some of these issues, so how does the game compare across Series X, Series S, PS5 and PS5 Pro? What are the most critical changes from the original to the remaster? And does patch 5.01 present the game in a good enough light, or is there more work do be done by developers CD Projekt Red?
Let's be frank: the initial 5.00 launch build created a disappointing first impression. On PS5, frame-rates in performance mode frequently dropped to levels not possible on the earlier 2022 re-release, with egregious screen tearing and no way to undo the patch if you weren't happy with it. Cutscenes were the worst offenders, with quick camera cuts leading to frame-rates in the 30s and 40s while the dynamic resolution system struggled to keep up. The 30fps quality mode was better, adding on ray-traced global illumination (RTGI) and improved screen space reflections (SSR) without a noticeable performance penalty, but 5.00 was still far from ideal.
Patch 5.01 does turn the frame-rate situation around, with dips now bottoming out around the mid 50s, though the screen tearing in the top 10 percent of the display hasn't been fixed. It's still easy to sabotage the frame-rate with wild camera swings, but the drops are less noticeable and the frame-rate deviation can be masked on VRR displays. Crashes remain an issue, and the game locked up twice on base PS5 in our post-patch testing. The Remastered version's bloom effect also still doesn't play nice with the revised lighting, with blown out sunlit pathways and mysteriously crushed shadow detail; we'd recommend disabling bloom until this can be fixed more comprehensively.
In terms of actual performance, Series X now matches PS5 on patch 5.01. Both machines dip into the 50s in CPU-heavy areas like the Hierarch Square in Novigrad, again within the range of VRR assistance, while the RT mode sits happily at 30fps while delivering that upgraded RTGI and improved SSR. The RT mode could potentially benefit from a 40fps lock on 120Hz displays, but that isn't an option at present - even though the Switch 2 version does offer it. Series S performance is more variable than the bigger consoles, with some areas at 60fps and others well into the mid-40s with tearing. Again, VRR can be a lifesaver here, with the 30fps quality mode - sans RT - being a worthy fallback for non-VRR displays.
Beyond raw performance, the remaster introduces substantial visual overhauls, including reworked skill trees, updated combat effects, revised enemy designs and a new shader model designed for physically accurate material reactions. Enhanced ambient occlusion, improved subsurface scattering and image-based lighting (a rasterised form of global illumination) that contribute to more realistic shadows, richer textures and enhanced depth across interior spaces and natural foliage.
PS5 Pro benefits from further enhancements, using PSSR upscaling to sharpen fine details and reduce shimmering during motion across both performance and ray tracing modes - with results that exceed those on base PS5 and Xbox Series consoles in terms of stability. Additionally, the Pro model supports an uncapped frame-rate that can reach up to 90fps, which is the smoothest way to enjoy the game. There's also a doubled 60fps limit for the RT mode - though this does come at the expense of internal resolution, which drops to ~1026p in this mode versus ~1350p on the base PS5's quality mode. Performance mode sees Pro regain the lead versus the base machine, at 1440p versus 1296p.
Ultimately, while The Witcher 3 Remastered establishes a visually impressive benchmark with advanced lighting, shader updates and robust console optimisation in patch 5.01, ongoing fixes are still necessary to make the most of this comprehensive technical upgrade. We'll just have to wait and see how the game develops in future patches. CDPR has already demonstrated commendable dedication to bring the game to version five in the first place, and it's already safe to jump in and see what the fuss is about if you never got around to playing The Witcher 3 before now.