Death Stranding Directors Cut: which platform plays it best?
What changes between PC, PS5: resolution, FPS per mode, what each official store publishes and the FPS we measured on PC.
Quick verdict
Death Stranding Director's Cut looks best on PC, but the PS5 version is the one that gives up the least.
Why PC wins
Draw distance is still highest on PC, and it is the only version that lets you pick between DLSS 2.3, FSR 2.0 and XeSS 1.1. It also supports 4K, HDR and always-on anisotropic filtering. In the comparison it runs at 2160p with DLSS.
On console
PS5 has four modes and all four run at 60 FPS, which is not the norm. Quality is native 4K and performance sits at 3200x1800. It raises the texturing of some models, changes foliage and ambient occlusion, and improves water over PS4.
The upgrade you feel most
Loading times: under 6 seconds on PS5 to load a save or fast travel, against roughly a minute on PS4. In a game that lives on loading screens and fast travel, that changes how you play it.
Ultrawide and field of view on PC only work through mods, and 120 FPS support is limited.
Price on each platform
The best live offer for each version, every price with its format.
Final prices with fees
Copied!
See every price for Death Stranding Directors Cut on all platforms →
Death Stranding Director's Cut on PS5, PC, PS4 and PS4 Pro
- PS4 runs at 1080p and 30 FPS, while PS4 Pro moves up to 2160p and holds the same 30 FPS.
- PS5 has four modes and every one of them runs at 60 FPS: 2160p in quality, 1800p in performance, 3840x1620p in widescreen quality and 3200x1350p in widescreen performance.
- The widescreen mode is not true 21:9: it is 16:9 letterboxed with an expanded field of view, the same trick used in The Order 1886 and The Evil Within.
- The PC version in the video runs at 2160p using DLSS on an RTX 3080.
- PS5 improves the texturing of some models, but environment textures are unchanged.
- Draw distance is still slightly higher on PC, although PS5 pushes it further than PS4 did.
- Loading is where PS5 makes the biggest leap: under 6 seconds to load a save or fast travel, against roughly a minute on PS4.
- PS5 also changes some foliage assets and its ambient occlusion, and improves water quality.
Death Stranding Director's Cut on PS5: frame rate test
- The version tested was 1.002.000.
- Quality Mode renders at 3840x2160.
- Performance Mode renders at 3200x1800.
- Widescreen Quality Mode renders at 3840x1643, which is 3840x2160 with black bars.
Death Stranding Director's Cut: the leap over last gen
- This is part one of two, covering the game, the engine and the leap over PS4 and PS4 Pro.
- Part two is the PS5 versus PC technical analysis.
- He places Kojima Productions' work alongside Metal Gear Solid V and rates the improvement over last gen as clear.
Full platform comparison
Resolution, modes and FPS come from the video analyses above. The rest is published by each platform's official store and by the game's technical sheet on PC. Where nobody publishes the figure we put a dash, not a guess.
| Feature | PC | PS5 |
|---|---|---|
| Graphics modes | Free settings | Four: quality, performance and two widescreen variants |
| Maximum resolution | 4K | 3840x2160 in quality mode |
| Resolution in performance mode | — | 3200x1800 |
| FPS in quality mode | — | 60 |
| FPS in performance mode | — | 60 |
| Widescreen mode | — | 3840x1643, which is really 16:9 with black bars and a wider field of view |
| Upscaling | DLSS 2.3, FSR 2.0, XeSS 1.1 | Temporal reconstruction |
| Draw distance | The highest | Slightly behind PC, but ahead of PS4 |
| Loading times | — | Under 6 seconds to load a save or fast travel |
| HDR | Yes | — |
| 120 FPS | Limited | — |
| Ultrawide | Mods only | — |
| Adjustable field of view | Mods only | — |
| Anisotropic filtering | Always on | — |
| Cloud saves | Yes | — |
Xbox is the Series X column unless Series S is stated. Resolution, modes, FPS, VRR and download size come from the videos; HDR, ray tracing and PC features from the technical sheet and the official Xbox catalogue.
Frequently asked questions about Death Stranding Directors Cut
Which platform does Death Stranding Director's Cut look best on?
PC, mainly because of draw distance, which is still the highest there. It is also the only version with DLSS, FSR and XeSS to choose from, plus HDR and 4K. On console, the best image is PS5 in quality mode.
How many graphics modes does PS5 have?
Four, and all of them run at 60 FPS: quality at 2160p, performance at 1800p and two widescreen variants at 3840x1620p and 3200x1350p. The widescreen mode is really 16:9 letterboxed with a wider field of view, not true 21:9.
What changed over PS4 and PS4 Pro?
PS4 runs at 1080p and 30 FPS and PS4 Pro at 2160p and 30 FPS, so PS5 doubles the frame rate. It also improves texturing on some models, changes foliage assets and ambient occlusion, improves water and pushes draw distance further.
How fast does it load on PS5?
Under 6 seconds to load a save or use fast travel. The same thing took close to a minute on PS4.
Which upscalers does the PC version support?
DLSS 2.3, FSR 2.0 and XeSS 1.1. In the comparison the PC build runs at 2160p using DLSS on an RTX 3080.
Is there proper ultrawide support?
On PC only through mods, same as the adjustable field of view. And the PS5 widescreen mode is not 21:9 either: it is 16:9 with black bars and an expanded field of view.
Video analysis by El Analista de Bits. The videos play from their own channel. PC data according to PCGamingWiki and our own FPS measurements; Xbox features according to the official Microsoft catalogue.
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