***ELITIST PC USER FRAME RATE RANT INCOMING***
I've been playing God of War on my PS4 Pro recently. I am still somewhat early on but I am thoroughly enjoying my play through so far. The presentation of the game is also second to none. At first when I heard about the game being one camera shot with no loading, I was worried the game might not have a cinematic presentation without camera cuts. I was definitely wrong and the cut scenes have been very engaging. Most of the time I forget that the whole game really is one camera shot. Anyways...onto the actual point of this thread.
I legitimately do not understand why developers choose to have frame rate mode as an option. I also dont understand why people would prefer it. Now, I play a lot of games on PC, I love me some 60fps. I wish I could play almost every game in 60fps (even at the expense of lesser graphical fidelity on consoles). But the problem is, frame rate mode never means 60fps. Unless I'm mistaken, it seems to me that frame rate mode usually just means: game running at 1080p with unlocked frame rate. This creates a fluctuating FPS that is constantly going up and down. As a frame rate snob, I don't just want more frames. I want a CONSISTENT frame rate. Either have the game run at a mostly locked in 30fps or a mostly locked 60fps. As long as the frame rate is consistent, I am totally fine with 30fps. It is when the frame rate is constantly jumping up and down between 30 and 60 is where I have a problem. Unfortunately, this is what frame rate mode always means in every game that has this feature, not just God of War. Final Fantasy XV and Horizon Zero dawn do the same exact thing. You can choose 4k checker board scaling at a pretty consistent 30fps or a 1080p signal with a constantly fluctuating frame rate, usually hovering around 40ish fps. To me the choice is clear every time, pick the prettier option with the consistent frame rate. One of the only games that I know which truly does 60fps is Everybody's Golf...and they actually call this mode 60hz mode and not frame rate mode. It seems Infamous: Second Son is also much, much closer to running at a consistent 60 but I believe you need to have the frame rate unlocked in the settings as well as have the PS4 Pro running in boost mode. In the case of God War: I started the game in resolution mode but switched to frame rate mode when you first get control of the camera. I was actually surprised, I am not a cyborg and can not read frames per seconds with my eyes but it felt really smooth. It also seemed to be pretty consistent. However, I moved onto the next area and immediately saw/felt a frame rate dip. I then switched back to resolution mode and haven't touched that setting since. All in all, I just dont understand why people prefer this mode.
Am I completely wrong here? Do others share my frustration with frame rate mode? This statement is completely coming out of my ass and I am by no means a game dev: but it feels like all they do is force the game to run at 1080p and unlock the frame rate in their engine console. I really wish they had time to really turn down assets and graphical features to make it a true 60fps. But I have to imagine that me and everyone else who cares about fps this much is an extreme minority. Ultimately, we are never going to be worth the devs time since most of their audience straight up doesn't care or is even aware of the frame rate.
***END ELITIST PC USER FRAME RATE RANT***
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