Genshin Impact: PS5 review, version comparisons and update impressions

I’ve finally got my hands on the coveted PS5, and although there are no PS5 games I really want to play right now, I was extremely excited to give Genshin Impact a try on Sony’s latest hardware.  Genshin Impact on PS5 is currently running on an optimized version of the PS4 build, but a new PS5 native version is in the works.

I’ve now tested the current Genshin Impact version across PS4, PS4 Pro and PS5. Let’s take look at how the game runs on the available PlayStations, and how the future looks for Genshin Impact on PS5.

Genshin Impact PS5 version comparisons

I’ve long said that PS4 Genshin players have no rights. They don’t get events on time, there’s no cross-save and the PS4 version of Genshin Impact can be almost unplayable.

The loading screens take forever. Inputs get messed up when the framerate dips (which it often does) and you’d be lucky to hit 20 frames in combat. Even the game’s initial load screen where the bricks lay one by one to create a bridge skips a ton.

Quick-swapping is impossible. I’ve switched to characters only for them to get blasted off screen, T-Pose back to where I was standing, and switch back to the character I was originally on. Switching when there’s a lot of stuff going on prevents me from using a character’s Skill when they take the field; this is particularly frustrating when using characters like Beidou.

Some characters like Hu Tao are frustratingly difficult yo use, as the frame drops makes it almost impossible to accurately animation cancel. Other times, the game lags out and misreads inputs.

Menus are also a problem, taking long to load and when switching screens. Selecting items hitches and lags.

These problems were even worse at the game’s launch, and even with miHoYo’s minor optimization updates around when Dragonspine released and my PS4’s SSD upgrade, Genshin Impact was still a chore to play.

PS4 Pro fares slightly better. The load times are bearable, coming right in the middle between PC and the base PS4. Frames do drop, but not to the unplayable degree that the base PS4 does. It generally floats at 30, making for a playable experience. It also has an improved resolution and some more details in the environment.

The PS4 base struggles to squeeze 30 FPS at 1080p. PS4 Pro can do about 30 FPS at 1080p, but drops a few frames when rendering at 4K.