Today Hello Games released No Man’s Sky Patch 3.15 and after spending a good bit of time with it we can confirm that there are some significant improvements for the PSVR version of the game when running on PS5. As far as we know, these updates are just for when the game runs on a PS5, not a PS4 Pro.
No Man’s Sky PSVR on PS5
In the patch notes they simply state “resolution and performance for PSVR have been significantly improved when running on a PS5” and “loading times on PS5 have been improved” but I’m here to tell you it looks and feels even more dramatic than they’re leading on.
You might recall that back when No Man’s Sky first got VR support the PC VR and PSVR versions could not have been further apart in terms of visual fidelity. The differences were so stark we released two separate reviews (PC VR review and PSVR review) to reflect the disparity and showcased the visual downgrade in a comparison video.
Long story short it was super blurry on PSVR with PS4 and was a pain to play. For some good comparison shots of the game running yesterday on PS5, before the update, versus today, after Patch 3.15, we can turn to Twitter user Jimster71:
— Jimster71 (@JimsterSeventy1) January 27, 2021
I’ll definitely say that, even though you can clearly tell the difference in these shots, they don’t do the enhancement justice. As someone that wears glasses, it feels a bit like having blurry vision from smudged lenses or your contacts not sitting on your eyes properly, and then getting your glasses cleaned or your prescription updated. Or, in other words, previously it just always felt like your VR headset wasn’t positioned right and you were having trouble finding the sweet spot. Now it’s crisp and clear.
Make no mistake: this is still the same game, but it just looks so much better overall and plays so much more smoothly.
Texture pop-in is improved as well, as-is overall performance and stability, but it’s still a far ways off from the PC VR version (when running well) in terms of sheer visual fidelity. You can especially notice the texture pop-in issues when you crest over a mountain and start to descend with vegetation and objects gradually appearing in the distance.
I only played for about 45-minutes, just long enough to take off from my starting planet on a new save file, but I can already feel the allure of infinite galaxies pulling for me to dive back in.
No Man’s Sky is one of the greatest comeback stories in video game history and Hello Games continues to make it bigger and better every few months with free updates and content releases. It’s remarkable and commendable what they’ve done here.
Let us know if you decide to give the game a try on PS5 with PSVR and let us know what you think. Keep in mind, to play in PSVR on PS5 you need to make sure and install the PS4 version, not the PS5 version of the game. Both are available as a bundled purchase on PSN right now for $59.99, but it’s often on sale if you’d rather wait.
