God of War Ragnarök on PS5: pick a mode for parries

God of War Ragnarök runs at 60 FPS in Favor Performance on PS5, or 30 FPS in Favor Quality. Stream Favor Performance at 60 FPS with PlayRoam to keep the quicker combat response. With Pro frame generation, that stream can show 120 FPS motion on a 120 Hz or faster screen. Kratos still fights at the console's real 60 FPS.

What the PS5 graphics modes change

Figures come from Digital Foundry's PS5 analysis and Santa Monica Studio's mode chart, reproduced by Polygon. Favor Quality renders native 4K. Favor Performance varies between 1440p and 2160p, with temporal upscaling to a 4K picture. Digital Foundry found both standard modes locked to their targets.

Quality also keeps more distant detail, better fur and shadow settings, plus extra lighting in some scenes. Those differences are real, but a 1080p stream won't carry the full native 4K picture. Performance is the sensible starting point when your next shield parry matters more than inspecting distant scenery.

High Frame Rate is a separate toggle. With a compatible 120 Hz display connected to the console, Quality becomes a 40 FPS mode at dynamic 1800p-2160p. VRR can unlock it above that target. Performance HFR renders at 1440p and removes the 60 FPS cap; Digital Foundry measured mostly 80-90 FPS. A 120 Hz output is not a promise of 120 rendered frames.

What PS5 Pro adds

Patch 6.00 added PS5 Pro Enhanced mode: Quality's visual features at 60 FPS. You can choose PSSR or temporal anti-aliasing, and HFR with VRR unlocks the frame rate. The official notes also say the base Performance mode benefits from Pro, but do not publish new resolution ranges. The table leaves those unspecified rather than treating a 4K output as native rendering.

For a Pro stream, try PS5 Pro Enhanced at its capped 60 FPS setting. Remote Play still sends at most 1080p60. The cleaner console picture can make that stream look cleaner; it does not turn it into a 4K feed.

Keep the combat timing, then choose the motion

Favor Performance with HFR off gives PlayRoam evenly spaced real frames. A 40 FPS mode doesn't divide evenly into either a 30 or 60 FPS stream, while an unlocked mode can arrive with uneven pacing. Frame generation cannot repair that by making the console faster.

At 60 FPS, generation adds roughly 8 ms plus processing. Read the measured Added delay and compare with boost disabled before committing to a difficult fight. You might prefer the direct 60 FPS stream for parries, even if generated motion looks smoother. Stellar Blade's mode guide has the same distinction between what you see and when your input takes effect.

Quality at 30 FPS is an alternative for quieter exploration. Pro generation can display it as 30 → 60 FPS on any 60 Hz screen, with roughly 17 ms plus processing added. Your controls remain at 30 FPS. See how PS5 frame generation works.

Set up a Ragnarök stream on Windows

Turn High Frame Rate off in the game. Select Favor Performance, then choose Source → Local network at home. Local Remote Play is free with a PlayRoam account; Source → Over the internet needs Pro and a PS5.

Set Resolution to 1080p and Frame rate to 60 FPS. On a 120 Hz or faster monitor, try FPS boost → 2× FSR in the Picture tab. It needs Pro and works on any DirectX 11 graphics card. The output card shows 60 → 120 FPS.

For a 1440p or 4K monitor, Upscaling → FSR 1 can sharpen the 1080p picture, but cannot restore detail missing from the stream. If you switch to Quality, change the stream to 30 FPS too; sending it at 60 only repeats frames.

Fighting on an Android screen

A 60 FPS Performance stream is a useful baseline on a phone. On a 120 Hz screen, Pro generation tries 60 → 120 and tells you if the phone cannot keep up. For the reliable 30 → 60 choice, select Quality and a 30 FPS stream; Pro and a Vulkan 1.3 graphics chip are required.

Use any controller Android recognises, or edit the touch controls. Android frame generation requirements explain the hardware limits. Use Fit if Fill crops information you need during a fight.