Ghost of Yotei Best Graphics Mode on PS5 and PS5 Pro

The best graphics mode for most people playing Ghost of Yotei on a standard PS5 is Performance, which targets 60fps, or Balanced at 40fps if your TV supports 120Hz; on PS5 Pro, Ray Tracing Pro is the standout because it combines ray traced lighting with a 60fps target. Quality mode stays at 30fps and is best kept for slow exploration and photo mode. Patch 1.100 changed the picture by adding VRR, an uncapped frame rate option and the new Balanced modes, so advice written at launch is now out of date.

We checked this against DBLTAP's and Allthings.how's launch mode breakdowns, Push Square's patch 1.100 notes and its December 2025 PS5 Pro frame rate report, Game Informer's director mode reveal, the PlayStation Blog's Complete Edition post and games.gg's settings guide in November 2026.

Every Graphics Mode at a Glance

At launch, the standard PS5 offered three modes and the PS5 Pro added a fourth. DBLTAP's launch breakdown describes Quality as a flat 30fps aimed at a crisp 4K image, Performance as a 60fps target using dynamic resolution, and Ray Tracing as a 30fps lock that adds ray traced lighting and bounce lighting at a softer resolution than Quality. You switch between them from the Settings menu under Display, and you can change modes at any time.

Exact internal resolutions vary between sources, and the figures quoted around the web do not agree, so we have left them out rather than repeat numbers that may be wrong. What is consistent is the trade-off: Quality gives the sharpest image, Performance gives the smoothest motion, and Ray Tracing gives the most convincing lighting at the cost of frame rate.

Ghost of Yotei graphics modes after patch 1.100 (DBLTAP, Allthings.how, Push Square)

Mode	Console	Frame rate target	Ray tracing
Quality	PS5 and PS5 Pro	30fps	No
Performance	PS5 and PS5 Pro	60fps	No
Balanced	PS5 and PS5 Pro, 120Hz display	40fps	No
Ray Tracing	PS5 and PS5 Pro	30fps	Yes
Ray Tracing Balanced	120Hz display	40fps	Yes
Ray Tracing Pro	PS5 Pro only	60fps	Yes

What Patch 1.100 Changed

The November 24, 2025 update was mostly known for New Game Plus, but it also reshaped the graphics options. Push Square's summary of the notes lists VRR support with two settings, Smoothed and Uncapped, and two new modes, Balanced and Ray Tracing Balanced, both targeting 40fps. Those 40fps modes require a display that supports a 120Hz refresh rate, and cutscenes are always rendered at 30fps whatever mode you pick.

Forty frames per second sounds like an odd target, but on a 120Hz screen it divides evenly into the refresh rate, so it feels noticeably smoother than 30 while leaving more headroom for image quality than 60. It is the middle ground many players wanted at launch, especially for the ray traced mode.

• VRR Smoothed: as the name suggests, the option for a steadier result, with VRR covering small dips below the target.
• VRR Uncapped: lets the frame rate run above the mode's usual target, which is where the big PS5 Pro gains come from.
• Balanced modes: only appear useful on a 120Hz capable TV or monitor.

Best Mode on a Standard PS5

For most players on a base PS5, Performance is the right default. Ghost of Yotei's combat is built on parries and dodges with tight timing windows, and 60fps makes those windows easier to read. DBLTAP notes that Performance usually looks decent, though its dynamic resolution can look soft on very large screens.

If your TV supports 120Hz and VRR, try Balanced or Ray Tracing Balanced. Push Square's report on the patch says the base PS5 can come close to the Pro's gains in Balanced mode, but only on a VRR compatible 120Hz display, with uncapped frame rates able to reach 60fps. That makes Ray Tracing Balanced the best looking option on a base console that still feels responsive.

Quality and Ray Tracing at 30fps are still worth using in specific moments. Riding across Ezo, taking screenshots or playing with the director modes on are all slower activities where image quality matters more than input response. If much of your playtime is spent on horseback exploring, our horse guide covers the riding side of the game, and switching to Quality for a long ride costs you nothing.

Best Mode on PS5 Pro

On PS5 Pro the answer is Ray Tracing Pro for almost everyone. It gives you the ray traced lighting of the Ray Tracing mode at a 60fps target, using a lower internal resolution reconstructed with Sony's PSSR upscaler, according to Allthings.how. DBLTAP described it at launch as a mostly very smooth 60fps, with rare hitches outside the VRR window.

Patch 1.100 made it better. Push Square reported in December 2025 that with the uncapped toggle on, Ray Tracing Pro jumps from 60fps to anywhere between 70 and 90fps on PS5 Pro, while the Balanced ray tracing mode hovers between 40 and 60fps. The non ray traced Performance, Balanced and Quality modes gained around a third in frame rate when uncapped. If you have a VRR display, Ray Tracing Pro with VRR set to Uncapped is the best looking and smoothest way to play.

• VRR display: Ray Tracing Pro, VRR Uncapped.
• No VRR: Ray Tracing Pro with VRR off, for a steady 60fps target.
• Sharpest still image: Quality, for photo mode and slow exploration.

Matching the Mode to What You Are Doing

You do not have to pick one mode for the whole game. Because the switch lives in the Display settings, it is easy to change modes to suit the moment, and a few situations clearly favor one option over another.

Hard and Lethal difficulty. On the higher difficulties enemies hit harder and fights end faster, so every frame helps you read an attack. Performance or Ray Tracing Pro is the sensible choice here, and it is worth giving up some sharpness to make perfect parries more consistent.

Legends co-op. The online mode is built around waves, objectives and teammates moving fast, and a steady frame rate helps more than detailed lighting. Pick the highest frame rate mode your console offers before you join a match.

Photo mode. Patch 1.100 added shutter speed, a composition grid and new filters to photo mode, according to the PlayStation Blog. If you are setting up a shot, switch to Quality first for the cleanest image, take your pictures and switch back afterward.

First exploration of a region. The first ride through a new area is when the lighting and landscapes make the biggest impression. Ray Tracing or Ray Tracing Balanced is worth trying for that first look, even if you return to Performance for the camps and duels that follow.

The common mistake is picking Quality at the start because it looks best in the menu screenshot, then blaming yourself for missed parries hours later. If combat feels harder than it should, check your mode before you change your difficulty.

Kurosawa, Miike and Watanabe Modes

The director modes sit on top of whichever graphics mode you choose. Game Informer's reveal explains them: Kurosawa mode, developed with the late director's estate, renders the game in black and white with film grain and audio effects; Miike mode, inspired by Takashi Miike, pulls the camera closer during fights and adds more blood and mud; and Watanabe mode, inspired by Shinichiro Watanabe, plays lo-fi beats he curated while you explore.

Miike mode is the one that affects play the most, because the tighter camera can hide attacks coming from off screen. It is a fun way to replay duels against the Yotei Six, which our Yotei Six order guide lists in sequence, but it is a poor fit for big camp fights. Kurosawa mode is purely visual and pairs well with Quality mode, since the grain hides some of the softness of other modes anyway.

The October 1, 2026 patch added more for everyone, whether or not you own the Complete Edition: new Watanabe mode tracks, a high contrast accessibility option and Beauty of Yotei mode, a screensaver style view of Ezo's landscapes. Our DLC guide covers everything else that update introduced.

TV and Console Settings That Help

A few settings outside the game make a real difference. The games.gg settings guide recommends turning HDR on if your display supports it, enabling VRR to smooth out dips, and switching off your TV's motion smoothing to cut input lag and artifacts. On many TVs, game mode also has to be active before VRR and the lowest latency are available, so check your set's picture menu.

1. Check that your TV input supports 120Hz and VRR before choosing a Balanced mode.
2. Turn on HDR at the console level and calibrate it once.
3. Disable motion smoothing and similar processing on the TV.
4. In Settings, then Display, pick your mode and VRR option.

There is no PC version to tweak further, as our PC status guide explains, so these console and TV settings are the full extent of what you can adjust in November 2026.

Building Your PS5 Setup

Every option above is PlayStation 5 only, and the same is true of everything the store offers for this game, from the modded saves for Story Mode, Legends and Most Wanted to the platinum trophy service. The Ghost of Yotei store hub lists each product with its own platform notes, so check the page before you buy.

None of those products change how the game renders, so the mode advice in this guide applies whether you are on a fresh file, deep into New Game Plus or replaying the story from a save. Pick the mode that suits your screen first, then decide how you want to spend your hours in Ezo.

Frequently Asked Questions