Black Myth: Wukong Analysis Shows Completely Different Visuals On Xbox Compared To PS5

“A bizarre port”

Last week, Black Myth: Wukong finally arrived on Xbox, and an early comparison between Series X and S consoles showed some initial promise with the new port. While that rings true in terms of performance, Digital Foundry has now taken a deeper look at the game’s visuals – and there are some bizarre results in here compared to the existing PS5 console version.

The DF team has analysed all of this in the video up above, and the game’s visual differences are immediately apparent. Black Myth: Wukong looks completely different on Xbox compared to PS5 in certain modes – and that’s apparently because the Series X|S version omits Unreal Engine 5’s ‘Lumen’ lighting tech in those modes, for some unknown reason.

Here’s how the analysis puts it:

“Most games on Xbox Series X|S mirror their PS5 counterparts, but Black Myth: Wukong is a stunning exception. If I flip back and forth between PS5 and Xbox Series X in performance mode, the problem should be obvious. Series X has a glowy, specular-rich ‘7th gen console’ kind of look in these comparisons. It seems like the Series X version in performance mode runs with the game’s Lumen lighting system disabled.”

So, where exactly are we seeing these huge differences? Well, on Xbox Series X, the lack of UE5 Lumen seems exclusive to the game’s Performance mode – this is where the game looks completely different, and in Balanced and Quality modes it’s a much closer match. Over on Xbox Series S, all three modes omit Lumen entirely, resulting in similar visuals to that Series X performance mode.

At this stage, it seems hard to recommend one specific mode here (particularly on Series X), where all modes have their own pros and cons. Ultimately, it’s probably worth giving the game a go and seeing what you make of things – but yeah, this is certainly a strange and somewhat unique situation we’re seeing here with Black Myth: Wukong. One fitting for the game’s journey to Xbox so far!

What do you make of this strange situation here? Talk to us about Black Myth: Wukong in the comments down below.

[source youtu.be]

Ben is a News Writer at Pure Xbox, and is a fan of action, racing and straight-up shootin’ in any Xbox game he can get his hands on. When he’s not clutching an Xbox controller like his life depends on it, Ben spends his time listening to music that’s far too old for him, watching football on the telly and probably eating somewhere.

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