Digital Foundry's Thomas Morgan recently put Bloodborne through its paces using the ShadPS4 emulator, analyzing its performance and the impact of community-created enhancements.
Morgan's tests utilized ShadPS4 build 0.5.1 by diegolix29, stemming from raphaelthegreat's custom branch. After experimenting with various builds, this version yielded optimal results on his system (AMD Ryzen 7 5700X CPU, GeForce RTX 4080 GPU).
He strongly suggests installing the Vertex Explosion Fix mod to mitigate visual glitches manifesting as distorted or misplaced polygons. While this mod disables pre-game character face customization, it effectively resolves these graphical issues. No other mods are necessary; the emulator incorporates a dedicated menu for managing performance enhancements, including 60fps support, resolutions up to 4K, and chromatic aberration toggling.
While occasional stuttering was observed, Bloodborne generally maintained a stable 60fps framerate. Experiments with 1440p and 1800p resolutions showcased improved visuals, but at the cost of significant performance drops and increased instability. Therefore, Morgan advises sticking to 1080p (native PS4 resolution) or 1152p for the best balance of visual fidelity and stability.
Morgan concluded that the very feasibility of PS4 emulation for Bloodborne, courtesy of the ShadPS4 team, is a remarkable feat. While acknowledging remaining technical hurdles, he deemed the emulator's performance impressive.
