The Demon's Souls PlayStation 5 remake has been updated to support the system's Power Saver Mode, and the performance and resolution tweaks, and the reduced system power consumption may be the first glimpse at what the rumored PlayStation handheld could deliver running PS5 games.
The remake developed by Bluepoint Games, which launched with the PlayStation 5 in November 2020, has now been updated to support the new Power Saver Mode, as indicated by the little leaf icon on the system's main menu. Introducing this mode, which reduces the system's power consumption, is SIE's commitment to Sony's "Road to Zero" environmental plan launched in 2010, which includes achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040.
Demon's Souls Remake Power Saver Mode Screenshots and Performance
Although Power Saver mode has been officially implemented on PS5 as part of a bigger environmental effort, it has long been speculated that its implementation and limitations could be a testing ground for the rumored PlayStation handheld, which is allegedly going to run PS5 games as well.
The performance and resolution tweaks introduced in Demon's Souls remake definitely support this theory in part, at the very least. As can be seen from this set of screenshots I have captured from my launch PlayStation 5 at the start of the game, the resolution in Power Saver mode is lower than the resolution of both Performance and Cinematic display modes, even at a quick glance.
The frame rate target of the game's has also been changed for Power Saver mode, going from the 60 FPS of Performance Mode to 30 FPS. The video shared on YouTube by ?.? accurately represents the experience, which is not the best for a home console for this type of game, but that wouldn't be terribly bad on a handheld gaming system.
Demon's Souls Remake Power Saver Mode Reduced Energy Usage
Power Saver Mode delivers impressive reductions in energy usage as well. In a test conducted by ResetERA forums member vicegold, power consumption went from hovering at ~224 W in the regular operating mode to ~98 W with power saver mode, which is quite a big difference. While this power consumption target is way too high for a handheld gaming system, the fact that the game wasn't horribly downgraded to achieve it with some software tweaks bodes quite well for the rumored handheld, which would require games to be tweaked similarly to run well on it.
The Demon's Souls remake is only one of the PlayStation 5 games that will be patched to support Power Saver mode. Among other titles to support the feature will be Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, which will be another interesting game to test, given its solid 60 FPS performance and high-quality visuals.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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