Destiny 2: PS5 Vs PS4 - What's The Difference?

"Destiny 2" is Bungie's massive free-to-play shooter that is constantly being updated and expanded. With smaller additions like baby Fallen and more massive changes like the most recent expansion "Beyond Light," fans are constantly getting new experiences from "Destiny 2." Like many other live service games, the game received a next-gen upgrade shortly after the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in November of last year. Bungie released a full list of the upgrades and changes being made to the new versions of the game.

While the PS5 version does have a number of improvements over the PS4 version, some of the other next-gen bells and whistles are missing from "Destiny 2." Most notably, the game does not feature the use of any DualSense features, like Haptic Feedback or Adaptive Triggers (via Reddit). Bungie has not said anything about adding support of these features, but it still could come down the road.

The PS5 version of "Destiny 2" boasts improved resolution and framerate over the PS4 version. As Bungie notes, the majority of the game runs at 4K resolution and 60 FPS, with the Crucible mode, the PvP mode, having the option to run at 120hz for those with monitors or TVs capable. As for the older versions of the game, the PS4 runs at 1080p and the PS4 Pro runs at 4K resolution. Both versions of the game were capped at 30 FPS according to Digital Foundry.

While the difference between the PS5 and PS4 Pro versions doesn't sound like much, the PS5 offers native 4K resolution, while the PS4 Pro achieves 4K resolution through a technique called checker boarding, which basically criss-crosses two images together to increase the number of pixels (via Beebom). This can result in artifacting, which leaves visible patterns in the image, but these are largely unnoticeable thanks to motion blur. So the 4K on the PS5 version is a crisper, cleaner visual.

One of the first things you hear about the PS5 is that it has an SSD, allowing for significantly increased loading times over the previous generations hard drives. Bungie touted faster loading times for "Destiny 2" however, because the game has cross-generation play (meaning that PS4 and PS5 players can play together) the decreased loading times may not always be in effect. WarbyGaming on YouTube did a side-by-side comparison of the two versions' loading times. From opening "Destiny 2" to being fully loaded into the character selection screen took 1:00:18 minutes on PS4 Pro and took only 19:06 seconds on the PS5 version. Going to a new destination from space took 59:02 seconds on PS4 Pro and 36:10 seconds on PS5.

The other big feature is the Field of View Slider, which was already available on PC. Over on the PlayStation Blog, Nick Heikkila, a principle producer at Bungie, explained how the FoV slider works. Basically, the slider allows players to adjust how zoomed in the world appears to them. This doesn't affect the placement of the player's weapon, just the environment beyond that. The blog includes a gif showcasing the differences if you need a visual representation.