Modders Experiment with DLSS 5, and the Results Are Wild!

Modders have been diving into a leaked early version of Nvidia’s DLSS 5, experimenting with this generative AI upscaling tool across various games, and the feedback ranges from awe to outright horror.

Initially announced in March amid a wave of criticism, this tool aims to render games with an astonishing level of graphical realism, making characters appear more like “real people,” often at the expense of the original artistic vision. Some results have been unsettling, bordering on nightmare-inducing.

Nvidia might want to reconsider DLSS 5 after seeing reactions like this one:

“Just tried it with Halo and what is this? ???? Actual nightmare fuel; we don’t need this.”

Another user pointed out how the tool struggles with color accuracy, saying, “It doesn’t even recognize that she’s COMPLETELY blue, including her face.”

The consensus among some is that DLSS 5 strips away artistic intent, leading to visuals that feel uncanny and off-putting. One Reddit user noted, “These DLSS 5 models keep putting the same face types on people. It’s removing the unique character designs in favor of generic hyper-realistic filters based on marketing studio photography.”

Even in games that aim for photo-realism, like The Last of Us, DLSS 5 doesn’t necessarily enhance the experience. A member of the Character Art team at Naughty Dog emphasized that their art style is intentionally not photo-realistic, using hand-painted textures to create a controlled, artistic look rather than striving for reality.

On the flip side, some players are impressed with the technology’s capabilities, especially in games featuring real-life likenesses, such as NBA 2K27, which is ironically where the leak originated. But what about games with distinct, stylized art styles, like JRPGs? The results can be laughably bad.

“DLSS 5 Miqo’te is not real, it can’t hurt you,” one user joked, sharing a bizarre transformation of a character.

Another user humorously noted, “Bad news everyone, I found out how to triple pass it—now introducing: manmade horrors beyond your comprehension.”

A video showcasing DLSS 5 in The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC looked like it was crafted by a completely different team, evoking comparisons to The Annoying Orange.

The same issue of de-stylization appears in a video of Kingdom Hearts 3, where beloved characters like Sora, Donald, and Goofy lose their vibrant colors, while Riku ends up in an uncanny valley so deep it’s hard to recognize him.

Even brands have chimed in, poking fun at the situation.

Regardless of the game, filtering through DLSS 5 seems to lead to a significant drop in performance. Some modders report that it can halve framerates.

One user shared their experience with Jedi Survivor, stating, “The visuals do look noticeably different, but it also cut my performance by more than 50%.”

Another user provided a side-by-side comparison of DLSS 5 in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, noting a drastic fps drop from the 130s to the 70s.

While DLSS 5 isn’t officially set to launch until fall 2026, if this is what Nvidia’s Jensen Huang calls the “most significant breakthrough in computer graphics,” they might want to rethink that claim.