DLSS 5 tests expose a clash between realism and art direction
Modders have spent several days experimenting with a leaked early build of Nvidia’s DLSS 5, applying the generative AI upscaling technology to a wide range of games. The early results have produced two very different reactions: some viewers are impressed by its technical ability, while others find the altered characters deeply unsettling.
Nvidia announced DLSS 5 in March, prompting substantial backlash. The technology can push game imagery towards an unusually realistic appearance, often making characters resemble real people rather than preserving the visual language chosen by the developers. In some tests, that shift has created images that look closer to nightmare fuel than an upgrade.
A test using Halo was described as “actual nightmare fuel”, while another experiment struggled to render a character who was completely blue, including her face. August 30, 2026
A 3D artist testing the leaked build similarly argued that DLSS 5 removes artistic intent and produces an uncanny, unpleasant look. These reactions highlight a broader problem with chasing realism in games: technically detailed images can still feel generic when they lose the deliberate choices that give characters and worlds their identity.
Generative systems also tend to draw on patterns found across huge collections of existing images. That can result in familiar, standardised facial features rather than preserving the specific faces created by a game’s artists.
“These DLSS 5 models keep putting the same face types on people,” one Reddit user wrote, arguing that the technology replaces distinctive character designs with a generic, hyper-real filter influenced by studio marketing photography. Read the Reddit comment.
Photo-realism is not always the goal
The Last of Us demonstrates why a more realistic-looking output is not automatically a better one. Although the game aims for a grounded visual presentation, its character art is not simply an attempt to reproduce reality. Its textures were hand-painted rather than built entirely from photographs, supporting a controlled and authored style.
One commentary on the test noted that Naughty Dog’s character-art approach was designed around art direction, not an objective of pure photo-realism. August 28, 2026
There are games where the effect is more convincing. Some players have been impressed by DLSS 5 in titles featuring real-life personalities, including NBA 2K27—ironically, the game associated with the leaked build. That use case makes more sense when the intended target is a recognisable human likeness.
The results become considerably stranger when the same treatment is applied to strongly stylised games, particularly Japanese role-playing games. A test involving a Miqo’te from Final Fantasy XIV produced an intentionally alarming transformation, and repeatedly applying the process made the distortions even more extreme.
One experimenter described a triple-pass attempt as producing “manmade horrors beyond your comprehension”. August 30, 2026
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC was another poor match. A test video gave the characters an exaggerated, artificial appearance that felt completely disconnected from the game’s established style. Similar de-stylisation appeared in Kingdom Hearts 3, where Sora, Donald and Goofy reportedly lost much of their colour while Riku took on an especially uncanny appearance.
Even Razer joined the online pile-on with a mocking response to the DLSS 5 experiments. The discussion has become another reminder that visual fidelity is not the same thing as good art direction—an issue worth considering when comparing modern displays with the characterful presentation of arcade games and industry news.
The performance cost may be the bigger problem
DLSS 5’s visual changes also appear to come with a significant performance penalty. Multiple modders have reported that the technology can reduce frame rates dramatically, with some saying performance was cut by about half.
A test in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor reported noticeably different visuals alongside a performance reduction of more than 50 per cent. August 28, 2026
Another test of DLSS 5 reported frame rates falling by 60–70 per cent, from the 130s into the 70s. August 31, 2026
A side-by-side comparison has also been shared for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, adding to the growing collection of early tests. These informal results should not be treated as a final assessment of the technology, since the leaked build is not the finished product. Still, they raise practical questions for anyone weighing image quality against responsiveness—whether on a PC or while planning a dedicated arcade machine setup.
Nvidia has said DLSS 5 is expected to launch sometime in autumn 2026. For now, the leaked experiments suggest a tool that can create impressive results in the right kind of game, but can also flatten distinctive art styles, produce uncanny faces and consume a large share of available performance.
That is a difficult trade-off to justify when a game’s visual identity matters as much as its technical sharpness. Readers comparing display and hardware options can explore RETROCADE’s arcade machines, arcade parts and arcade videos for more gaming hardware coverage.
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