Starfield DLSS 5 Tech Demo Is Both Interesting and Uncanny

by

A new 12-minute tech demo showcases Nvidia’s DLSS 5 technology running in Starfield, offering an unfiltered look at how it works. While Resident Evil Requiem‘s character Grace received criticism for visual changes caused by DLSS 5, Starfield underwent a comparable visual overhaul. This demo will likely establish Starfield as a prime example of the technology, whether that’s a good thing or not.

Since Nvidia unveiled DLSS 5 with CEO Jensen Huang at the helm, gamers have had very mixed reactions to the developing technology. While many agree it’s a significant change, opinions are divided on whether that change is positive. A common concern is that character faces now have an overly realistic, AI-generated appearance. Some also worry Nvidia might be taking control of art design from developers, potentially replacing artists’ creative choices with AI-driven effects.

DLSS 5 Enhances Starfield’s Lighting, Turns Characters Into AI Slop

We’ve seen glimpses of DLSS 5 in action with Starfield, but the first extended, unedited gameplay footage comes from YouTuber Plano Plays Games. They recently had a chance to play Starfield with DLSS 5 enabled at GTC 2026 and shared a 12-minute video. This is significant because Nvidia’s official videos only showed select moments, while this footage allows viewers to see a more realistic experience and form their own opinions.

Recent criticism of this new neural rendering technique has prompted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to state that gamers aren’t understanding DLSS 5 correctly. However, a video from Plano Plays Games clearly demonstrates the technology’s strengths and weaknesses. The 12-minute demo, running on a powerful dual RTX 5090 system, shows occasional performance stutters and visual glitches. While the rendering significantly improves the lighting in Starfield, it also applies a noticeable and somewhat unsettling AI smoothing effect to characters, making them look artificial.

DLSS 5 is still under development and will continue to evolve as Nvidia refines it. It’s become apparent that it can significantly alter a game’s visual style, sometimes for the better and sometimes not, depending on the specific scene. Even the improvements to lighting don’t seem as impactful as they should be, considering the performance cost of re-rendering. For many players, the announcement of the new Starfield: Terran Armada DLC will probably be more exciting than these DLSS advancements.

Plano Plays Games’ demo showed that Nvidia’s DLSS 5 technology could live up to the hype, but it has some significant drawbacks that many gamers might not like. It remains to be seen if Bethesda can refine DLSS 5 for its launch, balancing improved lighting and textures with avoiding overly smoothed or artificial-looking characters. Also, with the high cost of graphics cards, it’s unclear how many people will actually be able to use the technology.

Read More

2026-03-24 13:04