Video game settings are a very important aspect of any gaming experience, as they give players the chance to tailor the experience to their visual and mechanical tastes and needs. A lot of modern games have a pretty long list of options, both in terms of gameplay changes and graphical ones, but in some cases, these changes are far more drastic and impactful, often fundamentally altering how the game feels and how it is played.
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On the PS5 in particular, a lot of the exclusives contain an array of interesting settings that players can use to elevate the gameplay and style well beyond the default feel. There are even some great examples of multi-platform titles that have a single setting switch that can either improve the combat, change up the visuals, or turn the game into a totally different genre, whilst still keeping the core identity intact.
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered
HUD: Dynamic / Off
Details:
- More immersion and fewer distractions
- Elevates the sound and level design
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is easily one of the most visually stunning games of the current generation, and that attention to detail makes the playthrough feel incredibly immersive from start to finish. As engaging as the story is, it is still a game at heart, with UI prompts and visual cues that help guide the player through the world in a fairly natural way.
However, by changing the HUD to dynamic or removing it entirely, the entire game feels completely different, as every aspect of survival becomes far more challenging and instinctual. Rather than watching their ammo count go down and relying on detection meters, players instead need to carefully watch and observe their surroundings in order to succeed, changing the game from an action-adventure into a full-blown survival epic.
God of War Ragnarök
Enemy Health Bars: Off
Details:
- Makes fights more visceral
- No reliance on numbers
God of War Ragnarök blends cinematic spectacle with complex, ability-driven combat that lets players truly feel like they are embodying the power of a god. Enemies are designed around stagger states, tells, and reaction animations, while the player's toolkit encourages aggressive, momentum-based fighting that often requires a lot of attention to the various effects and indicators in the middle of the battle.
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Turning enemy health bars off reshapes how the entire combat experience feels from the ground up. Fights stop revolving around damage optimization and instead hinge on visual feedback like enemy posture and behavioral shifts, making each victory feel far more earned. Adding on a greater difficulty, and suddenly, the already impressive fights turn into cinema-level encounters that could easily be mistaken for a movie rather than a playable game.
Horizon Forbidden West
Easy Loot + Very Hard Combat
Details:
- Removes tedious farming
- Combat intensity remains intact
Horizon Forbidden West thrives on tactical combat against complex machines, each built around detachable components and elemental weaknesses. On higher difficulties, fights demand quite a lot of precision, as well as more preparation, but the player's progression can sometimes become bogged down by part farming and the dependency on loot.
Using Easy Loot while keeping combat on Very Hard resolves that friction entirely, as the machines remain deadly, but the player is still able to feel like they are constantly moving forward. They can engage creatively without breaking their immersion with grinds, and the result is a more fluid experience where the challenge is preserved, and the boring time-wasting is basically non-existent.
Ghost of Yōtei
Watanabe/Miike Mode
Details:
- More than just filters
- Music and visuals become the focus
Ghost of Yōtei builds on the epic foundations established by Tsushima, doubling down on visual composition, restrained UI, and a deliberate combat rhythm that ensures every fight feels impactful from start to finish. The swordplay really is the centrepiece, and the exploration in between encounters acts as a way of bridging the excitement with gorgeous scenery that is just as engaging as the battles themselves.
But if players are looking to go even further, the game has several modes that fundamentally alter how the fights and exploration unfold. Watanabe Mode focuses on audio, giving players a relaxing Lo-Fi soundtrack to enjoy when moving around the world, while Miike goes the complete opposite direction, amping up the blood and grit and transforming even basic fights into a visceral dance of blades. These additions are a nice optional extra that can alter how players see and experience the entire game, without ever actually impacting the gameplay in a mechanical way.
Death Stranding
Disable Route Assist Prompts
Details:
- Removes the majority of hand-holding
- Deeps the traversal systems
Death Stranding is fundamentally about movement and troublesome terrain, and the player's mission to overcome the problems they encounter between each delivery. Every hill, river, and slope is a mechanical obstacle, and the world is designed to punish complacency while rewarding those who choose to prepare and observe before diving in.
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Disabling route assist prompts forces the player to fully engage with those systems in a far more intimate way. Instead of following optimal paths, players must read terrain and plan out their routes, adapting on the fly and becoming much more in touch with their surroundings in a way that simply doesn't exist with the more directed approach.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Swing Steering Assist
Details:
- Rewards precision swinging
- Reduces automatic movements
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 emphasizes fluid traversal and high-speed movement, often smoothing player input to maintain cinematic flow. The swinging is spectacular, but heavily assisted by default to ensure accessibility and to make those leaps of faith feel just a bit more cohesive overall.
Yet by reducing swing assist and minimizing the HUD, skill is suddenly reintroduced into the movement. Momentum must be managed manually, and even small mistakes can cost a lot of speed, which makes it a more difficult yet more rewarding experience that, when mastered, makes the player feel as close to the webbed hero as they can possibly get.
Resident Evil 4 (2023)
Auto-Aim Off/Reduced Camera Wobble
Details:
- Encounters become far more tense
- Vulnerability returns
Resident Evil 4 balances action with survival horror, often switching between moments of tension and more shooter-heavy sequences that become a game of ammo management and situational awareness. The remake carries forward so much of the original's feel, but the modernized controls and gameplay allow the moments to hit just a bit harder than they did back in the day.
Should players want to switch things up, they can disable auto-aim and reduce camera wobble, which restores even more of the vulnerability that existed before. Each bullet carries a lot more weight, and the misses sting twice as much, altering how a lot of moments play out with such a small yet effective change.
Alan Wake 2
Hiding Hud/Crosshairs
Details:
- Horror feels way scarier
- Encourages more observation
Alan Wake 2, much like the first game, relies heavily on atmosphere, lighting, and environmental storytelling to build dread and fear in the player. Navigation is intentionally uneasy, and there are plenty of situations where the scariness comes solely from the insane level of uncertainty that fills the player in every single room and hall.
If the panic isn't already setting in, then players can experiment with the different HUD options, going as far as to remove most of the on-screen guidance, including markers, indicators, and even their crosshairs. Without constant feedback, the environments feel more oppressive and unfamiliar, which in turn results in slower, more deliberate progress that can even roll to a complete stop when the tension rises beyond the player's breaking point.
Baldur's Gate 3
Karmic Dice: Off
Details:
- Restores tabletop randomness
- Embraces the failures
Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the most impressive adaptations of tabletop D&D into the virtual world. Every dice system is streamlined and refined to make it accessible yet still engaging for newcomers, with the Karmic Dice mechanic doing quite a lot of heavy-lifting by subtly manipulating outcomes to prevent extreme streaks that could easily exist in the real world.
Turning this off, however, restores the true randomness and brings the game in line with its tabletop counterpart. By reintroducing natural luck into the experience, suddenly every win and loss feels far more interesting, as even when things go poorly, the player can still feel satisfied knowing that the outcome was entirely down to fate and nothing else.
Returnal
Always Run: On
Details:
- Enhances the flow of combat
- Keeps momentum going
Returnal is a fast-paced, roguelike shooter that sends players into a constant time loop in an alien world, full of mysteries and anomalies with seemingly no answers. The gameplay is built around relentless motion, requiring a lot of repositioning and some good reflexes to prevent any sudden projectiles that can appear in the blink of an eye.
If players choose to dig into the settings, they can remove some of the game's friction by forcing themselves into a state of running at all times. This makes the gameplay flow far more naturally and allows the combat to feel more rhythmic, leaning into the bullet-hell design philosophy that, in itself, relies on uninterrupted movement and attention from the player.
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