Which The First Descendant console graphic mode should you use?

The First Descendant has outlined all the graphics modes for consoles and system requirements on PCs. The multiplayer shooter ships with a myriad of video mode settings for consoles, giving you almost PC-like freedom on graphics fidelity.

You have five graphics options with the game. In this guide, we will dive deep into each of them and try to determine the best option for you based on the console you own and the experience you're looking for.

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The First Descendant ships with a bunch of console graphics modes

All console graphics modes in The First Descendant (Image via Nexon)

The game gives you Fidelity, Balanced, Performance, Ray tracing, and AMD Frame Generation modes.

Fidelity mode: As the name suggests, this mode delivers the best visuals without ray tracing. That means the best graphics you could get are based on pure rasterization. The game will run at 30 FPS and this is only supported on the PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, PS5, Xbox Series S, and Series X. The game looks impressive with this mode, but we don't recommend it if you're playing with friends.

You need to rely on this mode to be able to turn on ray tracing. However, that feature is only available on the PS5 and the Xbox Series X.

Balanced mode: The Balanced mode delivers a mix of visual quality and performance. However, it is only locked to the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series S, and the Series X. You can get up to 60 FPS on the consoles with this mode.

Ray tracing also works with this mode. But that will downgrade the experience to about 30 FPS.

Performance mode: The Performance mode, as the name suggests, offers the best framerates in the game. You can expect up to 120 FPS in The First Descendant with these settings applied on the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. The PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X are locked to 60 FPS at 4K max. However, the game doesn't look the best.

Ray tracing mode: Ray tracing turns on the hardware-accelerated realistic shadows and lighting features in the game. It only works with the Fidelity and Balanced modes, and only on the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

AMD frame generation mode: The best graphics feature of the game is the AMD Frame Generation mode. This brings FSR, which the PC version has, to the consoles as well. You can use it only with a PS5, Xbox Series X, or a Series S. The feature isn't available on the older PS4 Pro and Xbox One X given they don't have the native hardware for upscaling.

Overall, The First Descendant allows console gamers a ton of graphics options to choose from depending on whether you want to play offline or with friends. However, none of these options are available on the PS4 or the Xbox One. This makes sense given the consoles are over a decade old now and are only good for 1080p 30 FPS these days at massively cranked-down graphics quality.