Is the *Cyberpunk 2077* PS5 Pro update worth it? Night City is even more livable now

The neon after the rain always has a kind of glow that seems to cling to the air, like the dampness that still hasn’t dispersed at 2 a.m., crawling all the way up the glass curtain walls of Night City. Every time I enter Cyberpunk 2077, my first instinct isn’t to pick up a quest, but to stop and find an angle that can frame the signs, reflections, and distant traffic all at once. For someone like me, who cares more than anything about whether a world feels like somewhere I’d want to live, this PS5 Pro enhanced update really is the kind of upgrade that makes you instinctively hold your breath.

First, the most important fact: the Cyberpunk 2077 PS5 Pro enhanced update officially went live today. After an early hands-on, Digital Foundry’s verdict was straightforward: this update pushes the console version’s visual presentation up another notch, especially in the much-watched “Ray Tracing Pro” mode, whose image quality is now very close to the PC version’s high preset. That assessment carries weight, because it means console players no longer have to view Night City through that lingering haze of “close enough.”

More specifically, “Ray Tracing Pro” runs at native 1440p, then upscales to 4K through Sony’s PSSR 2. Its main selling point is that it goes as far as possible in delivering the reflections, layering, lighting, and shadowy atmosphere a cyberpunk city should have. On displays that support VRR, it also offers 30 or 40 FPS options, and the visual experience is more convincing than the raw numbers alone might suggest. That said, in more demanding areas like Phantom Liberty, frame drops still happen from time to time, so it’s not flawless under all conditions. It feels more like a beautiful gamble made by pushing the hardware as hard as it can go.

As for the game itself, what moved me most about this update isn’t just that it’s “clearer” or “brighter,” but that the spaces finally feel like they can breathe. The reflections on glass, the sense of volume in the shadows, the damp yet razor-sharp transitions between street lights—all of it makes you more willing to slow down. There was a time when many people saw Cyberpunk 2077 as a disastrous wreck, but now it can be discussed on PS5 Pro as a benchmark for console visuals. That contrast itself feels like an asphalt road after a night of rain: the mess is still there, but it has started to shine.

Beyond the visuals, though, this update also gives players with different tastes clearer options. If you’re like me—willing to trade a bit of smoothness for night views, reflections, and that essential cyberpunk atmosphere—then “Ray Tracing Pro” is the obvious first choice. If you care more about stable combat responsiveness, Performance Mode turns off ray tracing entirely and targets a steady 60 FPS, making it the safer bet. In between, there’s also a “Ray Tracing Mode” as a compromise: it enables only shadows and glass reflections, with frame rates close to 60, though fluctuations still remain.

My buying and play-experience advice is simple: if you already have a PS5 Pro and have been wanting to return to Night City to finish—or revisit—that journey, now is a very good time; especially if you naturally enjoy wandering the streets, taking photos, and watching the city glow, rather than focusing only on combat stats. But if you’re especially sensitive to frame-rate fluctuations, then just stick with Performance Mode and don’t force yourself to pay for the lighting. After all, truly great visuals shouldn’t just be a victory on a spec sheet—they should be the kind that make you look up from a street corner and suddenly not want to leave.