Hogwarts Legacy Gets DLSS 5 Update with Enhanced Lighting and Materials in New Trailer

Nvidia has released a new video showcasing DLSS 5 in Hogwarts Legacy, demonstrating how its AI-enhanced lighting and materials model looks in-game. The effect is much more subtle compared to the images and clips that circulated after a leaked early version of DLSS 5 was modded into games. Previously, it resembled those 'yassification' filters that were popular for a week—smoothing characters over, oddly making some look about 30 years older, and generally warping the intended art style into something uncanny.

"On Thursday, November 5th, in collaboration with Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software, Hogwarts Legacy is updating the game to integrate DLSS 5 technology to enhance the lighting and materials, and use DLSS 5's model controls to boost environmental uplift while preserving character identity," Nvidia said.

According to the tech giant, DLSS 5 isn't just a switch to be flipped—developers have to fine-tune it and approve before release to achieve the desired effect. It's not just about characters' faces either. With the Neural Rendering option enabled, Nvidia claims shadows pop more, textures are upscaled, and reflections are sharper as the tech works in real-time to paint over the scene. You can see how it looks in Hogwarts Legacy in the video below.

Here's the official blurb from Nvidia:

DLSS 5 with 3D-Guided Neural Rendering will be available starting November 5th in Hogwarts Legacy for all GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs and laptops, RTX Spark PCs, and GeForce NOW Ultimate. With the Neural Rendering option enabled, detail and shadows in environments are enhanced, texture detail on characters is improved, shading and lighting is refined, and reflections are more vibrant.

With the addition of DLSS with 3D-Guided Neural Rendering to Hogwarts Legacy, our complete suite of DLSS technologies is now supported, enabling you to accelerate and enhance your experiences in the wizarding world.

For an optimal experience, we also recommend enabling DLSS Super Resolution under "Upscale Type," DLSS Multi Frame Generation under "Frame Generation," NVIDIA Reflex under "Low Latency Mode," and "DLSS Ray Reconstruction" if you're also activating Hogwarts Legacy's immersive ray-traced effects.

With DLSS 5 activated, Ray Reconstruction, 6X Multi Frame Generation, NVIDIA Reflex, and ray tracing enabled, the game runs at up to 300 FPS at 4K on the GeForce RTX 5090.

This month, DLSS 5 and its 3D-Guided Neural Rendering will be added to three new games: Hogwarts Legacy, War Thunder, and Where Winds Meet. Hogwarts Legacy will be upgraded to DLSS 5 on November 5, and War Thunder will upgrade later in mid-November. DLSS 5 will be available immediately for players on Where Winds Meet on launch on November 23.

DLSS 5 only works with GeForce RTX 50-Series GPUs and laptops, RTX Spark PCs, and GeForce NOW Ultimate, Nvidia's cloud streaming games service.