Games that already have a next-gen patch released include Borderlands 3, Sea of Thieves, Ghost of Tsushima, No Man's Sky and Marvel's Spider-Man, among others. While most of these games simply add the functionality of running at 60fps and 4K resolution, some titles, like Gears 5, added new difficulty modes and character skins.

Two months after the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S and patient eyes are persistently watching patch notes and news updates of their favorite last-gen games. Recent releases like The Last of Us: Part II would benefit with an unlocked frame rate, but the game is still gorgeous no matter where it's played. The same can't be said for all last-gen games, however.

FromSoftware graced the world with its critically acclaimed and passionately loved Bloodborne back in 2015. Upon release, Bloodborne was praised for its stunning art direction filled with a mesmerizingly eerie atmosphere, intricate and monumental architecture and ominous map designs you can't help but keep exploring.

In 2021, Bloodborne is showing its age. Save for a bump in load times, playing on PS5 isn't all that much different than playing on a PS4. Everything we love about Bloodborne is still there, but as we've since moved on to crisper resolutions and smoother frame rates, the game stays locked in an age where its performance was once the high standard of the time but has now lost its shimmer.

Bloodborne isn't alone. Games like Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Last Guardian can benefit from a next-gen patch and give these games a second chance, as well. All these games look great already, but there's missed potential when working with machines significantly more powerful than the last-gen offerings.

The need for next-gen upgrades is particularly prominent with this particular generation as services like Microsoft’s excellent game streaming subscription offering Xbox Game Pass and Sony's recently-launched PlayStation Plus Collection give us more reason to give older games another go. Seeing Uncharted 4 and Batman: Arkham Knight in PlayStation's collection is wonderful, but I can't help but imagine how they'd look if they were properly unlocked for the new console. As the saying goes, what’s old is now new again.

Photo courtesy of Respawn Entertainment