The DLSS 5 memes are in full swing, so here are the ones that tickled me the most

During the Nvidia GTC keynote, company CEO Jensen Huang reiterated the company’s commitment to gaming, stating that “This is the house that GeForce made.” However, the company is still full steam ahead on AI, leveraging the tech to “revolutionise how graphics are made” in the form of DLSS 5.

We got our first look at the tech last night, and the response has been mixed to say the least. Resident Evil Requiem was one game used to showcase the upscaling tech, and while I personally don’t mind seeing Leon S. Kennedy with even more scruff, the tech makes Grace Ashcroft look like a totally different person, with distinctly higher cheekbones and fuller lips. Nvidia has said devs will retain ‘artistic control’ with this tech but, in the case of Grace, it’s hard not to feel like DLSS 5 has daubed her with AI beauty standards.

It’s such a dramatic shift that plenty of PC gamers have been poking fun at DLSS 5, dismissing it as akin to a ‘yassification filter’. Case in terrifying point, I stumbled across this Bluesky post that yassifies Requiem’s stalker enemy, The Girl. Now that I’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it either—you’re welcome.

Elsewhere online, the memes have been similarly on point. In a similar vein to that downright haunting take on The Girl, developer Neal Agarwal reimagined The Password Game with a distinctly fleshy twist.

After that, I think you’ve earned a palette cleanser. Among Us developer Innersloth was quick to playfully imagine what DLSS 5 could do with its game. Similarly, the official Cult of the Lamb X account also had fun reimagining the game’s similarly cartoon-y art style.

Meanwhile over on Reddit, r/PCMasterRace is perhaps predictably having a whale of a time dunking on DLSS 5. Besides a look-in from Handsome Squidward, an unfavourable comparison to Sonic the Hedgehog’s original movie design, and even a throwback to Ecce Mono, the community turned their gaze to r/Nvidia. Alleging mods were deleting comments en masse, Redditors seized on yet another obvious DLSS 5 punchline.

Thanks Nvidia from r/pcmasterrace

Now, the case could be made that the tech’s genuine improvement to environmental lighting is getting lost among all the memes. Furthermore, leveraging AI to get more out of older hardware, especially in the midst of a memory supply crisis that has made PC components even more expensive, is no small thing either.

To be fair to the tech, DLSS 5 arguably had a better showing in EA Sports FC—where the character models are even more closely based on real people in the form of recognisable sports persona. Unfortunately, the tech’s implementation of photorealism in Starfield did not play well with that game’s stiff conversation animations, creating a downright uncanny effect in my humble opinion.

DLSS 4’s multi-frame generation felt like a genuine game-changer. DLSS 5 is attempting to change the game again, but so far that’s looking far more literal than many would like. Here’s hoping the implementation will be refined over the coming months, and I’ll recognise Grace Ashcroft next time she stumbles over her own feet.