Nvidia’s DLSS 5 is going viral for all the wrong reasons — here are the 5 most controversial examples of the ‘AI-powered breakthrough’ in action

• Nvidia has previewed its DLSS 5 technology
• The 'real-time neural rendering model' reworks lighting and adds realism
• But many gamers aren’t happy with the sometimes questionable results

Nvidia’s artificial intelligence (AI) gaming tools – including DLSS upscaling and its own frame-generation tech – have largely received a cautiously positive response from gamers, despite being occasionally divisive.

While early criticism centered on “fake frames” and other AI-related blowback, that’s started to give way as the tech has developed and gamers’ experiences have improved with it. But with the launch of DLSS 5, Nvidia might have undone some of that hard work, and gamers are not happy.

If you missed the news, Nvidia announced that DLSS 5 brings a "real-time neural rendering model that infuses pixels with photoreal lighting and materials". In other words, it uses AI to improve lighting and realism — and that hasn't gone down well with many gamers, who've picked out examples where the results are, at best, questionable.

Here, we’ve put together five of the clunkiest examples of “DLSS 5 off / DLSS 5 on” going wrong, from blown-out environments to faces that look through they’ve been passed through the Instagram filter from hell. They show that DLSS 5 sometimes might not be an “AI-powered breakthrough” that goes down well with everyone.

1. “Yassified, looks-maxed freaks”

weird that this impressive lighting tech also randomly turns everyone into yassified, looks-maxed freaks. it's like all this technology can't help itself but sexualize everything it touches. but like, through the lens of teenage boys. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zlw...

— @dannyodwyer.bsky.social (@dannyodwyer.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-03-17T16:12:23.132Z

While many people have been sharing examples of DLSS 5 messing with character faces in their own gameplay moments, one of the most strident examples actually comes from Nvidia itself. In the company’s official DLSS 5 press release, Nvidia pointed to its effect on Grace Ashcroft, the main character in Resident Evil Requiem.

However, not everyone was impressed. Writing on Bluesky, for example, documentarian Danny O’Dwyer pointed to this illustration and said that DLSS 5 “randomly turns everyone into yassified, looks-maxed freaks. It’s like all this technology can’t help itself but sexualize everything it touches. But like, through the lens of teenage boys.” Ouch.

2. Virgil van who?

Even Van Dijk isn't safe from NVIDIA's DLSS5 filter. from r/LiverpoolFC

When you play a sports series like EA Sports FC, part of the draw is the realistic renderings of all your favorite players. But with DLSS 5 mangling character appearances to an unprecedented degree, that’s already at risk.

As user Lynchead showed on the Liverpool FC subreddit, Virgil van Dijk – current Liverpool captain and one of the Premier League’s best-known players – has been put through the ringer by DLSS 5, leaving his in-game visage completely unrecognizable compared to his real-life counterpart. Given the level of detail in EA Sports FC games, the transformation is shocking.

3. Aging up characters

Everyone's all-in on the RE9 Grace one for good reason, but I can't get over the Hogwarts Legacy one. Not a game I care about, but here we have a less-detailed model that passes for a 15-year-old schoolkid (the character's age!), where the DLSS5 model detail-stuffs them to look a decade+ older

— @apzonerunner.com (@apzonerunner.com.bsky.social) 2026-03-17T16:12:23.094Z

Not only does DLSS 5 risk bulldozing over the realistic appearances created by game developers, but it could straight-up contradict key story elements that are conveyed through graphics.

That can be seen in Hogwarts Legacy, as an example posted by video game critic Alex Donaldson shows. There, the face of a 15-year-old student has been given a much more detailed look, but the effect has been to increase their apparent age by such an extent that they look like a much older adult when using DLSS 5.

As Donaldson said, DLSS 5 “detail-stuffs them to look a decade+ older.” That contradiction with the in-game lore could be confusing for anyone playing the game.

4. Stripping depth and warmth from environments

Another terrible aspect of DLSS5 few people talk about from r/digitalfoundry

Not every critic had character faces in their sights. Over on Reddit, user Mediocre-Sundom noted what they described as “another terrible aspect” of DLSS 5: environmental lighting.

“The depth, the contrast, the warmth of the lighting — all of it is gone,” they lamented after posting a couple of examples. And this isn’t just a one-off, in their opinion: “The same can be seen pretty much in every other scene where DLSS 5 impact on the environment is demonstrated. It’s way, waaaay worse in every single example,” they said.

5. Overworked HDR comes to video games

We all know DLSS 5 is really horrendous with faces, and this whole shitshow is not for no reason. But what are your impressions on environmental lightning? from r/digitalfoundry

Another instance of DLSS 5’s impact on environmental lighting was demonstrated by Filianore_ on Reddit, who posted screenshots from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. There, DLSS 5 has made the surroundings much brighter compared to the original image, creating a forced, unnatural look.

As pointed out in the comments, the result is reminiscent of overly enthusiastic HDR effects that are sometimes applied to photographs. The DLSS 5 version looks so over-processed as to become almost unreal; while the original was not perfect, it at least had a more believable feel to it.

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