Bloodstained – Still ironing out issues

Bloodstained – Still ironing out issues

Fans got to finally enjoy Igarashi’s new masterpiece, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, but it was evident that the Nintendo Switch port was suffering from problems.

The wait for a patch to fix these issues has been long and hard for many fans, which seems to have prompted its developers to post a much-needed update on the situation.

Various Kickstarter updates

505 Games elaborated on where their fixes for the Nintendo Switch version currently stood. Essentially, they are now adjusting the game’s graphics to minimize the processing burden on the Nintendo Switch hardware – which should hopefully improve the framerate.

Unfortunately, 505 Games still could not promise a specific release date for this update, and implored fans to wait a little longer.

Hey, everyone.

As mentioned in the last update, the bulk of  our development resources are still being put into the major Switch update. We don’t have an ETA to share with you on the full revamp, but we are on track to deliver on our internal dates.

One of the things the team is doing now is going through the game and identifying visual effects that are slowing things down. Where possible, we have optimized or replaced effects with ones that aren’t as impactful, but visually look the same.

Once the revamp is made public, you’ll see effects that are more clear and won’t drag down the framerate. We have a lot more of these kind of improvements in progress, with tons of work being done on input delay, stability, and more, but we felt that it was important to give you an idea of what’s being worked on. 

While slightly disappointing, it’s good to see 505 Games be this transparent about the situation so far.

But there was a new update in between that; In the latest update the team apologizes for the delay, stating that a lot of work has been put into redoing assets and areas to make them run well on the Nintendo Switch.

The promised “multiple” smaller bugfix updates have now been merged into two major releases focusing on four areas: reducing input lag, replacing current particle effects with ones that are less strenuous to display, improving load times, and upgrading the visual fidelity.

Both updates are planned for a release at the end of November.

Kickstarter update 98

We are pleased with the progress that has been made so far and look forward to getting it into your hands. While the teams are working on an extensive list of myriad improvements, their focus is on four principal areas: Visual Fidelity, Loading Times, Particle Effects and Input Lag.

Visual Fidelity – The way that backgrounds and environments are rendered are being significantly updated. This will result in noticeably sharper environments in most areas throughout the game.

  • Loading Times – Load times between scenes are being greatly improved, but are still not where we would like them to be, so work remains.
  • Particle Effects – We have already replaced hundreds of particle effects with new assets and more yet remain. The new ones look the same to the user, but are much less impactful on the performance of the game. This has been one of the main culprits for framerate drops during fights.
  • Input Lag – Input lag times have been significantly reduced, once work on this is completed the game should feel much more reactive when playing.

The improvements are expected to be released in two separate updates. The first update will contain the vast majority of the improvements. The second update will improve performance with a couple of especially troublesome areas and enemies.

It just seems like this cycle is dragging on and on. And that in itself is an issue for sure. It’s great to see the team care about correcting the issues but it does beg the question, why was the Nintendo Switch port rushed?

Have you played Bloodstained – Ritual of the Night on the Nintendo Switch and how do you feel about the situation?