Topic: bloodstained: ritual of the night

S.O. is really excited to get the game. Though after reading through all the Switch impressions, I suggested he get it on PC or one of the other consoles. Hoping they can iron out some of the Switch issues though because I would like to have it portable at one point in the future. Overall I'm just glad the game is considered to be well-made and worth the wait

Wonder when NL will review it so we can all see how it turns out for the switch version. I had it preordered twice actually and canceled both times. I should clear up some backlog games first. But it would be nice to know what NL says.

@NintendoByNature I think the inevitable DF video will be more illuminating for you.

Which one is DF? Sorry for my ignorance!

Lols, just got killed by Snake.... (you know who) Can I call that a bug or a glitch or something?

@NintendoByNature Digital Foundry. They'll give the low-down on the technical shortcomings of the various versions of the game in a video.

I'll dive in deeper after work today and see how it fares.

Complaints I've heard are: crashes, frame drops, lag and visuals.

The visuals I can sort of agree on. Doesnt look the best docked. Kinda meh. It's ok I guess. Handheld does look pretty great. To me at least. Nice and sharp.

All I can say is, the other issues haven't reared their head yet. If they do, I'll be sure to update.

BEST BUY ONLINE still has the steel game case for free and they will price match Amazon's price of $32.84. You CAN'T get it in store and get the steel game case. Although you can have your online order shipped to the store and pick it up. Also to price match on Best Buy Online you need to call customer support with the order number and be the one or say you are the one on the account. It only took me about 8 minutes to do this.

Edit: I ended up selling the Best Buy steel case and the game for a $18 dollar profit.

@JaxonH Personally, I only REALLY care about a third-party Switch game's handheld performance, as the portability is generally the only reason I'd opt for the Switch version vs other ones.

Anyway, we've had so many cases now where people initially claimed the Switch port of a game was an unplayable mess, only for that... not to be true... that I can't help but to be skeptical.

@Ralizah Unfortunately (for me) the issues are immediately noticeable in gameplay videos. I am extremely sensitive to frame rate drops though. I can handle visuals being degraded, even dynamic resolution drops, but with all the visual downgrades, aggressive dynamic resolution, I expect relatively smooth performance. The trade offs are just to great for me. I purchased on Steam this morning, and just need to decide if I keep my switch copy sealed for my collection, or return to Amazon. It's a great game so far, just disappointing that the Switch port is in such rough shape at the moment.

@Ralizah
Oh me too. I've played games others claimed was "unplayable" and barely noticed a hitch. Hyperbole and overreaction are common within the gaming community, and bandwagoning complaints to that effect just exacerbate the issue to the point I can't trust anything I hear.

That's not to say people are necessarily wrong. But I judge based on what I see for myself. And so far it's pretty decent. That could change, the game could start crashing, I may start having issues, etc. But I'm not going to complain about something I have yet to experience.

@CanisWolfred I've never been good with boss battle patterns like that, though I can say I was much better back in the 80's when I was doing it daily rather than as a rarer curiosity.

@JaxonH Sensible from a business perspective/publishing/numbers game perspective. PS4 has >80M consoles in the wild at this point. Even as I Switch fan, I wouldn't bet my money on Switch as the lead for anything but a Japan-centric game, let alone for a "franchise" (in spirit of) from the producer of, a Playstation-only (at launch) subseries of games. Obviously a lot of us know a 2.5D platformer with legendary NES connections to it's spiritual series will do great on Switch, but for "Spiritual successor to SotN" nobody can be faulted for assuming the base is on the 80M strong PS.

@PCkid Yeah, I mean, it's a 2.5D UE game. There's really no reason this can't run 1080p settings maxed on Switch. The engine can handle it. The hardware can handle it. This is definitely a case of poor optimization. I'm not saying only the Switch port is poorly optimized, rather the whole game is poorly optimized and other platforms can just brute force it using enough power to run Crysis.

@Ralizah I'll check it when it drops. Thanks

@JaxonH Like you said, "I'm not saying you are wrong" but I also judge on my experience - and there's been far too many times where people say they don't notice or see any issues, but they truly are borderline unplayable for me. Perhaps it's because I come from a predominately PC gaming background, or perhaps I am just hyper sensitive to frame rates, but that's one thing I can't stand. I'll accept visual downgrades, resolution drops (Though, that is less preferred), but I inconsistent frame rates are really hard for me to overcome. In an ideal world, everything would be 60 FPS at a minimum for me, but I've learned to tolerate 30 FPS. While I find 30 FPS a little distracting, the real problem is when frame rates are inconsistent, whether targeting 30 or 60 FPS, as it is very jarring to me and impossible to ignore.

@roadrunner343 In general, if you're that sensitive to performance deficits, it's probably advisable to play your third party games on the most powerful hardware you own. The Switch version of something is almost never going to be the one that performs best. It's the portable version. That means a lot more to some people than it does to others, ultimately.

@JaxonH I mean, Mario + Rabbids was subnative when undocked and crashed on me three times or so in the final mission, but it's still one of my favorite games on the system. Games crash sometimes. Moreso on the PS4 than any other platform I've ever owned, but it's generally not the end of the world if it doesn't happen too often. And that sort of thing is generally helped out by patches over time.

The footage I've seen has looked fine, so the only thing I'm at all concerned about is any sort of input lag. And there seems to be no clear consensus on that front.

@Ralizah Which is ultimately what I will do here. However, I think you are being far too lenient to simply accept sub 30 FPS performance for a game of this nature. In general, the Switch is just fine for me. It's hands down my favorite place to play most games. So while I do still resort to my PC for certain titles, I don't think that should excuse shoddy performance on the Switch. Again, I fully understand compromises will be made. I don't expect it to look like the PC/PS4 versions, but I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a consistent 30 FPS with reasonable input lag.

EDIT: Sorry, my wording was poor here. I don't mind if you accept the Switch's performance. Ultimately, I hope everyone plays the game wherever they enjoy it most, as I'm having a fantastic time so far. What I should have said, was I think you are being too lenient if you excuse the Switch's performance. Whether you choose to accept it is up to you =)

Certainly not noticed any input lag, @Ralizah .... Still no crashes with it &, as you say, plenty of games do that, particularly when you're playing them for long periods

@roadrunner343 Oh, don't worry, I'm not offended or anything. The footage I've seen hasn't looked too rough framerate-wise. If performance dips too low, though, I WILL have issues. Gal Gun: Double Peace on the Vita, for example, was practically a slide show, so I skipped it, even though I really wanted it on a portable. Same goes for Nights of Azure 2's Switch port, which, again, has bad enough framerate issues that I refuse to purchase it.

Ys VIII on Switch was an interesting case. 90% of the game performed fine for me, but the dungeons designed for the PS4 version dipped ridiculously low in terms of the frame-rate, which ultimately led to me selling that version of the game, despite having a ton of fun with it.

The framerate is also why I ended up going for DOOM on Steam over Switch.

So, rest assured, I do have standards. I think they're just different from other peoples' because I think of the Switch more like a handheld than I do a home console.

@Ralizah We'll blame my hyper sensitivity to frame rate then =) I noticed frame dips in the opening sequence on the galleon when there was little other action, which is what swayed me to pick it up on Steam. Like you, I view the Switch as a handheld, and play it 90% handheld. It's unlikely you'll find a bigger handheld fan than me. I wish I could upload an image of my handheld collection XD - I would love to play this handheld, but in the end, it just wasn't worth it to me.

I guess the important thing I'd like to stress, is that I do love this game so far. So if anyone does have doubts or concerns about performance, play it elsewhere if needed, but just play it.

No, I mean, you just had to sit on the platform furthest back and only run forward to avoid the last fireball that lands there. It was meant to be a tutorially boss, and I guess you overthought it.