Video: RiME Is An Example Of How Not To Port A Game To Switch

Well, at least it will be a Lesson for other 3rd party developers to maximize their game performances before portibg to Nintendo Switch.
I appreciate their efforts to port RiME for Nintendo Switch, but i think they need to learn how to porting the games Perfectly.

Is there like achievements in this game or something, because I think these were the devs that leaked something like that if I remember correctly.

What a shame. I personally wasn't hyped for this game, but I know a lot of people were so it's a shame it really under-delivered.

The game doesn't run well on Switch and the main character runs a bit like Phoebe from Friends.

They should have perhaps got some external help. I, also, don't get how the file size is nearly double that of XB1 for a lesser version.

Edit: Here's a comparison video of the game on Switch v PS4.

RiME - Switch vs. PS4 - Visual Comparison Video (Direct-Feed Footage)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8l8F8eMhV4

The differences are dramatic and very pronounced. I thought this was a game that would look nearly identical to the other versions. It most certainly doesn't.

Is this something that can be potentially fixed in a future update? Or is it basically always going to be bad?

Will pick it up for the Xbox. This is dissappointing.

This is such a shame... I really thought Rime would be a special experience, one of those games that stays with you for ages after you played... Oh well, there are loads of other games to choose from...

Hopefully a patch will come out soon, strange it took this long to come out though ...

Very disappointing. :-/

insert kneejerk reaction about how terrible the Switch is

But seriously , it seems like this game had technical issues across all platforms. It dipped below 30fps even on PS4(ouch).

@Nygiantz17 Considering this is already the prolonged version of the game..........

Sounds like this game needed a lot more time in development for optimisation across the board. Shame as it looked promising.

@KIREEK it already runs bad on xbox one, so the badly performing switch version is no surprise to me

This time the Nintendo related content was not so lovely

Maybe they'll bring out a patch later on. Shouldn't the final score be held until then? Or is that just for big budget games?

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Maybe because it's ported and they left a bunch of the original source code in the game? It's outsourced after all, and maybe Tantalus didn't want to mess with the original material too much. Get it ''running'' on Switch and done; no optimising. That would be my best guess.

Well, here's hoping for a Director's Cut version somewhere in 2018. I hope an additional year of error-patching and optimizing will be enough...

As for the file size riddle, that's easy: the Switch version contains around 3GB of frame rate inhibitors and a whole bunch of highly ambitious anti-alias filters with N64-like textures, to spark some extra nostalgia in all those Nintendo-loving hearts...

Sad. Lost a sale on me. DOOM is making them look bad. Lol

This is too bad. Hopefully a patch will come soon!

Just because you can doesn't mean that you should. I wasn't really looking forward to the game but this basically the last straw. Oh well. I do love me some Doom though that game is a fun time...even with it's 600p resolution.

@N8tiveT3ch Ya, Alex made the mistake of saying that DOOM runs at 720p in the video.

I can see why Sony dropped this during development, for it to run that poorly on all platforms suggests issues with the engine, it's not like it looks visually demanding

This game is really poorly optimized!! I bought the PC version two weeks ago. I can play Wolfenstein II at 1440p, completely maxed out and achieve 90 fps and up, yet this game stutters at 1080p even with the settings turned to medium. Maybe in time with a couple of patches and driver updates, but I'm not holding my breath. Look at how silky smooth Mario Odyssey is running and that game looks better too.

Yeah, I’m hoping for a patch. The game looked like it would be a great experience.

Meh..

Going back to Doom!

once again a reviewer comparing a game to a god dam 4k hd system port of the game

What a shame. Those falls in the frame rate in docked mode are terrible, and the bluriness of portable mode is definitively under 720p.
It would be interesting to learn what kind of development he’ll the game went through to have so many problems with optimization.

At the end, I’ll pass. There are too many good games out to play over Rime.

Wow- wasn’t it delayed a few times purposely with the concept of bringing up to maximum performance on Switch?? Sounds like a patch is needed and quickly!!

Holy crap that's awful. I can deal with a 30fps game, but when you stutter often down into the single digits in a game that makes the detail level of a game like Wind Waker look as detailed as Skyrim in being alive and fluid you've gone and screwed up hard core. Clearly it's not a Switch problem, it's a developers poorly made engine problem. Every release of the game looking into it is bad except if you have some really truly solid PC parts and keep it as a reasonable 720 or 1080p level. PS4 has problems, the One has a few more problems, but the Switch runs like arse and the remove a lot of the secondary details?! Why?! Clearly the engine is so poorly made it scales badly and has code bugs all over the place since it's not an isolated problem.

I've pulled up my amazon queue and i'm just mulling clicking the cancel button. I'd rather pay 50% or better (fall sale) on GoG and get something that looks and runs not like hot garbage like all console/handheld versions are.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Yea, i think it runs at 600p

Received my RiME retail copy last Saturday... handheld mode just horrendous... docked mode it’s still acceptable but it’s not helping jumping right in after Mario Odyssey. Hopefully future patch will optimized the handheld mode... finger crossed

@Anti-Matter *porting
Anyways besides that.This is really disappointing to see.(I probably still wouldn't play rime even if it was close to Xbox one..)
It really puts a bad images on switch.

This was quite a disappointment. I was really looking forward to trying out this game but this video convinced me my time and money are better spent elsewhere. I can only hope for a substantial patch to rectify the problems, but I’m not exactly optimistic about that happening.

@yeayeanaynay That's my rationalization along with Doom, Mario, and Axiom Verge. Might as well buy stuff where the developers aren't incompetent and run right.

So why give it a six in its current form that makes no sense.

It wouldn't suprise me if they decided to push out RiME in a poor state because they were running out of money. That way they can claw back some cash to pay for the development of a patch.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Alex DIDN'T make the mistake of saying that DOOM runs at 720p in the video because it simply does run at 720p in a dynamic resolution fashion.

I'd be interested to hear what the developers have to say about this... they must be aware of the performance issues, so they'll likely have something to say about it, and they could have a fix in the works (perhaps a day one update).

Do yourselves a favor people... buy DOOM instead. Show Bethesda some love for a port done right and, just to play one of the best games to hit Switch all year (yes, it's up there with Zelda and Mario). Nice single player focused game, even multiplayer has bots... we Nintendo fans like our single player games.

@DefenderOfFire
Uh, Xbox One is not a 4K system. In fact, a lot of games only hit 900p on Xbox One. RIME would be no more than 1080p on X1. Tops.

Yes, it's more powerful, but the whole point is to get a baseline. The fact the game is in an unplayable state, even with double the file size, half the resolution at 720p docked and goodness knows how low a resolution in handheld, even with assets chopped out... it still runs worse... it's unacceptable.

You don't have to compare this game to anything to make that conclusion.

Poor animation, stuttering frame rate, and sub-par resolution ... it sounds like an accurate port to me

I don't know what's more disappointing that RiME on Switch runs so bad or that Alex chose Xbox over PS 😜

Oh well, back to DOOM.

It's just a shame. I was really looking forward to playing this. I'm very disappointed.
I hope the devs release a patch to fix all the problems, but somehow I'm not very optimistic about it...

I'm actually taking a computer graphics course at university right now and this problem is intriguing to me. My best guess would be that the game engine used in Rime is trying to load and update too many assets at once per frame, and so the frame rate is slowed to a crawl. As we know, the Switch hardware is powerful yet inferior to that of the PS4 and XBone, so trying to get the same or similar amount of assets rendered through the graphics pipeline on less powerful hardware is probably the main reason why the performance is so bad on the Switch. Seems like the devs need to tweak the engine they've made for it to run any better.

Just gotta say this. I clicked an article talking about how Rime is not a good port for the Switch...and the ad at the top is for Rime.

disappointing

I'm kind of glad this got delayed so much that i never bought it sad times

Inexcusable as this game’s performance is, I can only imagine the absurd filesize is a desperate attempt to squeeze some performance boost from the mess of an engine by using uncompressed or less-compressed assets compared to other versions. Less cycles spent unpacking stuff could theoretically free up some amount of resources (for all the good it did them), as long as data bandwidth isn’t the bottleneck.

Clear example of incompetence. They couldn't even make it run properly on PC, XBOne and PS4.

So why would anyone be surprised it both looks and runs like crap on the Switch.

I agree with earlier poster! You better off support to developers like Bethesda who actually put in a lot of effort to porting games.
Can't wait to play Skyrim on Switch in handheld mode

I was very interested in RIME. My interest is now the polar opposite.

Maybe I'll purchase a "definitive edition" on Steam in a few years for €5 or less.

I was kind of disappointed to see the grass not moving on Switch. I mean, surely it's to be expected, but I typically love watching the ground sway and bob. Makes it feel more alive.

Don't sweat it... Even when it runs well (PS4) it's just not a great game. It looks like Team ICO quality, but once you play it, you realize it's a far cry from that.

COMPLETELY UNPLAYABLE on the Switch. DO NOT BUY until a major patch is released to address the abysmal frame rates and stuttering issues. So disappointing, had been looking forward to this game on the Switch for months. The developer released a statement acknowledging frame rate issues in TV mode but claimed the gameplay is fine in handheld mode. This is total BS. Even in handheld mode this is the worst performing Switch game I have seen, by a factor of 10. So bad that after attempting to play it for less than an hour I called Nintendo eShop support and demanded a refund.

Tequila Works, if you are listening, I will gladly re-purchase Rime once you release a patch that remedies the atrocious stuttering and makes the game playable in both TV and handheld mode. In the future, if you can't deliver a game to the Switch platform that performs acceptably in both modes, do everyone a favor and just don't bother.