Ever since Hollow Knight, or maybe even since Steamworld Dig 2, I’ve been inhaling Metroidvanias on the Switch. Something about Nintendo’s little handheld–which is how I play all these games–just seem perfect for side-scrolling exploration, bopping around little vibrant worlds on the couch or in the chair in my office. Which is why I immediately assumed I would be playing Bloodstained: Ritual of the Knight on there too, and I started to do just that yesterday. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the best plan. Bloodstained is not well optimized for the Switch, and it’s looking like I’ll move this thing to PS4.
Plenty of users are reporting muddy graphics, low framerates, freezes, downgraded effects and other, stranger technical problems all over the Switch version of the new game. The developer acknowledged the problems on Twitter, saying that it would be shifting resources to optimize the Switch version of the game.
We have been listening to the feedback regarding Switch performance. Our goal is for everyone, regardless of platform, to be able to enjoy the game and have it run smoothly. We want to live up to your, and our, expectations.
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— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) June 25, 2019
Throughout the QA process we have been addressing performance issues in the game. Update 1.01 was published to Switch prior to launch to add content and improve performance. It did not accomplish as much as we had hoped and we need to do more.
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— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) June 25, 2019
To address the concerns brought by the community we are immediately shifting resources to improve performance and stability for the Switch. You can expect a number of small updates that will improve different areas of the game rather than waiting longer for one big update.
1of4— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) June 25, 2019
We will have more details as we dive into the work.
We thank you for your patience and apologize for the inconvenience
4 of 4— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) June 25, 2019
Hopefully, that makes things run a little better, but I worry that the little machine just won’t be able to handle the sort of crisp graphics that make this a much nicer looking game on other platforms.
Lower performance on the Switch version of multiplatform games is not a new thing. I remember being excited to boot up Rime on my new little machine, thinking that the vibrant Zelda-like would be perfect for the Nintendo console. Unfortunately, the performance made that fairly impossible to do. Other big games like DOOM obviously don’t run as well or look as good on the Switch, but then again the fact that they run at all is something of a marvel.
I’m disappointed that the Switch didn’t get more development focus this time around. I don’t think I’m alone in preferring my side-scrollers on the Switch, and I imagine a lot of multiplatform gamers were planning on picking this game up on Nintendo’s platform. I’ll get to playing on PS4 now, but it’s a little disappointing I won’t be doing that at the gym.
