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The story
Overseas gaming outlet Shacknews published a hands-on review of the Switch 2 version of “Stellar Blade.” While elements on par with the PS5 version — such as the physics simulation on the character’s hair — have been preserved, the review points out that the resolution is low, the upscaler can’t keep up, and the result is a noticeably blocky image. In battle scenes especially, the game struggles to keep pace, and in handheld mode the roughness is even more pronounced due to the characteristics of the Switch 2’s LCD screen. On 5ch’s hardware/industry board, the report sparked debate over the validity of the optimization method and comparisons of sales figures with other platforms.
The Switch 2 version of “Stellar Blade” is, on paper, an impressive technical feat — but it comes with a big cost.
It’s commendable that it retains all the physics simulation found in other versions of the game, like Eve’s hair swaying and bouncing as she runs. However, it’s clearly running at a very low resolution, and the upscaler can’t keep up.
The result is a noticeably blocky, pixelated, unsightly mess. But it’s in the combat scenes where the whole experience really falls apart. The game moves far faster than its rendering pipeline can handle, so while it’s playable, the quality of the experience is significantly degraded — especially in handheld mode, where the Switch 2’s relatively cheap LCD screen makes the image quality even worse.
Source: shacknews.com / Read the original article here
What people said
the least noticeable flaw was the latency. I don't know if the game
was tuned to reduce latency, or if ShiftUp really did 'optimize the rendering pipeline,'
but I was able to land parries pretty much exactly when I wanted to.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/150613/stellar-blade-on-switch-2-is-a-notionally-impressive-technical-feat-but-it-comes-with-a-big-cost?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
No lag issues?? Switch 2 is insane lmaooo
Sounds like the latency's actually fine?
Sounds like they sacrificed everything except the parry timing.
A desperate measure, but maybe they figured leaning into one strength beats a half-assed port across the board?
If this is true, I really want to know how they pulled it off!
Though it's not just applicable to Switch 2 — it could apply to PS5 too (and definitely with even better performance there), so lol the gap might just widen even more
Yeah, it had a timed exclusive that didn't sell great, then it blew up on Steam and PlayStation fanboys were furious about it.
Isn't 'furious' a word that started getting used with Korean MMOs?
Well, it's different from something a big-name publisher hyped up under its own brand.
I've never actually seen posts of PS fanboys being angry.
It was From Software and NieR fans running wild spreading rumors in threads and raiding streams.
Saw one guy get comment-banned — the funny part was he threw in a 500 yen donation when he came back.
The PS5 version sold 2 million copies.
Also, most of the Steam sales are from China.
There's never been a single multiplatform title where the PS5 version outsold it once you count digital sales lol
Steam's easily cleared 3 million, so that's just not happening.
PS5 is estimated to be under 1 million,
so there's at least some chance of it beating PS5.
Guess it really was too much of a stretch.
If it actually worked well, a company like Capcom would've already done it by now.
Doesn't look too bad, honestly
I'm watching this on a small 1080p PC monitor, so I can't make out any noticeable block noise or whatever — even fullscreen, I have zero complaints (at most I notice the resolution dip a bit when effects pile up and things move fast).
For anyone with like a 4K 50-inch monitor, what's it look like if you set playback to 2160p60fps? Does the block noise actually stand out that much?
Nah, it's bad.
Eve's hair looks really messy.
Still impressive that you can play this on a handheld at all.
That's the classic Japanese-publisher move lol
That video's probably docked mode.
From a quick read, this article seems to be talking about handheld mode.
If it's fine in TV mode, it should be fine in handheld mode too.
That's just how Switch hardware works.
If anything, handheld mode often ends up looking relatively better.
How about comparing it to From Software games?
For some reason From's games have bits that resemble this here and there.
back when this game came out on PS5, capture software couldn't even keep up during streams — action RPG streamers who'd never had lag or freezing issues before suddenly ran into them for the first time.
That's why some streamers lowered their stream quality, or pushed through anyway and ended up with noise or choppy frame rates.
That noise is from the capture card or the streaming platform, though…
Isn't Re: #1 about impressions from an actual hands-on with the hardware?
Combining DLSS and FSR was already tested ages ago as a PC hobbyist gimmick.
Obviously it causes latency and visual breakdown — the final answer on that was already settled: don't do it.
But nobody's settled the question of what happens if a publisher leverages a console's fixed-spec advantage and builds a dedicated, heavily optimized version of that same combination from the ground up.
This game is the answer, isn't it.
Where's that confidence even coming from, right after tanking Elden Ring, which sold 30 million copies?
27,000/30,000
Phones can't handle complex movement like this, though.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
“Stellar Blade” originally launched as a PS5 exclusive before later getting a PC (Steam) release, and this Switch 2 port is an extension of that trajectory. The thread’s main point of contention was the legitimacy of the optimization method Shacknews reported — said to combine DLSS and FSR frame generation. Some argued a similar combination has long been tested on PC and deemed impractical due to latency and visual breakdown issues, while others suggested results could differ if a publisher built it specifically for dedicated hardware. The original article particularly flags the drop in image quality in handheld mode, which may be influenced by the characteristics of the Switch 2’s budget LCD screen — a different condition from docked mode. Many of the thread’s replies about sales figures were unsourced speculation, so all the numbers should be read as unconfirmed.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Sad News] Overseas media: ‘The Switch 2 version of Stellar Blade is in an unsightly state. Something of an oddity’“.
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