How's the performance on PC? Everyone's talking about how horrible it is, but they said the same thing for Hogwarts Legacy and that played just fine for me.

 

PCs are really difficult to optimize for. Depending on your build and specifications, it might work just fine.

However, I have a pretty decent Rig that consistently runs most modern games at 4K, 60fps and its still running poorly. Even at 1080p it still can't hit a consistent 40fps on the open world portions of the game, making exploration and wall running kind of unpleasant.

I also got a pretty bad audio bug that doesn't sync the voices to the actors during cutscenes.

So its on break for me until next month. Once I'm sure all the proper patches are out.

 

From the Digital Foundry review it seems to be heavily CPU limited while also underutilising CPU threads even on low settings. Plus a nice dose of Unreal engine shader compilation and traversal stutter like there was in the first game thrown in, which I remember drove me crazy playing that game. Even the console version looks like it would be pretty shitty judging by the pixelization FSR is creating on motion, compounded I'm sure by a healthy amount of dynamic resolution scaling.

Hopefully in the 6-12 months or whatever it takes to reach Game Pass they release some good patches to fix things like Gotham Knights (and so far not like Hogwarts Legacy where they're I guess desperately trying to get the game to work on a Switch), don't think I'll touch Jedi Survivor until then. Maybe someone will have also modded in DLSS/DLAA support or the deal AMD bribed EA with runs out and they add it themselves. Not sure I'm enjoying this generation of gaming so far, I'm just hoping Todd Howard is getting ready to reverse the memes while the rest of the industry is in shambles and drop a really technically solid and low bug experience when Starfield releases.

 

On PS5, the game actually looks pretty good. Definitely don't get any of the awful pixelization FSR does on PC.

Performance is not great though. It's generally acceptable, unlike on PC, but framerate is never what I would call good, and there's some severe slowdown in certain areas (most commonly around the base of waterfalls, since they decided they needed a fog effect for those areas).

All in all, the actual game is pretty good. It's a fun metroidvania-esque RPG, even if the combat is pretty lackluster. It's a complete technical mess though, with its only saving grace being that there isn't a lot in the way of bugs (only one I've encountered in like 8 hours of play was a workbench taking a long time to load once).

Starfield's gonna be a technical shitshow, with at least 3 game/progress breaking bugs found in the first 24 hours, and lots of general jank. BGS is fundamentally incapable of delivering anything else. The only upside to it is that it's not gonna be a PC port issue, but rather a game as a whole problem.

 

Nothing to say about Jedi Survivor, I just wanted to thank you for the laugh I got from the suggestion that Bethesda might have a technically solid release that's low on bugs.

 

I know, I know - it's probably a forlorn hope. But my hopes are largely resting on the potential of Microsoft funding a big QA push since its had the better part of a year post original release date and they really need a win at the moment. Plus Bethesda seeming to improve their polish under them is exactly what MS need after all the talk of all the other dev studios (like 343 Industries) under them going to shit. Looking forward to either bragging or being laughed at about this in September though.

Back on topic, it's good to hear the console version isn't completely messed up by FSR. I'm not familiar with how it's implemented on consoles, if it might just be on for performance mode or something (which I hear is a bit of a mess) but it would be frustrating to not have a choice about running an upscaling technology especially if it had artifacts like that. Do you get the shader compilation stutter or is that another PC exclusive feature?

 

I've not had any stutters, just (usually brief) periods of dropping down to like 12-15 fps for whatever reason.

As for performance vs quality mode, there is a toggle in the game, but as far as I can tell, all it does is change the resolution from 4k to 1440p. And to my eye at least, it didn't impact the performance of the game at all, so I turned it off again pretty quick.

 

So far, I think Survivor is a great game. It's not without annoyances, though. For example, they push using a game controller as being the best game experience, but there aren't enough buttons on a controller to map all the actions the game has.

And it's not without bugs, either. The pistol/blade stance straight up doesn't work if you've remapped the special attack action to a non-default button.

 

Definitely seeing the graphical jitters every so often on Performance. Trying to run Quality is a no go on PS5. I still don't understand why they can't just give us a hotfix option to turn off ray-tracing. Everything in space has to be shiny and reflective I guess?

Occasionally object assets will blink out of existence and then reappear. Companion characters, especially Bode, will occasionally freeze and run in place. Enemy grunts here and there are T-posed. That's about it for physical bugs that I'm seeing.

Hoping the next couple weeks yield more performance patches because I'm loving the actual game. Combat is so much smoother than the first game. I'm trying my damndest not to button mash on this playthrough. I want to be a parry expert by the time I start a Grand Master run.

I really wish the environment could be damaged or at least be susceptible to saber heat scar trails. Absolutely wacky watching your lightsaber sink into walls/floor/crates and just do nothing.

 

Spoiler

Finally finished the Jedha fight, and I KNEW Bode was a fucking spy, every dialogue he had made me think Imp but definitely did not expect him to be a Jedi/inquisitor. Also didnt expect the Cordova/Cere death, RIP. Cordova’s death is a little funny in the sense that I already assumed he was dead from FO and they bring him back just to get murked by Bode. Tough beat. I hope I didn’t miss too much dialogue from him lol, ran through a bunch right before the compass hand over.

Haven’t traveled to the new world yet, but I would find it very funny if Bode’s daughter doesn’t even exist.

Definitely a huge fan so far, 10/10 would recommend.

 

I've watched a few cutscenes mostly just so that I can participate in arguments with people on other forums. I highly doubt that my PC will be able to run it at an acceptable framerate, but all of the hype and discussion about Survivor has inspired me to go back to try and finish Fallen Order, which is a lot more fun than I remember it being.

 

Finally finished the main story.

Spoiler

RIP Bode; you died as you lived, a deranged idiot. Feel like the third game will see Kata as Cal’s padawan. Honestly was a little underwhelmed with Tanalorr the planet. Loved the ending of the game, but was hoping there would be more to the super cool hidden planet with a 200+ year old temple.

Have some more force echos of high republic Jedis. Have some high republic lore- even just sculptures and art wouldve been nice.

Minor griping aside, really loved this game. Excited to see what the final installment will take this story to.

 

Going back to content I skipped.

Fuck that Oggdo Boggdo in the raider camp. No way I'll be able to kill it on Master. I'm on attempt 30.

Jesus christ. I thought the Koboh Rancor was bad.

 

Finished this evening. The game has some annoying parts, but I still give it 10/10. I haven't enjoyed a game this much in a long time.

I absolutely can't wait until the final installment comes out in a couple years.

 

Run into a couple of bugs on the PS5 version (and not just the ones you can hit with a lightsaber). Nothing game-breaking, but occasionally having to restart the game because it freezes on the post death loading screen is a pain, and sooner or later I can see it costing me quite a bit of progression rather than the minute or so it has so far.

On the other hand, I've just got

Spoiler

some jedi robes and a kiss from Merrin

so basically game of the year, tbh.

 

Finished a second playthrough of the main story. Man, this game is fun.

 

Finished the main story the other night, with a few side quests and collectables to finish off. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I had a few quibbles. Playing on the PS5, I had a few minor but noticeable performance issues, and a couple of moments where the game froze or outright crashed. None of the performance issues really affected the actual gameplay experience - compared to something like, say, Control when that was first released - but they were distracting, and the crashes rarely affected me in more than minor ways, but I think that was more luck than anything else. In the worst case, I had to fight two side bosses again, but they weren't exactly challenging, so it still balances out as more of a frustration than anything else.

Away from the technical stuff...

Spoiler

I had some issues with the whole quest for Tanalorr, as I assumed it was going to end up coming to nothing, in a similar way to Fallen Order being about finding the Holocron only to destroy it in the end; of course, that doesn't quite happen, although I do kind of assume it'll end up being abandoned/destroyed etc by the end of the next game. The plot does end up feeling a little overlongthough, spending three quarters of it dealing with the Dark Jedi and then switching to the Bode betrayal for the final quarter. That said, I thought the story was largely well told, just could maybe have held back that last section for the next game, ending on a bit of a cliffhanger. I suppose development time is a consideration in that.

Speaking of Bode, I was a bit suspicious of him the moment he was the only other survivor of the Coruscant raid, but I did get spoiled on him being a spy...but the reveal that he was a former Jedi still threw me for a loop. Likewise, Darth Vader showing up was a great holy shit moment, and that fight was something of a highlight, although it ended up falling into that awkward gap between 'satisfying challenge' and 'kinda bullshit' for me, largely because he tended to wait to throw scenery at me until I was stunned and couldn't dodge it, which was nearly always an instant kill. I had similarly mixed feelings about the Rancor fights, because nothing says fun like instant kill unblockable attacks that track your movement. For other gameplay quibbles, I found some of the platforming sections a touch frustrating, but fairs fair, when everything goes smoothly it feels great.

Other than that though, I really enjoyed basically everything else. Gameplay is largely satisfying, although I found myself sticking to the tried and trusted lightsaber variants more than the new additions, especially the crossguard version. I didn't expect to get invested in the Cal/Merrin romance the way I did, but that whole thread left me with a big smile on my face, and I'm looking forward to that being developed further down the line..

 

Seems like they fixed whatever was causing the PS5 version to frequently crash during Force Tear transition / respawn load screens in the latest patch.

The only performance related complaint I have at this point is jaggy framerate drops during the big set piece action sequences.

Gameplay related: I'm stuck on the Vader fight right now and I refuse to gimp him by lowering the difficulty below Master. Cere's moveset sucks.

 

Was surprised to see the game 25% off on Amazon today (60€ instead of 80€), so I went ahead and ordered it. I replayed the first one recently after a couple of years (well, finished my playthrough, really) and was amused at how long it took me to get back into the groove after mainly playing Horizon before that.

Looking forward to the experience and trying out the new additions to the combat.

 

Should probably make a Starfield thread for this conversation, but couldn't resist (likely very preemptively) bragging about potentially being right about Starfield's level of polish after seeing this article - 'Starfield is Bethesda's least buggiest game to date, say sources'. Also saw a screenshot of someone with a review copy saying they'd played for 15 hours and hadn't encountered any bugs, and Digital Foundry tweeted recently to say the hitching seen in some of the trailers wasn't present in the game, which implies to me performance is pretty decent if they're specifically ruling that out. Still ready to be proven wrong (being Bethesda's least buggiest game definitely isn't the highest of bars) but I'm pretty optimistic at this stage, even if the likely lack of DLSS support due to AMD partnership is annoying.

On that note (and so that this comment isn't entirely off topic to Jedi Survivor) I did end up getting the game because I got access to PureDark's DLSS mod and while it was a big improvement performance wise over native res or all the weird stuff going on with FSR, the game was still just awfully optimised on PC. I'm about half way through and kind of lost interest until they patch it a bit, been playing BG3 instead. PureDark's DLSS mod also had some annoying ghosting on some things and it's concerning he's now going with some sort of validation system for it to work (hoping someone makes a DLSS mod for Starfield that isn't behind a patreon making apparently 20K+ a month, apparently a few modders have said they'll try already but PureDark has been the big name in this area of modding for a reason so far I'd guess) so I might wait a long time to finish after they've hopefully patched it a bunch. I liked the holotable minigame though, not sure I'm a fan of how heavily the game seemed to be leaning in the direction of Disney's new canon stuff like the High Republic and especially the spinning Inquisitor helicopter lightsabers.