Why do games which pride themselves on intense gameplay have garbage frame-rates?

[SystemBug]

Okay, hear me out, Souls games.

Whether they are FromSoftware themselves or another game in the genre, why do so many of them suffer from garbage performance?
Inconsistent frame-rate spikes, bad frame-pacing. You name it.

Demon Souls was very bad in this regard
Dark Souls was also not great here
I didn't play Dark Souls 2 but I assume it was the same,
Same with Dark Souls 3.
Bloodborne, the holy grail of FromSoftware was the exact same.

Sekiro was From's best game in this department but it took them far too long to be "decent" in this regard.

I was recently playing Darksiders III (I enjoyed it quite a bit) but it also suffered greatly in this department.
I think Lords of the Fallen was also very similar in this regard.

I know the obvious solution is to get a beefy PC, but I do genuinely think the devs need to change how they tackle their production & technology pipelines to ensure better frame-rates and frame pacing for these type of games.

Why are these games so damn janky for being so game-play focused? Is that the added challenge? How y'all let this go on for so long?

 

[Heromanz]

Because 99% of their audience don't care. unless it's like really unplayable most people don't really care.

 

[Swift_Gamer]

All of them have fine fps imo, aside from very specific areas, I never had a problem with it.

 

[Ferrio]

Souls combat is slow and weighty for the most part, so it isn't much of an issue compared to say 20-30fps in a DMC game.

 

[Edgar]

From Software is not known for its technicall prowess , despite selling 10+ million copies of souls games , They wont even animate mouth movements in dark souls

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

The Souls game actually don't require that kind of reaction or specificity in it's combat. The i-frames are pretty generous, enemies have very long telegraphed attacks, and the combat in general is very weighty.

Even something in Sekiro, the parry window is beyond generous. There were times were I was just pumping the L1 button like a mad-man and the game was giving me parries. I was like, alright...cool video game, cool.

The only game that really bothered me being 30 fps as of late was Astral Chain.

 

[DerpHause]

From Software is not known for its technicall prowess , despite selling 10+ million copies of souls games , They wont even animate mouth movements in dark souls

Click to shrink...

They seem to pick and chose what they feel is important. And I'm sure those decisions help keep costs down and development time low.

 

[Karlinel]

I entered the thread fearing I'd have to hate-defend Control (we have a complicated relation), but souls are...ok-ish? At least they are kinda consistent in its 30 fps, I find it worse when it fluctuates like a motherfucker a la fallen order.

 

[Deleted member 1476]

EDF thread?

EDF thread.

 

[llLeonhart]

Souls are fine. And there are other games that are great on this aspect and pride themselves on intense gameplay:

DmC
Devil May Cry 5
Nier Automata
Vanquish
Pretty much any platinum game I've ever played.
What's your issue precisely?

 

[s y]

None of the from games have excellent combat or combat that requires super quick responses from the user. Especially souls. The parry window in Sekiro is generous af as well.

 

[SturokBGD]

You haven't lived until you've fired a bazooka from the back of a triceratops at 5fps.

 

[Lost Knight]

I mean, I love Dark Souls, but I wouldn't call it intense...

Also, DMC 5 is smooth as butter man.

 

[QuiteSomething]

Souls are fine. And there are other games that are great on this aspect and pride themselves on intense gameplay:

DmC
Devil May Cry 5
Nier Automata
Vanquish
Pretty much any platinum game I've ever played.
What's your issue precisely?

Click to shrink...

You joking? Did you ever play Bayo and Nier? They run like trash

 

[scottbeowulf]

Because devs generally don't care because the vast majority of buyers don't care. A gaming enthusiast site cares of course. But we aren't.... normal.

 

[ghibli99]

You joking? Did you ever play Bayo and Nier? They run like trash

Click to shrink...

Define 'trash' and on what platforms? I didn't play Bayo until Wii U and Automata on Pro seemed good to me.

 

[Rommaz]

It kinda sucks, but most people don't care. It's not bad enough most of the time to bother most

Souls are fine. And there are other games that are great on this aspect and pride themselves on intense gameplay:

DmC
Devil May Cry 5
Nier Automata
Vanquish
Pretty much any platinum game I've ever played.
What's your issue precisely?

Click to shrink...

Lol most Platinum games have pretty bad performance mate.

 

[NediarPT88]

I'm fine with From games (Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, Sekiro), base PS4.

Darksiders 3 (mentioned in the OP) performance is terrible, no comparison.

 

[Senator Rains]

This is a very dishonest criticism.

 

[Popcicle]

Obviously a lot of people disagree here with the basic premise you've laid out.

Lots of games have great framerate but most people don't like their gameplay. I love soulsborne games, and don't mind the framerate really at all, and I likewise love the gameplay.

 

[Dahbomb]

Most of the games listed in the OP aren't fast, high intensity games that require 60FPS framerate. Sekiro is the closest and could have benefited a lot from being 60FPS but it still functions fine with out it.

Astral Chain not being 60FPS is quite sinful though, same for DmC. But still not nearly as bad as Bayonetta on PS3.

 

[SystemBug]

This is a very dishonest criticism.

Click to shrink...

I don't think so. They genuinely feel pretty bad to play, and these issues can be quite nagging.

But I understand if people don't find an issue with this.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

N64 first-person shooters like Turok 2 and Perfect Dark.