Topic: Code of Princess Framerate Issues -- WTH!

[leahsdad]

Anyone else get Code of Princess yet?  Just got it, played the first couple prologue levels, and my god, what is up with these framerate slowdown issues?   Super annoying, especially because in the in-engine cutscenes, you can tell that the sprites are animated beautifully with very smooth framerates, and then once combat begins it's like playing Gradius on the SNES.   

Anyone get farther into this?  Does this get better, or am I going to see these problems throughout the game?

[Adrock]

I'm treating this as the general Code of Princess thread. I haven't noticed any slowdown. I thought the game moved kind of slow, but not in terms of framerate. I'll get back to you once I get further. I only played for a little bit yesterday (it arrived a day earlier than Amazon estimated). Some thoughts:

1. It's not sprite based. I don't know why I thought it was though i admittedly only watched a few trailers. It still looks nice, but it loses 10 old-school points.
2. The game isn't what I expected. I thought it was more of a beat-'em-up with RPG elements, but so far, it's more of an action RPG with the world map and towns taken out. It's a series of battles separated by some questionable (and mostly forgetable) cutscenes. I'm not sure if that changes as I'm only a few chapters in. I'm still getting used to the game. The tutorial is fairly pointless.
3. Solange's outfit (if you can call it that) is still ridiculous, even more so when she's casually talking to her father in the overly long opening story dump. Her full name, Solange Blanchefleur de Luxe, is one of the most awkward names I've encountered in a video game.
4. The preorder bonus art book with soundtrack is pretty pathetic. However, I was planning on buying the game anyway (I like supporting these smaller titles) and the bonus didn't cost extra so I can hardly complain.
5. Ali's voice = fail
6. Zozo as a character is pretty awesome. I haven't tried her yet, but I like her personality.
7. This will probably be the second to last game I buy this year, assuming I don't get screwed over on my Wii U pre-order.
8. One save file?! Boo-urns.

I'm digging the game so far. It's just not at all what I expected.

[leahsdad]

I'm treating this as the general Code of Princess thread. I haven't noticed any slowdown. I thought the game moved kind of slow, but not in terms of framerate. I'll get back to you once I get further. I only played for a little bit yesterday (it arrived a day earlier than Amazon estimated). Some thoughts:

1. It's not sprite based. I don't know why I thought it was though i admittedly only watched a few trailers. It still looks nice, but it loses 10 old-school points.
2. The game isn't what I expected. I thought it was more of a beat-'em-up with RPG elements, but so far, it's more of an action RPG with the world map and towns taken out. It's a series of battles separated by some questionable (and mostly forgetable) cutscenes. I'm not sure if that changes as I'm only a few chapters in. I'm still getting used to the game. The tutorial is fairly pointless.
3. Solange's outfit (if you can call it that) is still ridiculous, even more so when she's casually talking to her father in the overly long opening story dump. Her full name, Solange Blanchefleur de Luxe, is one of the most awkward names I've encountered in a video game.
4. The preorder bonus art book with soundtrack is pretty pathetic. However, I was planning on buying the game anyway (I like supporting these smaller titles) and the bonus didn't cost extra so I can hardly complain.


I'm digging the game so far. It's just not at all what I expected.

After playing the game some more, I've noticed that the slowdown isn't too bad, or even existent, if there are less than 3 enemies on the screen.  Which is a funny way of telling you how to play the game, because if you are fighting a boss with more than 3 enemies/henchmen attacking you at the same time, you are seriously f*cked.

But yeah, this game is awesome.  Very very fun.

And....

1.  Are you sure it's not sprite based?   They look like sprites, albeit with very smooth lines.   If not sprites, then are they straight animations, i.e. Rayman Origins?  This can't be cell-shaded or polygonal.

2.  I'm seeing more of a beat-'em-up.   I guess the stats are affecting character attributes, but it seems far more important to master combos, blocking, parrying, etc..

3.  Solange's sword is called the Deluxecalibur.  Seriously.   I remember many many years ago hearing about John Romero's game "Daikatana" and thinking "That is a stupid, stupid name thought up by an idiot who is just mashing together words that sound good to him in a language that he doesn't understand."  Deluxecaliber = payback + bitch.

3b.  Seriously, I looked it up.  Apparently, "Dai" means "big" and "katana" is..well, a katana.  Deluxe Excalibur.  Deluxcaliber.  Wow, this really is payback.

4.  90% of the text and like 75% of the art in the "artbook?"  It's also in the freakin instruction manual.  Which you should actually read, because THERE IS NO TUTORIAL OF ANY KIND IN THE GAME.  This is the first game in a really, really long time where they don't tell you anything about the battle system, the way stats affect your character, or even what the buttons do.

[ymeegod]

Were you playing with 3D on?  Might notice a bit less lag in 2d mode. 

[leahsdad]

Were you playing with 3D on?  Might notice a bit less lag in 2d mode. 

You're right, it does lag less, but the difference only slightly noticeable.  And it just looks so, so much better with the 3D on.

[Halbred]

The game does have a non-playable Tutorial mode on the main menu. It's not fantastic, but it's something.

[Adrock]

After playing the game some more, I've noticed that the slowdown isn't too bad, or even existent, if there are less than 3 enemies on the screen.  Which is a funny way of telling you how to play the game, because if you are fighting a boss with more than 3 enemies/henchmen attacking you at the same time, you are seriously f*cked.

I got further and noticed some slowdown. The game is still playable though I don't really understand it. The game doesn't seem that taxing on the hardware.

1.  Are you sure it's not sprite based?   They look like sprites, albeit with very smooth lines.   If not sprites, then are they straight animations, i.e. Rayman Origins?  This can't be cell-shaded or polygonal.

Pretty sure. They looked like sprites when I watched the trailers, but they look polygonal up close.

2.  I'm seeing more of a beat-'em-up.   I guess the stats are affecting character attributes, but it seems far more important to master combos, blocking, parrying, etc..

I meant more along the lines of moving from left to right just beating up guys like the old Simpsons/Ninja Turtles arcade games. I didn't know the game's stages were just battles.

4.  90% of the text and like 75% of the art in the "artbook?"  It's also in the freakin instruction manual.  Which you should actually read, because THERE IS NO TUTORIAL OF ANY KIND IN THE GAME.  This is the first game in a really, really long time where they don't tell you anything about the battle system, the way stats affect your character, or even what the buttons do.

The tutorial is on the main menu like Halbred said. It's so bare bones that it hardly qualifies as a tutorial. The art book is separate from the instruction manual. If you pre-ordered the game from Amazon, you got a 12 page art book and a soundtrack. The art book is nothing special, but the price was right. I haven't listened to the CD yet.

[Adrock]

I completed the campaign with Solange and Zozo. I particularly like Zozo the character and her Honey-Badger-Don't-Care attitude.

The gameplay is pretty shallow yet addictive at the same time. I originally beat the final boss with dodging and using the Moon sword healing, but you can just spam the Sunburst sword's damage upon burst activation effect and annihilate Distille in seconds. I don't really feel like playing through the game again at the moment as Ali or Allegro as they weren't terrible interesting to me and I kind of want to move onto a new game. If I can convince my brother to get Code of Princess, co-op sounds like a lot of fun.

I had a bit of trouble with the plot. I didn't really understand what the codes were entirely. Maybe I missed that bit one of the cutscenes. I get that Solange is the Code of Princess, but that still doesn't explain what codes are.

Anyway, I enjoyed the game, enough to beat it which is surprising for me considering I got almost no where in Xenoblade and The Last Story (and many others before them). I don't feel bad about spending $40 on it as there's tons of replay value.

[Halbred]

After a really brutal bonus mission, I unlocked Marco Neko! He's very fun to play as!

[ejamer]

Cry for help: anyone have tips about the Dusk Recon bonus mission? "Protect the straggler" is a pain in the arse when the poor helpless girl feels compelled to rush every monster in sight.  Handling myself in a brawl isn't hard. Handling someone else who seems intent on dying isn't nearly as much fun though...

[Halbred]

Especially when your elemental or magic attacks ALSO hurt her. Yeah, I haven't beat that yet either...

[Tamazoid]

Seeing this thread just depresses me.


Where's my PAL release?

[Rodrigue]

I have framerate issues in this game and it's enough to make me stop playing it. I enjoyed the little that I played of it but the game is more frustrating than it is fun because it really feels like the slowdowns are ruining my combos and causing me to take damage before I can react. The lag almost disappears when there are only 2-3 people on the screen, but how often does that actually happen?

I have similar issues in BIT.TRIP SAGA and Virtue's Last Reward. It's funny how it's always the games that look the worst that have those problems. You'd think that a game in a 2D perspective would work properly, but they managed to **** it up so badly that it runs worse than good-looking 3D games. I wish I could get refunds for these games, because some people might be able to look past this, but it renders the experience too frustrating to be worth playing for me, at least for this and BIT.TRIP. Virtue's Last Reward is just slightly annoying because it mostly happens during scenes where different images flash on the screen in the story sections.

What's weird is that when I had problems with BIT.TRIP I asked J Holmes of Destructoid about it and he said he didn't notice anything. So I've been wondering if it is due to my 3DS or the game itself.

[NeoStar9X]

The game does slow down when a lot of enemies are on the screen. It bothered me at first but I've been enjoying the game and it hasn't been enough of an issue for me to dislike the game. I haven't died from it so I feel it isn't a big deal. The rest of the game outweighs this one issue.