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.