Sekiro Has The Same Frame Pacing Issues As Dark Souls

It’s a bit of a running joke with From Software – the company makes great games, but they all tend to have the same performance problems. Unfortunately, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is no exception.

The problem historically has been frame pacing. Frame pacing essentially refers to how often a game draws a frame on screen. If a game is running at a flat 60fps, then each new frame should be appearing on screen for roughly just over 16 milliseconds.

The problem, and something From Software has never gotten right, is inconsistency. If a game is displaying frames at uneven times, then you get a visually unstable experience – even though the game’s frame rate might be stable.

Of course, the frame rate isn’t stable on consoles either.

As Digital Foundry have discovered, Sekiro has some real weird issues going on. Firstly, the PS4 Pro has a higher average frame rate than the Xbox One X. Both consoles have persistent jutter, although it’s nowhere near as awful as the experience on the base consoles.

The saving grace for Xbox users is the ability to use 120Hz support for TVs and monitors that support it. This has the benefit of actually smoothing out the action a little, but if you’re stuck with a 60Hz TV or screen and you’re picking between the two major consoles, the PS4 Pro will give you the best experience. The base PS4 and Xbox One at least maintain a 30fps cap, unlike the 4K consoles which have an unlocked frame rate – but neither of which gets even remotely close to 60fps.

Loading times have been improved markedly on all consoles as well, which was one of the killer frustrations with Bloodborne at launch. So if you were fine with that experience, then you’ll enjoy the bump in graphics, nicer effects and vastly improved loading times that Sekiro has to offer. As well as the whole samurai shtick.

But for everyone else, PC is 1000% the way to go here. It’s the platform that offers the best opportunity for working around Sekiro‘s frame pacing issues, as well as maintaining a smooth, stable frame rate.

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