Summary
Dragon’s Dogma 2has been plagued by performance issues since its release in March, especially when you wander around the game’s towns. Unlike most performance issues which are GPU-related, Dragon’s Dogma 2 was bottlenecked by CPU power, and now we know why.
In an interview with Japanese outletFamitsu(translated byAutomaton), the development team dove into some of the specifics of what’s causing Dragon’s Dogma 2’s performance issues.
“In Dragon’s Dogma 2, CPU power is allocated to process the thoughts of each NPC as well as the effect on character physics. Therefore, in scenes where many NPCs appear at once, like in towns, the CPU load would get extremely high, which in some cases affected the frame rate,” the team said. “Since CPU was our bottleneck, GPU-related solutions like lowering the resolution had little effect on improving frame rate.”
Thinking Too Much
Essentially, the NPCs of Dragon’s Dogma 2 are processing too much information, which is sapping performance. The good people of Vermund and Battahl have a lot on their minds, and it’s affecting the stability of Dragon’s Dogma 2. To improve this issue, Capcom has tweaked how NPCs handle these processes, easing the load borne by the CPU and improving the game’s frame rate.
The NPCs of Dragon’s Dogma 2 are intricate at times, as they can remember past interactions they’ve had with the player and can act aggressively as a result. This additional information processing and calculation requires more power than AI which is scripted to have static routines.
The update released by Capcom allows players to switch between prioritising graphics and prioritising performance on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. If you prioritise performance on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, you should be able to get over 50 frames per second consistently.
Though Dragon’s Dogma 2’s performance issues are certainly infamous, they didn’t hurt the game critically. Dragon’s Dogma 2 currently holds an average critic score of 87 onOpenCritic. Our4.5/5 reviewcalled it “a masterclass in compelling game design.”
Dragon’s Dogma 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Dragon’s Dogma is the long-anticipated sequel to Capcom’s action RPG. Once again taking on the role of the Arisen, the game promises full customisation in how you create your character and play through your story.
