Dev Explains Why Acclaimed Switch Exclusive Couldn't Hit 60 FPS

gamerant.com:

PlatinumGames went to great lengths in its attempts to make Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon run at a stable 60 frames per second on the Nintendo Switch. That's according to a senior company official, who recently offered some keen insights into the studio's decision to ultimately abandon the idea of trying to make its Switch meet that performance target.

The issue of frame rate has long been a source of never-ending debates among gamers. Hitting a stable 60 FPS is generally considered more important when it comes to genres that emphasize reaction times, like first-person shooters or action games in the vein of Bayonetta Origins.

Although the latest Bayonetta game didn't attract too much scrutiny with regard to its frame rate, its director, Abebe Tinari, has now revealed that the studio was still doing its best to hit a stable 60 FPS. Reflecting on the debate about the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake's frame rate, Tinari revealed that he empathizes with Nintendo's decision to cap the game at 30 FPS, stating that PlatinumGames tried to make Bayonetta Origins stable at 60 FPS «for a long time.»

While the developer managed to achieve some impressive things with Bayonetta Origins, it eventually had to abandon its original performance target, finding it unfeasible to meet without sacrificing too much fidelity. Elaborating on that point, Tinari explained that Cereza and the Lost Demon's art style is dependent on post-processing effects that may not seem obvious individually, but all come with a performance cost. Doing away with VFX just to hit a stable 60 FPS would have hence had a major impact on the game's visuals, which were widely touted as one of its biggest strengths.

While PlatinumGames did manage to make Bayonetta Origins' Tír Na Nóg stages run at a stable 60 FPS, the developer was unable to maintain that performance target in the forest levels. It eventually found itself with a choice between having a variable frame rate and capping the