Upcoming RiME Patch Out Monday, Brings Visual Improvements

RiME, a game whose Switch port was criticized due to bad performance, is receiving an update that should increase view distance and visual fidelity and stabilize the frame rate,.

RiME initially released to mixed reviews, with many reviewers criticizing the game’s stuttering frame rate and blurry visuals in handheld mode. A patch to fix at least some of the issues was announced, and later confirmed to be submitted to Nintendo. It looks like the fix is finally approved, and will be out Monday. The full patch notes are below.

While we launched the Switch version of RiME in November, our original plan was to release it at the same time as the other platforms earlier in 2017. We understood that we had to make some sacrifices in order to get the game to perform and that process took some extra development time. Even so, the release of the Switch was not as good as we wanted it to be, and we own that. We’ve spent the past few months responding to player feedback, trying to enhance the visual experience of RiME, with the understanding that things like volume streaming hiccups are not something we can address. However, the visual fidelity of the game is something we can address, especially in handheld mode. So we’ve worked with Tequila Works to make improvements wherever possible.

Our patch notes for this build are at the bottom of the page. This patch will be distributed to Switch players on Monday, February 19.

RiME Switch 1.0.2 Patch Notes

–        Increased visual fidelity, bloom and post-processing

–        Sharpened image resolution

–        Opening Cinematics visually improved

–        Fixed possible stage exploits that would enable players to skip parts of the stages

–        Increased texture quality in specific areas

–        Increased view distance

–        Fixed an issue with foliage density, shadows, and render distances

–        Updated texture mipmaps for the Fox

–        Improved global mipmaps

–        Improved shadow distance and quality

–        Fixed instances of foliage pops

–        Stabilized FPS

–        Optimized the Boys cape and hair physics

–        Rebuilt streaming volumes

–        Fixed an issue that allowed you to see outside of the map in later stages.

–        Updated lighting to prevent bleed through

–        Updated the quality of trees in earlier stages where they would display poorly.