Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is misfiring with major stutter on the Game Pass version

Edwin has been enjoying the unique twist that Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn adds to the Soulslite formula with its acrobatic gameplay. However, not everyone’s experience with the game has been smooth sailing. Following the recent releases on Steam and PC Game Pass, there have been numerous reports of heavy stuttering issues affecting gameplay. After testing both versions, it is evident that Flintlock is indeed struggling with framerate stutters, especially on the Game Pass build, which seems to be significantly worse.

The Steam version experiences occasional hitching, mostly when transitioning to new areas for the first time, likely due to shader compilation stutter. On Game Pass, performance issues can occur during attacks, dodges, and double-jumps, affecting the overall flow of the game. These issues were observed on an RTX 4060 running the game at 1080p, well above Flintlock’s recommended settings.

So, what can be done to address these performance issues? A pinned thread on the game’s Steam forums suggests three possible solutions: disabling Nvidia Reflex, updating graphics drivers, and experimenting with different Super Sampling options like DLSS. Using upscalers like DLSS can improve average framerates compared to native rendering, potentially reducing stuttering. However, even after testing on the latest GeForce drivers, stuttering was still a common occurrence. Of the three fixes, disabling Nvidia Reflex showed the most promising results, although it’s unfortunate that it impacts performance, similar to Horizon Forbidden West’s experience with input latency reducers. Hopefully, a solution can be found soon.

Additionally, based on personal testing on a single GPU, reducing Shadow Quality can help alleviate stuttering and significantly boost overall performance. Starting with Ultra quality, the average framerate improved from 55-60fps to a smooth 90-100fps with shadows set to Medium. It’s worth trying this adjustment before compromising on upscaling quality.

Unfortunately, performance issues are not new for Flintlock, as even the June demo had similar problems. The disparity between the Game Pass and Steam versions can be attributed to Microsoft’s certification process for games on the Xbox app, leading to delays in performance updates and potential feature discrepancies. This highlights the importance of addressing these technical issues promptly to ensure a seamless gaming experience for all players.