Stellar Blade is set to launch this month only on PS5 and after playing the demo, we can’t wait for the full game. However, there is some concern swirling around online regarding the game’s combat and especially, the block and parry timing. This feature plays a crucial in the game’s combat. Players are required to perfectly time their blocks and parries in order to counter enemy attacks and succeed in combat. A system like this also relies on the least amount of input lag possible – something Stellar Blade doesn’t get right.
According to various online tests, Stellar Blade has quite a high input lag for a modern-day game. YouTuber MierdaMeGusta did a test to measure the game’s input lag and claims it suffers from 13.8 frames of 230ms of input lag when running the game at 60FPS. Usually, 60FPS games have lower input lag due to the higher refresh rate. However, in this case, Stellar Blade has a problematic amount.
Keep in mind that this 230ms of input lag isn’t measuring the controller input delay or the display’s lag either. So it could be even higher. For a game that relies on timing, Stellar Blade might need a patch to fix this issue before it launches.
Thankfully, developer Shift Up has acknowledged the issue. While it hasn’t confirmed a patch or claimed it will fix the issue, the studio recommends that players make use of the Game Mode on their TVs or monitors to help further reduce the input lag.
To be honest, this is quite a weak response. Most TVs and monitors now have an auto game mode feature that automatically kicks the display into a low-input-lag mode when you boot up any game console. If not, gamers are usually quite clued up with these things and enable it themselves.
Let’s hope Shift Up is working on improving the problem in Stellar Blade ahead of its launch later this month. According to Digital Foundry, the issue is on the studio to fix. The channel claimed that Unreal Engine, which is what Stellar Blade is built on, has a history of high input lag on PlayStation hardware. He says 230ms is not great for a game like this and needs to be fixed on the studios’ side.
While Shift Up is seemingly passing the blame over to TVs and monitors which seemingly “don’t have game mode enabled”, this issue stems from the game itself and hopefully, can be fixed in a future update.
