Fix for Slowdown Issue with DW8 on Xbox 360?

Earlier this morning, I received a message from one of my YouTube viewers Xenith Eyes. He alerted me of a possible fix for the atrocious slowdown issue apparent exclusively in the Xbox 360 version of Dynasty Warriors 8. My eyes lit up but were abrupt to die down again, after he quickly followed up with a response basically stating it doesn't work after all (he attempted it himself).

Yet, I still have found posts of other players online claiming this method does actually work, but you need to select the correct resolution (1280 x 1024) and turn widescreen off. More specifically, this post from GameFAQs.

So, being the curious self I am, I decided to attempt this method myself. What's there to lose?

What I found unfortunately was what Xenith Eyes has last declared—no difference whatsoever. Or if there was a difference, it was way too minor to be noticeable. I actually found at often times the default 720p settings (1280 x 720 with widescreen on) on my HDMI was smoother.

One thing I forgot to mention in that video I posted on YouTube about this issue was that the slowdown was much more prominent in certain stages. A few stages suffers no slowdown at all until you get in a semi-large group of enemies—which given this is a Warriors game, can happen a significant amount of time in all stages.

Chibi is the worst case of slowdowns. The frame rate of the game dwindles to non-existent nearly the entire time on the stage, even if you're fighting a single officer with no enemies around.

If you don't believe me that this method did not make a difference with my tests, check out these videos I recorded: the top with default 720p widescreen on and the bottom 1280 x 1024 resolution with widescreen off.

And I apologize for the low quality of the videos. I used my Canon EOS Rebel T3i (which is a mighty fine camera) to record the footage, as I'm too lazy to take out my HD capture device.

If you're wondering about lower resolutions such as 480p, that doesn't make a difference either.

Just so I don't end up calling a lot of people liars attempting to justify their purchases, I have to also throw out that I'm using an older non-slim Xbox 360 with the Jasper chipset. Newer slim Xbox 360s have better performance, so the slowdown may be less noticeable, and this method may work better. That I won't know for sure as I don't have a slim Xbox 360 to test.

To finalize: lowering the resolution and turning off widescreen doesn't seem to work. If you are finding the game unplayable due to the slowdown, there isn't going to be a good fix until KOEI releases one themselves.

Posted in: Dynasty Warriors,Fixes,Shin Sangoku Musou,Technology,Tips and Tricks,Xbox 360