Modder Lance McDonald, credited with uncovering many of the secrets and cut content in Bloodborne and other FromSoftware games, has returned with an update on their famous 60fps patch project. As previously revealed, McDonald has been working on a way to unlock the game’s framerate on PS4 Pro. Once unlocked, the idea was to use boost mode to force framerates above 30fps, which also means lowering the game’s base resolution so it can maintain a locked 60fps. Unfortunately, because Bloodborne wasn’t designed with 60fps in mind, unlocking the framerate doesn’t simply result in smoother gameplay. Though the game does have a developer menu that unlocks the framerate, accessible through modding, doing so also incurs a 2x boost to game speed and in-game time. On top of looking silly, it makes the game unplayable, as everything simply plays at twice the speed.
To figure out how to get Bloodborne to run properly at 60fps, McDonald went to another FromSoftware game for guidance. The Japanese developer had previously updated Dark Souls 2 for its re-release on PS4 and Xbox One with an option to play at 60fps. Given that both games more or less use the same engine, McDonald used the studio’s work on Scholar of the First Sin as a base for their own Bloodborne patch. The results are quite remarkable. As they show off in the video, the game more or less holds a steady 60fps using boost mode on PS4 Pro, which is very evident in boss fights - the area that benefits the most from this boost. It’s only rendering at 720p, but the trade off in fluidity is worth the loss in clarity. It goes without saying that this patch isn’t something the majority of players will be able to use. Running it requires modding your console and game, something most won’t be comfortable with. More than anything, though, it bodes very well for the future of Bloodborne. Rumours of Bloodborne on PS5 and even the fabled PC port have dried up, but should Sony decide to bring the game back on PS5, there’s every reason for the re-release to also support 60fps, now that we know it’s possible.
