I'm enjoying the game, so wouldn't say it's unplayable, but I would say it's poorly optimised. Poor quality shadows, poor draw-distance (enemies outside of your immediate range are noticeably rendered with a much reduced frame-rate) and wildly varying resolution, especially when moving around in docked mode, really are noticeable. Frame drops to me are only noticeable in cut-scenes, when the game seems to chug a bit. It's all less noticeable in portable mode, so I'll probably start to play more of it in that mode. From the patch schedule, the issues with cut-scenes should be resolved in a couple of weeks - I'd assume at that point there'll be information on further patches.
Given every version since the Vita release has had issues, my expectations on the technical front weren't high, but I wanted to support a quality action RPG and Falcom. It's worth bearing in mind that the game was originally built for Vita, hence the basic geometry and relatively small playing areas. On the plus side for me, loading times between different areas are incredibly quick, and when the resolution is high, the game looks quite pleasant - the issue is more often than not the resolution drops. I'd be interested to see a tech analysis of the game, but it certainly doesn't compare favourably to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, a game made ground up for the Switch by a first-party studio.
I'd hope patches continue and that Falcom continue to support the Switch. If Ys IX is designed for the Switch, technical performance could be much stronger.
