Several years after its re-release on modern PlayStation hardware, PS2 RPG Okage: Shadow King continues to suffer from unresolved technical issues on PS5. These problems were flagged in 2020, yet they remain unresolved for PS5 users looking to play Okage: Shadow King to this day.
Okage: Shadow King was re-released as a PS2 classic for PS4 in 2016 as part of Sony's efforts to revive hidden gems for PlayStation users. The Okage: Shadow King re-release introduced trophy support and upscaled visuals for the game as well, but it was still fundamentally the original build running via emulation. Likewise, when played on PS5 through backwards compatibility, Okage: Shadow King should've benefited from smoother load times, consistent 60fps performance, and an overall better experience than PS4. However, not everything scaled as well as expected.
Okage: Shadow King Has Had Major Texture Streaming Issues on PS5 For Nearly Five Years
Despite the improved framerate and 1080p resolution, Okage: Shadow King players on PS5 quickly began reporting visual glitches ranging from flickering textures and missing assets, to color tint errors and distorted character models. These were not one-off incidents but repeatable bugs, often appearing during the PS2 classic's title screen or in specific in-game scenes. Most notably, Okage: Shadow King occasionally fails to properly render certain textures, leaving characters partially transparent or oddly shaded. While these glitches don't crash the game or affect gameplay flow, they significantly detract from the visual experience.
Sony hasn't shied away from acknowledging the problem either, as the PlayStation Store listing for Okage: Shadow King warns that "when playing on PS5, this game may exhibit errors or unexpected behavior." Still, in the years since its launch on PS4 and PS5 - and its renewed attention through the PS Plus Premium classics catalog - no updates or patches for Okage: Shadow King have been issued. Players continue to report the same issues today that they did all those years ago, with no communication from Sony or developer Zener Works about possible fixes. Okage: Shadow King does run at a stable 60 FPS, but the texture-related bugs and glitches make it feel far from a polished experience.
Further adding to the frustration of this situation is the fact that Okage: Shadow King is a polarizing and surrealist RPG that carries a unique visual identity and darkly comedic tone, all of which stood out in the PS2 era. Unfortunately, the game didn't resonate much with players back in the day, and many hoped that Okage: Shadow King's reappearance in the PS4 and PS5 classics lineup would've offered it a chance at redemption. The persistent technical issues have hampered Okage: Shadow King's ability to accrue more favor in the modern era, which is disappointing, to say the least.
