The experimental Switch-family emulator Lichii has another substantial development build. Published on November 9, 2026 at 17:55 UTC, build 130 updates its shader cache and reports changes to CPU overhead and memory consumption. The most interesting part isn't a universal claim of higher FPS. It's the effort to avoid repeating expensive graphics work whenever players return to an area they have already visited.
The project's official GitHub release notes document specific tests for Mario Kart World, the Switch 2 version of Ocarina of Time and Donkey Kong Bananza. These are developer-reported measurements under limited conditions. GameLogNews has not independently benchmarked build 130, and results on other hardware or scenes could be very different.
Shader cache v2: why returning to a scene matters
When Lichii encounters graphics operations that have not previously been translated for the host GPU, it may need to compile new shaders. The resulting pauses can feel like stutter, particularly when entering an unfamiliar environment or starting an effect-heavy sequence. A shader cache aims to preserve that compiled work so it does not have to be rebuilt on the next visit.
Build 130 introduces shader cache v2. In the project's Mario Kart World test, the number of shader builds during a relaunch reportedly fell from 48 to two, and cache hits rose from 35% to 97%. Those exact numbers refer to the project's sample and cannot establish a guaranteed improvement for every track, GPU or driver.
There is also a migration step worth knowing about. The release advises users arriving from older builds to delete their previous pipeline caches per game before playing to prevent problems from stale data. Lichii documents the relevant removal command inside its game-list menu. The first run after migration may stutter while rebuilding; the benefit is expected to appear as the replacement cache fills.
Ocarina of Time: distinct changes, distinct tests
The update targets GPU readbacks and synchronization when running the new Switch 2 version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Lichii's team reports that an asynchronous readback change moved its Kokiri benchmark from approximately 28 to 33 FPS, while another change to memory-reading macros brought a further improvement in its separate test.
A game's rendered FPS isn't automatically equivalent to correct gameplay timing. That warning is particularly relevant because an earlier build of Lichii focused on Dynamic FPS. Build 130's shader and scheduling optimizations are new work, not another announcement of the old add-on.
Images of the official Switch 2 remake that accompany emulator coverage are not evidence of the PC build's rendering quality. Nintendo publishes the original game for Switch 2; Lichii remains an independent experimental emulator, not an official Windows port.
Donkey Kong Bananza and CPU usage
Lichii's release notes describe cheaper semaphore waits and GPU descriptor reuse in Donkey Kong Bananza. In one Ingot Isle scene, developers observed a change from 14.7 to 16.1 FPS, approximately 9%. That is a useful clue to progress but still far from a promise of consistently smooth play.
Build 130 also changes the HostTiming thread so it can sleep rather than continuously spin. The team reports freeing roughly one CPU core from unnecessary work without changing audio or FPS in its measured scenario. This may make CPU usage more sensible, but no one should infer a specific laptop battery-life gain from that description alone.
Memory consumption and file handling
On Windows, an optimization releases all-zero memory pages. In the team's Ocarina of Time Kokiri test, reported memory consumption dropped from 13.4 GB to 7.2 GB. That's approximately 6 GB less in the example, not a universal new minimum RAM specification for the emulator or every game.
The same build adds .nx archive support for organizing compatible user-owned game content. It also hardens parsing against malformed program and filesystem inputs and fixes memory translation and page-table defects. These changes matter for robustness even if they are less visually dramatic than an FPS comparison.
Lichii's roadmap mentions FSR improvements and more fixes for Mario Kart World, but lists those as future work, not build-130 features. Screenshots, demonstrations or discussion posts claiming otherwise need evidence from a later release.
Update carefully and check the real project
Experimental builds can introduce regressions. Save your emulator configuration, review the version notes and keep copies of your own game saves before changing your setup. Test one familiar scene and then several different areas; a single good counter in Kokiri does not demonstrate whole-game stability.
The developers explicitly warn that Lichii has no official download website. Their GitHub repository and release page are the authoritative sources for project binaries. Avoid similarly named download pages, and use only content you lawfully own. No console firmware, decryption keys or commercial game files are supplied here.
What would make this a true breakthrough?
Independent repeatable tests with hardware details and correct game speed would be more useful than an isolated percentage. Shader cache results should include a first run and a return visit. Memory comparisons should control for game scene and operating system. Stability tests should cover long sessions, not merely booting into a menu.
For now, build 130 is a meaningful engineering milestone: it reduces work the emulator didn't need to repeat and improves several concrete developer test cases. It does not prove that a Switch 2 library is fully playable on PC.
Sources: Lichii build 130 release; project security and download warning; Nintendo's official Ocarina of Time listing.
Source date: November 9, 2026