The Nintendo Switch 2 is already full of surprises. Now less than three months away from its full release, the upcoming console is already more powerful, ambitious, and expensive than I think most of us could have ever imagined. Hell, it is home to a FromSoftware exclusive that, for all intents and purposes, is pretty much Bloodborne 2 (but multiplayer). Nintendo isn’t messing around.
But what surprised me most is how the Nintendo Switch 2 confidently positions itself as what could be a legitimate rival to PlayStation and Xbox. For decades now, Nintendo has been on the sidelines, appealing to a predominantly casual audience. Obviously, there are many more hardcore players enjoying the Switch alongside them, but this is the sort of platform you play with smaller children, older adults, and everyone in between. The Switch 2 wants to ensure this philosophy remains intact, but it intends to stand alongside the big boys.
Nintendo Switch 2 Is About More Than Mario And Zelda
Last week’s loaded Direct made that position abundantly clear. The original Switch can often fail to run demanding games at 1080p resolution while maintaining a steady 30 frames per second performance, while its successor takes those same games and ratchets them up to 4K/60fps with extra bells and whistles for good measure. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom both load faster, look better, and are technical showcases for the platform despite being years old at this point. For the first time, it feels like what many consider peerless art design is finally matching up with Nintendo’s technical prowess.
It will be wonderful to see this even match explored in first-party titles, with Mario Kart World, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and Donkey Kong Bananza being our first real look into this fresh reality. I want to see what Monolith Soft could do with Xenoblade Chronicles with fewer walls holding them back, or what a new open-world Zelda or standalone 3D Mario title might look like when art design collides with a platform whose technical specifications are not only solid, but compete with the very best thanks to features like DLSS to help boost both visuals and performance.
Nintendo has never been in a place where it could push boundaries like this before.
Cyberpunk 2077 Is A Positive Sign Of Things To Come For Switch 2
Ignoring first-party titles, though, I’ve rarely seen Nintendo this confident when it comes to the variety of third-party blockbusters on one of its platforms. It came out swinging with the news of Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition, which will not only include Shadow of the Erdtree, but some new cosmetic content for players to discover on their adventure (including one of Dark Souls 2’s most iconic armour sets). This is one of the best titles in recent memory and is both visually and mechanically complex, yet here it is, running well on the Switch 2. I noticed some weaker textures and character models compared to the PS5 version, but so long as it looks and feels the part, that won’t be a problem.
I imagine this to be a half-step between the original PS4 and PS5 versions, while also outshining what the Steam Deck is capable of.
Putting aside Elden Ring, Hades 2, Hitman, and a laundry list of other third-party titles that we would only have imagined on Switch in fever dreams, or at least a Cloud-induced hallucination, what I’m really excited about is Cyberpunk 2077. It has been commonplace since the Switch first launched in 2017 for ports or larger titles like The Witcher 3, Doom, and The Outer Worlds to receive impressive yet ultimately mediocre ports to the console. They ran okay and looked not very good, but the fact they were on the Switch at all was a marvel in itself. However, if you had any other means of playing them, I would take that route instead. With the Switch 2, that, thankfully, will be the case no longer.
Cyberpunk 2077 infamously ran like garbage on the original PS4 and Xbox One, so much so that during the initial review period, it was hidden from the press and, upon release, removed from the PlayStation Store for failing to live up to quality standards with uncharacteristic refunds issued. It wasn’t until the arrival of its sole expansion, Phantom Liberty, that it clawed its way back to relevance. Now it’s one of the best RPGs out there with an excellent story, solid gameplay, and an open world worth exploring.
It’s also coming to Nintendo Switch 2 at launch and, judging from recent hands-on previews, looks and plays surprisingly well. It runs at 30 frames per second as standard and seems to target 4K resolution, although specifics on its actual visual presets won’t become clear until closer to launch. In its performance mode, the framerate increases to 40. This isn’t the best experience you can have on consoles right now, but it’s certainly on par and doesn’t appear to be pulling any punches. It’s also worth noting that Phantom Liberty was not available for PS4 or Xbox One, meaning the Switch 2 has to outstrip them out of necessity.
This doesn’t mean ‘The Witcher 4 confirmed!!!’ for Nintendo Switch 2 or anything, but it is a very positive sign for the future. Before, it felt like third-party developers didn’t want to bother porting games to the Switch because its power differential was too severe, and getting titles to run on it would take too much time and money.
By finally catching up, Nintendo opens up a whole new avenue of experiences for its audience they might have never had before. You will no longer be making major concessions with some of the best games out there, and it’s going to be games like Cyberpunk 2077 which prove exactly what can be done on Switch 2.
- Released
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December 10, 2020
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol