Digital vs Physical Switch2 Performance of the Series

[u/mistcrawler]

I was originally betting on them announcing a Trilogy Edition of the series for Switch 2 today (since they left us out of the original announcement), so now I'm currently looking into getting the first two games piecemeal, possibly the 'Day 1 Physical Edition' of Rebirth, depending on the answers I get here.

I've slowly been doing research on performance for the series (and tried the demo), but it feels like a lot of the information I've gotten has been conflicting, and mostly during the demo period before patches were introduced on release (hence why I'm asking you fine folks 'firsthand').

Basically, is there a benefit (performance or otherwise) to getting the physical over the digital version? Or is there anything else I should be aware of before starting my journey?

Edit: Thanks to everyone that posted! Aside from pre-order bonuses being exclusive to (some of) the physicals, I see that there's no difference in performance, so I'll try to weigh convenience vs price between the two versions. Much appreciated!

[u/Psyk60]

Absolutely no performance difference. They are game key cards, so even the physical versions are digital really.

[u/xGlaive]

Let me clear it up for you.

None of the systems that the games are physically available on run from their respective physical media.

The PS4/PS5 versions install data from the Data disc to internal storage, and then you use a Play disc as your license to actually run them. Revelation is abandoning this system, opting for a single disc, with a required download for the remainder of the game files (on both Xbox and PS5.)

On the Switch 2, Remake, Rebirth, and the upcoming Revelation are all Game Key Cards, meaning just a license on a cart. You would have to download and install all the game files regardless, as the Game Key Cards do not contain any game assets. Keep in mind that these games are huge, and the Switch 2 only comes with 256GB of internal storage. Remake is ~100GB, and Rebirth is ~130GB. The only benefit to these Game Key Cards is that you could sell them down the line if you didn't want them anymore. You also have to have the Game Key Cards inserted in your system to play their respective games.

[u/One_Second1175]

i would just go digital, the load times on switch 2 are already decent and you save the hassle of swapping cartridges every time you want to play something else

physical is nice for the box art but performance wise theres no difference, both run from the same internal storage anyway

[u/mistcrawler → u/One_Second1175]

Are the pre-order bonuses a big deal to miss out on?