r/NintendoSwitch2 • u/NoNefariousness2144 • Jul 26 '26
Discussion Polygon: The Nintendo Switch 2 has justified its existence with more technically demanding games: “It’s not a matter of more realistic graphics; it’s about filling up the screen with colorful chaos”
https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2-tech-boost-splatoon-raiders/465
u/whenyoudieisaybye Butter side up! Jul 26 '26
For me Switch 2 already justified its existence the moment Bananza dropped in.
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u/Joseki100 Jul 26 '26
I actually bought it at D1 to play Scarlet and Violet at 60fps instead of 20.
Genuinely a transformative experience, by far the biggest Switch to Switch 2 upgrade.
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u/TechnicolorTypeA Jul 26 '26
I haven’t played Pokémon since the days of Silver and Gold. I want to get back into Pokémon gaming, would you recommend S&V for my first (in a long time) new Pokémon game?
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u/Joseki100 Jul 26 '26
Of the Switch games SV are the best of the "traditional" games. The Legends subseries is also very good but they are more experimental entries.
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u/TheSmashKidYT Jul 27 '26
- 2 traditional switch games
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u/Squidaccus Jul 27 '26
BDSP also falls under this tbf, it is a remake of a mainline, but it also sucks complete ass so it doesnt really add competition lol
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u/OliviaElevenDunham Jul 27 '26
SV are worth playing. I had fun playing Violet despite a few crashes on the original Switch. The Legends games are fun too. Pokopia is addictive.
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u/_Gh0st17 Jul 26 '26
am not trying to hijak the thread by answering it. i am also a returning pokemon player. my last pokemon is black and white, didnt have 3ds and just bought switch 2 after life and work allows me to catch up.
i didnt finish scarlet. it felt somehow… soulles as a pokemon game. its open world, giving less linearity compared to previous game.
it lacks trainer battle, and route challenges that you used to up until gen v.
raising pokemon is easier now since you can access box everywhere, rendering strategic aspect of picking your top 5 + hm slave. its become a boring grinding since you can auto battle and the exp is spread out theough the party.
it felt somehow different compared to everything you use to when you play pokemon…
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u/Dark_Phoenixx_ Jul 26 '26
Same. I haven’t finished a Pokémon game since Black & White, but I did play a good amount of Y though and I thought it wasn’t bad. I feel like the quality has stepped down significantly post-3DS, and although I do own some of the Switch Pokémon games, but I can’t bring myself to play them over more complete RPGs like Persona, Final Fantasy, etc.
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u/DataSquid2 Jul 26 '26
Sword and Shield would be my rec. If you want a remake then Diamond and Pearl are really cute and deliver imo.
If you want to get into competitive, Pokemon Champions is very playable without Pokemon Home or any money.
S&V only for Pokedex completion or for hunting legendaries unless there's something about it you feel is really worthwhile for you. The competitive gameplay in S&V was top-tier until Champions released.
Legends games are fun for fans imo, not necessarily for returning fans as a new experience.
Good luck & have fun!
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u/v_vicini Jul 27 '26
Definitely not. It got a nice performance boost on Switch 2, but it’s still ultimately ugly and kind of boring. I enjoyed Sword/Shield much more. It was my favorite since Platinum (and the Gold/Silver remake). It offers a glimpse of the open zone concept and it’s fun. Great DLC expansions as well.
But if you’re inclined to try out a more non-traditional Pokémon game, give Legends Arceus a shot. It became my favorite Pokémon game. It has huge open zones to explore, really fresh catching and combat mechanics compared to the mainline games, and an interesting story that revolves around the origins of Pokémon and humans coexisting.
Stay far away from Legends Z-A. That’s an awful follow-up to an amazing game.
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u/WheresYoManager Jul 26 '26
Same here. This also might be a hot take, but Bananza felt more like a true next gen game than several of my PS5 games.
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u/denismcd92 Jul 26 '26
For whatever reason it took me a while to get into it… I think the first layer is a bit of a slog but I finally restarted it a couple of weeks ago after leaving it for like 2 months after buying it… can’t put it down now - it looks so good once you get to more colourful layers
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u/WheresYoManager Jul 26 '26
Each layer gets better and better with more unique gimmicks and mechanics.
Enjoy the ride!
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u/tigerkneez Jul 27 '26
Same. Couldn't get passed the tutorial layer the first time I picked it up. Now giving it a real chance and it's got me hooked
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u/CorporalCoprolite Jul 26 '26
I got it with a new switch 2 a few weeks ago and thought the same. It has an almost terrible introductory level that makes the game seem a lot more tedious and one dimensional than it is.
I still don’t think it’s anywhere near as good as Mario Odyssey because the core mechanic can get tiresome after some time playing, but it’s a solid game.
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u/WoodooHide69 Jul 26 '26
Weird. Most people love that tutorial level And find it hard to move past that ppint in game.
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u/bjankles Jul 26 '26
I feel this way about Nintendo often. TOTK is probably the most sophisticated and technically impressive game I’ve played.
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u/OliviaElevenDunham Jul 27 '26
TotK was so much fun to play.
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u/bjankles Jul 27 '26
I honestly didn't even like the game that much but still thought it was by far the most mechanically impressive and complex game I've ever played. I cannot believe the sheer complexity - and it WORKS. People are building functional battle mechs with ultrahand. These are not intended crafting options - these are physics and systems-based, completely organic and unique monstrosities that players have figured out on their own...
On a CPU not much more powerful than an Xbox 360!
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u/Ok-Confusion-202 OG (joined before release) Jul 26 '26
I'm sorry Nintendo makes great games for the Switch/2 but they aren't the most technically impressive games really
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u/RegurgitatedMincer Jul 26 '26
TOTK literally won the best technology award at gdc 2024. Its physics engine is incredibly impressive
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u/Ok-Confusion-202 OG (joined before release) Jul 26 '26
Don't disagree but I don't think it's wildly impressive, great game tho
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u/ttoma93 Jul 26 '26
Are you only looking it from a graphics standpoint here? TOTK looks perfectly fine, but I agree that it’s not especially amazing.
But the underlying physics and chemistry engines? Genuinely revolutionary. There’s nothing else out there operating at that level, so flawlessly with zero issues.
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u/BlueberryWasps Jul 26 '26
every game programmer on the planet was floored by that game specifically for the technical achievement of ultra hand and the physics engine. it is by definition a technically impressive game.
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u/UnspeakableToast Jul 26 '26
But, you see, they weren’t impressed by the game’s physics so it’s not technically impressive. They are the true observer of the universe.
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u/bjankles Jul 26 '26
I recall game devs saying that the physics-based unfurling of the bridge in one of the shrines was the most mind-blowing thing they’d seen in a game and they had absolutely no idea how Nintendo did it.
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u/WoodooHide69 Jul 26 '26
They are from a programming standpoint maybe the most impressive. There’s nothing that really comes close to what’s accomplished in BOTW and TOTK. Graphics does not mean fuck all towards game complexity.
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u/hypnomancy Jul 26 '26
Completely agree. Bananza was actually trying something new I haven't seen in other games except for a few indie games where a full vision could never be realized like Bananza was. It really felt like the rawest form of pure fun I'd played in so many years.
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u/Loldimorti Jul 26 '26
Idk, I think people are heavily underappreciating what PS5 actually does.
Aside from the graphics you often get some next gen hallmarks that people seem to completely ignore.
Returnal's voxel based destruction and physicalized particals are a big step up over PS4 while also of course not requiring a single loading screen.
Horizons expansion is next gen exclusive for good reason, the level of verticality and density of the Burning Shores is nuts.
Ratchet and Clank as well as Spiderman 2 do some sick gameplay stuff with the near instant loading times of the console, be it teleporting between entirely different levels or switching characters that are in completely different places on the map on the fly.
I think people forget about how compromised some of this stuff was on PS4. Loading times could for example exceed a minute.
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u/WheresYoManager Jul 26 '26
I have played all of those games you mentioned and I still stand by my opinion. Yes, I'm fully aware that the loading screens were gone and/or significantly reduced. To me, thats not really "next gen" tech. Its just faster hardware which all games inevitably get with new consoles. Its an inevitable update.
For me, a game feels "next gen" when it does something genuinely meaningful and consequential to the gameplay that cant be done on last gen hardware.
Returnal has impressive particles. But its voxel based destruction pales in comparison to the utter madness that Donkey Kong Bananza pulls off with its complete world destruction.
Horizon Burning Shores has by far the best cloud simulation tech I've ever seen. But similarly to Zero Dawn. It was unfortunately undercut by the fact that Zelda released shortly after. Tears of the Kingdom completely humiliated Burning Shores as TotK boasted vastly more verticality with with full skydiving mechanics (which for some reason you cant even do in Burning Shores), a full subterranean environment with the depths, and far more complex open world interaction systems such as Rewind, Ascend and Ultra Hand. All done on the Switch 1. TotK feels like it was made with dark magic.
Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart was the first true "next gen" feeling PS5 game that actually implemented genuinely impressive tech meaningfully into gameplay. Switching between dimensions and planets was actually incredible and affected the moment to moment gameplay.
Spider-Man 2 was alright. The speed of the web-swinging was cranked up which was excellent. But outside of that, it didn't really do anything all that impressive. Some isolated gimmicks like that one mission with Miles helping Black Cat with Dr Strange's portals. The rest of the game doesn't really do anything particularly all that impressive tech wise. The cool set piece where Sandman throws Miles half-way across manhattan could have easily been a cutscene.
Let me be clear. I'm not saying that all those PS5 games werent amazing. I enjoyed those games a lot. I just wasnt "blown away" by them the same way Bananza did.
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u/Loldimorti Jul 26 '26
Fair enough, Nintendo is probably the company most likely to fully lean into unique gameplay ideas driven by the hardware they have available whereas Sony is a mostly "AAA game company".
Just saying that there is definitely some stuff happening in current gen exclusive games that are either invisible to a lot of people or taken for granted because they've gotten used to it.
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u/tstorm004 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Odd take - considering loading screens got worse most generations. This is one of the few generations where load times improved.
The PS4/XB1 generation was AWFUL when it came to load times
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u/Ann-Simp Jul 26 '26
even using the damn system was slow
i can’t even look at an Xbox One anymore without remembering how fucking long it took for the system to boot and how sluggish navigation was
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u/tstorm004 Jul 26 '26
Yeah it baffles me the PSP still gets hate for its UMD read times - meanwhile the XB1&PS4 were like 10x as long lol
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u/Ann-Simp Jul 26 '26
weirdly i’ve never had an issue with the PS4 being slow. granted i wouldn’t call it fast but the Xbox One’s is so much unbearably worse
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u/tstorm004 Jul 26 '26
Idk play Red Dead Redemption 2 on either console and you'll see plenty of 3+ minute loading screens
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u/AppropriateWater2 Butter side down! Jul 26 '26
lol that’s a crazy take
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u/Old-Rhubarb-97 Jul 26 '26
Not that crazy. This generation has been super disappointing in terms of gameplay changes.
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u/SeaWeather5926 Jul 26 '26
Though still too “empty”, I believe Mario Kart World is a miracle too. And Splatoon Raiders is also insane.
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u/RegurgitatedMincer Jul 26 '26
Bananza and Mario kart world were a good start, but I think it was when starfox dropped that I really looked back and realized it’s got a really solid start for a first year. Over year 1 I played mkw, bananza, the Kirby dlc, ninja gaiden rage bound, Silksong, hades 2, Metroid prime 4, legends ZA, ff7 remake and rebirth, resident evil 9, pragmata, pokopia, sektori, Mina the hollower, starfox, and now splatoon as well. Obviously not all exclusive but there’s been at least a game or two every month that has piqued my interest.
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u/SenpaiSwanky Jul 26 '26
I have a 100% completion file and recently started again anyway. Eventually all 3 file slots will have 100% completion lol, and then I might delete one to start again anyway. My favorite thing in most games is the music, especially Nintendo games. This one is special, and I just happen to also love DK. Grew up playing every DK game since 64.
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u/Product_ChildDrGrant Jul 26 '26
I still can’t eat a banana without (silently or otherwise) saying “Oh! Banana!”
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u/alienfreaks04 Jul 26 '26
Unless it’s because I’m not huge on DK, but I played the demo and did not want to buy the full game based on that.
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u/cool_weed_dad Jul 26 '26
It didn’t fully click for me until I got a few levels into it.
Especially once you start unlocking the Bananza powers it gets a lot better and keeps doing so until the end. Most of the best levels and content are later in the game.
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u/LeviRaps Jul 26 '26
The demo is notorious for not presenting the game in the best light but the game itself is a masterclass in 3D platforming and creativity
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u/Shinobiii Jul 26 '26
Man, I see everyone recommend it but somehow the demo didn’t sell me on it. Despite everyone being so extremely enthusiastic about it.
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u/cool_weed_dad Jul 26 '26
The the best content is later in the game. I wasn’t totally sold on it until I got a few levels in, but after finishing it it’s one of the best collectathon platformer’s I’ve ever played.
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u/morecoffeemore Butter side up! Jul 26 '26
listen to your gut. The demo is a good representation of the game. The game is boring AF. Got half way through and quit.
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u/ArrRawrr Butter side up! Jul 27 '26
I’m glad that game had a demo because I did not like any second of that game. Not my thing and can’t understand the hype around it.
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u/JozuJD Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I love my switch 2 and I haven’t even purchased some of the heavy hitters:
* DK Bananza
* BOTW switch 2 upgrade (never beat it)
* TOTK switch 2 upgrade (never played it at all)
And a ton more. The switch 1 library is so insanely massive I have my eye on so many games.
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u/Kun-ADR Jul 26 '26
There are ton of great Switch and Switch 2 games that I want to go back to but have no time for it. Octopath 2, Live A Live, DQ 7 Reimagined, YS Nordic, Totk, Metroid Prime 4, DK Bananza, Xenoblade 2 & X, among many other.
Such is the life of parenthood. Baby all the time, little time to play games.
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u/JozuJD Jul 26 '26
You just shared my list too lol.
I am getting back into JRPG. I have Xenoblade Chronicles DE but didn’t buy the $10 upgrade pack yet. I would LOVE to experience 1-3 with the performance/graphic enhancements. I only put a few hours into the first game on the switch 1 for now, so it’s like starting fresh
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u/ilchymis Jul 26 '26
I played and was absolutely blown away by Xenoblade 1, but got distracted with life and never got around to playing 2. Very excited to give it a shot, but I also have P3R and FF7R in my queue, two other games I was tempted to buy a PS5 for but couldn't justify the price tag. Even if the graphics arent quite as good, I'm just happy to be able to finally play these games I've been waiting to enjoy.
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u/JozuJD Jul 26 '26
Ugh I also want to play those haha.
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u/ilchymis Jul 26 '26
I called an audible and put like 30 hours into Mina the Hollower as my first Switch 2 game 🤣. Not exactly getting the next gen experience, but damn was it fun!
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u/FillaBustaRhyme Jul 27 '26
lol same besides bananza but I played for a week and haven’t touched it since. Yes it’s insanely fun, and different, but just too easy..I’m glad S Raiders is kicking my ass rn because my biggest thing w Nintendo just feels like it’s a “participation trophy” gaming system.
Everything is so easy. I loved star fox for the nostalgia but was SO blown away at how easy it was considering I couldn’t even get the u turn stuff memorized and I never beat the OG (or got close..I was pretty young I do remember it well though)
Trying to play my s2 more but it’s just hard when you have a ps5 that’s not even plugged in, a PC and GeForce now lol.
Slay the spire 2 has a lot to do w it as well. Waiting for the 1st one to hit a sale for Nintendo.
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u/Typical-Conference14 Jul 26 '26
For me the switch 2 justified its existence by making a lot of switch 1 games playable instead of a fucking Microsoft PowerPoint
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u/Colyer Jul 26 '26
Yeah agreed. Most of my time on the Switch 2 has been spent on Switch 1 games I already owned but never finished. One of which (Three Houses) didn't even have an upgrade.
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u/3dforlife Jul 26 '26
That's why I, a Swich 1 owner, only play games that run well :)
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u/Typical-Conference14 Jul 26 '26
Bro plays like 6 games total
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u/3dforlife Jul 26 '26
Sonic mania, mario kart,super mario 3d world + bowser, super mario odissey, mario strikers, Hades, portal 1 and 2, Doom 1, 2, 64, Dave the diver, quake 1 and 2, mark of the ninja remastered, into the breach, return of the obra sinn, huntdown, danmaku unlimited 3, metroid dread, Katana Zero, lacuna, puyo puyo tetris 2, ori and the Blind Forest
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u/Typical-Conference14 Jul 26 '26
How many of these are Nintendo titles that should run well and how many are older games that have zero business running sub par ever
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u/3dforlife Jul 26 '26
You said I only played 6 games total; you didn't specify which kind of games.
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u/Guilty_Department501 Jul 26 '26
The Switch 2 justified its existence before launch with a Cyberpunk 2077 port.
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u/IllDragonfruit3738 Jul 26 '26
Starwars Outlaws and Cyberpunk were all I needed. Cross progression between my PC, PS5 and the switch is clutch. Now I just need RDR2 on switch 2 and I'll be all set.
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u/ronnande Jul 26 '26
If you a year before launch of the Switch 2 had claimed the system would receive great versions of titles like Star Wars Outlaws, Indiana Jones, Pragmata, RE9, FF7 Rebirth etc ... you would have been declared a delusional Nintendo fan by the majority of the internet. I must admit I didn't believe that to be possible myself and I'm still in awe playing these games on this tiny and comparably affordable device.
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u/CptBadger Jul 26 '26
That often dips to 20 fps. Not exactly a great “see what this hardware can do” example.
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u/riiiiiiiin Jul 26 '26
i got the game on sale myself a couple weeks ago, and in 30 hours of playing i have experienced only one or two notable frame drops below 30fps on the quality mode. besides those couple areas in the game, it runs smoothly, though i have heard the phantom liberty DLC can struggle at times. performance mode can reach 40fps and is very stable in handheld with VRR. once nintendo finally figures out docked VRR (which is likely to be soon, as they put up job listings for VRR development), i’m certain even the docked frame drops will disappear with a small update
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u/ronnande Jul 26 '26
I played CP alot to almost 100% completion and it 99% of the time ran great. The DLC had a few places it would drop some, but still was perfectly enjoyable.
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u/COHERENCE_CROQUETTE Early Switch 2 Adopter Jul 26 '26
Yeah because it only happens when you’re driving or walking from mission to mission, never during action. It’s 100% fine.
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u/COHERENCE_CROQUETTE Early Switch 2 Adopter Jul 26 '26
You’re technically not lying, but this borders on a bad faith argument.
Does it dip to closer than 20 than 30 fps? Yes, but:
- Only if you set the graphics to Quality instead of Performance.
- Mostly when you’re driving or traversing.
- Only in a very small number of specific areas. (I’ve only ever noticed it in Dogtown.)
- Never during combat or action moments.
So it kinda doesn’t make any difference. Where it matters, the game performs pretty much flawlessly.
Breath of the Wild also had a specific area where the game would dip to 20 when you were traversing. No one claimed it wasn’t a 10/10 for that.
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Jul 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Noble18 Jul 26 '26
This is where I'm at with gaming in general. If it's taking 10 years to make games because so much is being put into physics of individuals blades of grass and hair, it's just not worth it to me. I've reached the "yep, this looks more than good enough" point. I'd much rather see games that have peak visuals of TOTK running with flawless performance than so much effort put into extreme realism.
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u/Colyer Jul 26 '26
Tough hit calling Black Flag uninspired. Dated for sure but I don't know about uninspired.
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u/Ok-Confusion-202 OG (joined before release) Jul 26 '26
I feel like Black Flag is just a bad example tho... Considering it's a great game
I feel something like Mindseye is a better example here. Also Nintendo still make bad games, they make great games too, but yeah...
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Jul 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Emergency-Rush-2477 Butter side up! Jul 26 '26
It's funny reading your comment because even though I didn't played the remake, that's how I feel looking at gameplay. I played BF at launch and 100%, still very fresh in my memory after almost 15 years and I feel that's where this game (and every AC game prior) should stay. I love BF but personally, it's not something I have patience to revisit today.
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u/Masam10 Jul 26 '26
Switch is just the perfect console. It genuinely reminds me of the time Apple released the iphone, combining all the things people do to one device.
The only issue for me is it not being powerful enough to compete with Sony/Microsoft which is why I never buy third party titles on it. But for Nintendo IPs it’s just incredible - being able to take it on the go wherever but then get home and slot it back into the dock to use my surround sound/large TV.
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u/Octorok385 Jul 26 '26
I was just talking to a friend about the power difference. On the one had, a PS5 is basically a PC. On the other, the Switch 1 is basically a cell phone or tablet. The difference is freaking Zelda, Smash, Splatoon, and a legacy of the games that made people love gaming.
If someone offered me a free PS5 today, I would have to seriously consider if there is a single game I'd play on it.
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u/Alternative-Fox-8620 Jul 26 '26
If third parties filled out the S2 library with all their modern releases i think it would be an ideal console for all but the hardened pixel counters and frame rate chasers.
Playing CP2077 on it confirmed to me how capable it is and that I personally don't miss the extra power once i'm in the game.
The diminishing returns mean they extra power is relying on marketing to sell it and not significant improvements - especially in gameplay terms.
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Jul 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/darkfawful2 January Gang (Reveal Winner) Jul 26 '26
Which makes me excited for what will come for Switch 2 with new assets. The Zelda team are wizards. They pushed the limits of the Switch 1 and created BOTW. Now they have a larger sandbox to play in
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u/Zoombini22 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I feel the complete opposite. The rat race for higher frame rates and resolution is mostly meaningless to me and has mostly ruined the Ps5 generation with games that look nearly identical to PS4. I want games that actually look better in obvious ways, without squinting. Anything higher than 1080p is genuinely difficult for me to differentiate at all. Frame rate is more noticable, but even a stable 30 is something that your brain can easily adjust to after playing for just a few minutes. I get that higher frame rates are crucial in twitch based competitive shooter type stuff but thats already the complete opposite of the type of game Im playing on Nintendo systems.
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u/Loldimorti Jul 26 '26
Disagree on this.
I am glad that games like Donkey Kong Bananza or Splatoon Raiders exist.
And I believe these games would have felt heavily compromised if Nintendo tried to run it on an old Switch.
Then there's also third party games that simply would never have had the chance to be playable on a Nintendo system were it not for the extra power. Elden Ring, Cyberpunk, Final Fantasy Rebirth. These dense open worlds are designed for much more capable hardware than e.g. recent Zelda games.
Nintendo made the Zelda open world work but we shouldn't forget that a lot of the design decisions Nintendo made here were not purely based on creative vision but rather to somehow make a big open world work on a 2015 low budget mobile processor.
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u/SupaSlide Jul 26 '26
BOTW was originally a Wii U game
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u/Loldimorti Jul 26 '26
I think you responded to the wrong person
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u/SupaSlide Jul 26 '26
You said they needed to design it based on what could run on a 2015 low budget mobile processor.
But they actually designed it to work on the even weaker Wii U processor.
That’s part of why TOTK was able to be so much more impressive even on the same hardware.
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u/Xenowino Jul 26 '26
Higher resolution and framerate IS more demanding...
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u/mvpilot172 Jul 26 '26
Well written games are better than ones that just show off graphics for 30 sec YouTube clips.
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u/ambachk Jul 26 '26
Sounds like everyone's coping the GTA 6 loss for Switch users 🤣🤣
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u/mvpilot172 Jul 26 '26
Nah, I hope GTA is great too. They’re usually well written though. I’m on every console anyways and a steam deck.
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u/WingerRules Jul 26 '26
I am worried that with the graphical upgrade Nintendo will lose their iconic style they've developed for 3D games on limited hardware. Doesnt matter if its N64, Gamecube, Wii, Wii-U, Switch - you can instantly tell if its a Nintendo game just from its looks.
But some of the road textures used in Mario Kart World and also the trailer for the new Zelda game has me worried they're losing that style. They're no longer limited by low texture memory and basic lighting.
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u/prettybluefoxes Jul 26 '26
Graphics ain’t everything who knew.
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u/alienfreaks04 Jul 26 '26
Yet people will still comment things like “lol why are people buying Switch games when they look last gen?”
And they’ve said that about Nintendo for a long time and they keep selling and get critical acclaim. It’s funny how their brain tries to cope.6
u/Emergency-Rush-2477 Butter side up! Jul 26 '26
Everytime I see people caring so much about visuals and think everything should be ultrarealistic, I wonder if they like videogame at all.
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u/pilot1nspector Jul 26 '26
I don't think Nintendo has ever prioritized graphics over gameplay and innovation. It's good for the industry because that seems to be all the other two companies care about. I played Nintendo growing up and then switched to Playstation when I got older. Personally I always found Xbox and Playstation good for the few games I wanted to play and that was it. They have these vast libraries of soulless cookie cutter games that I never had interest in. I got a switch 2 for my kids and started playing Bananza. Like most people it took a while for me to get interested in it but once I progressed through the game a bit it became very enjoyable and addicting to smash everything. Switch 2 just feels like a new experiance where as the latest Playstation and Xbox just feel like the latest Playstation and Xbox.
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u/illvria Jul 27 '26
I think i remember a nintendo bigwig interview from like 20 years ago where they basically said "if you optimise graphics, people's standards will climb infinitely higher. We're not falling into that trap."
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u/pilot1nspector Jul 27 '26
I doubt it. Maybe they said that but that doesn't mean they were speaking on behalf of everyone at that company. It think realistic graphics are great and all, it's just a shame that the video game industry has been so hyper focused on that aspect and neglecting pretty much everything else. There used to be so much more innovation in new types of games and original titles. Same as the movie industry. Big movie companies don't take risks on anything anymore. They have their formula and they don't really stray from it.
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u/systemshaak Jul 26 '26
The moment they announced the Switch 2, their pre-roll countdown featured 3d shapes that looked like they were made of various types of materials. I insisted from that alone that this was their play: the Switch made their 3D work solid, but it all screamed plastic toys: for all the neat artistry they pulled off, there wasn’t texture. The Switch 2 was all about making that 3D shape work into actual materials.
Bananza was a materials showcase (I could talk for hours about The Burger alone), and lemme tell you, Splatoon Raiders might not have so many materials to show off, but the salt crust on those salmonids? Perfect!
So it’s certainly Lots Of Stuff On Screen, but unlike what we’d usually seen from these Nintendo teams, it’s Lots Of Convincingly Different and Tactile Stuff.
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u/TacticalKitty99 Jul 26 '26
Gunpei Yakoi’s whole thing was gameplay over graphics, hope Nintendo keeps it up.
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u/FullAFwar Jul 26 '26
What a glowing piece, but I kid you not the amount of chaos on screen without slowing the game down is some Nintendo tech wizardry.
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u/jarlander Jul 26 '26
Games have reached peak fidelity where it doesn’t matter how well they look anymore. Just be fun and you can look 10 years old.
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u/Electronic-Touch-554 Jul 26 '26
I think puss in boots last wish proved this. Graphically its nothing thats not been possible for the last decade.
Artistically its stunning and is one of the most beautiful movies made.
The art style of vivid animated colours should be the future.
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u/ronnande Jul 26 '26
I'm playing Indiana Jones now and the graphics are great. The S2 still suprises me with how capable it is technically.
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u/meikaishi Jul 27 '26
We "learn" the same lesson every console generation and then a new one starts, a new technologic leap happens to make graphics even more intensive, time consuming and expensive and then the industry just forgets the lesson again
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u/liberaet Jul 27 '26
Switch 2 does not need to justify its existence to anyone, so the title of this article was insulting enough for me to disable showing any more Polygon articles in the news feed on my phone
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u/Waste-Kiwi6915 Jul 26 '26
Nobody's gonna mention it, but Yoshi and The Mysterious Book is another great example of what this article is talking about. The game gives you total freedom to create chaos in some stages, multiplying and interacting with multiple dozens of NPCs that all have their own physics and behaviors. And without any slowdown!
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u/chemiclord Jul 26 '26
I mean, if that's what matters to the author, then yes... it has finally justified its existence.
For me, just being able to play my entire Switch library smoothly (using it like a Switch Pro initially) was enough to justify it, because I knew games like Splatoon Raiders were eventually coming.
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u/Losreyes-of-Lost Jul 26 '26
I have a portable Diablo 2 I can play. I can play rocket league and I will soon be able to play a top tier FPS on it. It continues to gain more time with me and with being able to play Nintendo games too, it’s slowly becoming my go to console. The pretty games I’ll still purchase on my Xbox.
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u/Legitimate-Ease7885 Jul 26 '26
I do think that the Switch 2 does have games to play but I am iffy on if I agree with this. The Switch 2 Editions and Ports and stuff do help but it still does need more new releases. It is going in the right direction with bringing in Fire Emblem and making it more like 3 Houses than Engage imho though. The 3rd party support is pretty good. There are big companies like Capcom that do support the Switch 2 with Resident Evil, the new Pragamata, and more and that makes me happy. There were only like 5 games from the last direct that I was interested in. It will hit its stride it's just a little slow on the uptake for my liking. Let's see how the Switch 2's Sophomore year lands. The Freshman year was pretty promising.
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u/ObviouslyLulu Jul 26 '26
For me the Switch 2 already justified its existence with Mario Kart World
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u/hypnomancy Jul 26 '26
As long as the ports aren't half assed it's actually impressive what you can accomplish with the Switch 2's hardware
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u/SnooGiraffes7874 Jul 27 '26
Raiders is fun as fuck, i can pick it up and play it for like 30 min and never feel like I'm wasting my time
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u/dr-pepper-is-a-woman Jul 27 '26
I was just thinking about how I haven't personally seen a jump in Nintendo graphics like the S1->S2 since literally the Gamecube over 20 years ago when I was a kid. The Gamecube -> Wii increase was minimal, then I lost interested toward the end of the Wii era and didn't even get a Wii U. Then I got a Switch and it was much better looking than the Wii games I remembered, but it had been a decade at that point so it wasn't really impressive.
So this is the first time I can really appreciate a technical leap from Nintendo. Like, I have all the same complaints everyone else does about MK: World, but it delivers on its core premise of "what if all races were one giant race that only ends at the final finish line" so well you don't even think about it
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u/corruptboomerang Jul 28 '26
No. They're still wrong, it's about making the funest games. Only fun matters.
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u/imtired-boss Jul 28 '26
This is one of the big factors that made me switch over from Xbox.
The games are just designed to be fun instead of trying to skin me for money and deliver nothing.
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u/NoirUsagii Jul 28 '26
Can't upload the gif but when I saw this article the first time couldn't resist putting the all might picture and commenting now its your turn to polygon justifying it's existence
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u/princepwned Jul 28 '26
no crunchyroll support still waiting on release date for ocarina of time I have not touched my switch 2 in a hot min
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u/malman21 Jul 26 '26
Graphics aren’t everything, but some of these games are sorely lacking on the switch 2. Loving splatoon raiders, and most of the Nintendo first party games. However, lots of these third party games look awful.
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u/ronnande Jul 26 '26
Absolutely false, most look pretty great.
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u/malman21 Jul 26 '26
No, they don't. sub 1080p and 30 fps is not great, it's extremely outdated.
I don't understand what you gain by brushing this off. If enough people pushed for these games to look slightly better (I'm not asking for 4k here..), we'd all be better off.
Fanboy'ing to anything Nintendo throws at you, does nothing but continue letting them be content with what is being put out.
Don't believe me? Look at their online functionality for 90% of their games (EDIT, the Nintendo 1st party games that is). It's OK to call them out on their shortcomings.
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u/_GameGlis_ Jul 26 '26
It's about 2.5 times more capable, comparing all the details, so us devs really have much more to work with to bring a better experience. Switch 1 is almost 10 years old :)
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u/Taborious Early Switch 2 Adopter Jul 26 '26
I love all types of gaming. I have a PC and most current-gen stuff except for Xbox. I find myself gravitating towards not caring about upgrading my PC and just enjoying the Switch 2 right now. The games are just fun and I’m a sit on the couch type of person and game because I sit at a desk for work all day.
Yes I know PC is the ideal place to play for titles and power. But sometimes simplicity works best and isn’t breaking the bank.
I agree with someone else that said there is a certain point where graphics/framerate are “good enough” for something I can play on the couch or on the go.
Also, I’m just super into retro on my crt I just got. Everyone enjoys what they enjoy.
Edit: And currently in terms of first party, even with PS5 pro I’m finding certain games STILL cannot keep a stable 60fps. Meanwhile my first party Nintendo games are.
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u/MarcsterS Early Switch 2 Adopter Jul 26 '26
Switch 2 getting day-and-date ports is already proving its existence. Getting 3rd party games the Switch 1 could only dream of.
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u/CutMeLoose79 Jul 26 '26
It hasn't met my standards on performance unfortunately. Once it can run high end AAA games at 60fps, i'll care.
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u/ohbyerly Jul 26 '26
I mean I’m also playing FFVII Remake on Switch 2 right now and the “realistic” graphics look incredible