Witcher 3 on Nintendo Switch: HOLY CRAP IT IS POSSIBLE! (Hands on Review)
The original game Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was first released on PC in 2015 and for quite some time it was one of those benchmark games that would totally slaughter your gaming rig whilst giving you one of the most beautiful, mature and engaging open world games at the time. These days, it IS still one of the most accomplished games of this genre (without melting modern hardware) and will likely stay at the top of any best 10 RPG lists for the foreseeable future... or at least until Cyberpunk 2077 comes out!
Anyway, I was pretty damn skeptical when there was a port announced for the Nintendo Switch.... after all, the Switch is a mobile-type ARM based Tegra processor which is phenomenal for mobile hardware... but is just orders of magnitude less powerful than a decent PC CPU/GPU combination. Plus, it was retailing at around 60 euro for the complete edition... which I wasn't keen to pay when I could have the entire experience on a PC already in super high quality graphics!
However, the concept of having a huge open world RPG experience on a handheld console is pretty damn tempting... but I had been burnt before with the port of Skyrim. The port of Skyrim is okay, but the screen is just too small and dark, and the game is much better suited to a Mouse/Keyboard style of play rather than the console controller... that said, I'm just a retard with the controller when it comes to First Person controls!
Fast forward to the present... and Nintendo has a huge Summer Sale (but unfortunately, no Persona release...), which made The Witcher much less painful on the pocket. Combined with all the extra free time that I currently have with the lack of concerts and the fact that I haven't played all the DLC extras, I decided that it would be a treat for myself to see if Wild Hunt on the Nintendo Switch was all it was cracked up to be... after all, it had gotten some pretty glowing reviews!
The Game
The Witcher Universe is a much more compelling setting than most of the Tolkein-esque fantasy settings. Much of the world are distinct shades of grey and involve difficult choices that are much deeper and complex than the usual "kick or hug the puppy" choices that are present in other RPGs. The writers do not hesitate to use the game medium to cover topics of racism and other other uncomfortable topics...
As this is a pretty faithful port of the original PC game, I won't mention too much about the actual gameplay... for that sort of review, you can find nearly 5 years worth of writing about the Witcher game all over the internet. For my part, I'm more interested in seeing if The Witcher is still as great on the Nintendo Switch as it was on the PC when I first played it so many years ago!... or if is a big disappointment like Skyrim.
One of my biggest memories about venturing out into the Wilds of The Witcher universe was how beautiful the entire world was. You could just sit around watching the world... feeling immersed in a lovingly crafted world that looked straight out of painting! Definitely, you do still get the same experience on the Switch... just in a less gigantic way. The screen is smaller (yes, you can dock the console to play on a larger screen... but if I am at home, I won't be using the Switch!), which does impact the impressiveness compared to a decent PC monitor, but with a decent pair of headphones, you are really getting the full experience!
Talking is all menu based (much like Skyrim), so there is no problem on that front... likewise with inventory management and RPG levelling. Where the Witcher does shine is the fact that most of the combat melee based.... this was the biggest shortcoming (in my view) with the Skyrim port. Often, I would play a ranged or magic character.. and aiming with a console control (even with the gyro assist...) is a right pain in the arse when you are used to the high accuracy of a mouse!
So, the combat is still quite pleasant and in true Witcher style, quite challenging! The control scheme of Witcher also lends itself much better to the limited buttons (compared to a Keyboard and a gaming Mouse) of the Nintendo Switch. I have to say that after some hours, I'm a little bit less uncoordinated with the console controller... but there is a bit of a muscle memory lag as I try to remember the control scheme in a battle, leading to some hilarious moments of dropping a grenade on myself when I was expecting to chug a health potion.
... speaking of challenging, you are best off learning as much as you can about your opponents (both monster and human...). It is definitely possible to win without knowledge, but that advantage helps when you are fighting battles that are pretty hard!
Lastly... no Witcher game these days is complete without a Gwent section. As I had said before, this is a completely faithful port of the PC game. Gwent is here in all it's card collecting glory...
Personally, I never really enjoyed the game so much... but legions of fans on the internet can't be wrong! Still, it is a nice pastime to break up the nerves of taking on monsters and surviving by the slightest sliver of health!
Performance, Sound and Graphics
Sound-wise, you pretty much have the complete experience on the Switch... if you wear decent headphones! The speakers on the Switch are loud, but the sound is not enveloping and they are definitely tinnier than a proper set of cans or a PC speaker setup.
Performance takes a little hit now and then in load times and the occasional stutter. Nothing disastrous (yet...), but you do notice it with hiccups.
Where the biggest compromises have been made have been in the visuals and graphics... the cutscenes are unaffected (the image at the top of this section) and are still spectacular, but the in-game rendering are noticeably of lesser quality and resolution than their PC counterparts. However, on a smaller screen you aren't really noticing the loss quite so badly... and if this is the price to pay for have this awesome game run mostly smoothly... well, that is quite okay!
Conclusion
Okay... the PC version is STILL the definitive version of The Witcher: Wild Hunt! With the greater graphical and processing grunt that the PC can offer, the game is just so much smoother and prettier on a gaming rig... plus, Keyboard and Mouse will kick Controller kiddies all day and night!
That said, even my ITX sized gaming rig is NOT portable and requires mains power... and my laptop is pretty decent and will run this, but it is more of a productivity piece of kit and not a gaming one (perhaps that will change back again now that gaming laptops are more decent!). A Nintendo Switch is small and portable and the game runs well enough on the less powerful hardware.... and to be able to carry the BEST open world RPG in existence in your backpack for travel and otherwise... well, this is definitely something to get hyped about!
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Gaming has come a long way from the early 80's to what one sees today, not a gamer but both my sons enjoy tackling a variety of games both card and PC. Graphics I have see have been totally mind blowing in detail, so yes I can see what the attraction is.
Thanks for the rundown, stretching my imagination and learning more about the gaming world!
@tipu curate
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I know! I was there in the late 80s as a child playing games on my father's work computer... there were some gems back then, but I suspect that I'm remembering them with a bit of rose tinted goggles!
Early 90's an offer of purchase was made through corporate to buy home computers to assist in educating staff, at that point realizing the future, a PC at home would assist my sons.
Very soon gaming bought on disks in amazing boxes became birthday presents. Introduction was quite young, children learn so quickly now teaching us the ropes LOL!
Yes it was a good move buying Betsy our first home computer even if my husband thought I was totally mad at the time.
such a great and well made game, i have played it on PC didn't know it's on Nintendo switch as well
It is weird that such a huge game has appeared on the Switch... but the little machine is proving to be more of a surprise with each new release that pushes it's limits!
I loved this game on switch so much! Playing witcher sitting in the train is such a great experience
It really is unbelievable that it fits on such a little underpowered console! I love the Switch for those long train rides!
It looks quite good, I already enjoyed it on PC so I don't really see the point in trying it out on another platform. The graphics don't look quite as good either (which makes sense), maybe using the controller would be a little better for combat?
I also thought the in-game Gwent sucked. It becomes too easy to beat the AI once all the cards are collect and one gets familiar with the deck.
Yeah, I wasn't too fond of Gwent... I"m not really sure why it took off in such a big way!
Anyway, it does look much much better on the PC... but thought of a portable version was just too tempting to pass up! However, if I have access to my PC... I'm going to play something else!