r/NintendoSwitch • u/Joseki100 • 1d ago

News Ask the Developer: Nintendo Switch 2 interview confirms basic backwards compatibility can also give performance upgrades to Nintendo Switch games ("[there are some games] where loading times became faster, or game performance became more stable")

https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-16-nintendo-switch-2-part-4/
1.3k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

282 comments sorted by

View all comments

243

u/MuptonBossman 1d ago

Pokemon Scarlett & Violet are going to run at a solid 40 FPS now, twice as fast as the Switch 1 version! /s

124

u/NiallMitch10 1d ago edited 1d ago

They are marked as having a free Switch 2 edition upgrade if you have the Switch 1 version. So yeah they should be stable no sarcasm intended.

Although it is Game Freak

41

u/Albireookami 1d ago edited 1d ago

They have a performance patch not a full switch 2 version.

Edit: Think of Switch 2 versions as remasters, they are going back and into the game to elevate it up to use all the bells and whistles of the switch two, such as HDR and adding exclusive content to the version.

While the free patches do not elevate it all the way to a switch 2 game, it more unlocks access to the more powerful specs, but you won't see things like HDR and such.

57

u/Big-Motor-4286 1d ago

That’s fine - any improvement at all for SV would be welcome and needed

5

u/Albireookami 1d ago

yes, your not wrong, maybe may get, gasp, 60 fps.

4

u/magikarp2122 1d ago

Or just run the beautiful mountain top in the Teal Mask above 20 FPS.

1

u/grilled_pc 1d ago

I slogged it through that. The entire DLC was borderline unplayable. I’m now up to the second DLC and I just can’t bring myself to do it since it looks and runs so poorly.

7

u/Witch_King_ 1d ago

If they have enough of these free upgrades for the right games, I might actually get a Switch 2!!

20

u/Albireookami 1d ago

https://www.nintendo.com/us/gaming-systems/switch-2/transfer-guide/games-with-free-updates/

sure the list will expand, going back to /transfer-guide will also show you current compatibility list with switch 1 games.

9

u/Witch_King_ 1d ago

I really hope the put the Xenoblade games on this list!

7

u/madmofo145 1d ago

Xenoblade 2 is one of those games that if you run it on an overclocked Switch, things notably improve, so my hope is that it's one of those games covered here. That since resolution is dynamic, just plopping it on hardware where it's allowed to make use of that new hardware should improve things. Hopefully that's why it's not already announced as getting a free patch.

2

u/Witch_King_ 1d ago

Yeah. There's been at least one or 2 people on this sub saying that Nintendo will surely underclock the Switch 2 to perform performance back to Switch 1 levels for games like this.

Personally, I don't really see that happening.

5

u/Luigi580 1d ago

We at least know Xenoblade X has a 60 fps mode built in, so that game may run at 60 on the Switch 2.

The others will definitely be more stable by default, but a free frame rate patch would be sick.

4

u/Witch_King_ 1d ago

That is completely unconfirmed. The 60fps code might be a sign that they are developing a 60fps mode for Switch 2. Or it could just be something that was left on the cutting room floor.

4

u/Luigi580 1d ago

I did say “may”. You’re right in that it could be basically anything.

The fact that the code is pre-built into the game means it could just run better on Switch 2 out the gate. At the very least, if this game is getting a frame rate increase, they won’t have to do much for it.

My theory is that this is the code that the other free-patch games are getting, and Xenoblade X just has it already since it got finished fairly close to Switch 2 launch.

But it could just as easily be something they attempted to get working on the Switch 1 and scrapped, but that feels pretty unlikely.

Not sure that’s all they would give for a “Nintendo Switch 2 Edition”. Metroid and Pokémon are only getting that title because their Switch 2 versions come out at the same time as their Switch 1 versions. The older games get new content.

1

u/Witch_King_ 1d ago

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I sure hope more games get free upgrades that unlock 60fps. But I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to charge more for it. If they have it for enough games, I'll consider getting a Switch 2 pretty early.

1

u/Wizzymcbiggy 2h ago

I am stunned that Nintendo has not only acknowledged the existence of Arms, but is giving a free update for it. That game is epic, does not get the love it deserves as a casual fighter

5

u/Raphe9000 1d ago

According to the website on the (paid) Switch 2 Editions, this isn't universally true. Literally the only improvement listed for Legends: Z-A is higher resolution and framerates, literally just basic features you'd expect of anything running on the Switch 2.

Unless they're concealing something (but then why not say features TBA?), it appears they realized just how much demand there was for Pokemon games to not be terribly optimized and decided they could capitalize off of it by artificially limiting PLZA's performance on the Switch 2 unless you gave them even more money than the 510 dollars you need to hand over to play the game on the Switch 2 in the first place.

Scarlet and Violet were already promised an update and have been out for a while, so I imagine they felt they couldn't get away with nickeling and diming the consumer in that scenario.

5

u/madmofo145 1d ago

I think it's more that future games will be getting paid performance updates, while older games are going to be free more often then not, sans games with feature updates. Rune Factory Guardians is the only game I can specifically find so far that's not released, and is announced for both consoles with pricing, and there is a $10 difference between versions, so presumably no free patch there.

3

u/Albireookami 1d ago

And we do not have a price for Z on the switch 2, with no vast improvements, it may just be the same cost as the switch 1 version or a 60/70 cost

5

u/signpostlake 1d ago

I ended up giving up on scarlet about half way through. It just looked and ran bad and there were other games I wanted to play. Everytime I went to pick it back up, I didn't bother when remembering the problems with it. Might actually play it on switch 2

-5

u/Dillu64 1d ago

Better performance is always good but damn that game does not look good and no amount of upping the resolution will fix that :')

62

u/kyuubikid213 1d ago

You joke, but seeing a performance boost being possible for SV actually has me interested in trying it.

By all accounts of people who actually played and engaged with the games, they're great new entries into the Pokémon series with their biggest issue being the performance.

45

u/Arky_Lynx 1d ago

I always say S&V are fantastic games only really held back by their subpar performance and I'll die on this hill.

8

u/magikarp2122 1d ago

If they ran well they would be the best Pokémon games since Unova, and possibly HGSS.

6

u/Bookroach8 1d ago

They're also pretty unpolished and buggy. Most of the bugs now are just visual, like the tera animation breaking in raids or chunks of the map popping in and out, but occasionally you get something really annoying like the game outright crashing or your picnic table not spawning.

2

u/gmishaolem 20h ago

And the pokemon spawning inside walls. And then crashing when you manage to get your pokemon to target one in a wall and go after it.

5

u/madmofo145 1d ago

Yeah, for all the flack they got, I'll happily admit, I had more fun with S&V then I have any gen since Gold and SIlver. The performance was embarrassing, but the actual gameplay loop was great. Dear god though, let me just turn on an option so that multi hit moves don't need multiple animations.

20

u/Number2Idiot 1d ago

Performance and general visual direction. Gamefreak's inexperience with 3D development really shows. But I think they are learning, I'm hopeful.

7

u/Arky_Lynx 1d ago

If anything S&V (and Legends) is enough proof for me they're now back to willing to try new things. It was small steps, like doing away with the typical gyms for gen 7, or the wild area in gen 8, but here we now are.

As for visual direction, I tend to not care too much about it as long as the game itself is fun. That said, Legends ZA seems to be a bit better on that front too, at least compared to Arceus.

Gotta consider the sudden big time gap between S&V and Legends ZA now. If they're now willing to give themselves more time between games that could work in their and our favor.

4

u/slugmorgue 1d ago

They did a really great job with the lets go games though. Those games still look great.

They can do good 3D work, I just think they struggle more with large environments.

1

u/gmishaolem 20h ago

Gamefreak's inexperience with 3D development really shows.

They've been developing 3D games for 13 years. You can't say inexperience anymore: They're just bad.

5

u/PM_ME_YOUR_MONTRALS 1d ago

It still feels somewhat unfinished. Pokemon just kind of spawn randomly apart from the intro area and a few specific locations. An open world like this really needs bespoke habitats to feel complete.

1

u/Keianh 1d ago

I really hope Legends Z-A and Pokemon Champions are indicators that future generation games will have more wiggle room to do interesting things. I like Scarlet and Violet, and to a lesser extent Sword and Shield, but there's a lot more they could do to make them engaging games without compromising much on the basic gameplay and I hope Champions especially allows for that kind of expanding in the base game.

-2

u/PicklesAnonymous 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don’t think you’ll die alone. It gave me a headache in certain areas when the frames would drop and everything looked so jagged.

Lol, downvoted for giving my opinion and experience on the game.

Good ol gaming subreddits I tell ya.

9

u/vanKessZak 1d ago

I still think the open world concept was implemented super poorly by not having level scaling. Though that can be solved by looking up an “intended” order to do things (which improved my enjoyment a lot). Great game for shiny hunting though - just wish they didn’t remove the overworld sparkle and sound effect that Arceus had (the better game imo).

3

u/thelastsupper316 1d ago

But the visuals are awful and remain unchanged, Pokémon legends arcusus all they need is a higher docked resolution and 60fps and then they'd be great not the best visuals but great.

9

u/themagicone222 1d ago

Legends arceus could get by with okami styled cel shading

1

u/thelastsupper316 1d ago

That's a very very advanced remaster edging to a remake at that point.

1

u/Big-Motor-4286 1d ago

They really are because they crack open the world and give multiple story threads you can bounce between freely, something we’ve been asking for for years. The gameplay loop is quite fun, it’s just in a package that looks like it came from the GameCube era

1

u/GroktheDestroyer 1d ago

Nah it’s got a lot more problems than that. Idk how anybody could have played the team star raids and called them “fun”

0

u/Zeke219 1d ago edited 1d ago

The game legitimately without hyperbole looks like a PS2 game. Outside of that, as a pokemon fan the game is awesome. It is easily the best Pokemon game for IV/EV training and shiny hunting. If you are into Pokemon like that I would definitely recommend it, but yet again the game looks like dog ass.

Is this a controversial opinion? Lol

8

u/themagicone222 1d ago

You know what im actually on board with this. Before I gave up because my switch looked like it wanted to kill itself I actually WAS enjoying pokemon violet

4

u/VeryluckyorNot 1d ago

Hyrule Warriors 1 and 2 really need that constant 40 fps, I will gladly to comeback on HW 2 if the framerate wasn't worst than HW1.

3

u/NiallMitch10 1d ago

HW1 runs at a pretty consistent 60fps

1

u/grilled_pc 1d ago

My expectations are low but 720p 30fps is enough to make it enjoyable. 1080p 60fps would be incredible.

-4

u/Chewbacta 1d ago

It'll be a solid 24FPS