The Witcher 3 on Switch – Ugly as Never, Fun as Ever

It so happened that during the holidays, I decided to relive my Witcher 3 experience once again, this time in the GOTY version, on PlayStation 4 Pro. When I was comfortably sitting at home, solving the complicated family issues of Phillip Strenger, an opportunity appeared – quite unexpectedly – to put the upcoming Switch conversion through the paces.

The port, developed by Saber Interactive studio, and referred to as "the Switcher" by the devs themselves, is now getting the final touches, and is nearly ready to release. Playing simultaneously on the Pro allowed me to directly compare both version and see if Switch is able to cope with what probably is the most demanding game in the short history of this unassuming console. To my surprise, things are better than I expected. There's no doubt that this will be the ugliest edition of the game ever released, but since it runs without any major flaws, it's still engaging as hell.

The REDs showed us the Switcher in the mobile version only, so I didn't really have a chance to see how the game looks on a TV. No regrets, though. I realize that 720p doesn't look very impressive on a big screen, and the writing on the wall says something along the lines of "Switch is a portable console, and being able to comfortably play The Witcher 3 anywhere you want is the whole point."

The outcome of such approach is much better than you could assume. 540p is enough to make the game legible and still visually attractive on Switch's small screen, despite the fact that the authors still had to compromise a lot in terms of the graphics. Textures look much worse than on PlayStation 4, and the field of view is not particularly impressive either, even though, at first glance, it seems to be really large. The main issue for me was that objects in the background looked like pixelated bitmaps rather than three-dimensional structures actually existing on the map. It's not a big drawback, but you might want to bear this in mind.

What I found a particularly good decision, was the fact the authors really wanted to get out of the players' way (even those, who use Switch only occasionally), making the game as accessible as possible. The mobile Switcher automatically enlarges all the text displayed on the screen, and, as we know, there's quite a lot of that in the Wild Hunt. You can see this aspect has been thoroughly tested by the authors of the conversion – reading smaller text, e.g. in the quick-access menu, was never a problem for me during the preview.

Break your habits

A much more interesting decision was, however, reverting the A & B buttons, which could be problematic for players accustomed to the PS4/Xbox One control scheme. As we know, the Japanese publisher has been conforming to its standard for years, which means that dodging in the Switcher is done with a different button than on other consoles. And since such basic controls are done almost subconsciously after dozens of hours spent in the game, I had some trouble accommodating the new scheme. Still, the devs assured us that the typically extensive menu will allow customizing the controls, so that everyone can have a choice. In the demo version tested by us, this option was available, but didn't work, so we have to take it for granted for now.

Generally speaking, the Polish hit is a very pleasant experience on Switch. You admittedly can sense the console is struggling to maintain the 25 frames per second, and occasional drops may appear in more congested locations (e.g. Novigrad), or when fighting larger groups of enemies, but they're not so burdensome as to spoil the fun of exploring the virtual Northern Kingdoms.

An interesting fact is that the game has shorter loading times than the PlayStation 4 Pro version. Reading data from a cartridge is clearly more efficient than using a DVD, which translates directly into improved loadings. Things are similar with displaying objects in more exposed parts of the map, where, in case of the standard PS4, they would be loaded noticeably slower with every hour of gameplay. There are no such issues here, which is a great relief, as this was one of our greatest concerns before seeing the Switcher in action.

While the graphical downgrade of the Switcher is highly conspicuous, the game otherwise offers the same amount of content as the PC and console versions. The options in the main menu are the same, so you can play through the entire story of the core game and the two big DLCs, or play each of these adventures separately. According to the policy of CD Projekt Red, the Nintendo version will not offer any extra content compared to other platforms. I understand the decision, but I'm not sure anyone would be offended by the idea of giving the Switcher some new downloadable content. What most likely prevented the Reds from that was probably the fact they didn't have a dedicated conversion team. Of course, a group of people in Warsaw supervise the creation of the port, but their concerns are limited just to technical issues.

In conclusion, I consider my first encounter with the Switcher a pleasant experience. Although it was created as the last one, it is not the ultimate version of the game. Compromises are apparent at first glance, and the downgrade may offend PC extremists, but let's cut the crap – that's not what this is all about. You can now literally pack The Witcher 3 into your backpack and take it anywhere you go with you – to work, school, or in any other place your heart desires. For many people who just don't have the time to fully commit to completing the game on PC or console, this is the perfect solution, especially since the Switch version turns out completely fine. Finishing the game in this form should not pose the slightest issue, and I'm certain I'll do just that once I feel the call of the trail again.