Switch Version Needs Major Improvements
Hey there everyone! So I just wanted to give my opinion and personal experience with the Switch version of the game. Since what I'm talking about is mainly negative, let me go over some of the good points about the Switch release. I have about 500 hours total on PC and a couple of hours on the Switch if that helps.
- Free DLC is always welcome. Even though the remainder is still expensive having Feng, Ace, etc already unlocked from the start is really nice.
- Being a portable version of one of my favorite games is really cool, and something that'll be nice when I'm traveling.
- Almost no toxicity at all.
I'll admit that is about it. Everything else about the release is essentially a downgrade in every aspect. Now let's go over some of the issues.
- The frame rate is horrible. Extremely stuttery in the beginning of the match and never stabilizes entirely, causing some major problems depending on the area of the map you are in. This happened multiple times on multiple maps. But if you are getting chased and try to break distance, you'll be dropping frames as it loads more assets in. Docking the game and playing on a television does nothing to improve the performance.
- No touchscreen capabilities make menuing really janky. For some reason the reticle doesn't really 'snap' to anything and your only option is analog controls, so trying to change settings or quickly click through things really sucks It would be nice if we could use the touchscreen features or even the D-pad to easily flick through multiple options.
- Skill checks seem messed up, almost as if they are lagging. I thought it was just me missing at first but I tried on different Joy-cons, docked/undocked, and even had my buddy on another console try. Same thing. I'm not sure if it is because the animation isn't as smoother or something but it feels off which means it makes it hard to hit great skill checks. Running Hex: Ruin against a group of survivors is almost an automatic win for the killer.
- The red stain is SERIOUSLY a problem. Either it is the Switch's screen making it not visible enough or something else. This happened against multiple killers where they would be in swinging distance and no sign of a stain at all. It feels much shorter and narrower compared to the PC and PS4 version which I've tried. The killer's heartbeat seems quieter as well but that could just be me and not the game's fault.
- Button inputs are delayed too. I'm not really sure if this is the game's fault or the console's, but this has caused me to go down because either my character couldn't turn sharply like normal or a pallet wouldn't be thrown down. I've never had this problem on PC.
- I haven't tried killer as I am a survivor main but it seems to me that the killer's controls are off. I dodged easily possible swings and their movement was really awkward.
- While we are able to change the brightness, the contrast needs to be fixed. The blacks are way too dock muddying the screen. I am guessing this is to hide the low poly-count or poor draw distance because of limitations but it makes the game almost unplayable unless it is docked.
- The hatch just looks... off. And weird. Like they forgot to properly model it. Just a little detail but still something none-the-less.
Now I know that this version just released on a portable console but really, the quality is sub-par. In comparison to many other ports of various games (Resident Evil REmake) or original, open-world games (Breath of the Wild) this should've had more time to test and fix all of these problems especially since they are charging the same price as the PC, PS4, and Xbox versions which are all much more stable and objectively better. Now I think it is great to be on another console; more money for the developers to make more wonderful things and more people with access to the game to play and enjoy it. But the fact is if their first impression is of a broken, awkward horror game that already has a high skill ceiling, they aren't going to play it. And no one wants that.
So in conclusion, I won't be playing until a couple of updates. Which sucks because I really wanted to like it. Hopefully my concerns will be addressed (especially since you aren't able to refund it, so I am stuck with it) in the near future, and I am open to hear anyone else's experience whether it agrees or disagrees with the points I made. Thanks for reading my rambles and have a wonderful day!
Comments
Another positive to add though: The dedicated servers on the Switch are amazing. I had really good ping the entire time (in the green) that is with a Wi-Fi connection.