With Persona 5 Royal out now on Nintendo Switch, I’d like to take a look back at some of the previous “miracle” ports that this system managed to get. I’m gonna talk about three of them here to get things started:
[P5R](https://youtu.be/4eKT3kseiAY) is easily the most impressive port that I’ve played. This is my first time diving into the game proper after nearly 4 years of seeing Joker in Smash. And frankly Sega should be commended for getting this entire game, plus tons of DLC items, onto the Switch cartridge without requesting outside help.
I haven’t played [Nier Automata](https://youtu.be/fq4f_7faOEg) on Switch, but I hear that version is just as impressive. But then again, PlatinumGames pretty much know the system like the back of their hands at this point. This version even has some Switch exclusive content, so I’m sure it’ll sell just fine. It will certainly be received better on this console than a certain *other* Square Enix series….
The last game I wanted to bring up was [Ori and the Will of the Wisps](https://youtu.be/-QFOJ_L6yFM). After Blind Forest made its way over in 2019, I just knew that Will of the Wisps wasn’t going to be left behind. What I didn’t expect was the Switch version dropping so soon after the Xbox versions. It was shadowdropped on the eShop shortly after the September 2020 partner showcase direct, and it plays virtually identically to the Xbox versions besides maybe load times.
by Asad_Farooqui
38 Comments
Sorry to burst your bubble, but Persona 5R is NOT a miracle port by any stretch of the imagination. The game was originally released for the ps3.
Although 5R was ported well on the Switch, compromised still had to be made, which is apparent right off the bat.
Honestly though, as a hardcore turn based rpg gamer, graphics is the least of my concerns. Having said that, the Switch is my favorite current console! And yes, I even sold my Ps5 and SteamDeck, and now play exclusively on my Switch OLED Splatoon and Pokémon edition 😅
I’d argue P5R is an okay port. Def not a miracle port.
Witcher 3 and dying light
Witcher 3 is what I consider a miracle port. I know it’s not as pretty as the other versions but it runs great and to have a game of that magnitude on a portable system was amazing.
My answer would be Ori 1. Ori 2 takes like a second to load the map which in a metroidvania adds up fast
it still boggles my mind how they crammed all of Witcher 3 on a Switch cart AND got it to run so well
Persona 5 Royal is not a miracle by any means. It’s just a PS3 port in the same category as most Wii U Ports. And I think it could have been optimized further to reach 720p on handheld instead of 540p, but I guess they prioritized battery life over resolution (I’m surprised at how much the battery lasts with this game while most 3D JRPGs drain it super fast) and the art style carries the visuals hard.
The ports that are seen as “impossible” are often PS4/Xbox One games such as:
– Doom (2016)
– Doom Eternal
– Wolfenstein II
– The Witcher 3
– Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age
– Alien Isolation (What the heck? How is this the best version?)
As others have also mentioned, P5R is not a miracle port at all
Not even close
I do appreciate that they got a solid frame rate going with it, but they compromised pretty heavily in getting there
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6XlIpSOI40Q
Digital Foundry’s video has more details on this
I don’t think Persona5 is a game that asks a lot from the system. It was released on PS3 too
I’m with the others on Witcher 3. I first owned it on PC, but bought the switch port as well just because of how impressive it is that it fits on a cart and is totally playable.
I was never interested in Ori on the OG Switch but got it when I got the OLED model and was blown away. Still not my type of game and I didn’t play much further after the tutorial/into, but what I’ve seen (and heard) of it was looking absolutely incredible. It looks so sharp, fluid and vibrant. I wonder why there aren’t any other games in the similar painted 2D art-style (Rayman Legends, Dragons Crown, etc.) that come remotely close to this.
No Man’s Sky. It amazes me that it is all on cart and it’s only got a little fat trimmed off compared to the other versions. My only hope is they add multiplayer but that is a tiny gripe given what the game is and tries to accomplish. Easily the most impressive port in my mind
I think Dying Light is by far the best, even better than the Witcher 3. Runs amazing and looks great on handheld. Feels like it doesn’t even chug when there are loads of zombies on screen
Doom 2016. It’s a miracle that game runs on the Switch.
Doom 2016 & Doom Eternal by porting wizards Panic Button, they manage to get the game running on the Switch with a rock solid 30FPS.
Recently, I played Nier Automata on the Switch and the frame rate holds up well. It does suffer from random pop ins, as a result of short draw distance.
The Witcher 3 and Doom 2016 are some of the more impressive ports to me.
Life is Strange True Colors. They did some awesome things to make it run and look great on switch (I recommend looking into it) and I wish all devs gave that much effort into it
It is DOOM Eternal. All other answers are wrong.
The Witcher 3 port (post 3.6 patch) will forever be the greatest 3rd party AAA port on the Switch. No competition. Maybe Doom 2016 and Eternal come close
I’m not as big on Metroidvanias. (They can be very fun, but not always my thing). But Will of the Wisps is one of my favorites, if not my favorite of the genre, and probably one of my top 10 games of the last decade.
How is dying light? I’m interested in getting it around xmas
Persona or not indie games Atlus the studio behind these games is owned by sega just saying
Ori and the will of the Whisps, the music,the 60fps. The colours on the Oled, everything.
Also Mario Kart still blows me away. Mostly due to it maintaining 60 fps and the same picture quality in split screen
Dying light
Witcher 3
Ngl Maneater was great
No man’s sky is amazing
The recently relaunch of Ark Survival Evolved
Neir
Bioshock collection
So many great ports
Yoku’s Island Express. There’s like two instances of the game having to stop to load when using the fast travel system. That’s it. It’s a downright gorgeous game that on Switch runs at 60fps from start to finish and I think it’s 1080p when docked.
It’s currently on sale for $5 on the Switch eShop right now btw and it has a free demo. It is an absolute steal for one of the most unique and pure fun gaming experiences out there and it feels extremely novel to play in handheld mode. So do yourself a favor and play Yoku’s Island Express on Switch.
divinity original sin 2. I managed to finish it finally on switch, thanks to this brilliant port and steam cloud save sync.
Dying Light, NieR, The Witcher 3, Doom, Wolfenstein
those are pretty neat games and incredible ports on Switch
Havent played NMS or Persona 5 to give an opinion, but for what I’ve seen, those are great too
I think the Witcher 3 is most impresive one.
I’m old enough to remember Skyrim’s original release and it’s still mind blowing to me I can play it on such a dinky little handheld, and it runs so well.
Dragon’s Dogma has a great port.
I still can’t believe the newer Doom games run so well on the Switch
I’d agree with others that P5R probably isn’t a “miracle port” *per se* but I do think it’s fair to say it exceeded a lot of people’s expectations – even if it didn’t meet some others’ hopes.
For all it’s built on a PS3 game, it did receive some upgrades that kept it from the PS3. When you also take into account the Switch’s limitations apparently are little to do with the CPU and mostly in how it handles (3D) graphics.
Throw in less available RAM, more limits on actual storage *and* the fact that apparently it manages a steady 30fps, it’s certainly a well done port.
All of the Sniper Elite and Zombie Army games. Crysis 2+3. I’d count Skyrim as well since it’s significantly improved over the PS3 / X360 versions.
Persona 5 is not an impressive port. It as “acceptable” one. People are forgetting this is a PS3 game in it’s core. Compare it to even atlus games like SMT5 which are visually more demanding, the resolution of P5 is not up to par. And when you have a game with a high contrast style of crisp outlines, a muddy low resolution is just not ideal.
Putting it at no. 1 shows you haven’t seen what can actually be done on the platform by devs who put in the extra effort.
Witcher, Dying light, nba 2k, Fifa, Skyrim, doom, rocket league, Minecraft dungeons, divinity original sin, Nier Automata, wwz, Resident evil collection, Overwatch, Ori, Tony hawk, Sonic frontiers, are all decent to excellent ports.
I will add Crisis Core as well
Factorio. Coded in C++ x86 originally, and ported over to ARM. I’m inching my way through the tutorial, but there’s a great itch for organization and research that will be scratched, and there’s a pretty reward to figuring out a better way. Software coder in me appreciates it immensely. [Factorio developer on the port process to Switch](https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-370)
Cross platform multiplayer.
There’s many controls to be implemented, but well done mapping in a decent manner. AND, keyboard mouse control is there in some fashion now, with intent to map just like on the PC in a future update. Has any other game that deserves keyboard/mouse support done so yet on Switch?
60FPS late game on a 7 year old ARM processor, with limited RAM.
Crosscode, it’s natively running in HTML 5 and requires a emulator to run on the Switch console. It had a rocky start with frame rate particularly bumpy in busier combat when it first got released, but now it’s smooth and a great time.
Worth noting that Platinum did not do the Nier port. Maybe they assisted, but a company called Virtuos did the brunt work on it. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EgqUmzq004