[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xdopf1oKVw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xdopf1oKVw)
They decided to do this analysis after seeing some iffy visual results in Kingdom Hearts 3 cloud version. For starters, the input latency doesn’t seem actually all that bad. In Control at 60 fps on PC, they measured 93 ms native latency, which is actually fairly high, and Switch took that to around 147 ms over a wired ethernet connection. They likened it to playing on a TV with Game Mode turned off.
However, they did acknowledge that wireless connections were more variable, and sometimes saw spikes to around 200 ms. They also tested a 4G phone hotspot, and they don’t describe how bad it was other than to say “it works about as well as you might expect.”
Really the main issue here is visual and image quality, as well as frame rate consistency. Ostensibly, the reason a developer would choose a cloud version of a game over a native app is so that they aren’t constrained by the Switch’s hardware, you would expect visual settings and image quality that wouldn’t be able to run on the Switch, but the reality is…it kind of just comes across as lazy in some cases.
All cloud games seem to run universally at 720p, and that, paired with streaming compression and things like macro blocking, makes for overall unattractive images when viewed on Switch, especially when blown up on a TV. They note Kingdom Hearts 3 in particular may be the worst overall, some scenes are described as turning into a mess of macro blocking and hard edges.
But then you get to Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 HD, which operates at 720p 30 fps. Keep in mind, the original PS3 releases of those games also ran at 720p 30 fps and are of course based on PS2 remasters. This just comes across as both Square and the streaming company being lazy and simply choosing what would be easiest on their servers, rather than giving users a decent experience for the money, especially considering the entire Kingdom Hearts collection is $90 for these cloud versions on Switch.
It is entirely possible that a game like A Plague Tale or Control couldn’t be made to run on Switch, but examples like the Kingdom Hearts games just come across as lazy and unacceptable.