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The Witcher 3 on Switch: a close-up look at a mobile miracle
What The Witcher 3 achieved four years ago remains an incredible feat. It's the best example of world building I've see…
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The Witcher 3 on Switch vs PS4 - The Complete Tech Breakdown
- Thread starter chandoog
- Start date
Article:
www.eurogamer.net
Graphics are around PC Low, resolution drops to 540 in spots, runs around ~25fps portable and ~30 docked. Overall, probably the best-looking game on Switch.
OP
OP
Resolution and some of the prominent cut backs made for the conversion.
Docked:
Portable:
NPCs are drawn at half frame rate at distance:
Pop in issues:
Textures, filtering and sound quality also take a hit:
Foliage density compared to PS4:
Docked performance:
Portable performance:
Docked:
Portable:
NPCs are drawn at half frame rate at distance:
Pop in issues:
Textures, filtering and sound quality also take a hit:
Foliage density compared to PS4:
Docked performance:
Portable performance:
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Digital Foundry is quite impressed by the work done there by Saber and CDPR :
OP
OP
gotta update this gif
It's an impressive version, but the cut-backs are most certainly there and very glaring.
Definitely not the version you wanna be playing docked on a TV if you have any other console available.
It's just amazing to me that the game runs on the Switch at all. Who ever even expected this? I remember there being so much skepticism when the game was first leaked. It's a victory just to get this to run on the Switch, to do it as well as they did is nothing short of witchcraft.
read the write-up in op
Docked
720p max, 540p lowest
30fps with drops
Settings lower than PC low, select animations missing
720p cutscenes, with compression artifacts
Pop-in more noticeable than PS4 (cutscenes most problematic)
Textures, sound, LODs (foliage) pared back/compressed
Water rendering looks good
NPC count is similar to PS4
AO, light shafts, motion blur (can be toggled), AA
Grass doesn't animate
Handheld
540p max, 810x456 lowest
30fps with drops, more drops than docked
Recommended to play handheld, as there's much better ways to play on a TV
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No cross save is a huge missed opportunity, would actually buy it if it was possible - as an extension of the pc version, I'd love it, just clearing up some side quests in portable mode while I'm away from home, then playing the bulk of the story at home. The docked graphics are just too poor for me to enjoy, given how much of a strong point the presentation of the game is especially on PC.
I feel like the achievement is more about craming such a big game on Switch rather than the state of it. Because it goes without saying: The cost for that conversion was really harsh. Harsher than I had imagined.
"Overall, Saber and CDPR hit an impressive bar of quality here."
"This is close to perfection."
"it's a stunning technical showcase for the Switch"
It's an impressive port merely from the "how did they manage this" perspective.
But let's be real: 540p and 25fps is pretty freaking garbage in 2019, and not even kind of an ideal way to play this. Portability is neat, yes... but as much as I love my Switch, this is not how I'd ever want to play this game.
But let's be real: 540p and 25fps is pretty freaking garbage in 2019, and not even kind of an ideal way to play this. Portability is neat, yes... but as much as I love my Switch, this is not how I'd ever want to play this game.
Actually yeah. The VGTech video showed similar performance drops on the PS4 version during gameplay. Cutscenes were a different story.
I do like how people are pointing out the inevitable cutbacks with the port and not the actual stuff they managed to keep such as NPC count, ambient occlusion, screen-space reflection in the water (amazed they did that), the water effect in general, Rays, etc. There's a load of post processing effects that they somehow managed to keep in.
As for framerate, it dips in the expected areas of Crookback bog and Novigrad, as they do in all console versions.
As for framerate, it dips in the expected areas of Crookback bog and Novigrad, as they do in all console versions.
This is another game that feels like it's fine if it's your only way to play, but I wouldn't pay $60 for a downgrade just so I can play it handheld when I have other alternatives.
Yeah, the fact that Novigrad holds the NPC density is surprising to me.
Without a doubt the best port job on the system. Im surprised with how much of the visual effects they were able to keep in.
I don't get it. What did you imagine? I have played it on PS4 pro, and am still pretty impressed with the way this has turned out in portable mode. It looks good in portable and is still the same gargantuan game. I think it is a great option for those like me who have played it before, and what to now play through the game casually. I don't have access to my home console much now, and would rather play games I haven't played before on that...
novigrad is sub 30 fps in general. And you spend at least 15-20 hours there due to the main quest. But I think it's also sub 30 fps on the base consoles, unless it has been patched.
Impressive technical achievement to get the game running on switch. Nice for people who like to play such a game on a mobile device or only have a switch.
It's sub-30fps on PS4 and Xbox One. People seem to remember TW3 performing better than it did.
arstechnica did their own tech write up as well
The Witcher 3 did not perform great on the base consoles so to see it on Switch running at all close to 30FPS is pretty good. I don't think I could handle it though even in mobile. This is definitely not the way to play the game on tv screens.
I wish I could see how it looks on the switch screen though
I wish I could see how it looks on the switch screen though
The fact that they have accomplished this type of fidelity on a hand held....is just an awesome achievement. I'm all in for getting it and I already own it for the XBOX X
Yeah, I mean obviously the Switch was never going to match the other versions. But dropping as low as 540p (the same resolution as the PS Vita screen) when docked with major cutbacks to textures, draw distance, and LODs makes this not a very good experience on a tvIt's an impressive version, but the cut-backs are most certainly there and very glaring.
Definitely not the version you wanna be playing docked on a TV if you have any other console available.
It's an impressive version, but the cut-backs are most certainly there and very glaring.
Definitely not the version you wanna be playing docked on a TV if you have any other console available.
Man Witcher 3 is my favorite game of the gen and I'd play it on a phone of they put it there. But I honest feel like I couldn't play this on the Switch for no more than 30 minutes at a time at best. Just looking at that blurred image starts to fuck with my eyes after a bit (I wear glasses).
I think that would be a CPU-bound process, and the CPU is already taxed to the maximum with this port.
gotta update this gif
Oh, fanboys.
Don't own a PC, XBO, or PS4 so I'll definitely be picking this up eventually as I'd like to play it. Just gonna wait it out for a decent sale, like I do with most software.
Need to get around to picking up Skyrim someday as well, still haven't played that.
You would be fine with the portable version because the screen being much smaller would make the thing far more pleasing than this comparison would show.
