Cyberpunk 2077’s had a hell of a run over the last five years. Launching in a barely-playable state on last-gen consoles in 2020, the game has since undergone a significant overhaul to the point where it’s now lauded as one of this generation’s most exceptional RPGs. Bringing the game, Phantom Liberty DLC and all, to the newly released Nintendo Switch 2 is assumedly no easy feat, yet CD Projekt Red’s gone above and beyond – including fun new control options, graphical tweaks to tinker with and full cross-save functionality.
That’s not to say there haven’t been compromises made to get the bustling world of Night City running nicely on the system. The game comes with two graphics modes – a fidelity mode that targets 30fps at 1080p in both docked and handheld mode, and a performance mode that targets 40fps at 1080p while docked and 720p in handheld mode.
While the drop in visual fidelity was somewhat noticeable while playing handheld, I elected for performance mode often thanks to VRR smoothing out framerate dips. I chose to stick with the quality mode while docked though, as the game looks really impressive on a big screen TV thanks to the DLSS upscaling tech used. The game includes a graphics toggle for docked and handheld modes separately in the options menu, which is very handy.
Whether you’re playing on performance mode or quality mode, CD Projekt Red’s done a great job at fine tuning graphics settings to fit Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch 2. There’s a solid balance struck with sharpness in character models and environments, and I was surprised at how detailed most environments I traversed were. It’s genuinely impressive to see such a richly detailed world make it to the Switch 2 and retain a lot of those intricate and finite details.
With that said, the fps targets that are given for both modes are exactly that – targets. I’ve noticed quite a few framerate drops throughout my time with the game, with the worst coming during major firefights and driving around the more detailed parts of Night City. In these sequences, the game tends to struggle and feel unresponsive. It’s not a perfect experience, especially when compared to other current-gen versions of the game, however it wasn’t something that frustrated me all that much.
CD Projekt Red’s included some unique control options with the Switch 2 version of Cyberpunk 2077 that adds some variety to the experience. Gyro controls have been added, alongside touch screen controls for menu navigation, motion controls for quick actions and mouse controls that make use of the Joy-Con 2’s new features.
I was particularly impressed with the latter, which did take some time to get used to. After adjusting, though, I was pleasantly surprised at how responsive the control scheme was – having the precision of a mouse felt very natural, and the button configuration across both Joy-Con 2’s in this mode felt good. My only complaint with the default control scheme was the right thumbstick being the toggle for crouch, which felt a bit awkward to press. That said, as a PC gamer I felt right at home playing the game in this mode and highly recommend it.
As for the other modes, I had gyro aiming enabled across all of my play sessions and it felt great for the most part. The touch screen controls felt more finicky than anything else, as I prefer using the controller or mouse to navigate menus rather than taking a hand off the console.
The motion controls were also fairly fun to play around with, however it’s worth noting that you’ll need to complete an early-game tutorial to turn this control scheme on. After that, you’re free to use gestures to reload and use items, alongside general motion controls to engage in combat. It’s a fun distraction that I recommend having a play around with, however it wasn’t my cup of tea and I promptly found myself going back to the game’s mouse controls.
Taking a game like this on the go certainly felt like one of those ‘wow’ moments for me. While it’s been playable on Steam Deck for some time, the visual clarity on display here is impressive and I appreciate the simplicity of settings and not having to tinker. With that said, it’ll come as no surprise to know the Switch 2’s battery drains fast while playing the game, capping out at a maximum of two hours if you’ve got certain things turned down. I noticed that with the brightness up halfway and when connected to Wi-Fi, the game would eat up my battery in a mere 90-100 minutes.
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Even so, as someone who only played the main story of Cyberpunk 2077 I’ve really enjoyed diving back into the world and experiencing Phantom Liberty on the Switch 2. Being able to send my save across to my PC and back has been blissfully easy, which is another feather in CD Projekt Red’s cap.
Overall, the experience itself – while compromised in more ways than one – is excellent. This is the full-fat Cyberpunk 2077 experience on a hybrid system, and I certainly recommend it for those who haven’t experienced the game before and even for those who have (and don’t have a Steam Deck). It’s an exceptional experience and an excellent port.
OUR PREVIOUS CYBERPUNK 2077 REVIEWS
- Original Cyberpunk 2077 Review
- Cyberpunk 2077 PS5/Xbox Series X Review
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Review
