Today, I’m adding two more games to the list of games that have seen improvements when played on Nintendo Switch 2. Let’s have a look!

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Core Keeper – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Genre: Open-World Top-Down Action-RPG / Survival Adventure

Players: 1-8 Co-Op (Online)

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Review:

Core Keeper isn’t one of the first games that comes to my mind when I think of a game that was really demanding a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, but I’m not about to complain, especially when this release of the game comes via a free upgrade for players who own the Nintendo Switch version of the game. So, how does this upgrade fare?

If there’s one area I would expect to see the most improvement on Nintendo Switch 2, it’s the loading times, but actually the improvement to loading times is pretty minor – loading the game up to the menu screen takes 52 seconds on Nintendo Switch but only goes down to 49 seconds on Nintendo Switch 2, and loading up a game save file took me 35 seconds on Nintendo Switch and 28 on Nintendo Switch 2. That’s a pretty minor improvement, all things considered.

Being a 2D pixel art game, there’s not any resolution bump here, but there is a boost to 60FPS framerates. This is noticeable and mostly good, though I did notice a slight bit of stuttering while scrolling. There are also improvements to lighting and shadows, water effects, and particle effects, and this is very noticeable – lighting and shadows seem far more natural now, looking great as they render in real-time, and water animates beautifully.

Finally, Nintendo Switch 2 allows for 8-player online co-op, a really nice addition if you can manage to get together enough friends to play it that way.

Overall, this is a solid update to a great game, albeit one that seems like it could have gone a bit farther. Still, I’m not about to complain about a free update that makes an excellent game even better, and that’s definitely what this is.

tl;dr – Core Keeper is an Open-World Top-Down Action-RPG with Survival Adventure elements that has players digging through a vast underground world, exploring and discovering new treasures, mysteries, and dangers. For players who enjoy games like Minecraft and Terraria, this should be considered a must-have, and fans of Action-RPGs in general should give this a look too – its well-crafted and varied gameplay and its wonderful presentation make for something truly special.

Grade: A-

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Monster Hunter Rise

Genre: Action-RPG

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local Wireless / Online)

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Review:

Monster Hunter Rise is one of the most visually-impressive games on Nintendo Switch, though it isn’t without its flaws. Given this, I was eager to see how it looks on Nintendo Switch 2.

It looks the same.

If there are any differences visually, I cannot detect them. All the same good qualities, all the same flaws. Tons of environmental detail, but also some dithering, a lot of aliasing, and reduced distance animations all remain how they were on Nintendo Switch.

However, that’s not to say that there are no improvements here. In fact, playing this game on Nintendo Switch 2 gives by far the greatest improvement in one area that I have ever seen – loading times.

After plenty of content updates and a full expansion, Monster Hunter Rise has become so bloated that it takes seemingly forever to load on Nintendo Switch. It took me 3 minutes 1 second to load to the title screen, another 1 minute 42 seconds to load up a game save, and an additional 2 minutes 3 seconds to load into an area to hunt. On Nintendo Switch 2? 24 seconds, 12 seconds, 8 seconds. You could have heard my jaw hitting the floor.

Again, just to add all of that up, on Nintendo Switch, it took nearly seven minutes from the time I started the game to the time I could actually, you know, hunt monsters. On Nintendo Switch 2? 44 seconds.

While it is disappointing that Monster Hunter Rise doesn’t look or run any better on Nintendo Switch 2, the absolutely gargantuan reduction in loading times makes this an absolute win in my book, and it absolutely improves the experience of playing this game.

tl;dr – Monster Hunter Rise incorporates improvements made to the series in Monster Hunter World while adding the game-changing new wirebug and palamute to open up a world of new possibilities in traversal and combat. It’s one of the best-looking games from the original Nintendo Switch, and it is an extremely rewarding experience with excellent online co-op play. It’s still a game that’s going to be intimidating for more casual players, and it still bears some of the common flaws of the series, but players who can push through those flaws will find this game to be a must-have on the console. And while playing the game on Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t make it look or run any better, the absolutely enormous reduction in loading times is a huge improvement that makes this game even better on Nintendo’s new hardware.

Grade: A

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I hope you enjoyed this latest batch of Nintendo Switch 2 Difference Mini-Reviews, and found them to be helpful! Want to see all Nintendo Switch 2 Difference comparisons? Check out this page for links to every article where I’ve included these comparisons!

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