Today, I’m doubling back to look at two games I’ve already checked out on Nintendo Switch 2, but that have recently gotten new updates. Let’s see how drastically that’s changed things!
- Asphalt Legends – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (Nintendo Switch 2)
- Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Asphalt Legends – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Genre: Arcade Racing
Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local Split-Screen), 2-8 Competitive (Online)
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Review:
(Note: After the original review, this game has had its title changed from Asphalt 9: Legends to Asphalt Legends Unite and then simply Asphalt Legends.)
WARNING: THIS GAME HEAVILY PUSHES MICROTRANSACTIONS AND LOOTBOXES, AND USES WAIT MECHANICS
After checking out the performance of this game on Nintendo Switch 2 last year, the folks at developer Gameloft have apparently decided to release a proper Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game. There’s a free upgrade for folks who previously downloaded the Nintendo Switch version of the game, but for new players this is free-to-play anyway, so either way you can get started for free.
Since the last update of the game, loading times have changed slightly on the original Nintendo Switch, but not much – it now takes 35 seconds to load up the game on the original Nintendo Switch (two seconds faster), and 12 seconds to load into a race (one second slower). Now, I was disappointed with loading times playing the game on Nintendo Switch 2 last time I tested the game, with those times being 41 seconds and 7 seconds, respectively. However, in this proper Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, that first long loading time has been cut back down to a mere 26 seconds, while loading into a race still only takes 7. Much better!
I also complained about the lack of visual improvement on Nintendo Switch 2, and here there’s definitely been a change as well, with the resolution bumped up to 1440p in docked mode, 1080p in handheld mode, all while keeping the game’s smooth 60FPS framerates. This change is absolutely noticeable – that aliasing I complained about in my previous look at the game is pretty much gone now, and everything looks smooth as silk.
This Nintendo Switch 2 Edition also boasts “enhanced visual effects” and… I honestly can’t really tell what that means here. I do notice that loading screens still look laughably low-resolution, and there are a few visual effects carried over from the Nintendo Switch version that look a bit low-resolution as well, but overall this game looked fantastic on Nintendo Switch, and it looks fantastic on Nintendo Switch 2.
Quite simply, this Nintendo Switch 2 Edition addresses all of my complaints about the lack of improvements to the game just playing the Nintendo Switch version on Nintendo Switch 2. It takes a slick-looking Racing game and does a great job bringing it up to Nintendo Switch 2 standards. If you’re looking for a free Racing Game to add to your Nintendo Switch 2 game library (and if you’re not put off by the heavy monetization), you should absolutely download Asphalt Legends – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition.
tl;dr – Asphalt Legends is a Free-To-Play Arcade Racer that’s bogged down by all sorts of nasty microtransactions, which is a shame because the game underneath all of that is one of the best racing games on the Switch, and now one that looks even better on Nintendo Switch 2. I’d argue that the microtransactions can be worked around, and since the game is free to play, you should definitely at least give it a try – on balance, I’d argue that the game is definitely worth the hassle.
Grade: B+
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (Nintendo Switch 2)
Genre: Open-World First-Person Action-RPG
Players: 1
Game Company Bad Behavior Profile Page: ZeniMax Media Inc
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Review:
This marks my third time looking at Skyrim on Nintendo Switch 2.
The first time, the game hadn’t received any sort of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and as such the only improvements it saw were to loading times. A far cry from what this legendary game deserved.
The second time, while improved, the improvements on Nintendo Switch 2 were minimal, and came with numerous problems – a massive file size, a need to upgrade to the overpriced Anniversary Edition, the lack of a full Creator Club, additional glitches, a bloated file size… honestly, it was sad to see such a great game given such a disappointing Nintendo Switch 2 Edition release. So sad, in fact, that in the 2025 eShopperReviews Game Awards, it was my pick for Worst Port / Remake, and the runner-up for Most Disappointing.
Two months later, in 2026, developer Bethesda has updated the Nintendo Switch 2 release of the game, and… why the heck didn’t they just wait a few months and release this version? It’s so much better!
To be fair, some of the flaws of the prior release remain here – it still requires the purchase of the overpriced Anniversary Edition to the Nintendo Switch version of the game in order to upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game for “free”, it still lacks the full Creator Club that the game has on other modern game platforms, and it still has a bloated file size.
However, having said that, this time you can actually see a significant improvement to graphics and performance over the Nintendo Switch release, and it’s massive. Players now have the option of graphics and performance modes on Nintendo Switch 2. Both modes improve the overall resolution of the game noticeably, and add higher-quality textures to the game that make it look much better. Sadly, I don’t have numbers to give you to say exactly what the new resolution is, but I can definitely say that it looks greatly-improved over the Nintendo Switch version.
In performance mode, you sacrifice a bit of that resolution bump (but not all) to get full 60FPS framerates, and wow this game looks so much better with the framerates at 60FPS instead of 30FPS. I should note that you’ll see a bit of pop-in here and there, so there’s absolutely still room for improvement. But overall, this feels like the night-and-day difference I was hoping for on Nintendo Switch 2 and didn’t get before.
In addition to the much-improved visuals and performance, this update fixes the glitches that plagued the earlier release. The odd flickering water? Gone. And latency issues that some users reported have been fixed as well.
And of course once again, you still have all of the Nintendo Switch enhancements available to you here. That means you have gyroscopic motion control in portions of the game where that makes sense such as aiming your bow and arrow, and you have access to the cross-promotional Zelda themed equipment as well. On Nintendo Switch 2, another system-specific feature is added to this list of exclusives: dynamic mouse mode, for use both in-game and in menus.
I tested the loading times again, and… well, this is odd. Compared to last year, it now takes significantly longer to load up the game and start a game save on the original Nintendo Switch – now 3 minutes 18 seconds to get to the title screen and 2 minutes 46 seconds to load a save. I’m not sure what’s going on there. It doesn’t matter though, because on Nintendo Switch 2, it still only took 20 seconds to load to title screen, and only 11 seconds to load up a game save, even less than the last time I tested it.
In any case, this is by far the best that Skyrim has ever played on a Nintendo platform, and while I will still deny this game the highest possible score due to the overpriced and under-featured Anniversary Edition upgrade requirements, and the bits of pop-in still present here… this is a fantastic version of one of the greatest games of all-time, and now it actually feels like it’s in fine form on Nintendo Switch 2. I applaud Bethesda for doing the right thing and fixing this game after its disastrous launch on Nintendo Switch 2. Now… any chance we can get the full Creator Club too? Please?
tl;dr – Skyrim is an Open-World Action-RPG that gives players a huge, detailed world with an epic storyline, and lets them decide what they want to do in that world. This version of the game includes all of the expansions to the game, adds in a few unique features of its own, such as gyroscopic aiming, and has a curated selection of enhancements from other platforms’ Anniversary Edition releases, but don’t expect anything close to parity with those versions. On Nintendo Switch 2, we have now gotten greatly-improved graphics and performance over the Nintendo Switch release, as well as Mouse Mode features. While I still have a few small complaints, overall this is a wonderful version of one of the greatest games ever made.
Grade: A+
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Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Genre: Open-World RPG
Players: 1, Online Content Sharing
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Review:
It’s just my luck that a mere two months after testing Xenoblade Chronicles X – Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo would release a fully-fledged Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game, selling as a $5 upgrade for those who purchased the Nintendo Switch release of the game. Well, time to give the game another look…
The biggest change I noticed playing the Nintendo Switch version of the game on Nintendo Switch 2 was improved loading times, and that’s still much-improved here – When I loaded the game up on Nintendo Switch, it took me 28 seconds to load the game to title screen and 42 seconds to load a save, a bit more than the last time I tested it. In the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game, those times are cut down to a tiny 5 seconds and 8 seconds, a huge improvement.
However, the advertised improvements here are all about graphics and performance, boosting the dynamic 1080p resolution of the Nintendo Switch version of the game to what is apparently a dynamic 4K resolution here, and boosting the framerates from 30FPS to 60FPS. Both of these are a huge difference on Nintendo Switch 2, though I think it’s the improved framerates that really steal the show here, making this game play much smoother and faster. Plus, the textures seem improved as well.
That’s not to say there aren’t seams showing in the game. There’s a lot of noticeable aliasing going on here, as well as quite a lot of pop-in. To some extent this is understandable – there’s a ton of environmental detail in Xenoblade Chronicles X, so I can understand why the game wouldn’t want to load it all at once. Still, these graphical issues do mar the otherwise excellent visuals of this game.
However, overall this is an outstanding step up from the Nintendo Switch release of Xenoblade Chronicles X, which was itself a wonderful improvement over the original Wii U game. This is without a doubt the best that Xenoblade Chronicles X has ever looked, and if you’ve been holding off on getting this game until it’s up to snuff on a modern platform, now is the time to pick it up.
tl;dr – Xenoblade Chronicles X is an Open-World RPG about the remnants of humanity trying to survive on a distant planet after fleeing an Earth destroyed by a massive battle between alien forces. This is a massive, ambitious game, one with a lot of complex systems at work, and thankfully the Nintendo Switch version of the game adds a wealth of improvements and additional content over the Wii U version, and the Nintendo Switch 2 release improves on it further with huge improvements to graphics, performance, and loading times. If you’re an RPG fan with a Nintendo Switch 2, this is definitely a game you should look into, although it is still far from flawless. Despite this, it remains a truly unique and enjoyable game, and one still very much worth playing.
Grade: B+
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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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