Today, I’m adding 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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Vampire Survivors

Genre: Arcade / Roguelike

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

One issue I’ve noticed with the recent emergence of the “Bullet Heaven” genre is that when the action gets particularly intense on-screen, the framerates shudder under the heavy burden of all the activity. This is true even for 2D games without any especially impressive visual effects, and it’s true with the game that popularized this new genre, Vampire Survivors. I should note that this isn’t a Nintendo Switch-exclusive issue, either – even a sufficiently-powerful PC can be brought low by the massive number of things happening on-screen. So… how does the Nintendo Switch fare in this regard?

Well, before looking at this, I did my standard look at the loading times. On Nintendo Switch, it took 41 seconds to load up the game to the title screen, and another 6 seconds to load into a level. On Nintendo Switch 2, those times are reduced to 19 seconds and 3 seconds, just under half the time. Nice!

Also, this kinda’ surprised me, but the visuals seemed oddly sharper on Nintendo Switch 2. After seeing this, I checked to see if this game uses dynamic resolution, and sure enough it does. So… unexpected Nintendo Switch 2 bonus: higher resolution visuals!

But okay, now for the big question: how does Nintendo Switch 2 handle the slowdown issues? The answer was… surprisingly well! To test this, I went to one level that I had strong memories of being slowdown-heavy, Mt. Moonspell from the Legacy of the Moonspell DLC. Testing it again on Nintendo Switch, after building up my character, I went to the spot on the map that suffered the worst issues, at the top-center right inside the mountain. Sure enough, things got super-choppy.

On Nintendo Switch 2, the experience was overall much smoother as I played, and during my playthrough, I didn’t notice any slowdown at all until I got right to the heart of the busiest spot on the map during the last few minutes of the round. Until then, it was smooth sailing. However, once things got so packed with enemies and attacks that the entire screen just started filling up with damage numbers, I did see the framerates drop. To be clear, the drop wasn’t anywhere near as bad as on Nintendo Switch, but it is still there.

However, overall, Vampire Survivors is a smoother, cleaner, and much less slowdown-filled experience on Nintendo Switch 2, and while it’s not completely free from issues, the improvements are nevertheless significant. If you were frustrated by the late-game slowdown issues in this game on Nintendo Switch, I definitely think you should give it another shot on Nintendo Switch 2.

tl;dr – Vampire Survivors is an Arcade-style Roguelike game where players automatically attack, and must work their way through thousands of enemies while carefully selecting their upgrades. The game can seem a bit simple and repetitive at first, and the new 4-player co-op mode is a bit of a mixed bag, but overall this is a delightfully compelling Action game, and at $5 it’s an absolute steal. Definitely a must-have for Action fans, and the improved performance on Nintendo Switch 2 makes the experience even smoother!

Grade: A

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Ys X: Proud Nordics

Genre: Action-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

When it was announced that Ys X would be getting a definitive re-release with expanded content and features, many series fans had plenty of reason to celebrate. When it was then revealed that this release would offer no upgrade path to players who bought the Nintendo Switch version of the game… not so much. In fact, there’s not even a way to transition over your save data from the original release to this one (though I’ve seen reports that you can do so with cleared save data via a New Game+ mode).

So… is this release really that much better? And is it worth buying again… at full price? Sorry, I meant higher than the original price, since this release is $70? Yikes…

Well, we’ll start with the more straightforward improvements. In terms of graphics and performance, Ys X: Proud Nordics on Nintendo Switch 2 is indeed very much improved over the Nintendo Switch version of Ys X: Nordics. The Nintendo Switch 2 version has a performance mode and a graphics mode, and both feature improved resolution and framerate over the Nintendo Switch release. The Nintendo Switch’s 30FPS is far surpassed by this release’s 60FPS (in graphics mode) and 120FPS (in performance mode), and the Nintendo Switch’s dynamic 1080P resolution is just a straight 1080p (in performance mode) or 4K (in graphics mode).

However, this is only a part of the story as graphics are concerned, as Proud Nordics also features much-improved anti-aliasing, improved lighting and shadows, improved draw distances (though there’s still pop-in), and multiple other smaller improvements throughout.

What’s more, despite these graphical improvements, there are also improved loading times as well. On Nintendo Switch, Ys X: Nordics took me 25 seconds to load to the title screen, 5 seconds to load a game save, and 11 seconds to transition from inside an inn to outside. In Ys X: Proud Nordics on Nintendo Switch 2, those times are shortened to 14 seconds, 2 seconds, and 3 seconds.

However, even once you get past the quite significant graphical improvements and faster loading times, there’s also quite a bump here in terms of features and content. For starters, this release includes all of the DLC that was added to the original game. But above and beyond that, you have numerous refinements made to combat, a reworked fishing minigame, greatly raised skill level caps, new sea battles, and the biggest change, an entirely new island unlocked in chapter 5 of the game, with new characters, new minigames, new abilities, new bosses, new music… in other words, quite a lot of new content.

So as to the question, “is this a significant improvement over Ys X: Nordics?”, I think the answer is absolutely unequivocally “yes”. But for the question, “is this worth spending $70 if you already bought the game once?”, no. Absolutely not. Look, if you’re a huge fan of this game and want the best version of it, then this is definitely that. But if you’ve already bought the Nintendo Switch version, I don’t think the changes here are transformative enough that it’s worth not only buying the game a second time, but paying more for it to get it a second time. That’s just nuts.

If you’re coming to Ys X for the first time, Ys X: Proud Nordics is absolutely the version of the game to get – it is absolutely worth the small added expense to get a vastly superior version of the game. But if you’ve already purchased the game, don’t buy it again. It’s as simple as that.

tl;dr – Ys X: Proud Nordics is a much-improved version of this Action-RPG on Nintendo Switch 2, with significantly improved graphics and performance, as well as a plethora of new content and gameplay improvements. However, the core game remains the same, with this game’s plot involving fantasy Vikings and an undead menace. The combat here is truly exceptional, but the new seafaring gameplay elements still fall flat and drag down the pacing. This is still a thoroughly enjoyable Action-RPG, but it’s inferior to both its direct predecessors, and without a proper upgrade path, it’s only worth getting for players who didn’t already buy the Nintendo Switch version.

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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