The latest update to The Witcher 3 on Nintendo Switch has added cross-save support for GOG/Steam, along with a bunch of graphical enhancements. The CDPR developed open-world RPG was released on Nintendo’s portable console last year, again to critical acclaim. Despite the Switch’s underpowered hardware, the game was able to keep up with its 30fps target at the lowered resolution.
Of course, if you’ve never experienced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt before, we’d still recommend you play first on PC, followed by PS4/Xbox One. However, if you’re a gamer who likes to play on the move, then the ‘Switcher’ will also do fine. The latest update made the game much better looking, with certain switchable graphics options added to the game’s settings. It’s still not as good looking as say the main home consoles, but we wouldn’t hold it against you if you couldn’t guess otherwise.
It’s not just a visual update either. The game now has touch controls for certain actions like when inside a match of Gwent. You can also use the now-available cross-save feature to port your saves from Steam or GOG. You can check out the full list of changes here.
Here are the graphical options that are included in the update:
- Bloom
- Sharpen
- Depth of Field
- Depth of Field for Cut-scenes
- Chromatic Aberration
- Water Quality
- Foliage Visibility Range
- Anti-Aliasing
You can check out the changes in the screenshot above, as well as in the video below. To be honest, I’m really surprised at how much better the game looks on what is essentially a mobile chip (with some tweaks of course). This makes the case for another decent port of a big AAA game to the Nintendo Switch, the previous being Skyrim, Dark Souls, and even Doom.
With the next-gen consoles on the horizon, Nintendo is reportedly working hard on an updated Switch, called the Switch Pro. A cheaper version of the Nintendo Switch already exists, which we’ve talked about here. A newer, updated handheld console will certainly make for a better experience playing these highly detailed games. All of this prompts me to ask one question – Why not port more games like The Witcher 3 to the Switch? I understand that it’s a very hard job to work with the platform’s limited potential, but if newer 3rd party games are developed with the Switch in mind, I think we might be in for a treat. Now I’m not saying that we should expect the next Assassin’s Creed to be on the Nintendo Switch, but imagine if something like that does happen.
It would certainly push the industry in a different direction from the one Microsoft and Sony are looking towards. Portable, high-quality AAA gaming without streaming? Sign me up.