Summary
It’s no secret that the Nintendo Switch isn’t the most powerful console on the market, but it’s still great to see third-party titles likeMortal Kombat 1andHogwarts Legacymake their way to the console. Giving Switch owners access to this popular titles with the ability to play them in either handheld mode or on the TV is a huge feat in and of itself. However, the quality of gameplay performance on the Switch can drastically vary from game to game, as is demonstrated by the difference betweenMortal Kombat 1andHogwarts Legacy.
Some AAA third-party titles run great on the Switch, such asNier: AutomataandDragon Quest 11which are often considered “miracle ports” for how little they change from other versions. Other games likeThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntandPersona 5 Royalare serviceable on the Switch, but are clearly inferior to versions on other consoles. Unfortunately, there are some games likeMortal Kombat 1that suffer a massive graphical downgrade when running on the Switch, and the upcoming release ofHogwarts Legacyon the console has some fans worried the game could face the same fate.
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Mortal Kombat 1 and Hogwarts Legacy’s Switch Gameplay Performance Comparison
Mortal Kombat 1received a lot of backlash from Switch owners at launch as the game’s performance was in a very disappointing state. Aside from the expected lower frame rate the game runs at on the Switch’s hardware, the graphical detail was severely hindered to the point where characters and environments had incredibly low resolution textures and missing or buggy animations. Although a recentupdate to the Switch version ofMortal Kombat 1did improve some of these issues, the game is still a far cry from its counterparts on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
AlthoughHogwarts Legacyis an action-adventure RPG andMortal Kombat 1is a fighting game, both share a similar level of visual detail on other platforms that could causeHogwarts Legacyto follow a similar route asMortal Kombat 1on the Switch. Fortunately, Nintendo has revealed the first images ofHogwarts Legacycaptured on the Switch, and it appears as though the game will launch on the Switch in a much better state thanMortal Kombat 1. While the images shown - which can be viewed here - aren’t as graphically impressive as on other consoles, they appear to be a solid attempt at getting the game looking as good as can be expected on the Switch’s underpowered hardware.
While Switch owners are used to some degree of graphical compromise when it comes to third-party games, the real test forHogwarts Legacywill be in its frame rate and stability running on the console.Mortal Kombat 1’s Switch frame ratecould be anywhere from 60 FPS when only two characters are on the screen, to dipping down to 20-30 FPS during cutscenes or when three or more characters are on-screen at a time. Without video gameplay ofHogwarts Legacyrunning on the Switch it will be hard to tell what the game’s frame rate will be, but the quality of the screenshots released should be a good sign for interested fans.
What will likely be the difference-maker between the Switch versions ofMortal Kombat 1andHogwarts Legacywill be the extra time the latter game had between its initial launch and Switch port release.Mortal Kombat 1launched on the Switch day-and-date with all other versions of the game, whileHogwarts Legacyinitially launched back in February 2023 with theSwitch version being delayed until November. It appears as though this delay has helped ensure the Switch version runs as well as it can on the console, but only time will tell ifHogwarts Legacywill avoid the missteps ofMortal Kombat 1’s Switch launch.
Hogwarts Legacyis out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with the Switch version releasing on November 14.
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