The 3 Switch 2 Ports I’d Buy Immediately

Because I always need more open world RPGs

Crimson Desert screenshot captured on PS5 Pro by the author.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is the fastest-selling console right now, and its hardware is more “standard” than the Nintendo machines of the past. It runs on PC-adjacent tech that’s almost a couple of generations old, but still packed with modern rendering features like DLSS and ray tracing.

I thought its standardized technology base and sales numbers would mean that third parties would embrace the hardware, porting over their old games to access a new audience. Instead, support has been mixed. Some companies like Capcom, Square Enix, and maybe even Sega have done a decent job of releasing a catalog of their games for the platform, but many other publishers have been sluggish or seemingly random in their efforts.

The Switch 2 has already proven itself as a capable performer sitting somewhere above a PS4 but with modern rendering perks on top. It should be able to handle almost any game released in the last decade or so without issue. Its optionally portable form factor and handy sleep function make it my go-to platform for gaming, because it works great for either short or long sessions. I don’t have to worry about getting interrupted when I can just tap the sleep button and come back later.

Here are three large games I’d buy immediately if they ever came to Switch 2. In two of these cases, I’m very surprised they haven’t happened already.

Crimson Desert

I know this is a demanding, graphically-intensive title. It’s not the sort of game that immediately cries out “Switch 2!” when you see it. However, it has an okay Xbox Series S version built around an alternate lighting pipeline that also allows it to run on lower end PC hardware. I imagine it would take some additional engineering work and maybe even some cuts to NPC density to get a stable performance level on the Switch 2, but if Cyberpunk can do it I think this game could too.

This sort of huge open world game is actually perfect on the Switch 2. You can pop the console in, do a mission or two, and put it back to sleep. Or you can dock the machine and dive in for hours and hours.

I’d love to see this game include Cross Save support, too, for weirdos like me that might want to go back and forth between machines.

The dev team mentioned in interviews that the Switch 2 was “interesting,” which to me means they’re trying to make this happen, but so far there’s no news. Elden Ring is finally coming to Nintendo’s platform later this year, as is Dragon’s Dogma 2, so if Crimson Desert doesn’t come over it’ll just be embarrassing, right?

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Or Odyssey Or Origins)

Ubisoft did a ton of work to put an amazing version of last year’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows on the Switch 2, which is the most demanding game in the series so far.

This essentially means they could port over any other game on their modern Anvil engine “for free,” since the hard work was already done for Shadows. Yet, they haven’t done so. They also haven’t announced any kind of Switch 2 release for the upcoming Black Flag Resynced either, even though it runs on the same tech base.\

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla screenshot captured on PS5 Pro by the author.

I’m super surprised by this, as the Switch 2 port of Shadows spent a healthy amount of time on the eShop’s best-sellers list and was just a good PR win for the company overall. I think ports of the last few AC games timed well would do well on the platform, and again they’d be a perfect fit thanks to the pick-up-and-play nature of the Switch 2. It’s much easier for me to chew through these large open world games when I can do so on my own terms with minimal friction to resume play.

Maybe Black Flag will hit Nintendo’s console in nine months or so, just like what happened with Shadows. But I’d love to see the older games in the “modern” part of the series come over too.

Any Bethesda Game (Other Than Oblivion Remastered)

Yes, I know that Oblivion Remastered just got a Switch 2 release date of August 11th. It’s hard for me to get too excited about that one as I think it’s conceptually flawed. That game runs on an Unreal Engine 5 wrapper that’s running on top of Bethesda’s janky in-house tech. It’s a performance drag on modern consoles and PCs, and other UE 5 games haven’t been that great on the Switch 2, so I don’t have high hopes for this one.

Instead, I’d love to see Bethesda continue exploring their back catalog on the platform. Fallout 4 proved they could do an amazing Switch 2 port, and I was happy to see they went back and fixed up Skyrim with the same level of technical care after that game had a disastrous launch. Fallout 3 is just sitting there, begging for a Switch 2 release…and honestly I think the original Oblivion at blistering frame rates and super high resolutions would be a better fit for the console than its heavy remastered version. Both of these older games could happily run for days on the machine, and probably have the headroom for mod support too. I’d mention New Vegas, but Bethesda has an iffy history around even acknowledging that one since it was mostly developed by Obsidian, but I’d buy that right up too.

Heck, I’d even love to see Starfield on the Switch 2. This was rumored for a while but so far nothing has come of it. I think it could work totally fine at 30FPS, because I was able to get it running on the original ROG Ally at that performance level easily and the Switch 2 usually runs circles around that device. Starfield’s broken-up design and segmented play spaces would actually be entirely perfect for the Switch 2 hardware to the point where I now find myself wondering if that wasn’t always part of the plan.

I’m super curious to see how Oblivion Remastered turns out on the hardware. Maybe it’ll be the first great Unreal Engine title on the console. I have extreme doubts.

I’m happy that Nintendo’s latest console has found success in the current volatile hardware era, and I love that it’s just powerful enough to be my favorite platform for everyday gaming. I can’t let go of my other machines because I need to see everything, but these third party ports would make that pull of other platforms much less tempting.

What Switch 2 conversions are you hoping for? Let me know below! Please consider clapping if you liked this, and look forward to more Switch 2 coverage very soon.