Topic: Hogwarts Legacy

@WoomyNNYes I would love a upgraded version of Hogwarts Legacy! Loading screens take sooooooooooooooo long on the original and it really annoys me, so that is the main thing I would want fixed.

Oh. And more clothes that actually look GOOD for a change.

@SlamDunk22 @WoomyNNYes It's quite possible loading screens at least will simply get better by running the current version on Switch 2. Time to load is one of the few hardware-related improvements which often doesn't require actual programming changes to take advantage of new hardware. There are a couple other aspects which might improve slightly, but that depends on whether the game was specifically programmed with a 'if better hardware detected, do X' type functionality.

Don't hold your hopes up. The Switch 2 is rumored to be at PS4 power level.

I have my old XBox One X scorpio edition parked at my family address for when we are there during holidays and this is console is way more powerful than the PS4 and even more powerful than the PS4 Pro. I have played Hogwarts Legacy on this one and the loading screen times are bad too.
Only on my Gaming PC and XBox Series X are the loading screen times instant.

I’ve been waiting for a big humongous sale for this game, ever since I noticed the sale prices kept going down and down….

And now that they have it as part of a bundle with a random quidditch game, I’m afraid they’ll stop having sales for the single game and start focusing on bundles.

@SlamDunk22 @FishyS Actually, I mainly want the upgraded visuals, for the better forests, and to remove the blocked views within hogwarts castle area (switch version has walls and completely enclosed bridge, etc. blcoking & obscuring some great views).

Regarding load screens, does the PS4 version have load screens entering buildings in Hogsmeade?

See my Post above. I bought the game for XBOX Series X when it launched and able to play it on both my Series X and my older One X Scorpio Edition console. On the older console the loading screens are pretty annoying (anywhere from a few seconds to well over 10 seconds). Since the PS4 is a lot less powerful than that console, you can bet the load screens will be even worse.

Thought I would chime in here, this simply isn't true and it's especially not true in terms of storage performance. The advantage that the Series S, X, PS5 and PS5 Pro have over the previous generation hardware (and also Switch) in terms of storage performance is hardware acceleration for file decompression. The Switch 2 will have the same

The second thing is the speed of the storage itself and, well, the Switch uses eMMC class storage which is about as fast as a regular old SD card. The PS4/XBOne generation leant on mechanical storage and while you could throw in a SATA SSD it was still SATA. XB Series, PS5 and again Switch 2 push beyond that spec using NVMe on XB/PS and UFS on Switch 2

Also I would note that while the rumoured GPU raw horsepower of Switch 2 will be PS4 Pro adjacent in portable mode and Series S docked even there it outclasses in some aspects. It has newer features than both which will open it up to things that neither are capable of. Also it has more and faster RAM than both which, again, will help improve things like loading times. Critically the CPU will almost surely outclass the XBOne/X/PS4/Pro

Basically, will Hogwarts Legacy be upgraded to take advantage of these things on Switch 2? Maybe not. But I would expect you'll get a bit of a boost out of the box just due to the improved specs that are naturally available. And if they did put the effort into remaking it for Switch 2? ..... in theory it would match Series S on load times, beat it in asset resolution and possibly throw in a bit of RT

It’s worth mentioning that regardless of power comparison, the Switch 2 will be working with the Switch version of the game- which is already the tinier least demanding version of it.

So it very much has the potential of being very fast loading-wise.

Can anyone tell me if this game now performs sufficiently well?

I'm considering getting it in the sale.

That probably depends on your own tolerance. It seems there was some performance enhancements a few months after release, but nothing significant after. The last major update was for some dlc, at least I did not notice any improvement. At least I had a blast. IMHO most of the game play is tolerable. Fast travel is very unfast (like fast travel in Totk). Where performance hits hardest is when exploring Hogsmeade, where there's a 20s wait going in and out of a store, and you do that often.

Of course at currently discounted prices, what do you have to lose?

My personal worry is that they will release a Switch 2 enhanced version and sell it at full price even if you own the original.

The three or four of us in the thread that bought it are all pleased with it. And the deluxe version is $17.49 on eshop. The couple things the dlc gives you are kinda worthless, as you'll probably use other stuff that looks better, but that deluxe price right now is the lowest it's ever been.

@WoomyNNYes

Thanks Dr. Woomy.

@Uncle_Franklin
It's really not bad, as @cwong15 and @WoomyNNYes said.

If you want specifics from my point of view, the thing that got to me the most (and I did end up putting the game down, but I intend to get back to it) is the muddiness of the visuals, not the frame rate or loading screens. The frame rate, honestly, is pretty nice. When you fly through more populated areas of the map, things can get dicey, but overall even the flying challenges that demanded maneuvering and reaction were very doable.

The loading screen times can add up, but I didn't find myself using them all that often, actually. When you're in Hogwarts proper, you're pretty much good to go on loads until you get to a mission or something, so there can be big spans of time in casual play when you don't need to load. Once in a mission, it's the same deal: very few need to load anything again once you're in the thick of it.

It was the overall muddiness of the graphics that started gnawing at me, actually. The blurriness to the faces, the clothing, especially when looking at things close-up just started to give me a bit of a headache, to be honest. The textures, basically, had to be toned down A LOT to get this thing running on the Switch, and if you hunker down to play a few dozen hours of this, you're gonna feel it (I did.)

Check out this comparison of the new Switch 2 version and the original Switch version

Figure the biggest difference is Switch 1 having load screens and Switch 2 being seamless.

Ahh, the trees & forest look more proper with switch 2 - to me, that was the weakest part of the switch version. Thanks for sharing, @JaxonH!

@WoomyNNYes
It's impressive, isn't it?

We're about to have a Nintendo hybrid handheld with perceived graphics and performance that at least lands in the ballpark of current power consoles. Not as good, but close enough. Gone are the days of massive downgrades and "I recommend any platform other than Switch". Im sure the ideologues will still say that over the most insignificant of downgrades, but for most people it's hard to tell a difference.

Do we know if we can upgrade our current copy/price yet? I bought $ low in anticipation of this type of upgrade.

@Lazz I havent' seen any word on game S2 upgrade pricing.