I’d like to learn from the people of Nintendo Life what are their choices for the best looking visuals of Nintendo’s hybrid system.
I’ll go first:
1. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
2. Outlast 2
3. Batman Arkham Knight
4. Metroid Prime Remastered
5. Luigi’s Mansion 3
Those are only a portion of the best looking Nintendo Switch games in my opinion. I can only wish for the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy Switch port to have the visuals of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter on Switch, but we’ll see what it looks like.
You only need to know about my many obsessions, which consist of Lego, Fortnite, Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox games, drawing on my Tablet, Dragon Ball Z, My Hero Academia, Thomas The Tank Engine, Star Wars, and Ninjago.
Bayonetta Origins is drop-dead gorgeous. Cris Tales is definitely up there too. There are also plenty of super cute games and really pretty platformers such as Ori as well as visual novels which are art by definition, but the two I listed above are the most overall visually striking games I can think of where the art really feels like part of the gameplay as opposed to just a backdrop.
I think games like Breath of the Wild are pretty but it's always obvious they are restricted by the available hardware and they would add more if they could, so they always feel a bit half-finished art-wise to me.
I love the art style of the Xenoblade games. The performance on Switch isn't that great, mind you, particularly in handheld mode. There's a lot of dynamic resolution scaling, frame rate drops and pop-in happening whenever the action hots up. You can still enjoy the exotic settings in the quieter moments, at least.
For some games that are a bit more in the Switch's comfort zone, I'd recommend Hollow Knight, Gris, Spiritfarer, Transistor, Hyper Light Drifter and Okami. The last of those is already quite an old game, although its unique visual style means that it hasn't really dated at all. I'd reckon that the rest are going to hold up similarly.
For the most technically impressive, I'd go with Nier: Automata. For an "impossible" port from far more powerful systems, the only real sacrifice it's made on Switch is that the frame rate drops to 30, rather than the original 60. That's a very small price to pay to be able to take a game on the go that looks quite stunning.
If we're talking about 3D games with gorgeous, detailed environments which make you think "how did they ever manage to make this run on the Switch?", I'd pick Monster Hunter Rise and Tears of the Kingdom.
But if we're talking about any kind of games (3D or 2D) with beautiful graphics and unique, memorable visual design, my top 2 would be Link's Awakening and Hollow Knight.
For me the best looking games are Smash bros, Mario Kart, Mario Odyssey, Metroid Dread, DNF Duel, Dragon Ball Fighterz, Luigi's Mansion 3, Monster Hunter Rise, Hollow Knight, Cuphead and Blasphemous.
Pikmin 4 looks like it will also be one of the best looking titles available on the system based on what I've seen on the demo.
@roy130390 I always want to play Blasphemous because I love that type of game but everytime I look at screen shots it scares me so much I don't buy it. 😆 I guess that counts as very successful graphics.
@FishyS Haha It's definitely unsettling and yeah, the sprite work is both beautiful and horrific at the same time. The lore is also quite interesting and the music is great. I think that you'll enjoy it a lot if you ever decide to buy it.
I'll bring up a game that no one's brought up yet: Mario Party Superstars. Been playing it today and it's honestly got really good visuals for all the boards and minigames. The character models and animations look great, too.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has truly wonderful visuals, too. The colors, island environments, and lighting are just fantastic, especially when it's sunset. Just beautiful. It all fits in nicely with its cute art style, as well!
I'll also agree that games like Super Mario Odyssey, Luigi's Mansion 3, Metroid Dread, Link's Awakening, Tears of the Kingdom, and the Xenoblade series are all great-looking.
@MarioLover92 Yup, you are absolutely right mate, I knew that I was forgetting New Horizons. Such a beautiful game. I don't have Link's Awakening but it's definitely there. I heard that it has performance problems though.
I'll mention others that I haven't played but look great: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. No one can deny that they look great regardless of how they feel about them.
@roy130390 New Horizons really is beautiful, yes. Yeah, I've played Link's Awakening on Switch and it does have some performance issues, namely the framerate dropping at times during gameplay. I still love its art style though, Link and the others look adorable in that game. I even have the Link's Awakening amiibo. Speaking of which, I should head back to Mario + Rabbids at some point, that's another one I can focus on after I'm done with Tears of the Kingdom.
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Topic: What are the best looking Nintendo Switch games?
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