Random: God Of War Director Praises Witcher 3 On Switch, Says It's "Some Kind Of Dark Sorcery"

I found out there is an optional patch for the witcher 3 on switch. Just check for a download manually and you will update to version 3.4. Seems to make docked mode less blurry and also there doesn't seem to be as much lag too.

There should be an update in your news for this. It also took a bit to download.

I'm not sure why it's such a big deal. The switch is roughly the equivalent of a PS3 and the Xbox 360 in term of raw power, but with more modern chips and firmware. Those console were able to produce magnificent and massive games, like Last of Us or GTA V. Pretty much any game can run on Switch with some heavy visuas downgrades. Which seems to be the case with the switcher III.

That said I'm not a game developer.

So have they stopped making those terrible GoW-style Smash character artwork?

@Xylnox thank you! I think a lot of reviewers did not have this patch. I was playing it docked and thought to myself, the bluriness isn’t that much...? What is all that footage on youtube coming from?

But it apparantly was the patch, which I always check for when playing a game for the first time. But I didn’t know it improved the graphics too . It’s an amazing game, 10 hours in at the moment

@Friendly ya, I found this out from another website but none of the big websites covered this. Anyway, the docked mode looks a little better and to me more playable.

Considering that it looks like it should have gone to Specsavers, the Switch version isn’t all that impressive. Perhaps in an esoteric, novelty way— like a stamp-sized copy of War and Peace. But it looks absolutely horrible.

I was shocked when I saw the low resolution, the beyond muddy textures, and the embarrassingly frequent and obvious pop-in.

So thanks, but no thanks.

But what does he think about FIFA 20?

@HappyMaskedGuy Good for you.

@locky-mavo Yeah those were awful.

@Quarth Oh, I’m sorry. Did my opinion upset you?

@Gwynbleidd Got to be a troll, surely?....

@HappyMaskedGuy Not at all. You're allowed to think that.

I on the other hand think the port is great. Sure, the graphics are downgraded, but I don't think it's blurry and it doesn't affect the gameplay. The game runs fine and that's what's most important. I don't have a PS4 or an advanced PC, so Witcher on Switch is a perfect option for me. Glad I got it!

@Quarth So what’s with the snarky comment?

@Gwynbleidd A Sony owned IP port sounds likely, maybe next year?

Lol, this guy is awesome. I like these good vibes among developers with different hardwares. Btw, if you have the chance (and you're not a fanatic), try out God of War for PS4, it's a great videogame.
Many people should learn some things from these developers.

@HappyMaskedGuy Oh, did you interpret it as snarky? Sorry. Just wanted to console you a little, seems you woke up on the wrong side of bed today.

@the_beaver If I had a PS4, it would be the first game I tried. But I don't have the time or money to invest in another system, at least not at the moment.

@Quarth Ugh. Nice integrity you got there.

@HappyMaskedGuy Integrity? 🤔

@Quarth Yeah, I figured that concept would evade you. Good day to you.

@HappyMaskedGuy Yeah, it's surely a foreign concept. Can you teach me?

Edit: Seems the one "here to annoy people" got annoyed. 😅 Good day, sir!

@Agent069 well The last of Us was coded with an inch of its life to take advantage of the PS3's Cell CPU, so much so that initially they couldn't even get it running on PS4. CD Projeck had trouble porting The Witcher 2 to the 360 and sometimes we kind of forget the advancements that have been made I these games and when porting its really all about the most demanding areas. For example the White Orchard opening easily hits a locked 1080p 60fps on Xbox One X, likely with some overhead but in Novigrad this tumbles to a very unsteady 40fps. So those would have been the main sticking points as you are looking at a very large deficit in CPU, GPU and memory bandwidth, even from the base consoles as you look to get near that performance on Switch.

A pretty amazing port

As somebody who did not finish Skyrim as i wandered off the path too much for sidequests and grew tired of it, can you recommend this game to me or not?

@HappyMaskedGuy,

You miss the point, most people on here will own multiple consoles like me, so if all I am interested in is how the game looks and runs I will buy it for my Xbox One S, but you have to realize that for the majority of Switch owners the tech specs mean nothing, they will just buy the game because it's title and enjoy it, you will also get people buying the game for the handheld mode, as it's a pretty impressive game to play on the go.

@zufa86 I think this game is better at drawing you into the main story than Skyrim (which is a game I enjoy) and the NPCs and side quests feels deeper and more interesting, at least to me.

@johnvboy You can argue all you want, but it won’t make those visuals any less horrible.

@Jeaz The little I've played, I'd say that these are some of the best side quests I've seen in a game. It's not just "go fetch this", there are some serious backstory to a lot of them, like the one early on with the haunted well.

@HappyMaskedGuy,

I am not saying the visuals are not horrible, all I am stating is that not everybody looks at things from a tech point of view, so you personally will not buy the game because of it's visuals, I get that, but at the same time there will be a lot of Switch owners who will buy and enjoy this game, personally I feel the game looks and runs fine when you consider the hardware it's running on.

@Jeaz Good to hear! These developers surely put everything they got into this game. Glad I now can play it on the Switch.

@BarefootBowser Well said. Cheers to that!

Lol, in other words "no way in hell would we have been able to manage it with God of War"

I originally played this on PS4 and while the graphics aren't quite as nice it's still an amazing looking game on the Switch and an excellent port.
After a few hours of playing I was so absorbed in the world and the gameplay that I honestly didn't care about the visuals.

@BarefootBowser yeah well said. I wish gamers weren't so hung up on frame rates and resolutions and could just relax a bit more and enjoy gaming.

@BarefootBowser : The issue of special effects looking "fake" is why the overwhelming majority of films today are still being shot and/or mastered at 2K, even though Ultra High Definition displays are now readily available. Even most UHD Blu-ray films are mere 2K upscales (with native 4K content being mostly limited to rescans of old films).

@Xylnox @Friendly FYI, the 3.4 patch also removes the nudity censorship, e.g. Yennefer at the start of the game - pre-patch she wore underwear and an awkward “bandage” that came and went between camera changes during the cinematic. After the patch, the scene matches the PS4 version.

@Agent069

The Switch is much more powerful than the 360/PS3, even in portable mode. But I agree with your point that it should be able to play almost any game if you dumb the graphics down enough.

@HappyMaskedGuy

I had no problems with the visuals at all, certainly they don't compare to systems that have the power of a PC or the PS4/XB1 but as a handheld system or even docked the game still looks pretty good. As did Doom and the Wolfenstein games. All looked great for being on a system that has to be powerful enough to play them but also not have 30 minutes of battery life.

@Agent069 To call the switch roughly the equivalent of a PS3 and the Xbox 360 in terms of raw power, but with more modern chips and firmware is ignorance at its best.

@Jeaz Yeah, I don’t think something looks good, then defend my opinion. How dramatic.

I don’t remember asking you what you think. Take your juvenile insults elsewhere.

It's a dark sorcery called will.

As others mentioned I did update before starting W3 as well and got 3.4 update. And playing on a 2556x1440 27inch gaming monitor it looks great no blurry or pixelations. As long I let it run it has no issue when Docked. And here comes the Trolls again saying Switch has no GPU power but yet it can run and play W3 is something they can't fathom past their tunnel vision.

@Agent069

GTAV was awful on the ps3/360. Just awful.

I guess if that's all you have then sure; you can play it but it is really bad. 20 fps, low density on cars, pop in everywhere.

I guess it's like playing big boy games on the switch. If that's all you have then sure; you can play witcher or doom; but it's best consumed on a better platform.

@HappyMaskedGuy you post your opinion yet somebody commenting their opinion on yours is uncalled for?

Drama queen....

This is me, playing at work.

You’d be hard pressed to find a better looking handheld game than this.

@HappyMaskedGuy

What's this ?
People discussing their opinions in a commentary thread ?!
IMPOSSIBRUE !
How dare they !

@JaxonH

I don't care what anybody says those graphics look great to me .

The switch will switch you non-believers! I want games on the go please.

@HappyMaskedGuy

But you don't defend your opinion.
You just sneer and think your word is fact and somehow that is you defending your opinion.
Instead of a kneejerk response because others dare to disagree.

Like it or not, others will give their opinion in a commentary thread.
That's what it is for.

If you just want a platform where you can give your opinion with no backtalk, you should open a blog and disable the comments.

But hey you didn't ask for my opinion right?

It is such an amazing game.

Gotta say being able to let the kids play Switch during the day and heading to bed with it for some portable Witcher is fantastic. I applaud these guys for their work.

@m8e3point1415 oh you know, just one of this generation’s best games...

It's true sorcery to see games like Doom, Witcher III, Diablo III, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and Mortal Kombat 11 on Switch.

@Agent069 Wii U have a bit more power than 360/PS3 and Switch have a bit more power than Wii U.
Both Wii U and Switch can run last gen games at higher resolution.

GTA 5 is a last gen game, and would easily run on Switch, and also Wii U.

@Ventilator

It would require a huge game card though,
and woe betide anybody going for the digital version.

Assuming it ever does happen.

@JaxonH I made sure I picked this game up. 1) to support such an achievement 2) I can play this on handheld while family watches tv because there’s no way I can play this on tv with family around

@HappyMaskedGuy
Dude just calm down

@Jeaz I don't mean to add fuel to this non issue and there seems to be deleted comments so I don't exactly know how this thread went but that's just wrong. From what I'm seeing, the masked guy gave his opinion about how ugly it is and the quarth dude literally just said 'good for you'. That's not him disagreeing nor is it a debate mate, and it sure does come across as salty that someone didn't like how it looked and expressed their opinion the way masked guy did.

Instead quarth could have just started with his second comment where he actually starts expressing his disagreeing opinion and this might have never even happened unless the masked guy really does take others disagreeing opinions as personal insult lol.

@Judal27

I deleted one of my comments cause, I felt it added nothing to the conversation.
Other then perhaps snark.

@m8e3point1415 WHO THE GOD DAMN IS WITCHER! Not nice is it when people pretend not to know about something. Please be respectful.

@KitsuneNight Nice one

@Rohanrocks88 I was going to report this cause you said boner but then I saw one of the rules is not to post in a foreign language and that seems very closed minded of Nintendo Life. Mario Odyssey is 9/10

@Low Just font get mixed up cause your kids could end up seeing some violence! I hear the Witcher is quite graphic!

@KitsuneNight so true

@Nedtendo for context, another rule is you can’t rate games. Why???

@KitsuneNight It would fit 32.GB like Witcher 3.

@Ventilator
Would it ?
My pc install is about 80 gig.

Then again it did come on the 360.

@Agent069 dude switch is far more powerful then the ps3 and 360 which is a hard fact.

It's absolutely wild that the narrative went from "Witcher 3 will never run on Switch" to the downplaying over the picture quality. 🤦 No one imagined that the Witcher 3 would've looked or ran this well on Switch. Funny enough, that's probably why people are downplaying the Switch version. Some folks just hate to be proven wrong.

@KryptoniteKrunch that's the crux of if dude. So many people laughed at the thought of switch being able to run Witcher 3. Now it has been achieved the goal posts keep moving.

Haters are always gonna hate.

@Ventilator you are mostly right except for CPU performance. That might be the one thing that would hold up a gta 5 port on the switch. GTA 5 has a lot of world simulation (likely more than W3 with the cars, etc) that relies on fast cpus. I don’t think we know yet how the switch’s CPU would handle all this.

All I can say is developers who put hard work into a solid port usually get a return on their investment. I can’t say that for EA...

@kobashi100

I kinda see it more as a machine of infinite possibilities.
If this machine can run Doom 4 and 5 and Saints Row 3 and the Vitcher 3 and Skyrim, what else could be possible ?

It's exciting if anything.
And things haven't been exciting for a good long while. Not since the Xbox one and ps4 were basically the same architecture with minor tweaks.

This is a whole new world now and it's exciting.
Can't wait to see what else will be released or ported.

@HappyMaskedGuy haha the more your getting owned in the comments section the more your slowly revealing your slimy character. I bet there’s a thick vein bulging on your head when you are posting 😂

@Rohanrocks88 9/10

Big praise coming from the director of the award winning God of War!

Any average Joe can say X Y and Z online, even with a lot of information to back up their position. But when actual developers of major award winning games say it, it has more impact, I think.

@KitsuneNight I said Last-Gen version.
Xbox 360 version is only 8.GB + perhaps a bit more with patches.
GTA 5 on 360 easily fit even a 16.GB card.

@Nehalem If Xbox 360 can handle GTA 5, then Switch easily runs it.
GTA 5 on Xbox 360 is only 8.GB big.
GTA 5 on last gen is far less demanding than Wither 3.

GTA 5 is not as heavy as people think. Things mostly happens in front of you. If you turn around, cars etc. disappears.
It's also a light weight game on PC even after all the big patches, and runs smooth even on mediocre old gaming PC's.

I surprised that we don't have God of War or Grand Theft Auto or any of those types of games on Switch. Maybe it's possible or not remains to the developers?

@KingBowser Sony will never allow God of War to be on anything but a Sony platform.

GTA should be possible though.

@Agent069 I wanna caveat this: Pretty much any game that ran on the PS3 and Xbox 360 can run on the switch. It's still limited by it's hardware and heat. CD project red actually said it was impossible to get Witcher 3 running on an Xbox 360. The switch is a bit ahead of a PS3 and much more modern in terms of ram and things I don't understand. Like, it's an equivalency thing, the switch isnt literally a PS3 or Xbox 360. The point is, it physically and actually can't run everything with scaling just like if you have a non gaming laptop or your grandma's desktop from 2008 it can't run, say, Destiny 2.

@KitsuneNight The answer to your questions is: Not much. The things maxed out. It's been maxed out since launch. That's not a bad thing, but the switch needs a hardware upgrade badly. The next gen is speculated to be around a 50% improvement over the pro and X versions of the last gen. The switch is at a bit over a ps3 level on what it can handle. That still makes it the best handheld available, like there's literally no competition for it there, but for it to have any continued third party support it needs more juice. Else, it's the Wii again. No one wants spend that much time and money on compromising and struggling to pare something down so it'll work

Frankly, I remember Call of duty 5 and spiderman friend or foe for the Wii and I'm worried the switch is gonna suck in two years royally if there isn't a serious beefing up on the home console side of the thing, though the only way to really do that is a graphic solution in the dock which would make it about as "switchable" as the lite is.

@electrolite77 Something can be a technological achievement and still not very good. I mean, the cool thing about the Witcher 3 on the switch is that they got it to run in a way that you can play it from start to finish, not that it runs well or looks good. Still neat, but I mean, if i had another option to play the game is do that.

@HappyMaskedGuy you're embarrassing yourself

Boy! What kind of dark sorcery is this? And stop rocking the boat!

@Judal27 i disagree, HappyMaskedGuy can definitely express his opinion, but he obviously wanted to be all elitist like many other haters do on Switch ports and this happens on other consoles too. Even when professional developers are praising these ports they still feel the need to express negativity to state what is by now 'the obvious'.

He could say he prefers the other versions but wishes enjoyments for Switch players but no, negative, negative, negative.

Then why even bother coming to this articles comment section. The downgrades were known months ago. He addresses points in comparison with other versions and not as a standalone version besides the original versions demanding more power the Switch cannot provide considering its form factor to expect higher visuals.

Quarth was justly being 'shady' against HappyMaskedGuy and he deserved to get 'attacked' by other commenters, there isn't a need for negative opinions all the time.

I really starting to think that these PS4 and XB1 3rd party game players are just jealous with the euphory Switch ganers get when these ports are succesfull through performance and sales.

it's not sorcery, it's called being arsed to do it

@HappyMaskedGuy
Lol. This game is far from horrible.

@Quarth
You two need to grow up lol

@electrolite77
For nl to really like it it would need Mario riding around lol

@Woosh193 Yeah, it was a wee bit silly, wasn't it? Sorry.

I've had this game since forever but Ive never gotten the chance to play it on my xbox s. Im seriously tempted to double dip and get this version ons witch since it has all the dlc that I never bought. Anybody else on the fence as well?

@zufa86 I finished skyrim by focusing on the plot and getting stuck in. With Witcher I’ve already gone massively off piste as I can’t quite be bothered learning all the crafting etc...I’ll get to it though. It’s super fun in any case and as the winter draws in, I can see myself getting into the story properly. You have the choice which is fantastic. I don’t think you’ll regret buying it if you even slightly enjoyed your time with Skyrim.

@HappyMaskedGuy For a guy whining about resolution, you know, a good one is to think before you post!

It's a troll, just hit ignore and move on.

People often like to say that gameplay is king and graphics don't matter, but they sure do put a lot of importance on them for something that supposedly doesn't matter.

I'm playing it on Switch. I read and hear people talking about bad graphics and the game looking horrible. What the hell are they talking about? And what the hell are they expecting? It seems to me like they aren't playing the same game. The graphics are awesome for a Switch game. Again, what people are expecting, really?

Popup? Sure. Saw it. Doesn't affect the game that much. And I've seen it only in some places here and there, it's far from being distracting to me. Resolution? I mainly play on portable mode, and I don't play with the screen glued to my face, so it's perfectly fine to me.

That game is awesome. Even moreso when considering it runs on a portable game console that costs $400 (Canada). A portable gaming PC like a GPD Win 2 (let's compare Apples to Apples, please) runs it, but not as well, and it costs more than double the price of a Switch. Comparing this to XB1 or PS4 or a $1500-$2000 PC setup is ridiculous. I mean, if you care THAT MUCH about graphics and need your games to always be 4K 60fps HDR, may I ask why in hell you bought a Switch?

$400 portable console. Expects a game like this to run 60fps at 1080p with full details and no compromise compared to PC version. LOL! LOL! LOL!

@Sanangelo89

Oh sure, he can express his opinion.

But he should also be ready to accept that his opinion will be scrutinized, debated and refuted. Instead of accepted as an immutable fact.

Nor should he get bent out of shape about it and take every disagreement as a personal insult.

@Xansies

Oh, I don't know about that.
The machine has plenty of power.
And would PS3 level graphics really be that much of an issue ?

i play games to be entertained, not to pixel count.
I don't even see the difference between 30 and 60 fps.

The Vitcher 3 is a testament that ambitious games are possible, as long as the developer can be arsed.

Back in the Cube days all 3 major consoles were different. They all 3 had different strength and weakneses, which mean that the developers actually had to put in some effort instead of a lazy port job.
And play to a consoles strength and weaknesses to get something unique. ( IE Quake on the Saturn and N64 for example. )

@Quarth
Don’t apologise lol. Quite funny really.

@Ventilator

That was kinda my point ?
The 360 version is pretty lite on the ground.
So that should be "easy" to port.

I wouldn't mind seeing portable versions of ps3 or 360 games.
It most likely wont happen, but it would be cool.

@Dezzy It could possibly run since it's only 45 gigs.

@Realnoize The only thing the GPD has over the Switch is that it can play more games, i'd give my kidney to play Sonic unleashed, Ghost recon advanced war-fighter 1 and 2, Rainbow six Vegas 1 and 2, Vanquish , and Ace combat 7 on the go...ok maybe not as far as a kidney...or any body part.

I have this one my XBONEX and switch as well as switch lite and tbh, it’s plays just as well on the switch lite as it does on the XBONEX and looks fantastic on the lites smaller screen, it’s a very impressive portable experience, and visually at least on the lites small screen it looks stunning and not far from the XBONEX version. However, and I stress this fact, the Switch is not the place to play the Witcher if you want to play on a TV.....it runs fine,
but on a TV compared to the XBONEX, the Switch version looks like fat pimple ridden ass.......unlike Dragon Quest on Switch that looks almost as good as the one I have on my ps4 pro, with better music and more features. As impressive as the Witcher port is, the Dragon Quest port is much better.......

Even with the patch it looks pretty bad on a TV.......

@KitsuneNight It's not about playing games, it's about people making them. The hardware limits the games that can be on it. Better hardware = more possibilities. It's not that I'm upset at 720p 30 fps, it's that nothing of a bigger scale can come to the thing. Before botw, it reused a lot of assets on repeat and had about 4 enemies reskined 5 times outside of the bigger minibosses and the world was mostly beautifully empty

@Agent069 Switch alot more powerful than ps3 or 360 it rigjt under base Xbox 1 but not by much

@KitsuneNight Sorry. I misread a bit.
There is already some last gen games on Switch, and probably more will be ported.

Not sorcery, they aren't lazy, datzall

@Ventilator what does size have to do with cpu. Cpu is absolutely the bottleneck here. GTA 5 is tracking all kinds of stuff when objects are off the screen (it sounds like you are making an argument about graphics and confusing the two, along with storage size). Even low level PCs will have a relatively fast cpu compared to a switch.

I would suggest watching or reading digital foundry’s look at LA Noire for more context on my point but it still stands.

@wiiada I've found this out tonight. The witcher 3 is probably my favourite game ever despite not completing it but boy does it look like absolute arse on my 4k TV. That much so that I will be selling it. I got it to play both portable and on my TV but, as much as a marvel as it is to even have this game running on a switch I just cant help but notice (as any one would do) the difference from it running on my pro in 4k HDR compared to the switch resolution. All cdpr needed to do was add cross saves (which probably isnt as easy as it sound) and it wouldnt be an issue. Ps4 for big tv then swap save to the switch for off screen play. I needed to make the choice as I obvioustly dont want to be doing everything in this giant game twice. For anyone that only has a switch tho you have got one of the best games ever in the palm of your hands.

@Kidfunkadelic83 you hit the nail on the head about cross saves. I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday, portability is cool but having to play the game twice is not a great option (it’s too massive). Cross saves for big screen fun on the PS/XB and being able to take your adventure with you on the train etc would be amazing......for us as players and for Nintendo/third party publishers profits. As you said even on its reduced form its an amazing experience and Switch owners who don’t have a decent PC or alternative consoles definitely should pick up this masterpiece on Switch.

@Sanangelo89 I think he can state his negative opinion as much as he'd like so long as he isn't harassing people, which he wasn't. You contradict yourself by saying he can express his opinion then go on to ask why he's here expressing it if it's going to be a negative thought. And you know as well as anyone that negativity will always exist no matter what media. That's just how freedom of speech works.

I'd imagine the usual comments when it comes to switch ports will always be here to stay. People saying it looks great for a game running on a tablet and others saying it's too ugly and blurry/muddy with maybe some framedrops. Also I don't know what the other platforms got to do with it, seeing as he has a Zelda avi and name. I would think he likes Nintendo franchises as well.

@Big-Pepsi
I had a GPD Win (first one) and I loved the thing. Having a huge library on Steam, it meant I was able to play tons of games on it right away. I replayed the whole Mass Effect Trilogy on it, the first Borderlands, many Lego games, Burnout Paradise, Fuel (love that open-world racing game!), Street Fighter IV, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Xcom, and many more...

Also, most PC games are much less pricier than their Switch version. Like, it's sometimes not even fair. lol!

BUT, the big drawback of such devices is actually the Windows system. Windows wasn't made to put its system to sleep instantly like the Switch does, and if you do it while playing almost any game, it's a recipe for a serious crash once you wake it up. It's eventually what made me sell it, as I game mostly on the go, and a proper sleep feature is somewhat important to me.

@wiiada cross platform saves wouldhave certainly have meant stronger sales for the Switcher. I cant understand why they didnt implement it.

@Nehalem You are ignoring that LA Noire on Switch is the current gen version and not the PS3/360 version which is lighter than the Switch version.

@Ventilator In terms of the simulation (CPU): no. In terms of the graphics (GPU and RAM): yes.

@Ventilator GTA 5 on Switch (or any Rockstar game) would be a dream come true for me...

@BlueTubby01 LA Noire is on Switch.

@Dahn_ I might whine if I was dumb enough to have spent money on it. But alas, no.

@Ventilator
Who tf likes LA Noire? XD

@Ventilator
Yeah but I prefer the other Rockstar stuff, like GTA or Bully.

@BlueTubby01 2K is a big Switch supporter, so they are probably working on more ports.
In total they are releasing 7 games for Switch this month.