This week marks the release of Splatoon 3 on the Nintendo Switch. So far there's been our own Nintendo Life review, as a well as a round-up of impressions, and now we've got technical analysis from John Linneman of Digital Foundry. So, how does the third game hold up on Switch?
Jumping right into it - the game uses dynamic resolution scaling and AMD's fidelity effects FSR 1.0, and typically runs at 1920 x 1080 in docked, with it dropping to around 820p at its lowest. In portable mode, it maxes out at 720p with DRS dropping to about 75% of that.
"The key here though is that it [Splatoon 3] manages to reach and maintain its maximum pixel count a lot more often than you'd expect - especially in portable mode, where it usually looks to be native 720p during average gameplay. As a result, Splatoon 3 is noticeably clearer than your average Switch game as of late."
Digital Foundry also notes how while FSR is listed within the license section of the game, it doesn't "bring much to the table". Splatoon 3:
"FSR 1.0 is not anti-aliasing, it is a spatial upscaler only. The problem here is that Splatoon 3 itself does not use any form of anti-aliasing, which unfortunately is rather common in Nintendo games, they may be using it in combination with the dynamic resolution scaling algorithm, but I can't say that it actually benefits in any signifcant way. The only reason it appears sharper than your average Switch game is because the pixel count is generally higher. But FSR 1.0 does not increase the pixel count."
As for performance, it's been confirmed as being "extremely stable" and DF struggled to find any slowdown at all in the game's single-player mode. It delivers a locked 60fps in battle, even on lower-end hardware. Digital Foundry elaborated on this in its multiplayer preview noting how Splatoon 3 "doesn't miss a single frame at any point. One point to note though is that the game's hub area has been reduced to 30fps though, but again "everything else" is 60.
Loading times are also described as being "relatively brief", taking an average of fewer than 10 seconds in most cases. All up, Digital Foundry gives Splatoon 3 the thumbs up stating how it's a very polished game, that's fun to play and has plenty of content to dig into.
Are you excited to get your hands on Splatoon 3? Comment down below.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 30
I always liked these articles on DF. I'm still having a lot of fun with Splatoon 2 online. I'll save my money and get S3 in like four years when its fully updated with content. With rumors of a new Direct this month, Nintendo should chill showcasing new games to let Splatoon 3 breathe.
@Vivianeat You'll miss out on all the Splatfest fun though!
Nah I understand your decision. See you on the new battlefield in four years then, my fellow squid/octo!
It will be great if nintendo release next switch (with BC) or switch pro, I want to play all nintendo 1st party titles at 60 fps. And maybe add some ssd in the new switch like in ps5 and xbox series so there's no loading time in games 😃
The frame rate and performance is remarkably like Splatoon 2. It's almost like Splatoon 2 and 3 are the same game. Almost as if this is expensive DLC. Weird.
Nintendo needs to share their secret sauce with making smooth games on switch. To many poo third parties with giant file sizes runs way worse.
@TheCrabMan DF seems rather positive about splatoon 3
although he did not go into detail on the multiplayer aspect :
On the topic of performance in Splatoon, I always loved the trick they used where the hub runs at 30fps in order to make sure gameplay ran at 60, it blew my mind the first time I heard about it.
@TheCrabMan DF is always fair and often more positive than people think. Same with this video: John is actually showing how Splatoon 3 brings more quality and scale to the table, despite the Switch's older hardware and technical limitations. The game receives high praise.
From what they say, it seems they have enjoyed a lot the game! That sounds good indeed, another very polished game from Nintendo, in every way.
@TheCrabMan Man, you should watch the video. They totally enjoyed playing the game, they talk more about how fun the gameplay is than just about the technical aspects (despite being a "tech review" lol)
@Narvhal They made a previous video showing off the locked 60fps at 1080p but that was even before Splatfest. I'm sure they'll make another Splatoon 3 video. They absolutely love this game. 😎 💯
@Moistnado don't you think it's ironic that you made such an unoriginal comment to criticise a game for it's lack of originality? I mean the same things were being said when 2 came out... Jokes aside I tried the game and it's heaps of fun, I understand that not everyone wants to play a new iteration of a game unless it has groundbreaking changes but for many people the new additions are enough to warrant a purchase, those people will have fun. hopefully others will seek their fun elsewhere...
Splatoon is only proof that such amazing performance can be done on the Switch.
@ModdedInkling please don't criticize game freak they're a small indie developer that works on a unpopular franchise. They can't achieve what Splatoon can. It's a turn based game too which obviously is alot more demanding than Splatoon 3.
@Nico85 people did say the same about Splatoon 1, it's almost like Splatoon 1 is the same as 2 and 3. Commenting on deep and prolonged reiteration is bound to sound repetitive but t needs to be said. New branding of old code is anti-consumer.
Woulda been nice if they'd mentioned motion, but considering the video uses exclusively sticks, that's not too surprising. Speaking of which, anyone else find sticks gameplay just to be so jarring and uncomfortable to watch? Like you've got a perfectly smooth way of aiming right there and you're just jerking the camera all over the place
@GhostDaddy
Yes, especially since they are running an incredibly niche and tiny franchise that no one will bother to blindly pay for regardless of quality because the merchandise, anime, manga, and trading card game also are very niche and unknown (no pun intended).
@stinky_t
Not really, because literally every other shooter game out there uses sticks as default.
@Abes3 Nintendo has always known how to get the most out of their hardware, though there was a time when the third parties would step-up and also put out some top of the line stuff. Now most of them just want to make lazy ports. Cross-platform games can never fully leverage one specific hardware's strengths, which is why first-party titles always seem to be the best.
@stinky_t giro aiming is the worst feature ever, What are you talking about? Is way better to use only sticks for aiming
@Moistnado does it though? are there sources that can corroborate the fact that it's rebranded old code or is it just your assumption? It seems like there are a lot of people excited to play this game, and the article was about how smoothly the game runs, the game has been receiving very positive reviews, doesn't this show that what they've done is enough for people to WANT to buy it?
@Nico85 yes, lots of people have noted that this is way too similar to the last game, as they said about the last. Just Google it, possibly the most commonly made comment in reviews, easy enough to find.
@TheCrabMan DF's analyses are almost always very fair. Besides, it's not like people are going to stop caring about technical concerns if they suddenly disappeared from the scene.
Don't shoot the messenger.
@Moistnado people say it’s similar, haven’t found mentions of code being reused and tbh even if it were I don’t see why it should he an issue in a videogame. People seem to be liking it enough in spite or maybe because of the similitude with its predecessors. This just sounds like a hypocritical argument for someone who needs to discredit stuff on principle. Unless you want to tell me that you only buy stuff that is 100% original and never purchase anything that has design/materials/elements/components that have been used before in a previous iteration your point is mute. Anyways didn’t want to get roped in such a silly discussion. Looking forward to playing the game tomorrow.
30fps in the hub? Pass.
@Moistnado internet heresay is a poor substitute for tangible proof (i.e. actual code). Until the game comes out and we can see what it’s made of, info we find by “just googling it” is just about as accurate as speculation or playground rumors
@TheCrabMan wow I can't believe he personally told you these things.
@Nico85 I suppose the issue is that $60 is a lot for an arena shooter in the first place, especially one recycling assets. They must be a real money spinner for Nintendo, very, very little development needed. It's your $60 and if you think it's worth it, thats all that matters.
@Ramen756 I just watched a side-by-side video on YouTube. Both Splatoon 2 and 3 look like the same game. I think they just changed the box art to include a number 3, and that's it.
@Moistnado Cool. I still don’t see any code.
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