I’ll admit, I was… cautiously optimistic when it was announced that Cyberpunk 2077 was heading to the Nintendo Switch 2 as a launch title. I owned the last-gen version of the game on PS4 back in 2020 and experienced firsthand how it suffers when running on underpowered hardware. Although The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was admirably able to be squeezed onto the Nintendo Switch back in 2019, that is no guarantee that the more intensive Cyberpunk 2077 would be able to make the same transition in this new generation. Fortunately, I needn’t have worried; while there are some obvious concessions to accommodate the less powerful hardware, Cyberpunk 2077 on the Nintendo Switch 2 is a surprisingly effective way of playing the game, even if I would not recommend many of the version-exclusive control schemes.
To get the obvious out of the way, you aren’t going to experience Cyberpunk 2077 with PS5/Xbox Series X or high-end PC-quality graphics or performance on the Switch 2. On either docked or handheld mode, the game runs up to 40 frames-per-second on Performance Mode and at 30 frames-per-second on Quality Mode. Furthermore, you require a 120Hz television for Performance Mode when the Switch 2 is in its dock. To the game’s credit, it very rarely dropped below that 30FPS threshold outside of some fights in Night City featuring legions of guards and gangoons on my tail. Load times were better than I expected as well.
In regards to the visuals, it is also a credit to the game’s stellar art direction that it still looks so good in spite of the hit to resolution. Specifically, when in docked mode, Cyberpunk 2077 displays at 1080p in both Performance and Quality mode, whereas in handheld mode, you will get 720p resolution in Performance mode and 1080p in Quality mode. I personally didn’t find that the slightly less crisp visuals substantially impacted the experience. That said, some of the cyberware you can unlock, which highlights foes and destructible environments, was undoubtedly useful at times.
Outside of the novelty of a version of the game you can easily play on the go or on your television, the main unique string to Cyberpunk 2077’s gameplay bow on the Switch 2 is a selection of version-exclusive control schemes utilising the system’s unique features. I’m not going to say that I didn’t find any of them at all useful, but I’d be lying if I said I found most of them particularly convenient or comfortable. Fortunately, all are highly customisable in the settings menu and can be disabled if you’d prefer not to engage with them.
The first is gyroscope aiming. In docked or handheld mode, you can use the Joy-Con 2’s gyroscope to adjust your aim. This wasn’t super impactful on my experience and was only occasionally helpful for lining up a headshot with my pistol or throwing knife. Gyroscope aiming can also be enabled for the melee combat as well, but that felt very disorienting. At least, the gyroscope aiming felt like an intuitive supplement to the normal controls and was certainly a nice-to-have, even if I did toggle it off on occasion.
Another one of the more helpful Switch 2 features in Cyberpunk 2077 is touch screen controls. When in handheld mode, you can quickly select the map screen, the journal, the inventory screen and more. The pause menu itself can also be navigated by touch, as well as the few braindance investigations. Of all the Switch 2-exclusive features, this is the one I got the most use out of, as the menu’s large icons felt like a natural fit for quick taps to select things and move from menu to menu. Being able to skip straight to the map or journal rather than having an intermediary menu in between also definitely sped things up compared to my experience on PS5. While the swipe-based braindance interface is a bit janky and poorly explained, overall, I feel that the touch screen interface appreciably improved the experience of Cyberpunk 2077, at least when I was playing in handheld mode.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have as much fun with the next feature: Motion Patterns. These are basically Wii-style motion controls when playing with the dual-controller grip. Through gestures with the Joy-Con 2s, you can reload your weapon, perform Fast or Strong melee attacks and aim your gun.
“…the time it takes to make the required motion is much longer and less efficient than simply pressing a button.”
The problem I had is the same problem I have often had with motion controls, which is that the sensor is just not sensitive enough to pick up every action you want to take. Additionally, the time it takes to make the required motion is much longer and less efficient than simply pressing a button. Processes like twisting the right Joy-con 2 to reload also frequently caused V to turn around and face the ceiling due to the mandatory gyroscope aiming in this mode, proving a death sentence in a busy fight.
In melee combat, the game would often confuse the motion for Fast attacks (moving the right Joy-Con 2 inward) with the motion for Strong attacks (raising the right Joy-Con 2 towards you), making it a frustratingly imprecise control method for a melee-focused character. Add to this the Motion Patterns’ sometimes arbitrary restrictions (you can dodge left or right by twisting the left Joy-Con 2, but not backwards or forwards, and how it didn’t seem to be able to charge the Mantis Blades’ leaping attack) and they remain a particularly unwieldy way to play the game outside of the novelty factor. The fact that after extended use of the Motion Patterns, my wrists felt like they needed a cybernetic replacement from my local ripperdoc just added to the frustration.
The final Switch 2-exclusive method of playing Cyberpunk 2077 was, at least on the surface, the most intriguing, which is the option to rest the right Joy-Con 2 on a flat surface and control the camera like a computer mouse. It’s a potentially compelling play option for those who want the responsiveness of mouse aiming, but the problem is that…well, the Joy-Con 2 isn’t a mouse.
Unlike computer mice, which are generally nice and round to feel comfortable in your palm, the Joy-Con 2, when placed on its side so the sensor aligns with the flat surface on which it has been placed, is thin and tall. The buttons to interact with things are still the right Joy-Con 2 face buttons on the side of the mouse controller, rather than the more convenient shoulder buttons standing in for the main buttons on a mouse. To put a long story short, the mouse sensor control scheme was very uncomfortable to use for long periods, and even just a few minutes with this method caused my right hand to cramp up into a claw.
Fortunately, these are all optional control schemes, with a rather staggering amount of customisation options in the settings menu. If you’d prefer to ignore them and play entirely with old, reliable analogue sticks and face buttons, that’s still very much an option. The game, fortunately, comes bundled with the brilliant Phantom Liberty expansion, which players can start as soon as they boot it up if they desire.
Is Cyberpunk 2077 on Nintendo Switch 2 the best version of the game? With the forgivable cutbacks in visuals and performance and janky additional control schemes, maybe not. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a fantastic time returning to Night City on Nintendo’s newest hybrid console. V and Johnny Silverhand’s journey remains as compelling as ever, and being able to carry my Switch 2 away in handheld mode to while away the afternoon grinding sidequests and gigs and then slot it into the dock for the more cinematic main missions was a pretty great way to play.
Unless easy portability means a lot to you, Cyberpunk 2077 may not be worth a repurchase if you already own another version of the game (heaven knows the Motion Patterns aren’t worth it). If you’ve yet to check out Cyberpunk 2077, however, this is a very convenient and enjoyable version that is easy to recommend.
About the Author
Tom Quirk
he/him
Tom Quirk plays a lot of video games, but when he isn't, he is reading fantasy novels and watching way more television than is healthy.
