Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition Review - Same Great Game, But Sacrifices Were Made
At this point, the tale of Cyberpunk 2077 has been well told. A horrid launch turned into a story of redemption as CD Projekt Red got the game to where they wanted it to be. Then they released the excellent expansion, Phantom Liberty, which only further cemented the rise from the ashes the game went through to become one of the best in the genre. It is truly wonderful to see, and now we have the last step in the story, a release on a new, yet (some would say) underpowered platform. Can CD Projekt Red again work miracles and bring this dense, detailed and stunning game to the Switch 2? Well, the answer is yes, but…there is a but.
Firstly, let me get this out of the way. The fact that Cyberpunk 2077 is running this well on this system is something that deserves applause. There were no tech issues for me, no frame rate drops, no glitches and no crashes. This is a stable release that does so much with the platform that it gives me high hopes for the longevity of the Switch 2. After all, if a launch title can be this good technically, how good will things get as the console gets older and devs have had more time to master the hardware? I was initially worried after I saw early trailers of the game running on the Switch 2 that Cyberpunk would be missing things like the experience of a living, breathing city, something that is so important to the overall feel of the game, but my worries were unfounded.
There have been some sacrifices, though, and those sacrifices, unfortunately, make this version of the game something that you should be buying if it is the only way you can play it. At this point, I have played about 150 hours of Cyberpunk, the large majority of that time has been on a PC with a 4080 (and more recently 5080) video card, so to say there is a bit of whiplash when it comes to the graphics on the Switch 2 version would be an understatement. Even when compared to the Xbox Series/PS5 versions, there is a notable difference in graphical quality that makes the game feel muddy and blurry in places. The lighting is especially problematic, with light sources pushing out washed-out beams of brightness that are, sad to say, ugly to look at.
This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, I mean, the power difference is immeasurable, and this version was always going to have to cut some corners to get it running well. I would say the developers have done an outstanding job in deciding what they need to cut while maintaining what makes the game great. The one thing above all that I miss, however, is 60fps. I know, a solid 30 is the smart choice (and it is a solid 30), but I feel for Cyberpunk in particular, 60fps is the absolute sweet spot. I get it, I really do, but hey, the heart wants what the heart wants.
There are a number of Switch 2 specific control features that have been included for this release; some are great, and some are just a gimmick. The mouse controls work well if you have a nice flat surface to use them on, the motion controls gave me flashbacks to the worst of the Wii days, and I didn’t like them at all and the gyro controls felt a little too inaccurate for my taste. The real star of the Switch 2 exclusive features was the touchscreen integration. It felt great in handheld mode to use the touchscreen to navigate the menus and the map, and using the touchscreen for the hacking minigame was an inspired choice. It really added to the experience in handheld mode and, honestly, made it more fun to play.
Cyberpunk 2027 is one of my favourite games of the past 10 years. Like I said, I have played a lot of it since its release, and this is that game. It is a version that has had to make necessary sacrifices, making it an inferior way to play. But I want to stress, while it is inferior to its big console and PC brothers, it isn’t a bad way to play. Far from it. There are just better options out there for people with multiple systems. If, however, you are a one-console family and the Switch 2 happens to be that console, know that while you will miss some of the fancy bells and whistles, you won’t miss out on the experience of Cyberpunk at all. In fact, with the touchscreen elements, you will get an added tasty bonus that no one else is getting. Simply put, this is the best possible version of the game that could be made for this hardware, and you can’t ask for more than that.
Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch 2 with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
