I was skeptical, but after playing the recent Final Fantasy VII Remake demo on Nintendo Switch 2, I'm heavily considering double-dipping so I can relive the "new" adventures of Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, and the rest of Avalanche on the go.
If you're out of the loop, Square Enix decided to shadow drop a free demo for Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2 users of FFVII Remake. If you were around back in early 2020, it's the same demo the developers released that year, ahead of the original Remake's release in April for the PlayStation 4.
It gives players a glimpse at the opening cinematic, the iconic and chill-inducing title card drop, and the first 15-20 minutes of gameplay following Cloud and Barrett during the game's hectic bombing run.
Seeing how the Switch 2 port would handle a massive, albeit relatively old, game had me curious. Switch ports of AAA titles left a lot to be desired, thanks to severely underwhelming hardware.
The Switch 2 is by no means a powerhouse of a system, and while the FFVII Remake port is based on the current-gen/PC Intergrade edition, which runs at 60 FPS on PS5, the Switch 2 port is locked at 30. That said, at no point during my playtime did I feel any sort of hiccups or lack of fluidity. Even in the demo's climactic boss battle, whether I was playing docked or handheld, everything ran incredibly smoothly with all the particle effects and dynamic in-game cutscenes.
I was expecting handheld performance to suffer at least from some stutters, and was widely surprised at the fact that it is such a smooth FPS experience that, at one point, you barely notice that it's running at 30. As someone big into handheld gaming, having a subpar performance away from the Switch 2 dock would have defeated the entire purpose of this port, and I'm happy Square Enix is set to deliver an incredible port.
Of course, the game suffers from its visual aspect. It's a bit blurry, and the dynamic resolution severely impacts how things such as Cloud's hair look. It's quite messy to say the least, but the trade-off is having a way to explore Night Market while on a trip or lying down on the comfort of your bed, which I'll happily take.
If you've never given this game an opportunity, I highly recommend you cop the Switch 2 edition if you don't have the means of playing Remake on any other console/PC, or if you prefer having the option of taking it on the go.
The full version of Final Fantasy VII Remake on Nintendo Switch 2 is releasing this January 22. For more, stick with us at Gfinityesports.com: your go-to source for all things Final Fantasy.