Since 2017, we have seen an enormous variety of ports come to Switch, lots of which appeared like impossibilities beforehand. Surprises like Doom (2016), which turned up within the system’s launch yr, and 2019’s Witcher 3 confirmed that whereas intelligent optimisation was required, Nintendo’s console may ship completely playable and completely absorbing moveable variations of a number of the greatest video video games round.
As time wore on and Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen platforms launched, the Switch ports stored coming — the wonderful Pentiment has been a selected spotlight this yr. We’ve received our fingers crossed for Ace Combat 7 and Stray, though current disappointments such because the Batman Arkham Trilogy present that warning is warranted. The Switch is in its eighth yr, and the tech inside was hardly bleeding edge in 2017.
However, there’s nonetheless life within the ol’ hybrid but, and apart from, most of the video games we might nonetheless like to see ported may run completely on the present console. There’s additionally the matter of over 140 million methods offered, which suggests an enormous addressable viewers for builders contemplating a Switch port in 2024.
So, as we bask in the summertime solar in a single hemisphere (and calm down for a comfy winter within the different) with the data of a forthcoming official Switch successor announcement, let’s look again for one final blow-out of a ‘Please, Nintendo, can we now have some extra?’ — a summer time round-up of implausible video games we might nonetheless like to see on Switch that stay Missing-In-Action.
You’ll discover a combination of Wii U ports (sure, there are just a few nonetheless left), some Wii gems that would use the Donkey Kong Country Returns HD remedy, a bunch of third-party classics, plus some private favourites we simply not prepared to surrender on. We’ve omitted video games which are already playable by way of Nintendo Switch Online, or something extremely more likely to present up there (eg. Diddy Kong Racing).
So, we now current our last Switch port wishlist, in alphabetical order. Which coincidentally means we begin with a few actual pipe goals…
Alan Wake 2
The first Alan Wake is on Switch in remastered type. It’s an unimpressive port, but it surely signalled Remedy’s curiosity within the console and sparked our fever goals that the GOTY-winning sequel may stand an opportunity of coming over.
What are the probabilities?
A Control-style Cloud Version? Perhaps, though who actually desires that? As a lot because it pains us, this and the following sport on the listing really feel like they’re going to want extra energy than the present console can muster in the event that they’re to make the soar to Nintendo {hardware} with out extreme compromises.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Another 2023 GOTY. Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 struck a nerve with each followers of the sequence and newcomers, and with each 1 and 2 already on Switch in Enhanced Edition type, finishing the BG set can be a deal with.
What are the probabilities?
Very slim – realistically, it is one other one for the ‘Switch 2’ wishlist. If Nintendo’s subsequent console is, as had been urged, an iterative replace on the present hybrid, and if third-party devs are gearing as much as hit the bottom operating with ports that are not tenable on the present mannequin, we may be a launch lineup for the ages! Okay, we’re getting forward of ourselves with that hypothetical. Compels us, although.
Generally talking, virtually any sport that launches with a brand new console sells nicely because of the restricted pool of choices for early adopters (there is a cause why Ubisoft at all times will get in early doorways with one thing), so if we had been a dev of any measurement, we might be contemplating getting caught in on day one.
Enough pies in skies. Let’s flip to one thing that the present Switch may run in its sleep.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Not far more to say, actually. It feels odd that it is by no means been on a Nintendo console, and odd that we have had two (glorious) collections however no Symphony.
What are the probabilities?
There are query marks across the Requiem compilation of Symphony and Rondo of Blood being a Sony unique, however we won’t see something stopping Konami releasing a normal, standalone port. Or, you realize, investing within the sequence’ most celebrated entry and making it out there in glowing type with extras on all platforms.
Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 earlier than becoming a member of the location full-time the next yr, rising by the ranks to develop into Editor. He can at present be discovered squashed beneath a Switch backlog the scale of Normandy.
