Well, it’s finally happened – after writing about it in editorials for almost a year, Nintendo has gone ahead and fixed the Switch 2’s biggest flaw, being that all unpatched Switch 1 software looks blurry in handheld mode. Up until now, Nintendo has addressed the situation by issuing Switch 2 Editions of its games that increase performance. That said, though, this isn’t a solution for every single Nintendo Switch game – some third-party developers that made games no longer exist, for instance, which means some titles will never receive Switch 2 patches. So today, we’re looking at five games that currently don’t have Nintendo Switch 2 patches that benefit from the new Handheld Mode Boost feature.
Pac-Man Museum+
If we’re being honest, this isn’t how anybody expected this list to start. You probably expected Persona and Xenoblade, and we’ll get there, but Pac-Man Museum+ has a surprising number of improvements on Nintendo Switch 2 even though it does not (and likely will never) have a dedicated Switch 2 patch. For one, the arcade overworld now runs at a smooth 60 frames per second – a result of having an uncapped frame rate. Furthermore, Nintendo Switch 2’s boost feature now makes the image nice and crisp in handheld mode, so it’s almost as if the whole game has received a Switch 2 patch even though it hasn’t. It’s still a shame that Ms. Pac-Man isn’t included here, but this is a solid collection of Pac-Man games that often goes on sale. And I’ve decided to include it here because now the game has both a frame rate boost and a resolution improvement with Handheld Mode Boost switched on. That’s pretty solid! We tested Pac-Man World Re-Pac as well, and it’s definitely an improvement, but the frame rate is still spotty.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
This is the biggest winner of Handheld Mode Boost. It sounds like hyperbole to say Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was previously one of the worst-looking games in portable mode, but it’s sort of true – everything has this crusty filter on it to hide the fact that it renders at such a low resolution. Things look much better in docked mode, however, and being able to play that version on the go is huge. There’s no sharpening filter, and everything looks much cleaner overall. Even though the game currently doesn’t have a Nintendo Switch 2 patch, this is now the definitive console to play it on. That being said, not all of its issues are fixed – a patch could upscale the game to 4K and increase the frame rate to 60 frames per second. But if it’s doing the former, let’s keep the cheap wavy filters off that they used in Xenoblade Chronicles X’s Nintendo Switch 2 version. With all of this said, I’m personally still down for a Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Definitive Edition, because plenty of changes could be made to the Blade system, the overworld skill checks, and the UI. You can read about all of my hopes for a theoretical remake right here. The other Xenoblade titles without patches, 1 and 3, are also big winners – but for the sake of a varied list, we’re highlighting 2 specifically.
Persona 5 Royal
Previously, Persona 5 Royal was one of the rougher-looking games on Nintendo Switch 2 in handheld mode. It renders below 720p in handheld on the original Nintendo Switch, and that got stretched up to a 1080p screen on Switch 2, which made it look awfully blurry. The game could still use a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 Edition for a frame rate and resolution boost beyond 1080p, but it’s now much better already. That being said, we’re sort of afraid Atlus will release Persona 5 Royal on Nintendo Switch 2 for full price and offer no upgrade path – hopefully, if they do it, it’s a regular upgrade pack situation. At any rate, Nintendo Switch 2 handheld is now a great place to play Persona 5 Royal. Persona 5 Strikers looks much better on the system now as well, though its frame rate is still stuck at 30, which makes other platforms the superior place to play – the odds that Strikers gets a Nintendo Switch 2 patch feel like they’re slim to none.
Bayonetta 3
Opinions on this game are still mixed among hardcore Bayonetta fans, but putting all of that to the side, Bayonetta 3 hugely benefits from the Nintendo Switch 2’s Handheld Mode Boost. When docked, the game runs in 810p, so just a bit above standard HD. In handheld, however, the resolution sits at below 480p. That means the game looks pretty blurry on a standard Nintendo Switch 1 screen, and it looks even worse stretched to a 1080p screen on Switch 2. Now, though, the game runs in 810p in handheld mode – which still isn’t 1080p, and the game could still use a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 patch, but it’s a huge improvement. The first two Bayonetta games don’t benefit from handheld boost as much, though, because their resolutions stay the same in docked versus handheld. The only difference is that docked has fewer frame drops.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
It’s not the dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 Edition we would’ve liked to see, but Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity enjoys a huge resolution boost with this new feature. The frame rate is still capped at 30, unfortunately, so a patch would have to fix that – but in handheld mode, the resolution often dips to 380p or below. That looks really bad stretched to fit a 1080p screen, and so Handheld Mode Boost allows the game to run at its docked resolution of 810p instead. That’s still not going to look perfect on the Nintendo Switch 2’s screen, of course, but it is a huge improvement. With all of that said, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment remains the technically superior game, specifically since it targets 60 frames per second. It’s highly doubtful that Nintendo will patch Age of Calamity’s frame rate given that Age of Imprisonment exists, so this update will have to do for now.
Have you given Handheld Mode Boost a try yet? If so, which games have you seen improvements in? Let us know in the comments down below.
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