Our pals over at Digital Foundry have provided their verdict on the recently-released Pokémon Legends: Z-A on Switch and Switch 2, covering the tech utilised and the performance gap between the two consoles.
Looking at the visuals in the sole location of Lumiose City, Digital Foundry states that the execution is rough around the edges, looking “garish” even on the Switch 2. One particular highlight is the fact that the majority of NPCs found on your travels are motionless; rooted the spot in set locations (and yes, we’ve also covered this in a previous feature piece).
Both versions feature copious pop-in, while many of the pedestrians also pop-out when you move closer to them. On a positive note, however, Switch 2 features a lot more detail in the environments, with sharper textures in general. However, the repeated flat texture maps for the buildings’ windows and balconies is called out as being a huge negative, with pixelated visuals when you get close up.
Switch 2’s biggest upgrade comes with its overall image quality. It utilises DLSS upscaling to bring the resolution up to a 1440p target while docked and 1080p in handheld mode, and the difference between the two consoles is night and day. Meanwhile, frame rate for the Switch targets 30fps, but often drops down into the 20s when panning the camera around. The Switch 2, meanwhile, is locked at 60fps with only very rare drops.
Pretty much what we’d expected, then, but it’s lovely to get a proper breakdown from the tech experts over at Digital Foundry. You can check out their full verdict and more over on their brand new website.
