Nintendo Switch Ports That Work Incredibly Well

There’s a lot of talk thanks to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet about the Switch being underpowered. In the case of those games, the debate is whether or not the developers at Game Freak could have done more to optimize the Switch. Let’s be honest: the Switch doesn’t pack the punch of other modern consoles. It doesn’t have to, however, to make it the ideal place to play some cross-platform games. Here are a few Switch ports I actually prefer playing to the original places on which they launched.

First up, I want to give some love to Civilization VI. I understand the complaints from some online about performance on the Switch, but I have never noticed much of an issue playing on-cart. Digital copies might have more of a slowdown from what I’ve read, but after years of playing Civ on a PC, the Switch is my favorite place for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s a game known for players’ difficulty putting it down. In handheld mode, this rings even truer.

The team at Aspyr has long been a favorite studio of mine for their work on ports, but Civilization VI offers a highly intuitive experience that even long-time PC players would have no trouble adapting to. The DLC packs have even made their way to Switch, with the exception of the new Leader Packs like the recently released Great Negotiators Pack. If you’re into strategy games you can pour hours into then Civ is a holy grail game, and it fits ever so nicely on the Switch.

Next, Dead by Daylight is a game I got acquainted with thanks to Xbox Game Pass. While I had access to it on my Microsoft console, it gets most of my attention on Switch. It really comes down to the joys of portability for short-form matchplay. Games like Rocket League and Dead by Daylight work incredibly as short bursts of intense action. Dead by Daylight is no exception as you play out a literal horror movie chase scene that never fails to get my heart racing.

Their latest DLC pack, Forged in Fog, even pushes the horror to medieval times exemplifying just how strong of a grasp on horror the team at Behaviour Interactive has. We all know that the middle ages were brutal. However, getting chased by The Knight, who feels darn near unstoppable is a huge thrill. Performance on the Switch is wonderful and is my ideal place to play this incredible live-service horror title.

Lastly, I’m very pleased with the time I’ve spent recently playing LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga on Switch. The perk here is that the LEGO titles are fun-filled and very light-hearted, and that’s simply the way my Switch library tends to trend. I don’t know if it’s a self-created image I have of the Switch, but I want my wind-down games to be on this console. Not just for portability, but the sake of easy-going gameplay. Let us know what you like playing on the Switch that you could technically play on another console!