Nintendo Switch 2 Has Solved My Biggest Problem With 100-Hour Games
Time is not on our side, no matter how many songs they make about it or what some copywriter convinces you to believe. We’re all living on borrowed time, with less and less of it dedicated to fun as we get older and shoulder more responsibilities. So that 100-hour game that piqued your interest 10 years ago that you’re still struggling to complete looks less and less achievable to beat as the days, months, and years roll by.
This is a harder pill to swallow once you realize some of the best games of the last decade take about 100 hours to beat, or even get halfway through. I’m talking about Atlus titles like Persona 5 and Metaphor: ReFantazio, Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3, or CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3. There are so many games, with so little time to tackle them all. But now that the Nintendo Switch 2 exists, the biggest hurdle to satisfactory gaming has been eliminated for me.
Some of Atlus’ most time-consuming games, like Metaphor: ReFantazio, have ports that are expected to release on Nintendo Switch 2. There’s even a remake for Persona 4 that’s expected to arrive on the console next year. Although Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t available on the Nintendo Switch 2, it is playable on the handheld Steam Deck and is more than serviceable on an M4 MacBook or higher. Even more impressive, Cyberpunk 2077, which was frying PCs in an attempt to play the game upon its release in 2020, has been optimized so well that it can now be played on an iPhone 17 Pro. Initially, I was disappointed by The Witcher 3’s first Nintendo Switch port, and I hoped it would get a free update for improved gameplay once the Switch 2 arrived. But now that a native The Witcher 3: Remaster is soon arriving on the console, I’m convinced the biggest problem with 100-hour games is quietly being solved by Nintendo.
The Journey of The Witcher 3 Is Long and Perilous, Even in the 2020s
The Witcher 3 received Game of the Year in 2015, and it took me until the 2020 lockdown to grab the title and its two expansions for PlayStation 4. After a brutal learning curve and a few YouTube videos, I was able to manufacture a build that made gameplay feel satisfying, which was the final component needed to fully immerse myself in the game’s story and setting. I fell in love and easily sank 50 hours into the game, only to learn that I was nowhere near completing the main story. I took a break for a while, then I learned of the next-gen update for PlayStation 5 and PC, which enhanced the graphics, performance, and added quality-of-life changes. And, thanks to cloud saves, I was able to boot up the game and begin where I left off previously.
It took a while for me to remember some of the story beats, but it wasn’t as hard to find myself fully immersed in The Witcher 3 once again. But unlike 2020, I didn’t have ample time to continue the game as I did before. There were long stretches between gaming sessions, and The Witcher 3 slowly became a game I binge-played during free weekends instead of a title I could take my time with and appreciate.
I needed an alternative way to play, a way that would allow me to keep my weekends for myself and keep me immersed without taking long breaks in between each session. That’s how the Nintendo Switch port was brought to my attention. I had to wait until the title went on sale before I purchased it (there’s no way I’m paying full price for a title that was released in 2015). But thank goodness I did, because even with the next-gen update, which was applied to the Nintendo Switch alongside every other platform, the title ran abysmally on the handheld system. Graphics looked crunchy, gameplay felt slow, and the setting I grew to love looked less detailed and more generic than I remembered. I played for less than 30 minutes before I put the port behind me forever, or at least until the Switch 2 was announced and older titles were getting free updates that allowed those titles to run much more smoothly than on its predecessor.
I waited with bated breath for an announcement about a free Nintendo Switch 2 update for The Witcher 3, but it never came. Luckily, it was announced that a remaster of The Witcher 3 was expected to arrive, and as a free update for those who already owned the original title, even on the Nintendo Switch. The remaster is poised to revamp the convoluted gameplay mechanics and improve performance and graphics once again. Finally, gamers will be able to play the game on-the-go without a steep learning curve or stationary time sink.
Playing On The Go Is a Boon For Gaming Boomers
I’ve had similar issues with Persona 5. I got 50 hours into the game when it initially released before I discovered Persona 5 Royal was on the way with additional content. I put the game on the back burner until it was released, and got to the very end of it, but still have not found the will to fully complete it due to all the other games that were released between and after its release. I put in similar hours with Metaphor: ReFantazio before slowly but surely losing interest due to the lengthy story and loss of time. The last game I’ve been able to play to completion without playing on-the-go was Baldur’s Gate 3, which I was only able to beat because of a crippling depression that left me nearly bedridden and in the house.
The Nintendo Switch 2’s new hardware, paired with its handheld mode, has been a boon for revisiting older titles from generations past (especially for boomers like me). It has become one of the only ways to dig deep into these 100-hour Game of the Year contenders without losing a grip on reality or responsibilities. For that reason alone, the Switch 2 has become my preferred way to play many games and I don’t see it changing any time soon.